Posted on 03/06/2003 2:25:01 PM PST by FreedomFarmer
Could you survive on what is in your pockets, right now?
[Yeah, sure, credit card..cell phone...]
He He He. Don't bet your live on it.
Here is a very basic emergency survival kit. It is a starting point, not a magic lamp. It's function is to keep you alive until self-recovery or rescue. There are 54 items, including the container.
The contents are:
Buck Minibuck tool
10' copper-coated steel wire
6' 100lb. nylon cord
3 sq. ft. of heavy duty aluminum foil
10 waterproof matches
8 water purfication tablets (16.7% Tetraglycine Hydroperiodine)
Wire Saw with 2 finger rings
3" strip of 180 grit & 320 grit emery paper
5 assorted safety pins
5" long shrink wrap tube
Condom
Fishing kit
Sewing kit
Sponge
3' electrical black tape
Cotton lint
2 1/2" wide heavy rubber bands
Small metal container, i.e., Altoid, Sucrets, Ted Cash, etc.
The Buck minitool has the advantage of being quite small, with excellent quality plier jaws, wire cutter, scissors, and surgical sharp blade.
The 10' of wire has many uses, including antenna replacement, snares, attachment of expedient tools to shafts and handles, and general construction.
The heavy duty foil serves best as a pot to boil water for purification, lasting for 5-7 cycles. It can be used as a signal, light reflector, baking pan, solar still, or bits of it left as a trail marker.
The emery paper removes rust and corrosion, polishes, and sharpens; also used as a striking surface for the matches.
The shrink wrap tube can be used as an insulator, and when heated, shrinks to join items together. It is used as a straw to suck water from a seep or from below a surface.
The condom is capable of holding 2 gallons of water, elastic bandage, slingshot rubber, or trigger spring for a small animal trap.
The fishing kit, besides the obvious, provides line for surgical stitches, bird snares, and squirrel poles.
The sewing kit provides 25' of white thread, (white is strongest), sterile needles for surgical probes, fish gorges, etc. The needles are magnetized, so they can be used as a compass when suspended from a thread tied in the middle of the needle.
The sponge is disinfected, rinsed, and compressed under a weight to dry, reducing it's size. Used to absorb dew from vegetation, fish bait, etc., sponges were also popular with the Roman Legion. (Think Charmin)
The electrical tape is used to seal and water proof the container, and quite useful generally.
The rubberbands help hold the lid on, and keep the kit from easily falling out of shirt pockets. They provide triggers for snares, elastic for bandages, rubbers for slingshots, etc.
The fishing kit contains 25' of 12lb. monofilament line, assorted small hooks,wet flies and weights. I now use plastic coin holders, with the line coiled inside, along with hooks, a few wet flies, and lead foil from wine bottle necks. I use foam strike indicators for bobbers.
The sewing kit is simply made by wraping thread around a strip of shirt cardboard. I use a 3" wide strip, and notch the top and bottom where the thread rests. I then add 4 assorted sizes of sterilized and magnetized needles, and a cut down needle threader, fold cardboard around the kit like a book, and tape shut to seal.
The contents are housed in an any small container. I prefer metal, as the polished inside can be used as a signal mirror, and it can be used as a dish, cup, or cutting board.
My favorite container is a 2" X 3" metal box a Zippo lighter came in, which contains all the above contents. Any of these boxes fit inside a cigarette package with the bottom cut out(hint), and the whole thing weighs a mere 4 oz.
Cotton lint is a wonderful fire tinder, wound dresser, anti-rattle space filler, and filter. For example, a funnel of aluminum foil, with a lint filter in the bottom, will clarify water prior to chemical or boil purification.
You can recover nice clean cotton lint from your drier trap, and fill the odd corners of your kit. It weighs almost nothing.
In addition, I always carry the smallest Victorinox Swiss army knife, a penlight; a lighter; a handkerchief; and a lock-back knife in my pockets, and a container of water within reach.
A survival kit not carried is worthless, that is why this kit is so small and light weight. A larger kit, with first aid and ration supplies, can be kept within arms reach in each vehicle. Locally, we have had two separate occasions of a car going off the road into a culvert, and not being found for two days, even with active searches within hours of being overdue.
Whistles, flags, crys for help, and repeating patterns of three- the traditional call for help, are largely ignored in today's world. Relying on handfuls of good luck, or government ordered plastic sheeting and duct tape in an emergency is a poor choice.
Hopefully, in the few minutes it took to read this monograph, you gave some serious consideration to your actual survival. With this simple kit, one could build a lean-to for shelter, build a fire to roast game, cook fish, and purify water, set snares for rabbit, squirrel and deer and bank lines for fish, while searching for edible roots...but that might be a bit much, if you are actually in the interstate median with a flat tire.
Your survival might depend on what is in your pocket right now. Stay safe.
You're supposed to cut firewood with it not those old ass toenails of yours.
abacus, shoebox, two gallons, kids not understanding this stuff etc. ROFLMAO
A guy by the name of Tom Brown ? I believe is teaching it very well with a understanding that all one needs is provided by nature and the only tool one needs is the one between yer ears.
The one good point in this thread that all should understand is that if it is not on your person 24/7 when away from home it's no good. Your "kit" should be so small and comfortable that it's easily carried in a pocket.
My personal survival kit (PSK) is composed of the following.......
Leatherman Wave tool
Zirconium lil sparky bar from done rite mfg, covered in shrink wrap tubing
A 2 inch sewing needle with a large eye, magnetized and waxed
A small vial of potassium permaganate crystals for topical infection treatment and water purification
2 reynolds oven bags, large, for water carriers w/ 4 small wire ties as closures.
30 feet of sterile waxed dental floss
3 small dry flys & 3 small long shanked fishhooks w/ split shot attached
4 individually wrapped Life Boat matches
A flat ACR brand rescue whistle
A photon III white LED light
A 3M Mylar space "bag" vacummed down to the size of 6 or 7 playing card
A old AOL CD that I cut down to credit card size and drilled a hole in the center to use as an emergency signal mirror.
a 2x2 sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil.
A single edged razor blade (waxed to prevent rust)
All this is compressed in my food saver vacum kitchen appliance and then trimmed down to be carried in a small nylon wallet . The little wallet is about the zize of a deck of playing cards when packed in such a manner. I have made a lanyard from 550 para cord that I braided and added a small mueller clip to keep it attached to a belt loop or jacket pocket when I skydive, hike,fish, hunt or ride my ATV's.
Albeit I don't smoke I also keep a small bic lighter on me carried loose in my pocket. My Key chain has a house key and common single key for both my vehicles, a small Victorinox brand swiss army knife that has a small led light built into it and a second zirconium sparking bar with a small sewing needle with a hundred dollar bill wrapped around it just in case I lose the wallet with all my money . All that is secured with electrical shrink tubing and attached to my key ring.
Add this to my surefire E2 light with a TID device, my 1911A1 with 2 spare 10 round magazines and a terzoula ACTF knife. A S&W Model 317 snub .22 revolver with 50 spare rounds in an ankle rig as a backup and I go about my life in the urban jungle just fine.
A good idea for those that live in rural areas like I do is to have a triad concept that keeps a personal small kit on you 24/7....one carried in your vehicle in a day pack in case ya have to walk out from a bad session of 4 wheeling and your home. To build such for your home I will suggest you get up now , walk out to your power and water main and turn it off. Make a list all weekend long as to what you can and can not do and build from that......checking into the local holiday inn doesn't count !
Stay Safe Joe !!
Hey hey hey! That's "Uses for those damned AOL CDs" #1,452,652!
Along with this is my sidearm and backup (both .45acp and at least 40 rounds of ammunition). I figure no matter what I can at least get to a cache or my vehicle if nothing else.
Also all my shoe and boot laces have been changed to 550 para cord that I fire whip and as they come in different colors it works in all my shoes and boots as a emergency source of line for gill nets , sewing repairs and such.
Stay Safe !
Of course, even then I knew it was not a realistic scenario.
As a matter of fact, I did grow up camping out in the woods. Daddy would take us at least twice a year on a hunting/camping trip. I also did a lot of camping/hunting with three other friends. Our relatives owned really large areas of land and we would select a spot with a flowing spring and set up camp. Some of the things we always carried were an axe, shovel, nails, cooking and eating utensils, and comfortable bedding.
We live in a rural area, nearest neighbor nearly half a mile away, in Florida, and the only thing we really need is fuel. If the electricity goes out we really only need water and that is supplied by a pump, and we have a generator which will run the pump.
When I worked, I did a tremendous amount of traveling but usually was home at night. I always kept a survival kit in the pickup, or if working in my personal vehicle. When working in Kansas, I kept a sleeping bag, a bleach jug full of water, a cruiser axe and several lighters.
I now keep a very well equipped, (so much stuff I can't rememeber it all) gym bag ready to grab in case I have to go somewhere quickly.
Mostly I just like the idea of being prepared.
We "field tested" several of these to confirm rumors that they can hold several gallons of water. The darned things actually can stretch to about 4' with a circumference of nearly 12". But we never quite got around to measuring the volume of water they held - we were all laughing too much at that point for anything resembling serious research.
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