Emaergency Survival Kit; Hoping For Your Comments

[Karma]

Sparky...great that you are looking into a ditch bag and you are very much on the right track.
Rather than post a long worded (winded response I will offer to pull my pack out tomorrow in the daylight and take some pics and offer my thoughts to go with them
That way you have a visual reference and something to work with.

All in all you are moving very much in the right direction and I hope that you, me or anyone else we know ever has to put our theories to the test

HI 1leglance,
Thanks very much for the offer. It will help me with my planning. You are going above and beyond the call to duty. I appreciate it.

I sill need advice on the numbers of MRE's to include in the ditch bag and also the amount of water in bottles for 3 days. Space and weight limitations are still very much a part of my thinking.

I need to clarify a statement I made earlier. When I said that contacts with friends and/or relatives are not part of my plan, that is only partially true. In order for the PLB system to work, I need to leave basic trip information with my registered contacts. What I meant is I would not depend on leaving detailed trip information with my contacts, only that I was on a trip to, for example, Southern Utah or wherever. That is all the information the PLB infrastructure needs. Beyond that I can be found with the beacon only. I believe this is the most trustworthy way of doing it avoiding the possibility of misinformation confusing the rescue effort.

Sparky

 

[robert]

Remember to chew the gum; they always forget the gum. If you've got enough water, I'd throw in a couple of the freeze dried meals since they pack small and don't weigh hardly anything but it's hard to beat MREs for convenience. Be aware that most prepared foods are high in sodium so that may be a health concern and that you'll need to drink plenty of fluids with them.

You might try some of the MREs before you buy a bunch as some of them are pretty foul. Personally I don't care for the powdered drink mix in most of them either and instead keep a small container with some Gatorade powder in it which I mix about half strength. Camalbak is also makes some drink powder tablets that are pretty decent and I'll be switching to when I get around to it. I know a couple of people who keep Kool-aide or some other flavored powder instead. Something to break up the monotony of water and it gives you something different to look forward to.

 

[Karma]

Hi Robert,
Thanks for chiming in. I think the Gatorade powder is a good idea and I will look into it.

Gum? I had not even thought about it! I does sound like a good idea even though I never chew gum normally.

You do understand that my MRE's will include heaters, right?

The reason I don't want freeze dried foods is I don't want to mess with any sort of a cooking capability in this very compact survival kit. By doing this all the hardware for cooking can be left out. Since my 3 day plan is so short, I don't think I'll feel deprived (except for my always loved coffee, even instant). I may change my mind when I get around to actually testing the kit.

A question for you MRE veterans: Since I know that instant coffee is included in MRE's, is it possible to heat water with the MRE heaters to make the coffee? I would think so.

It is my understanding that the taste of the newer MRE's is significantly better than the old ones. The variety is certainly OK.

Why no ice cream? Oh well!

Thanks, Sparky

 

[1leglance]

Sorry I didn't get to snap any pics over the weekend (build & fired up by son's new knife forge) but I will work on it tomorrow.
For now I will add a couple of thoughts..
Get a tablet stove & sierra cup or better the stainless steel cups that fit around a nalgene (you will see pics of mine)..and then get rid of the MRE's and go with coffee/tea/apple cider/hot choc or some combo of what you like. If you want food then some Mainstay bars or something like that will last years.
The tablet stove/cup wieghs less than 1/2 of an MRE and can boil water (in case you find a source and need to make it clean), heat a drink, provide warmth & start a fire for you. None of which a heavy MRE heater can do. Plus the life span on the MRE's in our desert heat is not good.

The most important thing is to make your ditch bag light enough you will/can grab it and yet have what you really need.

I will try my best to get pics tomorrow and provide an explanation to go with them
Don't forget to check out equippedtosurvive.org forums as all this has been covered many times by guys like me who go out and test their packs.

 

[Karma]

HI 1leglance,
The link you provided did not work. Do you have a more recent one? I'd like to check it out.

Sparky

 

[1leglance]

Sparky it wasn't a link ( no httpblah blah blah) just go to google and type equipped to survive forum and you will find it.
Those guys have been talking this stuff long than Expo has been around. And many of them work in Search & Rescue and the rest practice what they preach.
Just got off work so going to sleep now but will take pics when I wake up this afternoon.

 

[Karma]

Hi Honu,
Per our PM's here are the pictures of my trailer. Is it the one you were referring to?



These pictures were taken from the Aliner web site. My trailer has more ground clearance due to its off road package. But, in truth, the Aliner is no match for a true off road trailer. I take it on forest service roads where it works well. But, due to overhang, length, width and general ruggedness, it is limited. So, I don't push it too far. I don't want to rip it apart due to rough, technical trails.

Sparky

 

[robert]

The gum reference was in regards to the MREs- the meals are low in fiber so if you eat a couple of them you can get constipated. Most folks think the gum has a laxative in it but it doesn't. The crackers are higher in fiber though. Personally I've never been a fan of gum either.

If you go the MRE route check when you buy them- some come with heaters and some don't. I have seen folks use the heaters to warm water for coffee, but it's not very effective. Taste is very subjective- the new ones are definitely better than the older ones, but there's still some of them I'd rather go hungry than eat; I also don't like salty foods and most of them are too salty to me. In freeze dried foods I always look for the lower sodium varieties and I usually dilute them if I can.

Lance's idea on the trihexane bar stove is a good one and I have one in my bail out bag. I think I paid $5 for it surplus and it stores a couple of the mil issue fuel bars inside of it. Packed it's about the size of a bar of flat soap and will heat water just fine. With a little experimenting you can figure out how much of the bar you need to bring a mug of water to a boil- if you try this be sure to clean your hands after handling the bar.

Honestly, a can of Dinty Moore beef stew or other canned food takes up a less room than an MRE and it's cheaper to boot, just remember to change them out every now and then. In my own bag I have one of the small stoves with a couple of fuel bars, a cup that fits on the bottom of one of my Nalgene bottles and several packs of food. I go to Earth Fare and buy a couple of those cup of noodle/soup things then strip them down and repackage them using a vacuum sealer. You can also buy the Mountain House brands already vacuumed but they're more expensive. Toss in a bag or two of tuna and I can whip up something edible quickly. I keep a couple of Clif Bars in my bag too. The big difference between us is I'm usually in an area where finding water isn't that big of a deal (east coast) whereas you have to carry your own. When I travel out west I usually throw some canned food in the truck and maybe an MRE or two. Oh, I have a couple of tea bags vacuum packed in my bag too along with a couple of packs of honey- luxury items to be sure, but they don't take up hardly any room or weigh much.

FWIW, food is more of a comfort item when you're talking short term and I wouldn't stress it too hard. I think I mentioned it before, adding a strobe that you can put on top of your Jeep or up high will help rescuers locate you much faster when searching by air.


ETA- One of my uncle's has one of those Aliners- it's a very nice camper for one or two people. His has heat and air and also a shower setup which I think they've since discontinued. The cassette toilet is nice and it's setup so you can cook indoors or out. He had to upgrade the axle on his and added trailer brakes when he did. Supposedly the standard factory axles aren't very good quality which is surprising given the rest of the trailer seems to be well made. It's definitely not an off-road camper though.

 

[Honu]

Sparky yeah those were the ones I thought you had sent ya a pm

I had thought they would be good for park camping some fire road stuff here since the hard top could keep in air conditioning better to extend some warmer weather camping
And they would fit in our garage which we have to do where I live

Thanks for the pics

 

[Honu]

Only thing about cans I don't like is opening them and if a can gets damaged ? Not a big deal I just got away from cans for that reason and prefer softer pack stuff these days

One thing I carry is a pack of baby wipes
For that fresh clean rear end heheheheh and wiping hands and such my kids are 3 and 7 so we use them when they get sticky but even without kids I find them handy some things in my daily use can be used in self rescue surviving type situations
roll of paper towels also
Old army wool blanket and dripless candles
On my keychain have a belt cutter spring loaded window popper
I have one of those home vacuum machines and like to keep a few things vacuum packed just in case of weather gets my bag wet
Half roll of TP in a freezer zip lock stored in the pett with some extra bags in the pett
One thing I like is a spare set of clothes rolled tight in a small dry bag inside my rig
For me part of this daily carry can be used in any situation

 

[Karma]

ETA- One of my uncle's has one of those Aliners- it's a very nice camper for one or two people. His has heat and air and also a shower setup which I think they've since discontinued. The cassette toilet is nice and it's setup so you can cook indoors or out. He had to upgrade the axle on his and added trailer brakes when he did. Supposedly the standard factory axles aren't very good quality which is surprising given the rest of the trailer seems to be well made. It's definitely not an off-road camper though.

Hi Robert,
My Aliner originally did not have the upgraded axles. I bought the off road axles with trailer brakes and 15 inch wheels separately and did the installation myself. It all works well. I would not be quite so definite about it not being off road. I have run it down some pretty rough trails and not harmed it. It really manages surprisingly well. But, I agree, its not in the same league with the trailers I see here. Nor would the manufacturer claim that it is.

Now that I have hijacked my own thread, back to survival.

Sparky

 

[robert]

Oh I have no doubt the frame and general construction will handle most back roads; they seem to be well made especially for being as light as they are. He towed his with his MGB a couple of times and one of his friend's tows his with another MBG (both highly upgraded with Rover V8s and large front discs); I've got a friend who tows one with a VW bus and you know how underpowered they are. My comment was in reference to actual off-roading and the very long overhang. He's actually talked about selling it since he hasn't used it much lately and had asked if I was interested in it; I'm seriously considering buying it off him next time I'm home.

 

[mudbutt]

In case you haven't heard, Jim Bakker is back... Yes THAT Jim Bakker.....

And he is selling survival kits....

And Silver Solution....

And for $3000.00 he'll send you forty-two 200 Serving Emergency Food Buckets....

I wonder what his take is on chemtrails.....

 

[birdmann]

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned. But magnesium blocks for fire starting, are vulnerable to salt water erosion.