Survival Sack: When things go bad...

[robert]

Skimming through these, I would add a floppy brimmed hat first along with a bandana or two. I'm really partial to bandanas for their utility- slings, tying things, bandages, filtering, hats, sun protection, flag to attract attention (obviously camo would be a bad color choice), hand towel, carrying bag, etc.

In no particular order and off the top of my head:
I keep a Camelback Transalp in my truck with a change of clothes (Khaki BDU pants, long sleeve t-shirt extra socks)

• Lightweight rain jacket
• Two lighters/waterproof matches firesticks (tender)
• Signal mirror
• Parachute cord
• Small fixed blade knife
• Leather gloves
• Motrin
• Imodium
• Band aides and Neosporin
• Small flattened roll of duct tape
• Surefire light with extra set of batteries
• An LED light clipped to one shoulder strap and a whistle on the other shoulder strap
• Compact toothbrush and toothpaste (never know when you might run into Maryann and Ginger and I hate not brushing my teeth anyways)
• Small liquid soap container for cleansing abrasions etc
• Compass
• Maps
• Copies of papers/driver’s license/passport, etc
• Small notepad and pencil
• Water purification tablets
• Two MRE meals-stripped
• Two large trash bags
• Most of the small stuff is sorted into Ziploc bags
• And generally an extra magazine or two for whatever pistol I happen to be favoring at the time.

I usually have a case of water bottles in the truck so filling the Camelback is no problem and I can carry extra full bottles in the pockets on the side.

 

[GoOutSideAndPlay]

GREAT thread!

Hi all,
I was all prepped and ready to add my 2cents, but this is a pretty good list so far and I feel to much more might be redundant. I've been studying survivalist skills for a short time now and I've compiled a little list of links to some great sites for info and gear on the subject. Heres a few of them. Check 'em out and if anyone is interested in an excel spreadsheet with comprehensive gear set lists for truck, SAR pack, everyday carry, bugout and camping please feel free to IM (bluegarden1976 or igooutsidenplay, both aim) me and I'll send it to you.

Stay safe out there! and remember the most important piece of survival equipment you'll ever carry is the few lbs of meat you keep wedged in between your ears. Train it well!

Chris
http://www.yellowstonetrading.com/merchant2/merchant.mv?
http://www.equipped.org/
http://www.survival-center.com/index.htm
http://www.actiongear.com/cgi-bin/tame.exe/agcatalog/index.tam

 

[Brian McVickers]

MREs!

I just got four new MREs!:eatchicke
They have them for about $7 each over at Luke Air Force Base in AZ
(my Father-in-law and Brother-in-law both served so I get to go to the commissary every once in a while!)

The tasty menu offerings include::chowtime:
Menu No 1 = Grilled Beefsteak w/mushrooms
Menu No 5 = Chicken
Menu No 8 = Beef Patty
Menu No 19 = Pot Roast w/vegetables

Complete list of contents for each Menu No can be found at http://www.dscp.dla.mil/subs/rations/programs/mre/mreabt.htm

They are made my a company called Wornick
http://www.wornick.com/military/MREs.html

and they have recently come out with a consumer version called Eversafe http://www.wornick.com/emergencyprep/

They also make a special Cold Weather MRE but it is not available to general consumer
http://www.wornick.com/military/MCWLRP.html

I plan to keep a couple of these in my Bugoutbag, one in my truck and one in Amy's car, just in case!

They even have their own heating element:campfire:

 

[flywgn]

This is a good thread. It gives pause to consider all those treks we take.

We carry much of what's been mentioned above, but with all the technology that's out there we tend to take a more direct approach to life-saving. We always have a few days' rations of food and water with us and if we had to we could stretch them out to last for three or four times their intended use life. We carry first-aid items as well.

But, for those unexpected times when there's an emergency, we carry a satellite telephone and a PLB (Personal Locating Beacon). I have taken the extra step of having the PLB alert Stratus (our INMARSAT server) who has a bunch of personal information about us as well.

We've used the satphone a bunch, mostly for personal stuff, but twice we called in help for others and I have to say it was worth every penny (in satphone that's 'dollar'). The PLB has been idle, thankfully, so I just last week sent it back to be checked out.

We had an EPIRB on our boat. I believe PLBs were made available just a couple of years ago (except in AK), but the EPIRBs (sea) and ELTs (air) have been around for a while.

If you consider me to be gadget-happy, then I'm guilty as charged.

 

[HenryJ]

A couple new additions to my "Bugout Bag".

The Airfoil kite has no sticks and fits in a small package with string.



The kite is made of rip stop material and may be useful as a signaling device for aircraft. The rip-stop fabric and string can be useful in other ways as well.

The next is a UV meter. $20 at Target stores this Oregon Scientific UV meter is a handy gadget. It has a countdown timer, user settable for skin types. It also has time and temperature. Pretty handy for the price I think it is a good addition.



A couple more things were added on this trip. A set of Bushnell Waterproof 10x42 binoculars. I can't believe I left home with out binoculars and a notepad.
I had a chance to use the BlastMatch and Vaseline soaked cotton balls while on the Oregon Coast last week. They really work great!

 

[j_nigrelli]

for those who "gadget lust" even if it's only in their mind!

http://atwoodknives.blogspot.com/

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/category/_links_gadget_sites

 

[LUISJG]

here is a good tool ,,appears to be anyway

http://www.ultimatesurvival.com/product_view.cfm?product_ID=427

 

[erin]

Also for good survival tips and items, www.dougritter.com is a very comprehensive site. Aeromedic is another good site for med supplies and good field knives.

 

[Lynn]

Just a couple of notes I'd like to add:

The emergency blankets - beware of the ultra-packable ones, like this:

When I was on the alpine SAR team in CO I heard several stories of guys who had had them stashed away for years, pulled 'em out, opened 'em up, and found that the aluminized coating had stuck together, and come off. What they were left with was a sheet of clear plastic. Not good if you are depending on it for warmth. If you have some of them, I suggest you get them out periodically, open them up, and make sure they are still serviceable. Also, the reflective coating only helps with radiant heat loss, not conductive or convective heat loss, so you still need an insulating layer between your body and the blanket.

I personally like the ones like this:

They're a lot larger to carry, but will be there when you need them, and have some insulation built in. I've also seen a model that has a hood and hand pockets built in. Seems like a good idea. I have one that's blaze orange on one side, for signaling purposes.

Someone above mentioned the Vaseline-soaked cotton balls. They really work great. A few of those in an old film or pill container, along with a 'metal match' or magnesium fire starter, and you're set. However, I noticed that if you put too much Vaseline on the cotton balls they don't light very easily. Play around with 'em when you make 'em, and find out what works best with your flint or striker.

And a note on the MREs mentioned above: It is illegal to mail them with the 'heater,' which means that any you buy mail order do not have it. Most of the ones I've seen in the surplus stores do not have the heater. They great when hot, and can be eaten cold, but I think there are better options than cold MREs.

PowerBars are great, unless you're out in the cold, then they get so hard as to be un-eatable. Of course, you can stick 'em down your pants to warm them up, but Clif and Peak bars are much better in cold weather, besides just plain tasting better. I like the Clif bars, myself.

A good rain poncho (like the mil surplus ones) can double as a tarp for an emergency shelter. Make sure you have some cord for guys. (added: to seal up the hood, pull the drawstring, then roll it from the top of the hood, down. When you get it rolled up, fold it in thirds and tie it with the drawstring. Just like closing up a drybag.)

Of course, as mentioned, you want some way to purify water (iodine tablets at the minimum), but a little Gatorade powder makes it go down better, and helps replace the electrolytes you are sure to loose when you get diarrhea from the 'purified' water. Better yet, get some Pedialyte powder.

And don't forget the toilet paper

 

[Lynn]

btw, I second the 'meat between your ears' comment above.

I was on a search outside of Woodland Park for a guy that was out playing on a 4-wheeler that didn't return to camp. We were worried, 'cuz he had recently moved from CA, it was early Spring (so got pretty cold that night), and he reportedly didn't even have a jacket.

When we found him the next morning, he was a little hungry and thirsty, but had slept warm. Turns out he sayed near his broken quad (just like you're supposed to), and found a big pine tree. He scraped all the pine needles he could find into a great big pile and dived in. He said he slept toasty. He must have slept well, because we found his quad about 1 AM, and there were searchers in the area the rest of the night, but he slept through it!

 

[MountainBiker]

He scraped all the pine needles he could find into a great big pile and dived in. He said he slept toasty.

That is my idea of how I would use the emergency blanket. But I carry a space emergency BAG instead of a blanket.
http://gearx.com/product_info.php?products_id=2059

Seems like it would be easier with the bag instead of the blanket to cover it up with leaves and pine needles, while still remaining dry with no wind drafts. And besides, you want the reflective material next to your body anyway.

 

[overlander]

I believe another good inventory and packing method for a bug out bag is to use modular packing. In any environment you travel, and for any season, there will be differences in the packing list as well as quantities required for a taylored optimal equip list. There will however be overlap, maybe to the tune of 80%. Identifying the common condition items lends itself to packing them by purpose and together as a module within the bug out bag, and all conditional items packed modularly in seperate containers. One could then theoretically have their bag with the "base" or permanently packed common items, and then have seperate modules for summer, winter, desert, ocean, jungle, etc, and prior to the beginning of a trip or season, modify your load appropriately and be "optimized"

Your thoughts?

 

[Lynn]

And besides, you want the reflective material next to your body anyway.

Therein lies the problem. It has to be next to your skin, but is only effective against radiant heat loss. It does nothing for conductive heat loss. Anywhere it touches your skin, heat will conduct through it. During SAR training I've been involved with, some trainees would lay the 'victim' on a space blanket on the snow. The 'victim' can immediately feel the heat loss due to conduction.

They are also not 'breathable,' so perspiration will collect on the inside, and get you wet. The last thing you want to do is put a space blanket over your down sleeping bag...

I personally think that they are only really useful as a windbreak and vapor barrier, not as a 'blanket.'

But marathon runners wrap up in them after a race, and feel warm, right? Well, at that point the runner is putting out a lot of perspiration and radiant heat. The space blanket reflects most of the radiant heat and keeps the breeze from evaporating the sweat, so the runner feels warm.

On the other hand, if you are lost and cold, conductive and convective heat losses are bigger factors than radiant heat loss.

Space blankets are light, cheap, and small, so what's the harm in throwing one in, right? Maybe I'm making a big deal of this, but I really worry that putting one in a survival kit gives a false sense of security. If you are packing something to help keep you warm in an emergency, pack something that works.

 

[Lynn]

I believe another good inventory and packing method for a bug out bag is to use modular packing.
Your thoughts?

I think that's a great idea.

I've done this somewhat with ziplocks, and read a suggestion somewhere to use stuff sacks marked with a sharpie.

Oh, and that reminds me, several people have suggested carrying a pencil and paper. That's a tried and true recommendation, but a sharpie is more useful than a pencil. I like the new Sharpie Mini in good ole black.

 

[ZooJunkie]

I have a fire starter kit that no one has mentioned.

Magnesium flint and a wad of steel wool. Strike the flint against the steel wool. Burning steel wool is much harder to extinguish in wet weather. Excellent all around fire starter, and much longer lasting and foolproof than a box of waterproof matches. Ultimately more wind resistant too.