Survival Kit

[interrogat]

Do you have one? What's in yours? Where do you take it, where is it stored? How long does it last until you need to start innovating new solutions?

I'll start: Mine is in my car, under the passenger seat, in a OD green bag with lapties. I do a lot of cross-country travelling on roads not on the map. I usually pack it into my tough box when I deploy and I stick it into my suitcase when I go on trips outside the country. If I used up all of the supplies, it'd last for about seven days. If I start improvising, it's lasted me for 30. This a liberal estimate because I've never actually rationed it out as if I was actually in a survival situation. This is without poggie bait.

Before my last deployment, I've practiced using it during an FTX that lasted about a month. You can live pretty comfortably (again, I was using everything liberally and not really attempting to conserve what I had).

4 inch titanium knife, collapsable machette, salt, sugar, iodine (50 pack), sponges, condoms, titanium bottle (with neck), canteen, non-lube condoms, funnel, condenser paper, hooks, bag of oats, seeds (assortment of high-carb plants), alumium foil, baggies, mortar/pestle, waterproof matches, magnesium/sulfur tablets/powder, magnifying lens, mirror, bar of wax, (sugar), small bottle of lighter fluid, lighter, flint/steel, shelter: 550 cord, blanket (space or water resistant), mosquito net, poncho, anti-diarrheal and anti-malarial tablets, surgical kit (small) w/ scalpel, etc, lip balm/chapstick, needle and thread, ciggarettes & chewing tobacco, ibuprofen, soap, vit B, C, D, lotion/oils, IR strobe, Garmin wrist compass/GPS, laser pointer, LED headlamp (1000 hrs).

 

[AKkeith]

Wow that's a good kit. That all fits under your seat? How much money did you put into it? The only thing I could think that I would add to mine would be fishing line. I seem to always be crafting things out of that stuff.

Edit: I can understand the non lube condoms. But that does seem like a good amount of condoms lol

 

[devilbones]

You seem to have lots of condoms.

 

[JBS]

Just FYI on the condoms as survival devices: I agree they are great to have in your back pocket if you are traveling fast and light- say a commuter prop plane over a long stretch of desert (for example in a crash scenario), and you have had no time or opportunity to procure anything except the absolute barest of survival gear. In such a case, remembering to pack a no-lube condom is great for that extremely rare chance you might find yourself stopping at a wadi or gully, as an absolute last-ditch makeshift water vessel, since you have had no other option to prepare, except to slip a condom into your pocket just before getting on the plane. But for anything where you have had even a modest opportunity to prepare, say for instance throwing a few things in the back of your SUV/truck/car, I like the Swiss water bags. They lay flat when empty, and you can forget about them forever until, if, and when you ever need them. They're rugged enough to toss around, and because they are black, in a very cold climate they can be laid out in the sun to thaw. They won't burst like a condom if they get snagged on a cactus, so if you have the time to prepare ahead of time, it would be advantageous to pack something more substantial.

For the vehicle, x3 or 4:
http://www.amazon.com/Military-Surplus-Swiss-20L-Water/dp/B003P43Q5Y

And then, as a measure of preparedness for the (unlikely) possibility of local or regional water outage / water contamination, something I think would be very useful is the Water Bob:
http://campingsurvival.com/waemdrwast.html?gclid=CNWp7rGWnawCFcya7QodfEBxCg

The Water Bob holds 100 gallons. Just buy a water siphon and throw in a few water tabs in the reservoir. If you've got 3 bathtubs, that's 300 gallons- which is enough water to provide a family of 4 enough emergency drinking water rations for 75 days- certainly long enough to outlast even an extreme civil or social breakdown. The trick, of course, is to be somewhat aware of when a water-service interruption is coming, so you can then have enough time to fill up the Water Bobs; not hard to do if, for instance, there's a hurricane on the way.

 

[A53]

You might want to consider adding:

1. Needles, syringes, alchohol wipes (little squares), tiny bottle of bleach and a collapsed IV bag/drip line.

Cholera may be a concern in many disaster areas/dangerous places. You don't just need the syringes for Cholera, but for other bad things as well. It's gonna suck if you happen to make your way to a hospital or clinic and they don't have any clean syringes to put an IV in you or other injectibles.

2. Snake-bite/sting kit. It comes in a little plastic case. It's quite handy for keeping my syringes in.
3. Hand-crank/Solar-powered radio. The new ones come with a USB port where you can charge a cell phone.
4. Hand/Foot-warmers. Those little packets that get hot when exposed to air.

 

[CDG]

You might want to consider adding:

1. Needles, syringes, alchohol wipes (little squares), tiny bottle of bleach and a collapsed IV bag/drip line.

Cholera may be a concern in many disaster areas/dangerous places. You don't just need the syringes for Cholera, but for other bad things as well. It's gonna suck if you happen to make your way to a hospital or clinic and they don't have any clean syringes to put an IV in you or other injectibles.

2. Snake-bite/sting kit. It comes in a little plastic case. It's quite handy for keeping my syringes in.
3. Hand-crank/Solar-powered radio. The new ones come with a USB port where you can charge a cell phone.
4. Hand/Foot-warmers. Those little packets that get hot when exposed to air.

Don't forget that sock with 5k deutschmarks in it. Never know when a bodyguard will try and kill you in the palace and you have to E&E across the border to another palace.

 

[Devildoc]

When I received my commission in the reserve, I used the mil-issue one that came with the flight gear since I was in a flying billet. I did carry my own when I was a flight medic for a hospital-based transport service, small one in a Pelican case. The nurses and other medics looked at me like I had a third eye, but the pilots, all of whom were former military pilots, understood. Never needed either one.

Edited to add: in my under-caffeinated state I neglected to see the date on this thread. Holy moly.

 

[Gunz]

That's understandable with that third eye.

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

Don't forget that sock with 5k deutschmarks in it. Never know when a bodyguard will try and kill you in the palace and you have to E&E across the border to another palace.

LMAO, well played good sir, well played indeed!

 

[8654Maine]

LMAO, well played good sir, well played indeed!

x2. Wonder what happened to that cat.