I am not sure of the protocol here with members passing on links to their own web sites but I wrote a post about how to get yourself unlost and rescued on my site
I am a big proponent of aviation band radios, GPS locators and carrying gear that will actually get you out alive vs. the collection of crap most carry as survival kits
Again, I don't want to step on toes here. I like this site and all the info provided here. Just wanted to help.
http://quietsurvivalist.com/the-ultimate-survival-kit/
The Ultimate Survival kit
December 10, 2015 by Michael
The Ultimate Survival kit
Alright guys, this post is going to slaughter some sacred cows because I’m sick of the debates about people buying junk survival kits online and thinking they are doing great and they are ready.
If you really think any kit commercially packed is what will do it for you think again. I am going to cover the fallacies and outright stupidity packaged in the “feel good” kits you are throwing your money away on.
And throwing it away is exactly what you are doing.
So without further ado- Survival kits and what’s junk.
Referring back to my life philosophies, Planning to Improvise is Planning to FAIL.
There are days I think I should have made it Rule#1 instead of Rule #4 because every jabbering booger eater making survival kits thinks a roll of wire is a good thing in a survival kit
“Oh I can make a snare”
Or” I can build a shelter”
Or the classic ” well you cant make wire”
And then they charge you $10 for a smoking 10-20 feet of wire.
Are you crazy? Really, are you completely out of your mind?
The intent of the wire, from what I gather, is so you can make a snare. And that’s awesome if you have made snares, are experienced in the methods and understand what an animal does to a snare when its caught.
The majority of people who buy kits however have no idea, so they think wire is awesome for snares.
I think people who put a roll of wire in kits for snares should be criminally liable. It creates a sense of false hope.
Snares are made from cable, and they are not a piece of wire.
10-14 gauge wire will make a snare which will catch Squirrels. I will concede that point.
A cottontail or jack rabbit or father north a Hare will destroy most improvised snares. They go absolutely nuts when they are caught and will break the wire.
And this is a “Survival Kit”? The only thing this kit is going to help survive is the person selling them.
There are more small animals running around out there than large animals. And small animals are best caught with real small game snares.
There is a reason Aircraft survival kits in the Yukon and Alaska are required to have real snares and not the roll of BS trip wire.
THIS is what you need to stay alive
I have switched ALL my “save my own ass” kits to these made by Dakota Line. They are the ULTIMATE small game snares. I’vereviewed them, I’ve set them, I’ve spent my money on them.
Not this
Colored trip wire is great if you want to feel tactical. Personally Id rather be alive but that just me.
You need to learn how to get out and use these. And it doesn’t matter where you live to learn. In suburbia set some snares in your yard.
You’ll catch the neighbors cat, but you’ll learn.
You will also learn how to hide the evidence as well when Fluffy doesn’t come home.
Cordage
I’ve seen everything from Kite string to Spectra coiled up and stuffed into kits.
That’s so awesome. Spectra. You cant cut it, cant use it for anything but its awesome.
From
http://www.novabraid.com/rope/material/spectra.html
“Ultra-High molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibers yield very high strength and cut resistant ropes often facilitating replacement of steel cables at one tenth their weight. Novatec Braids specifies Spectra©900 Yarn from Honeywell for construction of its high performance ropes Polyspec, Novalite HP, Spectec and Weighted Fast Rope. Spectra© 1000 is also available for special higher tensile applications. Able to withstand extremely high visco-elastic strain and high-load strain rate velocities, this unique fiber is simultaneously light enough to float, exhibits extraordinary resistance to water, UV light and chemicals. Choose Spectra rope for your high performance fishing and marine rope applications. ”
What kind of a nut job would put cordage in a kit to keep you alive, you cant cut?
Real 550 cord
Yes guys, 100 feet coiled and kept in your kit gives you 700 feet of cordage. You pull out the guts and you can build your Taj Mahal in the bush. I’m going to spend my time figuring how to get “UN lost” personally but I still carry at least 100 feet every day.
550 Cord “Recon Roll” for carrying in your pockets without tangling
I also replace every boot lace I own with 550 cord. Don’t be a doofus , carry the cord and at least learn that from me.
Fire Starters
This is a huge array of things, ranging from great to crap and its a race to the bottom in commercial kits.
So lets start with what works that I have and personally use. Don’t like it? Don’t use it? I don’t care, I know what works. Get over it and get real
Carry something actually designed to set something on fire!!!! A new and novel concept isn’t it?
First thing never leaving my pockets is my Butane Lighter.
Every body who asks me intelligent questions eventually gets to the meat of it. What fuel does it use, and how long does it last?
Butane, easily found at most grocery stores.
How long does it last?
I’m not a smoker. I use it for burning threads off new gear and starting fires. I have not filled it in over a year and the fuel level through the window has not changed significantly. It is still full.
Carry it in your pockets so it stays warm, not in your bag. Butane needs to be warm to work. Cant keep it warm?
Back up to my lighter is…….wait for it…
The next thing in my kit is a 15 minute Road Flare.
WHAT? That’s not a real survival kit
Stupid should hurt, but its not going to get me.
Hypothermia destroys your fine motor skills. Shivering sucks. But gross motor skills can still get you a tinder ball of highly flammable materials.
Ball up anything flammable you can find into a mass the size of a basket ball. Have your wood pile of larger dry wood close, and ignite the flare.
Flammable means it will catch fire and burn.
Put the tinder ball on top of it and then pile your larger on that.
Ya got a fire there.
None of the screwing around with a battery and steel wool. No make a fire drill with the 550 cord.
Start a damn fire, and stop screwing around.
Improvising is great in your back yard, it sucks for real.
Knives
My god, buy one you like and get on with life. Please.
Firearms
Buy what you want, get on with life. Again, please. My choice will always be a high quality 22lr pistol and a mix of 80/20 solid to HP ammunition.
Its not a religion with knives and guns. Stop trying to make it one.
Water purification.
I am really going to believe you have some kind of container always. I use the Nalgene or most often now the Kleen Canteen I’ve covered how and why in previous posts.
Honest to god I saw a dropper bottle and chemical for $15.95 on a site recently. It did come with instructions though.
I almost lost it. Sad thing is people were buying it.
Heres 24 bottles
The Chemical, the secret ingredient?
Bleach
Its in your laundry room. Ask your wife, GF, 12 year old Daughter. Who ever. And instructions?
2 drops in clear water, 4 in dirty water, per quart. Let it sit for 15 minutes.
There. Send me $15.95
Do you feel ripped off? Safer?
I want to cry sometimes with the things in “Survival Kits”
Signaling gear
Have a Search and Rescue Back Up Plan
Wow
This is the stuff amazing me the most.
What is the Ultimate goal here?
You need to get honest with yourself. Do you want a bag of crap or do you want to extract yourself from the mess you are in?
If you want a bag of crap then buy mirrors, smoke grenades and signal flares, marker panels and whatever else in the endless array of BS people package up in the feel good kits.
First thing? Try your cell phone. Climb as high as you can, either a hill or a tall tree and try it. What a concept. If you have any signal at all try a text.
Want to be alive?
Wouldn’t it be a better idea to actually let somebody know you are in trouble? Instead of wondering if anyone is looking for you?
Wouldn’t it be awesome if instead of improvising a signal you actually TALK to someone?
This will let the whole world know you are in a fix you cant get out of and where you are. This is not something to turn on if you are home in your living room.
Look at what people on solo sailing expeditions carry for when it gets real. Its not a mirror or a sparker.
Now, the response I will get from the wack jobs will be, it wont work if the world ends. If the SHTF. TEOTOWAKIE. Yeah what ever. Your tin foil hats wont work either. No body is going to come looking for you if the world ends either.
Morons
Then when the world is coming to help you need to talk to them
And that’s a dedicated no shit Aviation band radio. Not a Beofeng one size fits all broken before it leaves the factory POS prepper radio.
Set the radio memory to 2 channels
121.5 VHF
243.0 VHF- Military
As it was explained in a previous post
The first option is a PLB, the way these work is when activated, they transmit a signal at 406 MHz to a satellite (requires unobstructed view of the sky). The satellite fixes your location and this is all monitored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and also by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC). Because you have your PLB registered with NOAA, they know who you are and will activate search and rescue (SAR). The satellite fix only gets them within a couple miles of your position so the PLB also sends out a homing signal on VHF frequency 121.5 MHz (known to pilots as Victor Guard Freq).
This is about your life not about a bag of crap “just in case this is good enough”.
IF you buy a radio, because you want to live through your little off pavement trip, do NOT buy the Lion battery rechargeable version.
You want the AA version or the accessory battery pack. Why? Are you kidding? The AA batteries are easy, cheap and don’t require you to carry or maintain a charger.
What I use, for all my radios to make sure they work.
I carry 2, 20 packs in my radio bag. Yes that’s a lot of batteries. Rotate them every 6 months or so, and get new ones.
And FINALLY
A sat phone. You need the pre paid sim card as well. Don’t be an idiot, get it. And another battery or the AA battery tray accessory.
You need your list of phone numbers for the area of the world you are in as well for the appropriate rescue people. Also how about medical evacuation insurance?
http://aerocare.com/air_ambulance_services/
Yup, why not make it a real survival kit that actually gets the SAR guys out of bed and into the air to get you.
Too many people have a romantic notion about living in the bush for years like Castaway or Real Survival TV shows.
What a load of crap. Get yourself rescued not prove you are Daniel Boob.
Romanticism is for weekend trips not staying alive. This is not about prepping fantasy.
Being truly proactive in your lifestyle means more than a bag of space blankets and fish hooks. Its about using the most effective means available and not handicapping yourself with outdated notion of “survival”
I know for sure, when you are standing outside the airplane or boat wreckage my kit is what you’ll wish you had packed, not the pre packaged kit full of crap you bought on ebay.
The Ultimate Survival Kit
