Rethinking a Personal Survival Kit
View this post on Hive: Rethinking a Personal Survival Kit
7 years ago in #outdoors by eturnerx (64)
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I have post with more VIC videos, but I want to ask youabout something else. Do you lease SP? I scanned through the comments in your posts..
I'll check out the SAK post.
I used to lease SP via private arrangements but now I'm exiting that market by running out the leases I currently have. I hit some issues with some leasees and I'd rather have MinnowBooster and their #abuse reporting channels deal with that.
I do still lease via the MinnowBooster DLM; but I have a policy of no-side-arrangements. Basically, when I have spare SP, I go to the DLM and take the leases from the top of the market by APR.
MinnowBooster is too expensive for me. Thanks for the info.
Just to emphasise one of your excellent points which so many people dont understand or believe.
Always carry a tube of superglue. Its not medical grade but in an emergency
it could seal an otherwise unsealable wound and save your life.
Thanks for a great article. What makes it great is that so many articles of this ilk are just silly lists. You give reasoning and indepth explanation.
Best wishes and i hope you never have to use it!
superglue - thats a good suggestion. Something that can save life!
You're right about the superglue. I really thought hard before I relegated it to the car first aid kit. The reason is that the 2ml tube isn't really enough for anything that a pressure bandage can't handle and Celox (if you can afford it) deals with more types of wounds and I have other ways to bind and stabilise wounds. I would definitely be adding superglue to a group first aid kit, or to an extended kit for a longer trip where my base camp car isn't so close.
man that is some serious thought you put into that. I never even heard of The Personal Locator Beacon before reading this.
PLBs apparently come from life-boats and small marine vessels that might not have long-range radios. Recently advances in miniaturisation mean they're now man-portable in a not too inconvenient package. The real pros carry the PLB on their person just in case they get separated from their kit. I opted for carrying mine like this because I'm less likely to forget it this way.
Good post, after 4 months in steemit I found post dedicated to EDC and survival ... hah :)
I am fen of victorinox and have some modded knifes.
Regards
Thanks for the link - I will check it out. I'm a big fan of Victorinox knives too. I have at least four, but I don't yet have the perfect one. As you can see, my PSK went with Victorinox because, although tiny, I know it won't let me down when I really need it.
Haha thank you. To keep yor post, my links are gone now...
What a sensational list of items. I do a fair buy t of hunting, and while it’s a relatively controlled environment for me, a kit like this would still be invaluable. Awesome.
I glad you found the list interesting. Though, please do adapt it for your own risks, climate, skills and activity. Happy hunting.
steady..
very complete equipment for survival.
do you often pass through survival?
Actually, I try to see potential survival situations coming and avoid them instead. So, I can talk about several dicey situations but none of them were a survival situation - thankfully. But, you never know; a slip or a fall or getting lost and suddenly you're in a survival situation.
I always include a Bic lighter or three in any kit. I wrap the lighter with Duck tape, maybe 6 feet, any mpore and the lighter gets too thick.
I'm with you on the duct tape! So many uses. I'll have at least 1 mini bic and a ferro rod in the PSK. That's minimum: i'll normally have a couple more lighter in my regular kit too. Duct tape makes decent tinder if shredded.
Everyone needs a good bugout bag, safety kit, and plan. Not just as a crazy prepper, but for all the weird shit life my throw at us.
Re shelter options. If you include a wad of twine, heavy nylon or hemp stuff is better than cotton that falls apart when wet, high tensile strength fishing line could serve here, you wont need stakes, you can corner tie your shelter material (poncho, tarp, trash bag, etc) to trees or even some rocks to make "stake" points. I've done it.
Tell us about the Cantonese lady, that sounds like a good story, and I have a sneaky suspicion I know where it goes, maybe?
Speaking of the fishing line, anyone heard of those survival bracelets made of that military grade line, which unravels a few meters? Some come with extra features like a whistle, flint lighter, mini knife etc.
The paracord bracelets are available for sale almost everywhere. It's not really enough stuff for my risks/needs. But, better than nothing provided the wearer isn't overconfident about what those kits will provide.
You're correct. I did wonder if there was enough cord in the kit. I have the monofilament thread and can gut the type 4 paracord (275lb) if I need to. My shelter kit includes long guy lines for exactly this use. In this particular case the shelter was situated for the views and so there were no tie points around - not even clumps of grass.
The Cantonese speaking lady in Vietnam is one of those human connections you have if you travel and don't rush about. What made this one remarkable is that I had some followup five years later to see how things had gone for her.
Paracord in the form of a survival bracelet, that's what I meant.
Ah I thought it might be someone closer to you. ;) Good call on the lines...
I'm going to go Google the Personal Locator Beacon. I'm curious about how much it costs initially, whether or not there is ongoing fees, and generally how it works, as in, whether someone always listening for a distress signal or is it only helpful after someone is missing you.
I always enjoyed short walks in the woods, stuff almost any age and fitness level can handle. I became terribly frightened after getting lost for several hours with my sister and young daughter. I still don't understand how we managed to get lost and cannot explain it. That itself is frightening. It was a rough experience because we had no intention to "hike" and had nothing at all with us. The worst part was the fear though and that has lasted over a decade now. I've hiked with a group a few times, which is a pretty good solution for me, considering my fitness level and lack of expertise. However, the fear of going into the woods by myself, anywhere past visual contact with the road seems more like a phobia than something to truly be afraid of. This was reinforced last year when a co-worker got lost and died of exposure last year. She wasn't far from the path when she was finally found but had somehow died in some shallow water, likely in the dark after being lost just the first day.
A PLB is worth it if you can afford it. AFAIK there are no ongoing fees, but your particular location might have rescue fees if you use the beacon. The beacon communicates with satellites to a global centre that then sends your details off to both the national centre where you registered the beacon and to the national centre where the beacon went off. When I registered the beacon I supplied the contact details of a few people. These are the same people I tell my plans to when I go somewhere. The signal includes your GPS coords down to a hundred metres if the GPS can get a good fix. This particular model also has a radio pinger to allow rescuers to zero in on you once they get close. That's super awesome if you go non-responsive after activating the beacon.
It is frightening being lost and much easier to do than people realise. I sorry to hear about your colleague. Exposure is a massive killer in the outdoors here too. I've been changing my outdoors clothes to wool baselayers and including some warming solutions. In this particular kit there is a tea-light candle. Light that sucker, place it in the canteen cup and then put that canteen cup between your legs and sit under the poncho. It's surprisingly warm!
My own lost story is on steemit: Lost in the dark, mistakes were made.
Good read!
One more thing about beacons. Apparently there's a new kind of Beacon called a SPOT that allows you to send short text messages with a location ping. That message goes to a website and I think emailed to people you nominate. It also has a distress mode. I think you have to pay a subscription fee.
Our rescue services don't yet recommend these devices over a SPOT. Though any beacon is better than no beacon.
I think the solution for me is to stick with group hikes in well marked areas. It would be unwise to rely on a beacon at this point, it would be a false sense of security and a disservice to whoever has to come rescue my dumbass, lol. It would be better for me to build skill and confidence in a safe/controlled way. I would be irresponsible to get myself into trouble on a whim to face my fear. Better to prove to myself that I'm committed by learning how not to get lost, then decide to look into beacons before testing myself. I'd feel ridiculous setting the thing off 100 yards from the road.
My approach too. I don't want to burden anybody either.