Survival Essentials in Aloksak (w/pics)...

[bigfoot]

I've been wasting my free time (especially in the winter) for a few years now building homemade survival kits after discovering the ETS website. I really like the "Pocket Survival Pak" designed by survival guru Doug Ritter and have one in my hiking pack.

Looking over my gear pile today I was racking my brains to come up with a lightweight way to cover just the survival basics. It had to be something simple so that anyone could pick it up and figure it out. It needed to be waterproof. It needed to be easily duplicated (2 or more kits). This is what I put together (contents L to R):

* AMK Heatsheet
* Spark-Lite Tinder Tabs
* Light My Fire Mini Firesteel
* BiC Mini Lighter
* Suunto Clipper Compass
* Starflash Signal Mirror
* Fox 40 Micro Whistle
* LRI Photon II Light
(All of the above in a 7"x4.5" Aloksak bag. Total weight is 165g.)

A lot of things are lacking; I didn't include any water purification methods (might put some MP1 tablets in later). There is no blade or sharps (usually on me) or high-powered light (also on me). Just meant to be the bare minimum, with the idea it would be added to a larger kit or pack, or stashed in a pocket.

 

[Chrontius]

Cute. How much do the materials for one of these things cost?

 

[Burgess]

Nice Job !


Gotta' agree, the Equipped-To-Survive website

has loads of great information ! ! !


:thumbsup:

 

[cy]

so... are ya doing a group buy on these?

 

[bigfoot]

Hmm... let's see...

* AMK Heatsheet = About $5
* Spark-Lite Tinder Tabs = About $2
* Light My Fire Mini Firesteel = About $8
* BiC Mini Lighter = About $1
* Suunto Clipper Compass = About $9
* Starflash Signal Mirror = About $5
* Fox 40 Micro Whistle = About $4
* LRI Photon II Light = About $10
* Aloksak Bag = About $2

Estimate total of cost = Roughly $46

As someone pointed out on another forum, this is very close to what AMK (Adventure Medical Kits) sells as their "S.O.L." kit for $25. Personally I think that's a very bad name considering the other common use for that acronym. I've looked at the AMK S.O.L. kit in the store and read a review online. The quality of the components wasn't very impressive at all. They looked flimsy and cheap right through the packaging. That's a complete 180 from the components included in the awesome Pocket Survival Pak, also by AMK.

Heh, I don't think I'll be offering these for a group buy. But for less than $50 you can put one together for yourself or a family member pretty easily. In fact, some of the items are sold in blister packs with multiple quantities, so it should be a little cheaper to build more than one at a time.

A few good places to catch the gear are at Campmor, REI, Sportsman's Warehouse, etc.

 

[Patriot]

Very nice! I like the quality of the components that you're using. Compact but no junk :thumbsup:

I carry a home assembled kit similar to this but a little bit more extravagant. It's about twice the size and sits in the bottom of my small, day pack that rides around in the car with me.