Hi,
For various reasons I have given up on tin containers for survival kits. many years ago a friend got his tobacco tin kit wet from salt water and it and most of its contents corroded. Of interest is that when it was opened after several years the life boat matches functioned perfectly wheras the metal match had crumbled to dust.
One container that I have devised is formed from tapered shampoo or dishwashing liquid bottles which can be cut down and sleeved as a top and bottom. Select ones that taper toward the top like truncated triangle. Cut off at the desired height and reverse one as the top and slide on. The little Johnson and Johnson baby oil bottle make fine kits. Chinese knock offs seem to have a low melting point and are quite soft.
The other kit box that I like is the yellow boxes from Speer projectiles which can be placed in the pouch of surplus 8mm Mauser military rifle cleaning kits. The final one is the alloy boxes which vaseline guarze used to come in. I have 2, one a 2" sqaure one for my micro kit and a larger one for a pocket kit. Has anyone used the BCB mini messtin box yet? Some people on other forums have made good kits from them
Vin7

Interesting ideas. I like rubbermaid boxes -- lots of sizes, water/ dust proof and mostly see through.

Teacher

I haven't found a plastic container in a size I like to carry.

I still use altoids tins: one for a PSK, one for a FAK, and a smaller round one that contains cotton balls, a chapstick, a slender bic lighter and a spark-lite flint. Each is placed in its own zip-lock bag, and they usually ride in a canvas pouch on the shoulder strap of my briefcase. Sometimes I take them out of the pouch and stash them in separate cargo pockets for a short hike or bike ride.

There is some redundancy - the PSK also has a bic, 10 strike-anywhere matches (wrapped in plastic wrap), a spark-lite and spark-lite tinder, as well as a couple of bandaids and a small pack of antibiotic ointment, and the FAK has scalpel blade in it even though there are utility knife blades in the PSK. Both the PSK and the FAK tins are also wrapped in 6 feet each of nylon cord.

So far they have survived me getting caught out in a soaking rain without the contents getting wet. I haven't tried going for a swim in salt water with them, but I have hopes they'd be OK in that, too.

People seem to like these, they can even hang it around their neck.

the never ending search for a good metal container with
a water proof seal is one of the things that brought me to
this site..oh where--oh where can i find Spam cans??
but--i would say a kit can't sit around for years--you need
to refresh it at least to keep the food bars from going bad.
and if you can't cook in the container then half it's
usefulness if gone..

Frank, that's the best bet. Metal containers are better than plastic for a great many things. If something must be dry, ziplock bags around the outside of it. If you kit is small enough, you then stuff it in a sock; it is is large enough, a watch cap. That gives you some thermal layer, protects the bags from abrasion, and keeps it from going "clank" when you bump into something.

I like the multi-purpose aspect of a metal container.

I am afraid container serching has become an addiction for me, I often care more about the container than the product inside.

In decades past many things came in great metal containers but these are now considered antiques and are high priced.

I recently found a nice hinge-top metal box at a gun show that was a military (Chinese?) rifle cleaning kit (cost $3 with the crude cleaning supplies), perfect size for a mini-kit (about 50% bigger than an Altoid Tin). Still working on this kit (really twin kits, for my son and I), I think it will be a PSK in a metal container plus other everday carry items all within a cordura belt pack. It will mostly be used for remote hunting, fishing and exploring.

Fancy chocolate shops are other good places to find tins but they are more expensive, and often have fancy pictures on them (my last ones has fairies painted on it).

I placed an DR/AMK PSK in my work coat pocket today after adding a folding Gerber knife, mini bic, matches, Micropur tabs, bandaids, alcohol wipes and a mini LED light. Thinking now I should of added a plastic bag also as there is nothing to hold water in to treat with the Micropur, DUH. First time I have carried a PSK not in a metal container.

Later,

Mike

The Q-tips purse pack is very light.

http://www.qtips.com/products.php

How about the shell of a Adventure Medical Ultralight First Aid Kit or something similar. They have a tough zip lock type interior bag and an outer zip nylon bag.

I personally like the aluminum Trangia mess tin with the handle. It can carry all the basic stuff, like Doug's PSK, fire starters of several kinds, a very thin painter's drop cloth (use as an emergency poncho or to waterproof a shelter), a few batteries and a small light, a McNett survival straw, cordage, etc. Plus you can cook in it. It fits snugly inside a standard ammo pouch that holds 3-30 rd. M-16 magazines. You can wrap electrical tape around the seam between the top and bottom (it's not watertight) and wrap your duct tape around it in the opposite direction.