I agree with the above posts --more 'basics,' fewer tools.

You might start with a kid sized pack (w reflective tape!) wpacked ith a light jacket and room for a 1/2 sized water bottle. Then attach the whistle permantely to the zipper fob, ditto with a coin cell type flashlight.

Warmth : you may add disposable Hand warmers ....

Thanks for the advice, everyone. We came back from our camping trip. The firesteel worked amazingly well -- my son got the the hang of it and started our campfire with it. (Although it does make a difference if you strike using the UP side of the metal drag. Nor sure why.) So that was an unqualified success. Even my wife is telling her friends how well that worked. We used the campsite fire ring, so we still have to practice using an "in-the-forest" made-up fire pit, so he'll know not to burn the forest down.

The original items I picked were definitely more appropriate for an adult than a child. I was thinking this would be something he could grow into, but of course there's no reason not to add to or supplement as he gets older and more capable. D'oh.

The MKZ "saw" sucked. It made great sawdust powder, but it took ten minutes for them to cut down about 1 1/2" and they gave up before I had to tell them to. I guess it would be better than nothing if you had no other choice, but just barely, and not for a kid. Gone even before I read your advice.

Here's what I'm taking away from your advice:

1. I've visited the Hug-A-Tree page and the Childrens Survival kit page and will incorporate those ideas.

2. The paracord, saw, space blanket and most of the FAK is gone. From the FAK, I'm leaving some bandaids, bug bite wipes, the ointment and the Benedryl/inhaler I added. And I'll put some MP1 tabs in, but we're going to try them first. The stuff I'm taking out can always be added back later if desired.

3. I'm adding the tinder (he knew to look in his pockets for lint -- we had watched Survivorman together. How's that for impressive?!) and the bandanna. I'll work on an instruction card and laminate our picture to the other side of it.

4. The reflective tape is a neat idea.

5. In hindsight a small backpack would be more useful. I'll stick with the fanny packs for now just because we already have them. He wore his seemingly OK but if it were lighter/less full, I'm certain he'd be happier about it.

6. Put food in.

I'll write back with a picture of the results and the instruction card writings asap.

Thanks for the after-action report. Good to see what worked and what didn't.

If you're looking for something to replace your saw, I've had really good luck with the Gerber/Fiskars Sport Saw. I got several of these years ago, and have one in each car and one in the garage.

Gerber Fiskars Sports Saw

Very aggressive teeth, stores well inside the very hard plastic/resin handle, and it's a very handy size. Only weak points I see to it is that you use that orange nut to tighten the blade into place feels like it may someday fail to snug down, or perhaps strip threads if used too roughly, and I take care about bending/flexing the blade too much when I'm sawing. That said, it goes right through branches in the 3-4 inch diameter range, and I've gone through bigger stuff when large branches were downed in my back yard by cutting at an angle to get a wedge out, then sawing straight through the remainder.

Anyway, thanks again for the update, and would love to hear how well the changes work out.

Dave

First draft at a kid's instruction sheet. It doesn't show it in the posting, but all caps and the first line of each numbered paragraph are bolded. Also, I haven't formatted this into a card yet -- I want to get the wording right first. Comments please. -Gary

---------------------------------------------------------------

FROM Mommy & Daddy, if you need it…

1. STOP. Sit down. DON’T PANIC. If you don’t know where we are, and you don’t know where you are, you’re lost. It’s OK – it happens. We wish you weren’t, but you are, and now you have to think and do things to help us get you home safe. FIRST THINGS FIRST: STAY WHERE YOU ARE. Moving around will only get you more lost. WE WILL COME TO FIND YOU. STAY THERE.
2. THINK. Don’t do anything until you’ve thought it through.
3. OBSERVE (LOOK AROUND). How long before it gets dark? Is it cold, hot, or OK? Are you thirsty or hungry? What do you have with you that you can use?
4. PLAN. Until we come to find you, what can you do to help wait? Without walking around, what can you do to help us hear and see you?
5. Am you hurt? Use band-aids, wipes and ointment to clean and cover cuts and scrapes.
6. If it’s cold, stay warm. Put on your hat, gloves and jacket – whatever you may have. But don’t let yourself sweat – sweat can make you colder. Use the poncho and hand warmer to cover up and keep warm.
7. Blow on your whistle. Three shorts blows – WHISTLE WHISTLE WHISTLE tells anyone that hears, that you’re lost and need help. (Don’t blow three whistles unless you’re lost!)
8. If it’s sunny, use the signal mirror. Aim through the hole so that the flash "dances" on the plane in the sky or off in the distance.
9. Save your food and water for as long as you can. Once its gone, you won’t have any more until we find you, so try to make it last.
10. If there is water nearby, you must not drink it unless you know its clean. Fill your water bottle up and then put ONE water pill in it. WAIT AT LEAST ONE HOUR BEFORE YOU DRINK IT.
11. If it begins to rain, cover yourself with your rain poncho. Zip up your clothes, and try to get under as much cover as you can to stay dry. But if you do get wet, don’t worry -- you’ll be OK, You can dry off afterward.
12. We may not find you until after it gets dark. If that happens, you’ll have to stay where you are in the dark. It’s OK. Stay covered under your poncho, as warm as possible. If you’re still cold, you can stuff leaves into your jacket and pants to add more insulation. Noises you hear are just that – noises. So try not to let them spook you. And you might want to make a fire…
13. How to make a fire:
a. Clear a flat area of ground. Take all the branches, leaves, rocks, everything away so nothing will burn unless you want it to. We don’t want to start a forest fire! Look up to make sure there are no low-hanging tree limbs.
b. If you can find some rocks nearby, gather them and make a fire ring in the center of the cleared area. Try not to use wet rocks – the heat can make them explode!
c. Gather as many dead branches and fallen pieces of wood as you can, at least two arm-loads. Don’t pull branches off the trees unless you have to. You’ll need two types – stuff like dry brown leaves that you can use to get the fire going, and heavier, thicker branches that will keep the fire going for a while.
d. Build it into a pile in the middle of your fire ring. Push some of your tinder under the pile, and use your firesteel to start the fire. Slowly feed it wood. Once you’ve run out, you won’t have a fire until you can find more wood, so do your best to keep it going as long as possible. You may have to gather
10 to 12 armloads of branches to last the night. It doesn’t have to be bright and super-hot to be a good fire.
e. Don’t breathe in the smoke. Be careful not to dangle your clothes too close to the fire – you don’t want them to catch on fire.
f. When it’s light again, make sure the fire’s out as best you can.
g. AND ALWAYS – DON’T FORGET – IF YOU"RE NOT CAREFUL YOU CAN GET BURNED. So BE CAREFUL!
14. Keep looking at our family picture. WE ARE COMING TO FIND YOU. Don’t lose hope, and stay safe.

digi -- nice start. My first impression is that its way too lon. You are trying to teach on this card - instead you should be trying to get the kid not to panic and stay in one place. That's it.

teacher

My rough edit below


STOP. Sit down. .

STAY WHERE YOU ARE.

WE WILL COME TO FIND YOU. STAY THERE.


6. If it’s cold, stay warm. Put on your hat, gloves and jacket – whatever you may have. But don’t let yourself sweat – sweat can make you colder. Use the poncho and hand warmer to cover up and keep warm.

7. Blow on your whistle. Three shorts blows – WHISTLE WHISTLE WHISTLE tells anyone that hears, that you’re lost and need help. (Don’t blow three whistles unless you’re lost!)


11. If it begins to rain, cover yourself with your rain poncho. Zip up your clothes, and try to get under as much cover < my note : 'what does 'cover ' mean to an 8 year old? what you mean to say is ' gst under a tree'>
as you can to stay dry.

Keep looking at our family picture. WE ARE COMING TO FIND YOU. stay right where you are..

love mom & dad ( and barkley the dog)

I'm with teacher. The whole kit that we made up was to encourage the child to stay put, drink water, not get too hot or too cold, and to give them something to do while staying put including actively signally with their whistle, mirror, flashlight, etc.

I also have told our kids since they usually do outdoor stuff in a group that if they get lost, to take turns signalling while they wait in one spot.

Oh yeah, we also tell them to stay put on the trail unless it is dangerous to do so.

I'm working on some cheap kits Aloha, and I read through your previous thread for ideas as well. I've searched and searched, checked my bookmarks and for the life of me can't find this... I'm looking for the $1 LED coin-cell keychain flashlights. They look like a cheapo Photon, but for my purposes, that's plenty. I seem to recall them being sold in lots of 10. Does anyone remember these and have a link?

Thanks!

Check eBay. Many offers like 13 for $10 shipped. Just bought such a lot for presents. Very good quality, continuous and momentary modes.

CountyComm had them.