Hello everyone. Valentines Day draws near. At our house that means the Heart Ball is soon to occur. This is the major local fund raiser for the American Heart Assoc. which is one of the charities which we support. I think DW and I are permanently on the steering committee. For the silent auction portion, I have been asked to put together “a survival thing” (how would they know I might be able to?). After some thought this is what I’ve got so far, pretty much assembled from stock on hand. The pack is pretty full, little room for additions. The target audience is “muggles”. Our largest disaster risk is the nearly yearly winter power outage due to ice storms, a small risk of tornadoes, and we will be on the fringe of excitement when the New Madrid fault slips. Any thoughts or comments welcome.



Basic 72 Hour Bag

Water
- 2 HDPE 32oz Nalgene bottles
- 30 Micropur purification tablets
- 12 assorted drink mixes


Lighting
- Rayovac lantern
- 8 AA batteries
- 2 Mini Maglites

First Aid
- Imodium A-D
- Bendadryl
- Tylenol Extra Strength
- Advil
- Pepto-Bismol
- Carmex lip chap
- 6 Betadine Solution Swab Aid
- 4 Medi-Pak BZK Antiseptic Towelette
- 36 Band-aids (assort.) (including fingertip & knuckle)
- SAM Splint (large)
- roller gauze
- 4 inch elastic bandage
- temp. dental filling kit
Food
- 12 assorted MREs
- assort. Seasonings, single servings (Tabasco, red pepper, salt, pepper, chef seasoning & parmesan cheese)
- 2 sporks
- 12 MRE heaters

Misc.
- 2 pairs of leather gloves
- 6 vinyl gloves
- 2 space blankets
- 2 N-95 masks
- match case with waterproof matches
-1 DR PSK
-1Mini-Bic lighter
-1 Leatherman KICK
-72 ct. cloth wipes

Radio
- Eton fr-400 (Crank charge, has cell-phone charger)

Documents
- The Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness and Travel Medicine by Eric A. Weiss, M.D.
- When All Hell Breaks Loose by Cody Lundin
- Ready.gov Family Preparedness Plan
- MRE lifespan sheet
- Data sheets for Benadryl, Immodium, Motrin,& Tylenol.


Pack
- Lowe Alpine South Peak 30

Hi Marduk,

Nice Kit, I would surely bid on such an item in an auction.

Mike

P.S. Congrads to you and your wife for supporting such a worthy cause that touches us all.

Maybe something to heat water in? A coffee can would be better than nothing...

I would add a stack of 4by4 gauze, two or three 5by9 surgical dressings, more roll gauze, and at least two 3" elastic bandages. Also I would add at least two triangle bandages. Lots of uses for those.

Bandages can be vacuum packed. Either the food kind or the grocery store one you use a Hoover on. this saves a lot of room. Bandages weigh very little.

I would slip in a couple of single-dose packages of aspirin. Could save a life in a heart attack situation. Small light, multi-use and possible very important earns a place in my kit.

The MREs are good but they are bulky. This is short-term survival not camping for fun. If you repackage them to remove the extraneous items and some side dishes you save weight and bulk. You might also substitute energy bars for at least a meal a day.

I have used various battery powered lanterns and I wasn't impressed. I shifted to one of the multi-wick long-lasting candles. Good light, a source or warmth and limited cooking or food warming ability. Add a few packs of instant coffee, cocoa, and tea. Hot drinks fight off hypothermia, warm the spirits and keep you alert and/or calm and hydrated. Water that is boiled for such drinks can often go without chemical treatment. There is some fire hazard but common sense keeps the risk low.

I would add a couple of large garbage bags. They are makeshift bivy bags, rain or chemical ponchos, sacks to carry other stuff, emergency latrines, and can be slit up a side to make a small shelter.

Just a few thoughts.

Good kit, well thought out.

Ideas:

Heating/cooking vessel (as mentioned previously). A 1-2 quart/liter stainless steel pot is always worth having, and you can drink from it directly.

Meds such as aspirin should include an expiry date, since IIRC expired stock can cause problems. Not sure about water purification tabs, but they probably lose potency after x years.

Generic sewing kit?

Deck of cards or two?

Paramedic shears? (People are more familiar/comfortable with scissors for many tasks.)

A couple of roll-up polyester fleece blankets?

A roll of first-aid tape and a roll of electrical tape?

- - - - -
P.S., Applause for giving time and effort in support of a good charity.

Nice ideas.....from a 'legal aspect' (I do not have any 'legal' training, but have seen what attorneys can do)...I would suggest leaving out any medicine......Yes I know that these are probably people that can 'take care of themselves' to some degree (hopefully above the average person), but (as dougwalkabout also stated) the expiration 'thing' could make for some, albeit minor, inconvienences. If they are 'that' able to take care of themselves then they probably already have something at hime that they would eagerly put into the kit......If they are 'just getting started' in preparedness....then they might not use the meds with the best way. Just my 2c, but still that is a great kit.....I'd love to have it.

These might be a few useful additions.

Zip ties
Cordage(550 cord)
Tarp
Goggles or Safety Glasses
Notebook

Are the lantern & Mag-lites LED?

Thanks for the responses.


Art_in_FL: I’ve added several surgical dressings and roller gauze. Actually there are some aspirin also in already (I dictated and 10 year-old DD typed, we missed a couple items.).
The MREs are just entrees, not full MREs.
The lantern is battery powered, not my first choice, butprobably better for the target audience (easier and safer).
Trash bags. Good thought. Now in.
Not really any room for effective stove, “Pepsi can” stove isn’t probably a great option without experience using it.


dougwalkabout: re: stove & vessel: see above (I’ve asked some ofthe target audience, anything short of a Coleman stove makes ‘em nervous & no room for that).
Tag on the outside with expiration dates noted and MRE production date
Cards, shears, tape & tape added.
Really no room for blankets.
Sewing kit, I’ll have to look for one.


CJK: All the meds are OTC & if you took them all at once you probably wouldn’t hurt yourself, The expiration dates are on a tag on the outside. Believe me, in my field I’m acutely aware of lawsuits, but sometimes you have to trust to common sense (unfortunately not all that common it seems)and do what seems appropriate. I have put official data sheets for the drugs in the kit. {shrug}


trooper366: Zip ties, 550 cord now in.
Tarp – not really any room
Goggles or Safety Glasses – good thought, will have to
get some
Notebook – extra pages in the “book” (not exactly
“Blast’s Big Book”, but a start)



UTAlumnus: no, what I had on hand.

BigDaddyTX: Yes, thanks.
MREs – just entrees.
I’m trying to balance some instruction without overwhelming.



Thanks again everyone. It’s still a work-in-progress. I have until 16 Feb PM to complete.

I'm tempted to use the old line: "Ain't no cure for stupid". But your probably right that most people wouldn't have a clue.

Not so much because they are stupid as that thinking about survival is just not something they do very often. Their lives are full of making a living, getting the kids off to school, cooking and cleaning. In other words, doing all those things necessary to survive in normal times. They go to bed exhausted and get up tired and do it all over again. Their plate is full.

Ideally a person would get some training on what was in the kit and how it all might be used to deal with various situations. A pamphlet explaining it might help but when your nervous and worried in the middle of a situation is not the best time to start learning unfamiliar concepts. But it may be the best you can manage.

That said I have found that people can often surprise you and find effective and creative uses for stuff. It is certain that if they don't have it to work with they aren't going to use it.

Within reasonable limits of bulk and weight more is generally better than less. A band-aid is good if you cut a finger. But a band-aid is nearly useless if the person has serious bleeding. From the other end you can cut the corner off a 4x4 piece of gauze and hold it in place with a piece of duct tape. Making an effective band-aid.