As an I'm-trapped-in-my-home kit, it's seriously lacking. As an I'm-lost-in-the-woods kit, it's pretty good. The greatest weakness i see with the kit as it is is the lack of a knife or any kind of food. I realize calories aren't part of the emergency needs over a 3 day period, but i'd still add an energy bar or two.
I'd go one-up on the bandanna and and replace it with the survival bandanna. equally effective for signaling, tourniquet, etc. with the added bonus of lots of useful info printed on it.
The page says there's only ten inches of nylon cord; i'd carry more, or omit it and carry more paracord.

It is a pretty nice kit.
As far as comparing it to other kits out there; this kit costs $99.95 so it is in a different league in both size and cost of many other kits on the market today. But as I surf the net for kits in a similar price range this one does rise toward the top of the heap.
Bill

Hi all,

Some one let me know that our 72 hour survival kit was listed as a topic on the forum. Thanks to everyone for their comments. I did let a typo through however in the description. I listed the braided nylon cord as 10”; it’s actually 10’. Also, I see that the name could imply a different type of kit. It was designed primarily to be a wilderness kit for day hikers, hunters, campers and the like. Our version of a 72 hour disaster kit for the home or car would likely be quite a bit different.

I struggled with the idea of including a knife but finally determined that a knife or multi-tool is too much of an individual choice and that it would be difficult for us to chose one that would suit most people. We do mention to include one in the concluding paragraph.

Thanks again for the feedback. The ETS forum is a great resource for informed ideas and suggestions.

Best,
Mike
LifeView Outdoors

Yeah... I don't think that that will help you survive 72hours mabye but not easily.

The individual pieces are considerably more substantial that most kits.

But a lot depends on exactly what sort of situation your looking at. You going to be grossly under equipped if your planning to hike out of the deep woods with just what is in this kit. It looks to be a decent start for a vehicle kit for rural areas. It would still need some things:

A couple of 3600cal Mainstay bars would cover the food end.

A decent knife. A Mora would be cheap and appropriate, about $12. Perhaps a Leatherman. It would give you a lot of options in handling that line and wire. I like the Wave but your looking at about $70.

Two large and heavy gauge garbage bags would be nice. They open up a lot of options as rain wear or windproof outerwear, cover, storage sack, ground cloth, float, etcetera.

A lightweight tarp would make that bivy bag a lot more comfortable.

A mesh head net to keep the critters off is a lightweight option and a lot more comfortable on the face than the DEET.

I like the collapsible water bottle but I would want two. Liter size is good as it is handy and most water treatments are dosed for that volume. I would want two bottles so I could be treating one and drinking the second. Also for redundancy. A cheap alternative is to lay in bottled water in the one liter size. This has the advantage of giving you something to work with from jump street. Each bottle will add two pounds full but you have a one day supply for one person on you. A real advantage in my book.

I would also add a tea candle or two for warmth and light.

I would add a couple of single-dose foil packets of diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and Immodium to the first-aid kit. An allergic reaction or diarrhea can be debilitating in a survival situation.

Of course if your adding two liters of water and a tarp and garbage bags and all the rest your going to need a larger bag. A book bag or athletic duffel with a shoulder strap will work.

I think the compass is fine for this use. You just want to know general directions, in a stressful situation people often think they are going the opposite of the direction they think they are, and have enough guidance while hiking to not travel in circles.

Not bad. Not a fan of the matches (external striker is proprietary to the matches, and isn't water proof) or a soft water bottle as the only option. The FAK could use some work. But nothing horrible in it. Add a hard bottle, something to cook in, some food, spare socks and a better compass than the button in the PSP with local maps, and it would be decent for a 72-120 hour woods kit. But is sure isn't what most of us would call a 72 hour kit- boo on the naming.



It isn't hard for a woods kit designed for 72+ hours to beat a kit designed for 24-72 hours and is a quarter the cost and size. It is like comparing a Leatherman to a set of proper pliers and screwdrivers. The PSP and SOL are the former; this is the latter.

I suppose it’s OK if you supplement it with items mentioned above and anything you can think of to add for your specific needs. And replace any item that you feel is not top quality.

I have never been a big fan of pre-made kits as they always seem lacking or loaded with lower quality items then I normally use. I feel much better about a kit when I put one together myself. Pre-made kits do give you an idea of some of the things you should have, just read the list of what is in the kit and then go out and find the items yourself to put in your kit.

Compasses come to mind as an item that lacks quality. Almost every small compass I have seen has an air bubble in it. These never work right; the bubble prevents the disk from sitting level and prevents it from freely spinning. Space blankest are another, some of them are so thin & fragile as to be useless, bordering on dangerous as they will fail when you may need them to keep you alive.

I don’t want to trash this kit as I don’t know the quality of the items in it, but if you do get it, give each item in it a good look and test before you depend on it.

Well, since this is based around Doug's fantastic pocket kit, it looks like a great deal.

I used Doug's pocket kit as a basis for my survival kit and added many of these same components to it.

I haven't bought one of the emergency bivy's, but I do have a AMK heatsheet. I have Doug's edition of the Photon light as well.

As far as water treatment goes, I prefer the Katadyn Micropur tablets over the Aquamira, but that is my choice.

The FAK that comes with it is minimal, but it is the start for a more robust one. I would invest in a better one to add to this kit.

If I haven't already bought most of these components, I would definitely buy this kit.

Def. one of the nicest kits I have seen. However, I would still want to put one together of my own items even if pieced together.

Most likely it would cost less too.

Two major points:

1. Aquamira tabs aren't meant to be used separately of Aquamira filters and, as far as I am aware, are utterly ineffective against both Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Water treatment is, therefore, null.

2. I've heard the striker on plastic tubes for lifeboat matches does not function wet, if you can wrap your head around that. As I myself use a 5 in 1 "survival aid" as a match holder, I can neither confirm, nor deny the above claim.

I'd also like to see an Ultralight 0.3-or-5 AMK FAK instead of what is included, but that's nit-picking.