$10? Water, disposable lighters and newspapers( insulation,shelter and tinder.) Second scenario: $10 worth of rasberry slurpies. Many 7-11 owners in California are Sikhs, a delightfull community that's been here for 4 generations. My friend Singh will raise his eyebrows and stroke his beard. I will walk calmly into the desert and create a large pictograph on the desert pavement of Osama Bin Laden. Within the hour a squadron of A10s will circle menacingly as a helicopter drops several blackclad Rangers near my position. I will be taken into protective custody, my ETS cap turned over to the FBI. Doug will get a phone call at 2A.M. <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

ten bucks, i'm a scrounger, first of all i'd check the dumpster to see if there was anything i could use. i'd be looking for shelter-plastic bags filled with dry trash that can be dumped back in the dumpster-cordage-tape-maybe a sturdy box to make a pack with-"if there are a number of boxes i'd take the tape off of them to make straps for my box pack- maybe some used coffee filters for straining water before i added bleach that i would buy at the store-i'd dump most of the bleach and store what i needed in a cheap candy container-and use the bottle for water-you might get lucky scrounging the candy container-a little bleach will clean it right up-same for the coffee filter- i'd scrounge or buy paper "paper from the dumpster" and pencil so i could make a map from locals that come into the store-most people will be glad to help when you ask "duh whats over there" i'd want to buy a small round container "candy" with a lid to make my improvised compass-i'd buy a roll of toilet paper. you can roll a bit up around two fingers and stuff the top half back into the roll done right you can heat up a can of beans-i'd buy 1 can of pintos and eat them first day and then i've got my cooking pot-one thing i'd have to buy for myself would be some pepper or scrounge a few packs at the food service station in the store-7-11's have a nice condiment selection-it would be worth spending 99 cents on what ever they have that tastes good just to have some "make life easy" goodies-
matches i'd buy or grab a couple of packs at the checkout counter-
here is my list sounds kinda crazy but with my scrounging thats what i'd buy if i could'nt scrounge a large plastic bag out of the trash i'd buy or better still talk the clerk into selling me one of the heavy duty ones that they use in the store-
i wouldn't want to boil my water so i suppose bleach would be the best water treatment-
i have a modified wallet that i use for my personal kit and always have water treatment on my person-"learned my lesson by drinking water from the wekiva river in fla and was sick for three days. i drank water for years from the rivers and streams but learned my lesson back in 1977-
thats when i started with my first kit-my kit started with water treatment and a taylor usanite compass i still use the taylor-
so to end my rant here is what i would buy-i feel confident that grub wouldn't be a problem so basically its water, shelter, fire, and improvised compass
10 bucks will buy that i'm just guessing on 7-11 prices but here it is
bleach 2.00
paper 1.00
pencil .25
knife-3.00
candy .69
candy .69
toliet paper1.00
snack for condiments .99
delete toliet paper and snack if plastic bags are bought

That was great you improvised, just great, I like it. I personally would save the $10 for when I got back and put it into a Roth IRA, so it would grow for 30 years. I would have a similar approach, there is plenty of free things on the side of the road or behind the store to take care of all your needs. You do not need to spend any money even on matches.

Improvise, Great Job

That is great info and something to be concerned about, but what would you buy and why?

I put this up here to get people to think outside of the psk tins, But just for a short time.

Good job!

Survival can be tough but it doesn't have to be expensive.

With all do respect, I do not buy Zoltan's post. I also would be ready willing and able to bet my life on my methods. It would be great to be prepared and have all the right stuff but the PSK is only a part of the solution.

Chris, all I have to say is

HMMM

So that is what is trapped inside a administrators mind tonight.


HMMM,

I agree, water and something for shelter. Those free trash bags would be perfect...

Amd since most 711 type store only sell "designer" water, you ain't gonna get much for $10...

IIRC, that thread contained about 50 posts. Some went one way some the other. there may still be some interesting info in these older posts <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'd buy myself a long-distance phone card.

Then I'd call up my little brother in PA and say "Look, I'm back in the States and I've got five days off to do a survival trip in the Sonoran Desert. How bout you meet me here and bring our gear." Right about now I could really use a few days in the desert! Mac