Hello everyone, this is my first post on the forum.

I'm working on assembling a whitewater kayaking survival kit. The two major limiting factors on the kit are money (I'm a broke college student), and storage space in my kayak. My kayak is rather small, so my goal is to fit everything into a 5-liter drybag.

I already carry 50 ft. throw rope, a serrated knife, and a whistle on my lifejacket. I also have a 1-liter steel water bottle in my boat.

What I plan on having in the kit so far:

Short (5 1/4")ka-bar knife
Signal mirror
Bic lighter
Spark-lite
Wetfire tinder
Hat
Water purification tablets
30ft. Paracord
Small flashlight
Compass
Folding saw or pocket chainsaw
Small first aid kit
Duct tape

The obvious items that are not in this kit so far are shelter and insulation. I kayak March - November in Idaho, so there's the potential for 20-degree nights. Most options I've seen for shelter and insulation are either very bulky, or very expensive. Does anyone have recommendations?

I also don't have any dedicated food procurement tools. We'll be on known rivers, with expected return times - so I'm mostly worried about a 1-2 night wait for SAR to come get us!

Are there any items I need to add to this kit, or any items I should leave out?

You need to add some food
Trail Mix
Datrex Food Bars
Granola Bars
anything small and light weight


My .02

Mike

Hi, your kit looks good to me.
Since it´s for whitewater kayaking I would keep the kit light. But it depends on your boat and your style.

My suggestions so far:

- a small candle
- a magnesium firestarter
- Tinder-Quik tinder
- several small fatwood sticks
^^(I wouldn´t count on the Wetfire only. It can fail.)
- a map
- small backup knife

As for the shelter, you could improvise something using survival foil blanket, paracord and branches.

If you avoid bulk and expense for warmth and shelter, you will depend on your fire and your field improvised shelter, which can work just fine.

Be sure you have a good fleece or wool sweater (worn underneath your kayak shell, which i assume you have). See if you can fit in a heetsheets bivy bag and a balaclava helmet or watch cap along with gloves. Since you will be around a fire, wool might work better than fleece, although I personally prefer fleece.

I would suggest at the least a couple of disposable ponchos and some mylar blankets. They are cheap, not bulky and would do a lot to stop you from dying of exposure, which would be your greatest threat in a wilderness situation once you get on dry land. The mylars and ponchos could be completely submerged and still offer lifesaving insulation and protection from the elements. A small Esbit stove and a pot to cook in, add some dehydrated soups, cocoa or other hot beverages to warm your core from the inside as well as some high fat, high energy foods. Chocolate and Spam come to mind... Keep the furnace burning and keep the wind and water from chilling you and you may not be completely comfortable, but you will be alive

Good idea on the multiple tinders, Raptor. I'll see if I can order some tinder-quik when I get my sparklite.

I will have fleece layered under drytop/drypants during the colder months. It may not be enough during a cold, night though - especially since a night on the riverbank will probably start with a swim! I'll look into grabbing a couple heetsheets bivy bags.

I'll look into the Esbit stove, too. I'm not sure if I'll have enough room for stove and a pot, but I may head down to REI with my drybag and see how well it fits! Does anyone know how well stainless steel water bottles hold up to direct heat? I wouldn't expect any issues, but you never know....

I'm not sure what I'll end up doing for food. Since we're unlikely to be out for more than a day or two before SAR shows up, it isn't really essential. I hadn't thought about its advantages for keeping warm though. I'll see if I can get some granola bars or quality protein in my drybag. The biggest issue will be finding food that will survive the temperature swings - it gets pretty warm here in the summer.

...also consider what you will have on your person/ PFD. what can you zip into pockets?

TRO

I'd also go with a much lighter knife than the kbar.

I'd pack extra batteries for the flashlight if possible. You never really know when SAR can get you or you need to break camp in a hurry at night (or on nights). Improvising a torch would just add to your problems.

My question is what would you do if there was no SAR--you seem to be relying on that.

I have a knife for on the water - a serrated Gerber that clips to the outside of my lifejacket.

I went with the ka-bar as one of the cheapest fixed-blade knives that I trust to hold up to batoning through wood. The 5 1/4" version also fits in my drybag without taking up too much space.

Good point on fitting stuff in my pockets. I'll plan on sticking a spark-lite and some tinder in a pocket. I also have some waterproof tape and bandages in there for blisters, but doubt I can fit much more in. My lifejacket has very limited pocket space.

I'll toss my water bottle into a fire on my next camping trip - make sure it holds up before I'm depending on it!

I don't (yet) do kayaking, but I would consider a layered approach: Some basic items (fire starter, knife, space blanket or trash bag or whatever equivalent, granola bar, whistle, compass) always on your person. Not more than you can carry comfortably in your pockets, west or whatever arrangement you prefer.

You may be unable to retrieve your kayak and the kit in it, either because you've become separated or because you don't have the strength. You should still be able to huddle up somewhere without freezing to death, get a fire going and so on.

If you can wrap yourself in some plastic - ANY plastic - you've just eliminated heat loss due to evaporation, which is not a small thing when you're completely soaked in water. You've also improved heat loss due to convection, although not by very much.