I have friends allergic to various plants, so they always bring anti-histamines. On a trip to "mosquito hell country", we found out the hard way that having sufficient number of mosquito stings will cause your body to react to those stings: They swell and become quite more painful than usual, and you may even have "fewer shivering". For the most unlucky guys we're talking several hundred stings per person... First they washed off all mosquito repellent with an involuntary swim in the river, then they spent an hour in bug infested vegetation fixing their canoe... Luckily, one of them figured this was quite similar to his allergic reaction to whatever plant he's sensitive to, and administered some anti-histamine. Quite effective.


Anti-histamine is also great for preventing or at least lessen hangovers, which is one of those things allergic people usually learn pretty quick.

I have actually noticed this effect too. After a LOT of mosquito bites, I sometimes feel a little 'jiggy'. This is rare because I take precautions against bug bites. I have built up some immunity to the histamine effects of bites and stings from a lifetime of being in the northwoods, but my DW who I imported from points south, is not so lucky.

I believe that in the episode where Les is in a simulated airplane crash he catches a rabbit and cooks and eats it.

08 "Plane Crash" May 25, 2005 (2005-05-25)
Les simulates survival as a plane crash survivor in Temagami, Ontario in the winter, simulating a broken arm.

HJ

Not a bad idea, but recall that I'm making a list that consists of successive sets of 10 items per set. There's no end to helpful things that one might bring along. The real question is: What in one of the first sets of 10 do you eliminate to make room for an air horn?

Everyone's making solid suggestions, but where does it fit in to the list in terms of priority?

HJ

And some very practical and good ones I might add.

I'm going to part company with you here and step out on a bit of a limb. The conventional wisdom is that one should place water treatment capability up fairly high on the list. For me, water treatment just barely makes my top thirty coming in just about last out of thirty.

Why? What's the #1 threat in N. America? Giardia. What's the gestation period of giardia? Two to three weeks. Recall that I'm building a kit for a 72 hour scenario. Giardia might get me a couple of weeks after I've gotten out of the mess, but dehydration might kill me that very day. In a pinch, I'd drink untreated water.

Would I rate water treatment so low outside of N. America? No! Nor would I rate water treatment so low in urban survival scenarios (e.g. after an earthquake). But for a 72 hour survival scenario in a N. American wilderness area, water treatment falls very low on my list. Water itself ranks high, but treating that water ranks low.

HJ

Fair enough- when you're talking 10 items you have to draw the line somewhere. Yet purification tablets are extremely compact and pretty inexpensive. Even a small vial of household bleach will kill most stuff. You're absolutely right that dehydration is a much greater danger than water-born pathogens but what if you're not rescued right on cue at 72 hours? Or what if you get get the runs after 36 hours?

Again, I don't so much disagree with your ranking so much as I'd consider fudging it and stretching it to 11 items if need be.

When ever I see different survival lists, I like to relate them to someones experience.

An example is the "saga" of James Kim from California. Evaluate your list relative to his death and proceed.

If you are fortunate to have some personal experiences, than the list is more than academic.

* Died while searching for the Lost Dutchman Goldmine.

* Died on Mt Hood - any one of many will do.

* Died in your home when the elevator stuck.

* Died in your home during a home invasion.

* Died in your car under an overpass during the 1985 snowstorm in Colorado Springs.

* Died from a pit bull attack.

* Cut off your arm to get out of a rock climbing accident.

* Cut off your arm to get unstuck from the air conditioning duct.

* Died in Differiential Equations 415 Class at Virginia Tech

You get the idea. Pick your adventure. Look up deaths that occured during that activity in history. How is your list? What would have changed the outcome?

I can think of a few things besides the chapstick that don't make the top 50!

Fair enough, and a good point based on a valid philosophy. The ability to boil water, to me, is versatile enough to include, but your philosophy is sound, for a 72 hour kit is not essential, though, here in the northeast, a cup of hot water/tea can be good for staving off hypothermia or even pouring it into the platypus bag as an impromptu hot water bottle, while at the same time aiding with hydration. Heat/Shelter, Hydration, Signaling, and First Aid should be the priorities of the first 72 IMHO, but it is as always, a matter of taste and environment.

.02

C. Rowe

I will disagree with you both on the priority for water purification, particularly for a 72 hour kit. Within 2 minutes of my doorstep I have Lake Washington - you'd think I have plenty of water in a pinch. While hiking there are not many places this side of the Cascades where you are very distant from a potable water source. However, after an earthquake, Lake Washington will be fouled by a damaged oil pipeline, and also likely by sewage line ruptures - sewer mainline for my neighborhood crosses the Mercer Slough a mile south of here, approximately at the epicenter of the Seattle Fault zone. If that's the case, drinking the water could create bigger issues than giardia. As for purifying water while hiking, the size of MicroPur tablets is miniscule, and if you have had giardia (I have not) you wouldn't want it facing your future, even if your focus was only on the next 72 hours - because the diarrhea etc is prolonged. Potable water and a mechanism to purify it is an essential IMO.

Points well taken. Which is why that purification means IS in the top 30 although it didn't make the top ten.

Based on everyone's input and the ensuing discussion, I've made some revisions/clarifications to the list. I'll post them in bit.

HJ