Fire lighting.
Direction.
Water purification.

The two biggest threats in a short term survival situation are hypothermia and bad water. So in your place I would insist that their tin's contain:
Reliable prepared tinder. That means cotton-pet jelly balls in a zip-loc as you are on limited funds.
A small button compass.
Individual water purification tablets x 6.
6' of light gauge wire.

One other point:
Your 10 essentials should be 12.
Add: Whistle and 25'(5m) of cordage.
If you have enough money left over then get them a $1 "emergency" poncho. Very handy as emergency rain wear and they are superior to trash bags for water proofing a shelter. If you can get bright orange then they can also be used as an S.O.S marker panel.

Come up with household items which you can use for your PSK, then have the scouts and parents collect them. Altoids tins, breast milk bags for water, compact discs for mirrors, string, etc. This will also teach resourcefulness in utilizing commonly found items for survival.
You must also base your kit on the proper priorities. Maintaining body temperature, water, signaling. Younger scouts need to worry about staying alive until found and getting found. Your costs can be reduced with the proper prioritization. I like Jim's suggestion, buy them all a heat sheet to keep in their pocket. Probably the most efficient and effective (and versatile) thing you can get them.
I have my scouts carry a light, whistle, heat sheet and bottle of water. They are taught to stop, remain safe, and get noticed. As they get older, and their adventures are in more remote areas, their needs will change. If they have done the wilderness survival merit badge training, they have a good base of knowledge. The older ones have also had more time to pull together the items for their kits. I do not think you can get a good one together for $5 though.

In my humble opinion $5 is not at all reasonable. You won't find just a decent pocketknife for $5.

My thoughts:

Use the essentials listed the Boy Scout Handbook as the basis for the kits. Have the boys look them up in their books so they see how good a reference the Handbook is.

Typical additional items include a whistle, a plastic signal mirror (also used when Scouts brush their teeth ... hah!?), a large (bright) trash bag, a ferro rod, and some decent synthetic cord.

Teach the boys the characteristics of good/acceptable gear, and even provide sources for the gear, but let them purchase it themselves - where feasible. Making purchasing decisions is part of the Scouts learning/growth process.

Expect them to assemble their kits. Have inspections. Reward them for doing it- maybe with a special cobler party. Repeat this over several campout (more than 2).

Scouting is a process of learning and growth. Help them along that process, but you can't do it for them.

Ken

Hmmm, I just re-read your original post. It sounds like you are trying to use the $5 to supplement the essentials - not to purchase the essentials themselves.

If that is the case, then yes, I think $5/Scout can go a long way.

You can buy real cheap - and fairly decent - whistles at orientaltrading.com (search using IN-20/45) for $2.99/dozen (plus shipping).

Plastic bags are cheap. If you contact your local highway department and tell them this is for Scouts they may give you a bunch of the large orange bags for free.

You can buy cord fairly cheap, depending on your source.

Signal mirrors will cost more, but go to your local dollar store and see if they have some small plastic mirrors. Its easy enough to use a mirror without the targeting sight (see Doug's ETS site for a description). http://www.enasco.com/product/9727797 has them for 75 cents each.

I recently went through a similar exercise with the Girl Scout Troop that my wife leads.

Each kid got:

A small First Aid Kit -- http://countycomm.com/pocketfirstaid.htm

A good whistle -- http://countycomm.com/fox40.htm (this right here is your entire budget, but I wouldn't waste your money on a lesser whistle)

A keychain flashlight -- http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1100

Some cordage -- http://countycomm.com/teather.html (I would have preferred orange paracord http://countycomm.com/550cord.htm)

A contractor bag

The troop leaders got some mylar emergency blankets. I tried to get them to buy Heatsheets, but they cheaped out.


I also conducted a very abbreviated "lost in the woods" course for the girls (wear appropriate clothing and shoes, stay in groups of three or more, make sure the troop leaders know where you are, look behind you on your way out of camp so you'll know what the way back in looks like, S.T.O.P., hug a tree, blow your whistle three times every minute or so).


Mike

Maybe a dumb question, but if they're so fiscally challenged, how do they expect to get much outdoor time? I mean, at the very least a school backpack and water bottle is needed for a dayhike.

Not to be negative (which I know I am being), but if money is that tight for them, do a couple fundraisers before dropping $5/scout. A few carwashes, and you suddenly have $10 or $15/scout.

Are the scouts responsible for their own 10 essentials? If so, then you might be able to cut those items out of your PSK idea - like, they all should have a light and knife on them 24/7 if in the woods.

Heat/cooking/container:
Hobo stove made from coffee can:
http://www.knifeforums.com/uploads/1247846380-hobo01-01.jpg

Firestarter:
Tinder: Petro jelly + cotton balls.

Polished soda can bottom for using solar power to light things on fire (doubles as a mirror):
http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/cokeandchocolatebar/

Lastly take old used up lighters, cut them in half (or don't for safety's sake) and just use them for the flint striker.

You could also pick up a bulk pack of waterproof matches super cheap and split them for low cost per kid.

Tools
Rope/cordage - I agree about the fishing line; perfect choice.. or twine.

Tinfoil/Duct tape. Cheap - buy a big roll and give each kid a set amount.

Knife - razors or start teaching kids how to make their own.

Extra
Heavy duty ziplok bags for water storage/misc

Trash bag ponchos (try to find trash bags that are heavy duty and make sure you wash them to get rid of the pesticides they are coated with) make sure you use duct tape around the head/armholes to keep the bag from ripping.

Food: - have them each grab some salt, pepper, sugar, ketchup packets from mcdonalds next time mom brings them there.



That's all I've got, thanks for the interesting post.

MDinana,

I agree about the scouts doing something to earn the money; service projects for donations. Fall is upon us and there are plenty of elderly folks who will need there yards raked and so forth. This will also allow them to spread the word about personal readiness. They could make up some simple brochures in word processor and hand them out as they go. A little community education if you will.

Back to the original question, though. $5.00 will be incredibly restrictive. I do like the idea of the lessons on improvisation. That would be like the one we did here a while ago when someone posted the "I see out my window a ... " and described what they could use for survival.

My .02 cents

I think I also initially misunderstood your post- to be clear, you're saying the 10 items you list will be carried and the PSK is in addition to that? If so you have some decent options. If the $5 kit must cover those ten you won't be able to do much.

Provided the kids are already carrying map, compass, knife, matches, raingear, ett then perhaps a couple of contractor-grade garbage bags and mylar blanket would be good additions. A small fishing and/or sewing kit could be assembled pretty cheaply. Obviously, the items would have to be age appropriate.

Phaedrus,

Our Scouts and Cubs are doing the same thing in a couple of weeks. I'm a Colony Leader for the younger kids (5-7) and I'm going to make kits with them as well. The be prepared mentality needs to start young! besides, they hike and camp with the big kids and want to be just like them so why not take advantage of that enthusiasm!

We teach the young kids to Hug-a-Tree and signal for rescue if they're lost. They are too young for map and compass yet but we've started rudimentry skills like landmarking and a little bit of map making. They always wear a lanyard with a whistle when we're on outdoor adventures, and we're training them to bring their backpacks with water and a jacket, hat, etc...

My kids are too young for fire or sharps but I have the same $5 budget as you to make these kits. my priorities are protection/shelter, rescue, food and keeping the boogy man at bay. I'm not including water in the psk because we want them to hug that tree at this age.

so far i've raided the local dollar stores and found emergency ponchos for $0.70 each, whistles for $0.50 each, bandanas for $0.50, and keychain squeeze lights for $1.00 each. i also bought a box of fruit bars for about $0.20 each, big bag of sugar free lollypops for $0.05 each, a case of extra-large yard bags for $1.00 each, mini chem lights for $0.60 each. We're going to pack them in double ziplock bags, which cost about $0.05 each.