#207924 - 09/13/10 07:27 PM
Re: $5 PSK
[Re: Boghog1]
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Member
Registered: 10/19/09
Posts: 112
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This could prove to be quite an exercise in resourcefulness. Eschewing all the pre-fab, Gucci survival tools for a pragmatic, simple and cheap kit made from readily available items out of necessity sounds like a great experiment. For super cheap Fauxton lights check out: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1253Not DR quality but good enough for this experiment.
_________________________
Safety is something that happens between your ears, not something you hold in your hands. - Jeff Cooper
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#207925 - 09/13/10 07:34 PM
Re: $5 PSK
[Re: ajax]
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Newbie
Registered: 12/07/05
Posts: 26
Loc: New Hampshire
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This could prove to be quite an exercise in resourcefulness. Eschewing all the pre-fab, Gucci survival tools for a pragmatic, simple and cheap kit made from readily available items out of necessity sounds like a great experiment. For super cheap Fauxton lights check out: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1253Not DR quality but good enough for this experiment. Perfect, with the way kids lose stuff there is no way I would spend big bucks on it. I just ordered enough for the troop For fire starting I was going to have the kids do cotton balls and PJ any neat cheap and compact ways to store these?
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#207930 - 09/13/10 08:23 PM
Re: $5 PSK
[Re: Boghog1]
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Enthusiast
Registered: 07/01/08
Posts: 250
Loc: Houston, Texas
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The key here is to define what you want it to do, but also, what you don't need it to do. And what they should always have on themselves anyway.
I buy a lot of stuff in bulk and it would be difficult to hit $5 per kid.
My advice would be to pare it down to the bare minimum. Its really easy to make a super long list of things that everyone should carry, but for $5 and considering these are scouts...
For $5 I think you could do: 1) something to light a fire. 2) a quality whistle 3) a heatsheet that can be used for signalling 4) the tin (flash signal, etc) 5) A cloth (bandage, etc) 6) some cordage 7) a small paper reminder (these are scouts who are learning!) of the alternate uses of many items. or print that on the cloth if you're feelin' froggy.
No way in hello that this is going to fit in an altoids tin.
That would be the bare minimum in my opinion.
They should ALWAYS have a knife on their person, and it should not be considered part of the kit due to the low dollar amount.
I picked up some of those DX lights for myself, wotta deal.
There are a lot of other cheap stuff you could put in there but then you would start losing quality.
_________________________
You can't teach experience.
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#207935 - 09/13/10 09:15 PM
Re: $5 PSK
[Re: Boghog1]
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Veteran
Registered: 07/08/07
Posts: 1268
Loc: Northeastern Ontario, Canada
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Hi BogHog 1, I did a similar exercise with youth groups constructing a PSK as part of a 1/2 day Basic Survival Course. The PSK items were pre-purchased and prepared, all the kids had to do was squeeze the items into the kit. We have assembled about 120 of these kits, the first 60 cost $15.00 each, the second batch was around $12.00 because I found better deals in bulk. These basic kits were discussed/reviewed on the ETS Forum here . The 1/2 day Basic Survival Course teaching points were discussed here . Hope this can be a help to you. Mike
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#207939 - 09/13/10 09:53 PM
Re: $5 PSK
[Re: Boghog1]
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 09/01/07
Posts: 2432
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If you shift focus away from wilderness survival, where materials are either scarce or require considerable amounts of processing to adapt, and toward making the best of a semi-urban disaster, where materials are plentiful but require re-purposing, you have a better shot at keeping costs down.
These are all hobo technology and common knowledge through the 40s but they have been lost as people got used to having to make their own gear. An example might be using discarded cardboard as a sleeping pad. Garbage bags as a poncho. A salvaged pillow case and light line as a functional backpack. How to stuff a cheap jacket with newspaper to make it a lot warmer.
IMO these skills are far more useful than many wilderness skills. Teaching them is easier also. In part because the materials are either discarded items or dead cheap. But also because you can teach these skills on a empty lot in the middle of a city. You don't need to carry kids out to the deep woods.
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#207942 - 09/13/10 10:21 PM
Re: $5 PSK
[Re: Boghog1]
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Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3235
Loc: Alberta, Canada
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SwampDonkey's youth kit is a fine exercise in function vs. size vs. cost.
But for $5? That's a heckuva challenge. I assume you'll buy anything you can on sale. Or run the troupe through a local secondhand charity store, after giving them the principles and a $3 budget.
Anyway, here's my take:
Cutting Tools: - razor blade with guard (these are the scraper refills from hardware stores) - bimetal hacksaw blade section, each end rounded/sanded, as long as will fit in the container
Fire: - firestarter has to be PJ and cotton balls, plus 2 birthday candles - paper matches in Saran wrap last many, many years in storage; teach them to cut 2-3-4 at a time, right to the bottom of the package, to get a real match; ideally, add a second phosophorous striker to the kit - 1-2 lifeboat matches (paper match striker will light them)
Cordage: - monofilament fish line, maybe 12lb., for fishing and shelter building - mason line is great, but even heavy butcher cord is useful in camp - 2 ft. of super-sticky first aid tape, the kind that sticks to skin for days in all conditions--I have yet to find duct tape that will stick to my skin for long for first aid or blister prevention; or 6 ft. of red electrical tape, which won't stick to skin but will stretch and stick to itself
Signalling - whistle of some kind - mirror: I like the mylar balloon and card option; but the platters from discarded hard drives are excellent, tough, and free metal mirrors
Container: - at this cost, you're looking at an uncoated tin can - but if you can scrounge 'em, packing this in a cheap enamel cup would be best
Light: - can't beat the DealExtreme minis
Other: - if not in bear country, a few individually wrapped mints can do a lot for morale etc.
I've probably blown the $5 and then some. Let us know what the final kit looks like!
Cheers, Doug
BTW, I gotta grab those DXExtreme lights. Wow.
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#207945 - 09/13/10 10:56 PM
Re: $5 PSK
[Re: dougwalkabout]
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Veteran
Registered: 12/14/09
Posts: 1419
Loc: Nothern Ontario
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Depending on where the OP is located and how many kits he and the scout troop are planning to build, I have a collection of Fox 40 whistles (courtesy of my local .gov) I can donate.
The OP can PM me with the details.
_________________________
Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.
John Lubbock
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#207950 - 09/13/10 11:41 PM
Re: $5 PSK
[Re: Teslinhiker]
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Geezer in Chief
Geezer
Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
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Ability to make fire is crucial, and the cheapest possible decent firestarter is cotton dryer lint, with some supplemental petroleum jelly, combined with strike anywhere matches. Get them some large, cheap plastic bags and string for shelter, as well as knowledge about using terrain to good advantage, and you are well on the way.
This project grabs me. My introduction to mountain rescue was to join in a search for three Boy Scouts trying to climb Mt Wrightson (near Tucson, AZ) in the face of a ferocious and early winter storm. Three weeks later, when the snow drifts had melted enough to locate their bodies, it was clear that they had tried to light a fire, using tissue paper. Unsuccessfully. End of story.
It looks like yours will be better prepared. Best of luck to you.
_________________________
Geezer in Chief
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#207958 - 09/14/10 02:46 AM
Re: $5 PSK
[Re: Boghog1]
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Enthusiast
Registered: 09/09/06
Posts: 323
Loc: Iowa
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Some options for holding the cotton balls and pj - not sure how well these will work or how they will price out in the quantities you need. Altoids has smaller tins for their sugar free mints. These look like they would fit inside the standard Altoids tin. I think the chewing gum tins are even smaller. A small (single dose) plastic pill case would probably work well also. I think you can find something similar in craft/dollar stores for organizing beads. Here is a link with lots of images/ideas. Going cheaper, maybe get some extra wide drinking straws from a local gas station/kwik mart (some around here have 1/4" and even 1/2" diameter straws) and figure out some way to seal the ends (tape, melting, glue). Going to the local Hardware store and picking up some cheap plastic tubing would probably work well also and be a bit sturdier in use. Good luck on the kit. - Eric
Edited by Eric (09/14/10 02:51 AM)
_________________________
You are never beaten until you admit it. - - General George S. Patton
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#207965 - 09/14/10 03:39 AM
Re: $5 PSK
[Re: Boghog1]
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 07/11/10
Posts: 1680
Loc: New Port Richey, Fla
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when my students did the mylar/playing card project, the playing card was to approximate a stiffer credit card like backing...another student entry used solar window film (silvered) but it had a lot of light transparency... perhaps a firm that mirrored storefronts could provide film with higher reflectivity, and printing company a stiffer backing from promotional plastic cards
I know everyone is enamored with petroleum jelly/cotton balls, but has anyone tried casting a cotton ball in paraffin... years ago we melted paraffin in bottle caps and added a ball of cotton..when cooled it was wrapped in foil, and fluffed to light ..
anyone ever try to make a whistle out of a cartridge case..say a 308 or 30-30?
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