DS and I are going to winter camp with our Scouts group next weekend. We spent some time this afternoon repacking our survival kits so I thought I post a pic of his to get your feeedback.

-Pack with bear bell and carabiner attached
-dry bag with change of clothes (incl. Blaze orange fleece hat, bandana, fleece top, pants, socks and gloves)
-FAK (bandaids, polysporin, gauze pads, maxi pad)
-small folding knife
-Gerber Suspension multi-tool
-work gloves
-fire kit (Gerber BG fire steel with vaseline cotton balls, mini bic, strike anywhere matches, birthday candle, lip balm and tampons)
-mini cook kit (ss cup, small hobo stove, tea light and aluminum foil)
-snacks
-small deck of playing cards
-SS water bottle
-shelter (AMK bivvy, sportsman's thermal blanketwith paracord tie-outs, paracord, contractor's bag, poncho, hand warmers)
-light (LED glow stick, chem light, crank flashlight, LED headlamp, keychain LED)
-signalling (whistle on lanyard, AMK mirror, bear bell, BG whistle, LED glowstick whistle and flo orange stuff)
-sunglasses
-he also has a compass, which he's learning to use

Thanks Izzy!

I had the Gerber as an extra so he got it. I like the locking blades and he can manage them. I definitely want to upgrade him to a Leatherman. I love my Wave and he likes it too. LOVE the warrenty! He's mostly using the pliars right now but has fiddled with the other tools and will likely use them more and more.

Hmmm.... Valentine's Day is this week.... :-)

Looks pretty good to me. Good going!

Very nice indeed. The only thing I don't see is duct tape.

He used it all. :-) Better get a refill. Thanks Chaos!

I think i would ditch the chem light. In all likelihood, it will be ineffective by the time he will use it. I am dubious about crank lights. Most of them seem to be rather fragile and "cranky" (sorry, I could not resist). I would throw in extra batteries, preferably lithium, for the LED lights. Do those LED lights use the same type batteries? That could prove useful.

If he ever encounters a problem, dependable lighting will probably prove extremely useful. Would his lights allow him to walk all night, if necessary?

Great points, Hikermor. We put fresh batteries in his headlamp at start of every excurision so he should be in good shape if he doesn't lose it. He also has a second one that he keeps in his pocket and wears on night hikes. Those both use the same AAAs. The LED glowstick uses different batteries. It's new so we're still learning it.

He likes chem lights and since they're light and take up little room I didn't discourage him. Ditto the crank light. He keeps one in his bed and really likes them.

At 8, the dark can be a scarey place. Extra batteries is a great idea! I always carry some for him but maybe it's time that he do that too.

I think we're going to remove the bic. He can't manipulate it. DH has a push button butane light that would probably work better for him. His favorite is matches, and he's determined to master the fire steel, so he rarely uses the lighter so we may just take it out. (Not to mention that the plan is for him to NOT get lost, so he'll hopefully be with a grown-up for the next couple of years or so anyway.)

Try the Ultimate Survival Technologies Sparkie. They are small and can start a fire on paper or dry grass. They are one hand operation and easy to use for a kid (I have tried them with my scouts). I like the Blast Match, but the Sparkie is smaller and more likely to be carried, and it works very well.

I love it, Izzy! That's what childhood should be like. Mine was like that too. His is getting there. I'm a pretty free range parent, compared to a lot of my peers. At 8, I want him out exploring and adventuring like I did. On the flip side, because he has ADHD, I also need to make sure that he's not going to run off a cliff or burn the forest down if we give him too much freedom before he's ready for it. It's a fine line. I usually lean more to "Go for it!" but I also work hard to make sure he's prepared.