With all of the ideas about building the ultimate survival kit, I thought it might be interesting to throw out the idea of a non-survival kit.<br><br>This is totally hypothetical, but imagine a foolish lone spelunker who tumbles down a dark shaft and injures himself badly (shattered spine, etc). Of course, one would try to use their survival kit to stay alive. But under certain circumstances with no chance of long-term survival or rescue, someone might wish they had a non-survival kit.<br><br>What would you include? Would a good supply of heavy sedatives to dull the pain suffice? How would you incorporate such a kit with a regular survival kit to make a clear distinction between the two to avoid mistakes? Could there be dual uses for items in a non-survival kit that would lend to a survival kit?

The will to survive is pretty strong in people thats why even most suicides fail and it tends to be even stronger in people who go to the trouble of preparing, but in the example just cut an artery below the broken back and you won't feel a thing. Me personally most people give up to early why put temptation within reach.

Hmm... the trouble I foresee with this idea, aside from personal preference against it, is that, at least for me, it would fail the constant comparison and reassessment test that any small kit forces upon me:<br><br>"If I took the (whatever) out, is there anything else that would fit in the newly freed volume of space that might be more useful? Well, maybe I could substitute a (whichever). Hey! Yeah, that would be better. All right, out goes the (whatever), then, and in goes the (whichever)." <br><br>I don't expect to ever carry enough meds to cause an effective suicide, and if I ever did, I know I'd end up taking some of them out to put something more useful into the freed volume.<br><br>"Hey, If I took out some of those pills, I could carry both a condom and a fish bag! Cool!" <br><br>If I want to commit sepuku, I've got my knife. If I prefer a less painful wound, the neck will do. I'd rather not slit my wrists... I hear that you get too uncomfortably cold before you die. If I didn't care about the cold, I could take off my clothes and pour my last water over myself at night to assist myself into hypothermia. I could always see what happens when you eat iodine and potassium permanganate and then suck on an alcohol or benzalkonium chloride swab. Sounds like a really bad idea, but then, that's the point. The worse that could happen is I could live in even more pain. Er, no. Okay, maybe I could hang myself with my cordage or, if it's mountainous, drag myself over a cliff. Hey, start a campfire, then lay down in it. I'm sure I could devise something without having to carry around gear specifically dedicated to the job. Or, if all of that seemed like too much trouble, well then...<br><br>"Razors pain you;<br> Rivers are damp;<br> Acids stain you;<br> And drugs cause cramp.<br> Guns aren't lawful;<br> Nooses give;<br> Gas smells awful;<br> You might as well live."<br> -Dorothy Parker, 1893-1967

Thanks for the smile , but now I have to find room in my kit for the poem and the back of the picture of my wife and kids already has something.

With my luck the spine would have shattered high enough that my arms won't work. But if they do, I ALWAYS have my Kahr MK40...

Well, if you've studied biofeedback, you just slow your heart and reperation to the point where you crash.<br><br>Or, as has been mentioned, at least a few of us are rarely without sidearms. <br><br>What an icky topic.

I don't think many here would need a nonsurvival kit. In reading the posts on this site, the common attitude that jumps out is optimism and the courage to make the impossible happen by surviving the unsurvivable--I don't think many here would have the "common sense" to ever believe a situation was hopeless--that of course leads to uncommon valor.

You should read some of the Mountain climing stories where people have made it back with incredible injuries, to live full lives and have a cool story to tell. Hense the word survival<br>God will not lay on you more then you can handle (as long as you are with him)

A little known tip is if you get depressed enough to want to kill yourself, you're already over the worst part of the depression. Remeber: you have only upwards to go once you hit rock bottom.<br><br><br>

My kit is not strictly a "survival" kit. We live in a rapidly developing suburban area, so a true survival situation is highly unlikely. I have instead developed what I call my preparedness kit, or simply my kit. I have rubber bands, AA and AAA Maglites, duct tape, first aid items, signal mirror, magnifying glass, 550 paracord, and assorted other items.<br><br>If I'm at work and the zipper on my fly gives out, what am I supposed to do? I can't simply go home and change my pants. Instead I grab my kit, get out a safety pin, and apply it judiciously. I don't have a survival fishing kit in my kit or food rations. I do have firestarters because I think they're cool and I used to be a boy scout way back in the early 1970s.