what are everyones views on the "food stuff" contents on a pocket survival tin. my tin currently contains 2 sachets of salt and a sachet of sugar, but i am in the process of re-packing my tin. are there any other "food stuffs" i should put in it? i have seen numerous tins with stock cubes in, i personally dont see these as essential survival items though, and they are quite bulky. <br>how about a few multi-vitamin/mineral tablets?<br>

I would think that only the salt is worth the space in the tin and that only because of the possible usage during re-hydration. By the rules of three: <br>three minutes without air<br>three days without water<br>three weeks without food<br>I can't imagine not foraging something from the environment before being in trouble of starvation unless I were in arctic or desert conditions. In either of those situations I would probably be in much worse trouble either from cold or dehydration or heat before starvation became the issue.<br>BTW sugar without anything else will give you a short burst of energy followed by a hangover which includes drowsiness and stupification due to low blood sugar brought on by the insulin reaction to the sugar boost. This is not a condition that you want during a survival situation. Also sugar takes water to process leaving you in more danger of dehydration after use. I have heard that tea will provide some protien if chewed though it is definately bulky for a PSK tin.

There is an interesting link listed to a nutritionist's webpage you may want to review. Bullion cubes are nothing more than flavored salt. While salt is an essential part of diet, all these candies, gums etc. are more for moral than anything else. They might help the flavor or palatablity of wild foods, especially for the culturally unfamiliar. Once you've toured a meat plant though, insects and snakes are not so bad. I haven't found any rule stating one kit is obligatry. Get a second and see how exponentially you first aid or food options increase. In my 3rd and 4th kit ( A. is gear B. first aid ) I have a tea block, salt, pemmican, fruit leather and mulivitamins, additional matches.

Simple- food has no place in a pocket kit. It's too bulky, and except in a handful of situations, not needed. If you are someplace where caloric intake is a priority, it's an enviroment so unfriendly that a PSK alone won't keep you alive.<br><br>Although I expect that we'll all try.

I wouldn't try to stuff food into the PSK, but when carrying it, I would thoughtfully insert an energy bar or two into an adjacent pocket. I like Clif bars, primarily because the mylar packaging is durable enough for reasonably long term carry. Many other brands are equally apropriate. My packs always feature one or two "extra" bars that live there until needed - as in watching the sun set with five more miles to go to camp.

If you're serious about carrying calories, maybe you could remove other, less inportant, gear like signaling and fire making, and replace them in your Altoids tin with.....um, well......Altoids. <br><br>Sorry, couldn't resist.<br><br>Peanut

No food in my primary PSK - no room. Actually, I consider what's in my pockets and what I'm wearing part of my PSK; the flat tin broadens things quite a bit and is convenient (moves from garment to garment easily). Until recently have used a metal band aid box, but recently I moved to the flat (altoids) tin and like it much better - thanks to Doug, ETS, Wiseman, etc.<br><br>Still no food in my second kit:<br><br>2nd box for me is extended 1st aid stuff - although technically it's a "personal" 1st aid kit, on routine outings with other folks, I'm into it fairly frequently for minor items (...usually no longer with my own kids; they know better now and carry their own stuff). Working on getting the scouts to practice what the organization preaches - it's specific about personal first aid kits - wish me luck :-( This is about the volume of 3 altoids tins - a small Plano box that opens on both sides; safety-secured with a couple of rubber bands cut from bike innner tubes. Not totally water proof, which has been an issue once so far. It fits with ample room to spare in a cargo pocket, but to be honest, it's always in whatever pack I'm using, not my pocket. I am considering replacing this container, probably with multiple flat tins the way I am leaning. I need effective and cheap to model for the scouts.<br><br>I don't get to "PSK" food until my third container:<br><br>I've screwed up a few times (or more), but setting those occasions aside, I have "PSK" food with me as a matter of course. I keep trying to break myself of relying on an old, battered, blackened 2 quart aluminum kettle (pot, pan, whatever you call it) with a bail and a tight fitting lid, but it's like trying to cut my leg off... even tho' I have "nicer", smaller items that are less bulky. Anyway, I made up a couple of drawstring bags out of a scrap of muslin years ago. One has non-perishable basic foodstuffs in it and it is carried inside the kettle, filling it up. The kettle is dropped into the other bag just to keep the soot and whatever on the outside of the kettle from messing up things inside my (day or back) pack. At the time I made them up I was too cheap (poor) to buy nylon fabric and after using them all these years, I like the muslin outer bag better anyway - the inner one would be fine with me in either material - probably better if nylon, I guess. My "emergency" food has never gotten wet or rodent pilfered carried that way. There have been times when I KNEW I was going to get VERY wet (immersed) that I ran a strip of tape around the pot lid - pot interface, but usually not.<br><br>If I would give up carrying the rice, I could use that really really nice smaller MSR teakettle I have for this purpose...<br><br>Sometimes (well, frequently) I eat out of that stash for various reasons, but I top everything back off as soon as I return.<br><br>No food in what I consider my next "kit":<br><br>I've carried some sort of lexan cup or mug for a few years, but never was comfortable with that so have reverted to either a canteen cup under my canteen (like the cup better) or the similar SS metal cup under a lexan Nalgene bottle (like the bottle better). In either case, I keep a clean OD or brown hanky between the cup and the water bottle - less rattle, wipe out dust, strain gunk out when filling bottle, wipe out after use, etc.<br><br>No food in the next one:<br><br>My fourth kit (or I guess it's 5th, come to think of it) is mostly extended repair items and additional "PSK" type items. I'm into this kit a lot (replace consumables as used). It's in a recatangular zippered cordura thing - the size and shape of a paperback book, which is what I think it was intended for. Everything but my awl COULD go into altoids tins - probably two, but I'm pretty sure I could pare down to one, including a couple of packs of TP from field rations (those are EMERGENCY packs, not regular use <G>). Well, maybe two tins...<br><br>Back to food again:<br><br>Pockets are part of my containers. If I'm wearing a jungle shirt, jacket, or parka I stuff my pockets with my next trail meal and snacks. That fits better than 90% of the time for me.<br><br>I keep getting the nagging feeling that I'm missing something with the multiple flat tins, so I keep looking for the BFO to hit me. I really like the tins. A lot. I'm thinking a lot about it, so I'm reading everything very closely - Chris stashing food in several tins and (I assume) dropping into his pockets seems to have a lot of merit to me. Darn habits are so hard to break...<br><br>I just don't want to give up my kettle. Or whatever small pack I'm carrying it and a jillion other useful things in.<br><br>But if I somehow lose my daypack or fail to leave camp with it, I guess I don't have much in the way of food with me - just what's in my pockets, and sometimes that's nothing (because the darned pockets are insignificant on scout class A's - sorry, I hadda say it!)<br><br>Regards,<br><br>Tom<br><br><br>

what would you do to water proof your pocket tin? And what do you use to carry your stuff in that can fit in your pocket. I am most interested in a small flat tin that is water proof and I can make fire when I come dripping wet out of the the river COLD Thanks God Bless

Whether the lid pops completely off or raises on a sideways hinge, Windmill lighter tins, Altoids tins, tobacco tins, Sucrets tins and any other similar types of tins are all built basically the same; the bottom is watertight and the lid fits tightly completely over and around (surrounding) the sides of the bottom part. I have always just wrapped a piece of electrical tape all the way around the four sides of the tin a couple of times. To be redundant, I do not put any tape over the top nor the bottom of the tin; I wrap one long piece of vinyl tape sideways around the tin a few times. This covers and waterproofs the seal where the lid fits down over the bottom, since the top usually stops about halfway down the sides. Does that make sense?

thanks I may have to go that route. I hope to find a small container with a screw on lid that I know would keep water out as if my life depended on it.<br> have a good year