Another essential is a blaze orange flag to tie to your antenna.

Added for winter: Thinsulate boots, sleeping bag, ski bibs, jacket shell & liner, winter socks, & gloves. Everything except the sleeping bag are my normal field gear if necessary for work. About the coldest I've been was January in West Virginia when it started to rain.

The "Movable wicks" in survival/24 hr/48 hr candles are nothing more than short bits of COTTON pipe cleaner {synthetic cleaners just melt} bent into shape then dipped in molten wax, I've made hundreds of them myself. A neat idea I wish I'd have been the first to think of and market, somebody's made a killing on those things.

For the TP Heater: is there some reason denatured alcohol isn't used? The water in rubbing alcohol would seem counter-productive.

Sue

I pretty much keep a "72 hour" kit in my car all the time. There are a couple prior topics that get into lists for that kind of kit pretty well. That means I have signalling, firemaking, flashlights, water, rain/wind gear, 3 days of food rations, FAK, basic gear like sharps, paracord, space blankets, repair stuff, etc. in a day pack all the time.

In the winter, I just add enough fleece or wool pullovers and pants for my family in a duffle bag with some old gloves and hats that we would never wear in public, <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> but, would keep us warm in an emergency. I always have some boots and a parka in the trunk. In that duffle bag I throw a bunch of handwarmers and a couple of those small firestarter logs, (there is firemaking gear in the 72 hour pack, but, I think being able to light one of those little firestarters up might be a real emotional lift for my wife and son if we broke down on some isolated road when we're driving up to a ski place in Maine or New Hampshire).

I think I have enough fleece and wool stuff in there to keep warm, but, maybe a couple wool army blankets wouldn't be a bad addition as was mentioned before.

For communication, I always have a cell phone, but, I also keep a handheld FM amateur radio and a repeater directory in the car. There are plenty of places that the cell phone is dead, but, you can usually find a repeater that you can hit on 2M or 70CM. (Just in case)

I'm surprised no one has mentioned hand tools. I keep a small tool box with the most common size wrenches and sockets, along with screwdrivers, pliars, and wirecutters. It saved my bacon a few years back. I broke the alternator belt on my Bronco II while deer hunting. Fortunately I noticed that the AC belt was the same belt, and I was able to swap it out in about an hour. Without the tools it would have been a long walk out.

I include bailing wire for impromptu exhaust repairs as well as a cheap tire plug kit from Wal-mart. Some wire connectors and electrical tape are in there too. With this stuff I am pretty much equipped to fix anything up to my level of mechanical expertise (which admittedly is not that high!)

Come to think of it, I'd better buy a spare serpentine belt for my Dodge truck today.

Regards, Vince

Just a guess, but I think dehatured EtOH is more combustable or fast burning. Just a guess.

Speaking of denatured EtOH, I always have a soda can stove, water, and my 1 liter titanium pot in my car 3 seasons of the year. I also carry one in my survival kit in the winter when I ice climb or mountaineer.

A buddy of mine tested my soda can at everest base camp ~17,000 ft., and it worked great. I have personally used it effectively up to 14,500 ft.

Burns 10-12min and brings a liter of water to a boil, 170 F at sealevel, starting at RT, in about 8 min. or less. Great item to have. The stove, the fuel (6 ounces or 10 uses), and the pot stand all fit it a stuff sack 3.5" across, 4" high. The big plus is that it only weighs a few ounces without the fuel. I haven't used my MSR "lite-weight" white gas backpacking stove in 3 years- just too dang heavy and hard to light compared to the soda can stove.

Denatured alcohol (generally in the painting area of a store) is different from isopropyl alcohol (generally in the pharmacy area), which is commonly diluted with water (70%+). Denatured alcohol generally has acetone or some other “denaturing” agent to make it undrinkable and therefore non-taxable. Denatured alcohol will generally burn cleaner that isopropyl school.

Pete

If denatured alcohol uses acetone, wouldn't that affect the plastic can cover used to seal the toilet paper heater when it is not being used?

Bountyhunter <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

When I first read the term "TP heater", I thought it was a device that pre-heats the TP prior to use. Didn't really seem like an essential survival item to me.