The woman that babysits my kids while I am at work wants to take the kids to KOA for three days. I trust her with them but wish I could go. I will be working so I cannot and I wanted to make a PSK for them to take with them. They are 8 (boy) and 6 (girl). What would you put in an Altoids tin for them? Would you use something else?

IMHO you should absolutely include a whistle and a plastic shelter of some type... a poncho would probably be best.

If you haven't already, then I would look at Doug's equipment list for kids even though your kids may be too young for some of it. As a matter of fact if youre interested in kids' survival this section of the Equipped to Survive Website is a good place to get started in general.

Hi,

I wouldn't give them an Altoids-sized tin. It's way too small and the items you're going to be putting in there will be hard to use for kids.

I would have a tendency to give them a cheap camera bag stuffed with a poncho, a cheap space blanket, a flashlight, Band-aids, a whistle. Make sure they carry at all times, along with a hat on their heads and a water bottle.

Two kids camping together along with an adult probably doesn't require carrying P-38s and sewing needles (by the kids, at least! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Just my opinion.


Bee

For that age, a whistle and instructions on how to remain safe are probably the most useful. A jacket and water would be nice, but will they always keep these with them?

They should both have a info card on their bodies at all times. Name, address, phone contact, which KOA they're staying at, meds, allergies, etc.

I'd teach them how to use a cellphone and them give them yours (if you have one). Put your work and home numbers on speed dial buttons and thell them "press and hold 2 to get me", or whatever your phone supports in this regard. Might be the last time you ever see your working cellphone again!

I saw a blurb in the paper about these "kid" cellphones. Looks pretty interesting -- might save your $100 phone, too. (Edit: OK, maybe not, the going rate is $99 on the website.) <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

http://www.fireflymobile.com/

If you think something is so dangerous that your 7 yo needs a cellphone, I would rethink what you are letting them do.

Now that is a darn good piece of advice! I have to say that I now agree 100% with duckear's thoughts.

After replying earlier, I had some second thoughts. Whistles, info cards, cellphones, etc. are all tools that help them get OUT of a bad situation AFTER they've gotten in to it. Your job should be to keep the kids far from any bad situations in the first place. Frankly, at their age, they will not be all that great at getting themselves out of trouble - no matter how well you equip them.

I would be very nervous if "the babysitter" asked to take my kids for three days. That would just be too weird for me. You trust this babysitter 100%, right? Not 99.999%, but 100%?

As Brian noted the sections of ETS on kids gives very good information. I have been a cub scout den leader for a few years and Doug's information is as good as I have seen on the subject.

Pay attention to how you dress them. Make sure they wear good shoes (old nasty but comfortable shoes are fine). Pack bright colored clothes. Do not put them in camo. I found some hunter orange caps on sale and bought some for my cub scouts. It sure helps keep track of them on hikes.

I had the boys (and siblings) in my Cub Scout den create survival kits. We went through the Hug-a-Tree information that I could find on the web.

My kids (ages 9 & 10) wear them whenever we are out and about. In addition to this they are "usually" carrying a 1 qt wide-mouth Nalgene bottle with them. I recently switch them from the Lexan bottles to the translucent white HDPE (poly) bottles because of the controversy over Lexan, though I still use the Lexan bottles.

We start with a small cheap fanny pack:

<>whistle on a coiled wrist strap from orientaltrading.com; since then I replaced the cheap whistles with WindStorm whistles

<>two 33 gallon 2 MIL orange garbage bags from spectrumtrashbags.com (with prior instructions/practice on how to tear a face hole)

<>Princeton Tec keychain light from campmor.com fastened to whistle wrist band

<>Orange bandana from wholesaleforveryone.com

<>We've recently added small lockblade Gerber LST knives to my kid's kits, though they are a bit too young to make much use of them if lost.

<>I've recently been thinking about adding a folded quart sized Ziplock bag and some Aquapur tablets - I think they are old enough to use them

Soon I'll probably add a bigger knife, a mini Bic lighter, and DEET lotion, but quite not yet

Quite often they are carrying FRS radios while "exploring" nearby woods, just to allow us to keep in touch.

Eventually my plan is to give each kid one of Doug's PSP's with a few additional bits added. I've already bought one for my son who will be starting in Boy Scouts next spring.

Much more importantly, I have ground into their minds the understanding that we need to know where they are going, and as soon as they realize they are lost (defined as not sure where they are or where they should go) that they need to STOP, look for a place where they can most easily be seen (found) and wait to be found. I've also emphasized that they must be careful not to fall in water or get wet.

I disagree. Not that I am running out and buying a cell phone for my two-year-old or anything like that <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />, however a means to call for help is invaluable in lots of situation that start off normal and then become dangerous due to unforseen circumstances such as weather or injury to a supervising adult or any host of other possibilities. My son is two so I haven't even gotten him to effectvelly use a whistle yet, let a lone a cell phone. When we go in the woods together (which we do quite often) I dress him in the brightest orange jumper I can find, and thats about all I can do in my situation. The point is that you do the best you can for your kids in your specific situation. For some that may be a Snoopy satellite phone <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> and for others it may just be bright orange clothing. For most it probably falls somewhere in between. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />