"Party on."

Maybe we could organise an annual competition for the smallest useful survival container and other forum members could judge.
Then we could add conditions like only people who have donated to ETS can enter or judge.
Another insentive for a money raising idea for ETS, and the prize could just be a hall of fame type of Web page linked from ETS home page.
Then we could have other catagories for other competitions.

Tiniest? Smaller than an Altoids tin? <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

So I am told <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

"The more you know, the less you need." From his website:

Cody Lundin's School

> Silly or dangerous?

Obviously a small kit can't do the job of a big one, but generally having something is better than nothing. If a micro-kit contains the ability to make fire and nothing else, it's still worth having, surely?

It's a while since I tried, but I remember getting quite a lot into a 35mm film cannister. A coin-cell LED torch, matches, striker, tinder, blade, some paper money, sewing needle and thread, tweezers and pen from a SAK, plastic straw. I forget whether I managed a button compass or whether I had to magnetise the sewing needle.

Probably my smallest kit at the moment is a thin money-belt. It contains some money, some plastic bags and some water treatment pills, and a tin-opener. I have it with me in the summer when wear shorts and no jacket, and I don't have room for an Altoids tin.

I also have a micro-kit that is about 1/3rd the size of an Altoids tin (it measures 2"x2"x0.75") and has: mirror, Photon Freedom, compass, ferro rod, hacksaw-blade striker, 3 TinderQuick tabs, cotton wool, scalpel blade, 3 Micropur tablets, water-proof paper, Fisher pen refill, tweezers, safety pins, 1m chord.

It would of course be better to have more. It's a compromise. The mirror is very small, but still better than the shiny tin lid. There is no container for water, but I can hope to be able to improve one on the field. A scalpel blade isn't as a good as an RSK, but it's better than teeth and nails. A button compass is no good for accurate bearings but it'll prevent me walking in circles. I originally designed this kit as a supplement to my EDC, which was weak in fire-making and water purification. My EDC has a better knife, a whistle and some other stuff.

Dave you are of course correct. I was probably obtuse, or whatever the word is for vague. I've always stressed my view that somebody who reads ETS, goes to the store and spends $20 on a box of matches, carbon steel, hickory handled kitchen knife, gallon of water and hank of utility cord is now Equipped. They have the mindset to make it. The two fallacies of deviation are folks who feel they won't until the ultimate toolkit has been assembled or this very strange reverse minimalism of .22 cartridge shell whistles. It's been saturating the various survival forums for years. Try blowing a .22 while your freezing cold shaking to death vs a big old STORM unit. I'm off to the store for more caffeine. I failed to rotate my cache properly. I dug a teabag of Earl Grey out from the bananna peels and eggshells to brew a cuppa. I have just enough chemicals in me to type this and drive over. God have mercy on any SUV that crosses me. My cat has my PSK gripped in his forepaws, lying on his back and kicking it with rear legs and biting the wrapped paracord. Silly cats broke into their entire 72 hour BOB of catnip and are stoned. I'll just slip my knife and a $1 lighter in my jeans and hope the big one doesn't hit in the next 30 minutes <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Silly? Not at all- it is the last ditch items. You have to evac and the only way out is through rising flood water (you are at the high point in the middle of the flood plain), and you loose your BOB and full sized PSK during the fording. With this stashed someplace discrete, you still have a chance. I dont see it as much different that sticking a condom, some aluminum foil, a tiny, flat fishing kit, and sparklite in your wallet.

Has anyone ever seen the CIA's last didtch E&E kit? Knife blades, screw driver, files, etc, with a tiny wire cutter/handle that fit in a 4" long, 1" dia capsule with rounded ends. We won't discusse how it was intended to be concealed, but it was designed to get your butt out of a jail cell. Take out some of the duplicate items, add a ferro rod, a needle, some small hooks, a condom, a couple micropurs, and wrap the outside with fishline, some brass wire, and then duct tape, you have a very minimalist survival kit that will pass everything but prison or the TSA.

Maybe we should call this the JSK (Jockstrap Survival Kit)? <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

In 1968 I put some waterproof matches, a length of nylon cord, fishing kit, snare wire, an x-acto blade and a plastic bag into a hole bored into the butt of my '06. It has been updated a bit since then but I know if I have my rifle I have a better chance than many to make it out of a situation. At the present I am working on an M6, integrating a PSK into it, to go in my BOB. It may not have everything I would like to have in it but hopefully it will have enough to get me out of a bind that I am stupid enough to get into if all I have is the rifle.

Of cats and catnip...damn that was funny...wish we could get stoned that easily and legally.

-- Craig