I had this idea. It is basically a mini survival kit, in a pen! The ink bit would be removed. You could fit in some very basic components (eg. few matches, foil for signal mirror, cotton wool). The advantage is that it could be carried everywhere. This would help the semi-illiterate author of the "ARE YOU NUTS CARRIEING ALL THOSE SURVIVAL GEAR ?" thread (read the thread for more details). This would also help me, as my normal survival kit weighs 9-10oz. It would be duct taped up to make it waterproof. What do you lot think?

Feel free to post the contents so we can get a look at how you have covered the basics. See Doug's kit for details of how to cover the basics.<br><br>Potable Water<br>Fire<br>Shelter<br>Food<br>in that order of precedence AFAIK.<br><br>The poster you referred to as semi-illiterate had some very interesting questions and ideas and initiated a very worthwhile thread that we all benefited from. I don't think that English was his native tongue so we might forgive some mis-handling of the english language. I value the contributions or our international friends, and appreciate their attempts to communicate in the only language that I know.

That's an interesting idea, but I'd hate to see the miniscule amount of stuff that would come out of that pen. There were some threads awile back on making a micro-kit, they discussed using vacuum packaging to make a tiny kit in about the 1 ounce size range that still have a useful assortment in them. They are also small enough to be at least as easily carried as a typical pen. Mine has a compass, mini-lighter, rubber-band tinder, whistle, razor blade, bandaids, birthday candle, fishing hooks and line, needle, paper clip and retro-reflective tape. It has about the same bulk as a Zippo ligher, is waterproof and floats. It can be easily carried in a shirt pocket or on a neck lanyard or be pinned into a swimsuit. For the smallest kits, there is a real advantage to to using vacuum packaging instead of a rigid container.

I didn't say that he/she didn't make any very good questions, and, true, english might not be his/her native language. I have to admit, though I can speak french and german, I am not that good at either. <br><br>What I did was I got a large felt tip, sawed the top off and threaded it. It now has a lid and a screw-cap. I sawed the whole top off another one, and heat-sealed it onto the original. I took the ink out, washed it and fitted in:<br><br>1 razorknife blade<br>1/2" thin party candle<br>5 strike anywhere waterproof matches<br>3"² turkey foil<br>duct tape round outside<br>2 tiny fish hooks<br>10ft fishing line, 5lb test<br>1 tiny fishing weight<br>3" of 1/32" diameter tubing<br>tiny bit of natural flint<br>2 sewing needles<br>10ft sewing thread<br>5 saftey pins (2 tiny, 2 normal, 1 medium large)<br>10ft brass snare wire<br>10 puritabs<br>cotton wool soaked in vaseline in lid<br>wire saw w/o handle<br><br>See! Quite a lot! This fits into any pocket, and I am just going to make a small laynard attachment out of some more plastic.<br><br>casual1y<br><br>PS. It was heat-sealed with a cigarette lighter.<br>

That's quite a lot of stuff in a pen. Packaging is everything. I would love to see pictures if you can find someone to post them. Only problem I see is the puritabs. If those are the iodine type then how do you keep them from going bad. The Iodine is veeeerrry reactive and will simply oxidize in the air if you don't have them sealed air-tight. Also the iodine will usually react corrosively with the foil and other metal items in your kit which may make them less usefull. ( I suspect that it would take quite a bit of iodine to compromise even the smallest amount of metal but it will react. It would probably weaken the foil some.) Iodine will also "melt" many plastics. All this being said, I carry my Iodine tablets in a 1/2 length tube from a bic stick pen. They seal air-tight when you use the plug from another on the open end and are exactly the diameter needed. This pen is made from polypropylene according to Bic and I have had no evidence that the Iodine reacts with it. I am still looking for a way to test the effectiveness of the iodine that has been stored in this way. Short of having some petri dishes and agar I don't know how to test this sort of thing. I may have to order some from Edmund Scientific.

I have put all my stuff in a cellphone bag. There's a lot of space inside, it can be carried in many ways (it has a belt clip, a loop, it fits into a large pocket). It looks totally unsuspicious (no "are you nuts carrying..." problem - maybe just "why do you carry two cellphones"). Unlike tins, it can be always opened and closed back. The only problem is that it doesn't protect the gear from water and mechanical damage.

thats a nice idea, but it is kinda small. especially for me because they dont sell much survival equipemment over here, so finding the right things with the right size is **** hard. <br>and "camoflage" my gear isnt a solution because i cant afford all those diffrent kind of gear twice and repacking them every 2 day's isnt that handy either. <br>btw i was" the semi-illiterate author of the "ARE YOU NUTS CARRIEING ALL THOSE SURVIVAL GEAR ?" "<br>

another disadvantage is that if you camoflage your kit in to a pen ( especially a student like me ) is that fellow students usually "borrow" my pens and papers... <br>and camoflage a kit with something else like a candy tin doesnt really help either, because fellow student usually bags ( or how ever you spell it ) for some candy wenn they see the tinn... and there are lots of other examples

Just a thought -- how would a cigar tube work? I've seen plastic or aluminum ones (I must confess I am not a smoker so I have limited knowledge). They could sit in a pocket, but I doubt if anyone will ask to borrow your cigar....

It depends on how well connected you are to politicians. Wink, Andy.