I am making a kit to carry with me on my hunting, fishing, and camping trips. I thought I would give you guys a list of what I want to put in it and get your opinions. I am trying to keep it as small as possible. Here it goes:

Fire starting:
1. Spark-lite firestarter
2. 25 NATO lifeboat matches
3. 10 Spark- lite tinder quicks

Shelter:
1. space blanket
2. 10 ft. 550 para-cord

Signaling:
1. Fox 40 whistle
2. Starflash mirror 2X3 inches

Water:
1. Reynolds oven bag
2. 4-6 micropur tablets

Medical:
1. 6-band aids
2. 2-butterfly closures
3. 2- antiseptic pads
4. 2-neosporin packets

I am making firestarting and shelter a importance due to the weather in NY's adirondack mountains. This is where I spend most of my time. I carry two compasses and a RAT TAK-1 on me. What do you guys think? Thanks

How about a flashlight/headlamp?
bandana?

Echo the flashlight and bandana
one or two contractor bags (3mil garbage bags, 33 gallon makes a better poncho than a 55)
more paracord, all you can carry
aluminum foil
swiss army knife or multitool with a saw

spare socks, always have spare socks. even if you must abandon your towel, never in your panic forget your socks

and a sense of humor- murphy will laughing at you, you might as well laugh back

So you have two compasses. When one goes bad which one do you
believe?

Great list!

Here are my humble suggestions:

Fire starting:
replace the matches with a mini Bic
Consider a large ferro rod. (MagFire Pro?)

Shelter:
Consider a Coghlan's Emergency Bag as a shelter. Makes a great wind and rain proof bivy bag. Two trash bags you can fill with leaves or whatever could be used as a blanket to keep you from freezing.

Signaling:
For the zillionth time; the StarFlash sucks compared to a glass mirror.

Water:
A Ziploc bag may provide more utility.

Medical:
OK, could be better.

There a lot more things you can carry that are useful but it is always a balance of how big a pile of stuff is it before you stop carrying it " all the time." Less that you have, is better than more, sitting in the car or at home.

How far into the wilderness do you generally venture, for how long, and what's the weather and temperature like generally?

Great start Terry,

I would second the Mini-Bic. I like to carry a nylon poncho, as it could be used as a poncho or as a tarp shelter. Add a few more feet of 550 cord and you got a pretty good kit.

Ready

Also throw in some dental floss -- 100 feet of cord that takes up almost no space and is dirt-cheap. Just take it out of its plastic box and wrap in some plastic.

Greatings Ladies and Gents; Hope all are well. Personal quest of mine; present company accepted but we are not representative of the population in general and the outdoors community specificly. Yearly, we find folks that got injured, lost or for whatever reason stranded in situitations that they weren't prepared nor equipped to deal with and as a result all to frequently have unfortunate outcomes. IMO survival equipment should be divided into on person (ETS PSK, PFAK, on body EDC), with the important stuff dummy corded to you, and clothing chosen as the first layer of shelter (environmental armor). This is so if you lost or were seperated from your pack, you could still function. In pack, I agree with the above. Additionally, extra clothes/ insulation, spare batteries/bulbs for headlight ( hands free illumination is great) and for the LED flashlight that is on body EDC. How about a map? Re first-aid,a more comperhensive kit, and look into what 's known in the tactical/millitary community as a blowout kit. It contains stuff for gun shot wounds/ knife wounds ect. Keeps you or someone else alive untill help arrives. Check out Old Jimbo's site Re: axes, the old one's that frequented the north woods in winter would often reach for their axe before their knife <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />. How about a folding saw? Chemical lightsticks, surveyors tape,duck tape. As above, you must be able to make a fire. Think multiple methods ( vasoline on cotton in 35mm film little plastic thingies, Sterno, hexamine/thiroxine(sp) tabs, strike anywhere matches in K&M match case, several sparkey sticks, ( the big ones are better) and a tinder case that you refill as you see stuff (birds nest, lighter pine, birch bark, ceder, various fungi, ect) , I didn't notice it in your post, but how much water are you carrying? In hot weather like we had recently, reccomend 1 gal/day. Respectfully; Jim

Terry,

Ditch the Space blanket in favor of an Adventure Medical HeetSheet (available at Dick's or EMS in NY locations.) Add a cheap Coghlan's poncho to use to keep the rain and snow off if you have to move from your shelter for any reason.

I'd also recommend the BIC and MagFire Pro over the NATO matches.

A quality LED light, like the Photon IIX, weighs next to nothing and provides long lasting useable light. Get a Photon handsfree clip to mate with it.

Check your compasses before you go. Trust in them. (Even though there's a lot of iron interference in some Adirondack regions.)

For 1st Aid, add in some Tylenol and a pair of Sliver Gripper Tweezers. If you normally take a prescription med daily, have a few of those handy too. If you're traveling the Ads spring and summer, don't forget the insect repellant and sunscreen. Fall, winter, and early spring add a few handwarmers....

M