I recently took stock of my various survival gear and I am making some decisions on what to upgrade / review / add or delete from my stuff. I would appreciate all the help and your opinions. I presently do not have a BOB but I am sorting through my camping gear, etc. to put one together. Some of my gear has just been gathering over the last few years so obviously some items are redundant or can be replaced. IE. the only reason I have an axe in the car is because I bought it for camping and after using it, I never bothered to store it elsewhere. :-)

My background: a 40ish male, sedentary lifestyle, living in the Canadian prairies. The yearly weather variety is extreme - ranging from -40*C to +40*C, 0-99% humidity, 5-month winters and often windy, lots of sunshine. I travel a fair bit - sometimes using my vehicle, a company pool car or a rental. I have little/no control over the contents of the kits in the company car or company backpack. However I wish to eliminate duplicity and/or more often supplement the lower grade equipment with my own. My work involves reviewing construction sites and administering construction projects. I haven't included clothing worn in my list as that changes daily but I make my packing decisions based on what I wear and can carry on my person.

Here's my list:
[Action - Upgrade, Review or Replenish, Add, Delete]

On Person (or in jacket)

• Wallet includes flat fresnel lens
• Watch
• Spyderco Salt-1 knife
• Pocket change
• Key ring carabineer incl. Leatherman Squirt & 2 micro-lights, red & white
• Windproof lighter
• Corporate I.D.
• Personal cell-phone
• Corporate cell-phone (occasionally)
• Micro first-aid kit
• Hair comb

Briefcase Contents

• Assortment of writing implements
• Solar metric converter calculator
• Digital camera, extra memory
• Digital voice recorder
• USB data drive
• Generic 3-watt LED flashlight, 3 AAA
• Leatherman Wave & extra bits
• Adventure Medical .5 first-aid kit
• AMK Pocket survival kit, upgraded
• Road maps
• Reading glasses
• Files, notes, portfolio, business cards, calendar

Vehicle (personal)

• Road maps
• Sunglasses
• Reading glasses
• Insulated travel mug
• Music CDs
• Mini telephone book
• Car manual
• 4 Charcoal hand warmers
• Hard candy
• Change
• Pen / 3 pencils
• Tire wheel nut key
• Tire pressure gauge
• Eyeglass silk cleaning cloth
• Cell-phone charger
• Aerosol air freshener
• Hair comb
• Ice scraper / snowbrush
• Fleece cushion / blanket / poncho combo
• 3 Extra sunglasses in silk protective pouches
• Paper liner for cargo compartment
• Axe, full-size, 4 lb splitting head
• Umbrella, golf
• Fire extinguisher, 2 1/2 lb., 2ABC
• Bottled water
• Gas can, 5-litre
• Windshield washer fluid
• 2 - 30" Bungee cords
• Carabineer, small
• Car kit in duffle bag including:
  1. MK3 fixed blade knife (on order)
  2. First Aid manual and kit
  3. Tow strap, 17,000 lb tensile
  4. Basic tool kit (wrenches, multi-bit screwdriver, steel wire)
  5. Battery-post brush
  6. Duct tape
  7. 12' - 6 Ga. Jumper cables
  8. WD-40
  9. Folding shovel
  10. Tire foot pump
  11. Maglite flashlight
  12. 2 Chemical snap-lites
  13. 12' - 12 Ga. Extension cord
  14. 1 lb. Emergency food bar
  15. Wool finger gloves
  16. Work gloves
  17. 6 Charcoal foot warmers
  18. Fleece blanket
  19. Roll of industrial towels
  20. Protective eyewear
  21. Candles and matches (Couglans) in ditty bag
  22. Bic lighter

Vehicle (Corporate)

• Pen
• Ice scraper / snowbrush
• Shovel
• Road flares
• Antifreeze
• Windshield wiper fluid
• Winter Safety kit
  1. Tow rope, 6500 lb.
  2. Mylar fibreglass HD blanket
  3. Safety reflector kit
  4. Manual, contents list
  5. 1 qt. Tin can & lid c/w food packets, sugar, tea, coffee, soup, crackers, 2 Spoons, 2 Styrofoam cups, matches (3 books), plastic bag
  6. 1 qt.Tin can & lid c/w 60-hr candle
  7. Can opener

Backpack (Corporate) carried with rental vehicles

• Contents List
• 8' - 8 Ga. Booster cables
• Gas line anti-freeze
• Compass / whistle key chain
• Windshield scraper
• Folding utility knife & extra blades
• Road map
• Corporate phone book
• "Working Alone" Guidelines
• Energy Bar
• Bottle of aspirin and zip-loc bag
• Survival Kit in nylon bag including:
  1. Contents List
  2. 4 candles
  3. 2-AA cell flashlight /w HD batteries in separate
  4. zip-loc bag
  5. Mylar reflective blanket
  6. Emergency poncho
  7. "Help" flagging
  8. Orange garbage bag / safety vest
  9. 2 Charcoal hand warmers
  10. Lite foam kneeling pad
  11. 2 Emergency flares
  12. 2 Tea candles
  13. Matches (Coughlans)
  14. 2 Tape strips

• First-aid kit in zip-loc bag including:
  1. 12 Bandaids
  2. 6 Alcohol swabs
  3. 6 Wet wipes
  4. 6 Antiseptic swabs
  5. 2" - 5 yd. Gauze roll
  6. 2 3"x3" Gauze pads
  7. Emergency information card
  8. Scissors
  9. Tweezers

Other equipment

• Hard hat c/w ear plugs taped to inside
• Class 2 Hi-visibility vest
• Eye safety glasses
• Safety boots
• 25' / 6m steel measuring tape
• 100' cloth measuring tape

Bug-out Bag (B.O.B.)

• 1600 cu in daypack
• Extra set of keys
• Other items T.B.D.

Looks like you have everything covered <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
You might want to consider upgrading your mylar blanket to AMK Heatsheet.

I have never been very impressed with Couglans matches. They are small (short flame duration), not all that waterproof, and not very windproof. I would get some REI stormsafe matches to add to the kit(s). Once lit it is just about impossible to put them out. Put them underwater they go out, remove them from the water and they relite themselves.

Unless I missed it (it is early in the morning, and the lists are long), I didn't see a sleeping bag. Given your winter temps, I think that I would stuff at least a zero degree bag in there somewhere.

Maybe an empty one pound coffee can with a roll of toilet paper inside and several bottles of rubbing alcohol. Pour the alcohol in the can and lite it, you have a nice little heater to warm the inside of the vehicle. Keep a window on the lee side cracked a bit when using...

Thanks, I actually have one on order along with the MK3.

I don't if anyone is all that pleased with them. But they are what they are and happen to be in the Corporate bag. I can't change them out there but I would like to change them in my own car kit. MEC has some good matches but cannot be shipped so on a future travel trip I could pick some up. I consider matches to be my backup, in case the lighters and the cigarette lighter in the car don't work. :-)

No, I didn't have a sleeping bag but I did have 2 fleece blankets, one in the trunk and the other as combo seat cushion. A good sleeping bag takes a fair bit of volume but if I ever get around to replacing my 0* down bag with a -7* down bag for regular camping, I will consider putting the 0* bag in the car.


That's an interesting idea, I already have candles as supplemental heat in the vehicle but a bit of TP for other purposes :-) may come in handy.


Yeah, sorry about the length of the post but I want to think about the survival gear in it's entirety instead of just the on-person gear or just the car gear. There is a fair bit of redundancy, but that's OK as I have the extra room in the car kit. I want to start thinking about what might be a better subsitute for inclusion in my BOB vs what I already have.
I've taken Standard First Aid classes but I want to further that with a Wilderness F/A course and also some wilderness survival courses to broaden my abilities/knowledge. Knowledge is always a good thing and it takes so little space to pack it in! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Redundancy is a good thing...

The Coghlans arn't all that brilliant, but they are better than nothing. A pack of their tinder is a worthwhile addition.
A matchcase with wax dipped strike anywhere matches should go in one of your pockets. Also, I think that your AMK survival pack should, as a matter of good practice, go in your pocket when traveling, not in your case.
Other suggestions:
A mozzie headnet. Very usefull. Can be used to melt snow in next to your fire in winter as well as the intended use.
An all metal thermos flask. Wrap some foam around it. That stop's the contents from freezing by morning. Dehydration is a killer at subfreezing temperatures. A dehydrated person cannot burn their body's fuel properly. They develope hypothermia far sooner than would otherwise be the case. Its also good for keeping water cool in summer as well. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Good point - when I'm on the road I usally have sturdier pants instead of office clothes. I often wear cargo pants that have the larger pockets, yes occassionally I do transfer the survival pak in the pants but I not habitually disciplined enough.


What is that - never heard of this?


Hmm, not bad - I do have an extra thermos that I could use. It has an all metal top that can be used to heat liquids.

Maybe I missed it in the lists (I always miss something in them), but to add to the vehicle kits:

Watch cap, boonie hat with bug mesh
Gloves, two pair insulative and one pair leather
Good to great socks
Cord/rope
Bug dope

And you can probably put a pair of socks in your briefcase as well. And if the job requires dressy shoes, a pair of boots in the vehicle kits, already broken in.

I think he is refering to a mosquito head net <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />