I've been reading 'equipped' off and on for quite a while now. I'm a camper by hobby and was a boy scout as a kid so I always maintained an interest in survival skills. I enjoy this site because of it's realistic perspective on survival/emergency skills. Anyways, Doug suggested I post this here. It's a little after the fact but I'd still appreciate some input. I apologize for the lack of pictures but I am in the process of moving.

Anyways... what is "it"? I made survival kits for my mom and two sisters for this christmas. I tried to include the highest quality stuff I could afford. What I couldn't afford, I made by hand. I also wrote up by hand a 6 page set of instructions (printed on 3 sheets double sided on heavy duty card stock and laminated) for them. Please take into account the context of the document: we live in PA so mostly it's going to deal with winter or urban emergency situations.

I tried to write it in a manner that was logically laid out (such as having food as one of the last items read) and obviously 'borrowed' alot of material either from this site or elsewhere.

Well at this point the kits are done and finished; I'd like more to them but I simply ran out of time and money <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> .. maybe next year I'll give them supplements for the kits to fix what you and I see to be wrong with it!

Anyways with out further rigamarole here's the link to the document I gave (has a full equipment list):

http://garland336.web1000.com/files/Emergency%20Kit%20Instructions.doc

Only differences are I did at the last minute include a box-cutter style knife (it's better than nothing) and did not get a chance to get the church-key style can openers (though the p-38 style ones are still there).

Thanks for taking the time to read all of this and I look forward to your comments.

Well, you are enabling them in the event they need it. Excellent gift. A couple of small things that werent included, but provide good reading; The sacred "Rules of Three"; boiling water for a straight 5 minutes takes the guesswork out of how long to boil; when eating insects, the best thing to do is to roast them on a stone, then grind them up. It makes them more palatable, and dont look like, well, bugs <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />. Also, when eating crickets, grasshoppers, or other spiny legged beasties, pull the legs off. They can get caught in the throat.
One last thing I JUST thought of; at the very least, KEEP YOUR HANDS CLEAN! Especially when handling food. IN a survival situation, the last thing you need is to be sick. An ounce of prevention, and all that.
Overall, I think you did an oustanding job. I am doing something similar with my nephew. Offer to teach them how to start a fire using alternative means. Practice yourself first though. I learned that the hard way <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hi garland....I looked over your list and it looks good to me. With your permission I would like to print some off for personal use?
Thanks

smitty

Looks pretty good. What are the kits packed in?

Check out CountyComm for inexpensive suplimental items, you don't have to filter out the cheap junk the way you do with folks like Major's or CDT.

Thanks for the praise!

Great information. Some things I definitely took for granted given the people involved w/ the kits. That being we're all pretty familiar with camping so I overlooked the cleanliness aspect. That can be readily fixed with a bottle of hand sanitizer.

Eating bugs has never been a fun proposition. I've seen others tear the legs off but when I've done it I simply chewed them into a paste and swallowed so the legs were never much of a problem for me. Again, an assumption on my part.

Thanks again for taking the time to read it!

Thanks. I was worried they would not be well received but everyone loved them. Surprisingly it's seemed pretty well received on here as well. My hope is obviously that they do not ever have to use them but if they do at least it's there for them.

When reading the title of this post I steeled myself for criticism and surprisingly found praise. Thank you very much!

Good question. Initially the kit was going to be small enough to fit in the coffee can. Quickly I realized it would be inadequate for their purposes so I decided to expand it. I obviously wanted the bag to be durable. I went to a local store called 'ollies' which specializes in low cost items that they purchased from stores going out of business.

I found some very durable american tourister tote bags for 2.99 each! There were only 3 (worked out perfectly), brand new, and built solidly. I'll post pictures whenever I find the transfer cable for my digital camera. My thought was 'well, if they don't like the kits at least they'll get some really nice bags out of it!'

Sure, plagarize all you like. I myself did some extensive 'borrowing' as you can readily see.

Good for you. A couple of years ago I gave out homemade kits based on the NRA kits with a few extra items thrown in. While nobody in my family EDC's theirs, at least they all claim to carry it in their vehicles. Baby steps.... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Re: hand santizers

We have a Purell (alcohol based) hand sanitizer dispenser on the wall at work. We handle a lot of money and our hands get very dirty. I happened to read on the Purell container that it 'only kills bacteria on clean hands'.

I am assuming that means if your hands are covered with dirt, fish guts or rabbit blood, you need to clean them pretty thoroughly BEFORE you rely on the Purell.

Sue

Wow. Well that's cool to know.

Leaves an interesting gap as to 'what to use'? ... I guess just some form of disinfecting soap.

You don't need anything fancy. A travel sized bar of Ivory will kill pretty much everything, with Purell picking off the survivors, and it lasts forever.

Oh, and if you use Purell gel, don't get the stuff with aloe. The plain stuff burns real well, the kind with aloe not so well. The stuff in the Purell wipes doesn't burn period.

I'd have replied sooner, but I was in the process of moving.

Yeah, that's a good call. I prefer dial for soap though. At least I have a full year to consider what to get before I build a supplement!

I heard that too Izzy, but it was several years ago.... that being that sanitizers actually kill the bacteria produced by your own body to kill foreign bacteria.

So... while on a trip with my agency in 2004, we had a nursing staff come in to do basic physicals on us. I asked each one (there were three, one was an MD) and they said they had never heard of this. The MD theorized that it had merit, however, the problem is that:
bacteria on our hands can be ingested before our natural bacteria can get to it, let alone kill it. The theory behind washing our hands with (lye) is sound: get rid of the bacteria-carrying dirt before we ingest it. The theory of anti-bacterial follow-up (i.e. Purell) is a fail-safe: kill any bacteria that remains. The fact that our own bacteria (that produced by our body) is killed is inconsequential... our bodies will simply produce more.

Sorry to get so carried away but, taking this a step further, someone could argue:
1. If our bodies produce anti-bacterial bacterium, and we ingest a harmful bacteria, won't they kill it inside of us as well as on our hands? I say no but I'm no MD (or nurse, or anything else). Why not? Because we get colds, flues, etc.

2. If we use anti-bacterial soaps and end up destroying our own "good" bacteria and the bad, won;t our bodies stop producing it? I say no but I'm no MD (or nurse, or anything else). Why not? Because we are ever-producing this stuff, at all times, not just when there is foreign bacteria present.

Look, I don;t think you're going to see hospitals get rid of these anti-bacterial soaps, lotions, and gels. And even if they do, they'll be back to using it a few years later, just as we return to all basics after our societal lunatics convince us to abandon this or that.

No, I'm not saying the study is lunacy. It makes sense: Wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap and you're probably going to kill good bacteria secreted from our own body.

In the end, if you wash your hands with soap and water, often, just like Mom and Dad said to, you'll be fine. If you follow-up (occassionally) with some anti-bacterial solution because of some weird juju you just touched, you'll be fine. This is my theory.... for what it's worth.

This link redirects to the Chamber of Commerce?

Odd. I went back and clicked it and it worked fine for me. Maybe it was a temporary site-related issue?

Great job garland!!! I think your gifts will be much appreciated and I hope you get to see the fruit of your labor.

I, too, gave similar gifts to my friends and family for Christmas. I gave Doug's PSK's BUT I didn't go as far as you did with the instructions, etc. Wish I had thought of it though. It's given me the inspiration to put together something similar and send it out this month. Hopefully it will act as a friendly reminder for them to get the kit out and do some study and add to it.

Thanks very much. I put the kit together for about 65-85/kit. I probably could have spent much more but funds were not permitting. As it is, my family has at least played with it but my older sister has gone to town. She's been testing everything in the kit, so I've been busy answering her questions. Already she's added tampons, peppermint candy, sugar, salt, etc..

I've advised her I'll create a supplement for next year but told her what it would include:
Travel bar of dial soap
Electrolyte powder mix
Water rations
200sht "camping" rolls of toilet paper.

She will likely add this stuff on her own though. I'll post pictures of the kits once I find my digital camera.

How come it says file does not exist? Is there a new link?

I've thought of trying the same thing but when I try to talk to them about the psossibility of needing a survival kit they kinda look at me like I've gotta screw loose.

This is so cool. I was looking for something like this all over the forum. Now i can make me my on PSK. Thanks.

I just looked and it's there.

Sue

garland's link works for me, as well, Equipped4Chicago.

web1000 is a quasi-flakey web host. I recommend giving it a few hours and trying again unfortunately.

I did eventually upload the pictures that I took but for some reason they came out very poorly <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> ... so if you want to see some hazy pictures click the links below:
The kit bag unopened:
http://garland336.web1000.com/files/survkit1.jpg
The kit opened:
http://garland336.web1000.com/files/survkit2.jpg
The kit displayed (probably the least shaky picture):
http://garland336.web1000.com/files/survkit3.jpg
The full kit (you can see the hobo stove opened and the trowel as well)
http://garland336.web1000.com/files/survkit4.jpg
And the contents of the hobo stove:
http://garland336.web1000.com/files/survkit5.jpg

pictures of the alcohol stove burning:
http://garland336.web1000.com/files/survkit6.jpg
http://garland336.web1000.com/files/survkit7.jpg

I think having the tinder in a clear plastic bag is a good idea. When you dump all you stuff on the ground you can see it and know what it is. Also, if your hands are not working very well you can rip it open easily.

Maybe it's a male thing; but if I don't see it on top, it does not exist!