I was wondering what people do about carrying kits on commersial airlines?

They go in cargo. Potential flammables such as strike anywhere matches are left behind. A postal priority box allready labeled and metered is a good idea if you have to forego anything. You can also mail your kit ahead.

but what if the plane ditches in the sea?

You listen very carefully to the flight attendant who's soft comforting voice while distributing drinks is now barking like a Sargeant Major on parade. The liferafts are fully equipped.If your on British Airways try to finger the civilian MOD4. Seriously, in the water you need to stay afloat,warm and visible. This means dressing well, knowing how to inflate your pants if a PFD isn't on you and carrying a mirror and a whistle. If your washed ashore just start gathering FED EX packages ;O)

Colloidial Silver has been suggested as a means of water purification. Can anyone provide details ? Thanks in advance. _________________________________________________ Proverbs 21:19

Colloidal silver is a product marketed by naturapaths. Supposedly it kills 650 bacteria, is nontoxic and restores your night vision. That is what I know about the stuff. A web search produced organic colloidal silver, clay mineral colloidal silver, super colloidal silver and kits for making your own colloidal silver. It's a popular product along with freeze dried lentils, surplus canadian gas masks and G.I. surgical pocket kits. My acupuncturist reccomends buying a filter ( seriously) Beachdoc? Trustbox?

Ditch the silver purification for more efficient methods like chlorine or iodine based tabs. Unless you are using a filter with the silver tablets, i would suggest you stick to the tried and true methods.<br>Cost and time spent might also be a concern. It takes about 4 hours for silver to bind to the proteins in the bacteria whereas chlorine or iodine take about 30 min - 1 hour. I'm sure that the cost for silver tablets is higher than the other two.<br>The only people that seem to sing the praises of silver are those selling the silver based products.<br><br>

The sharp items go into checked baggage, and I plan on buying things like matches or fuel at my destination. Everything else goes into the carry on bag, which basically has items in it that I really don't want to lose, including critical surviva litems.

Hi Ditchfield,<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>I was wondering what people do about carrying kits on commersial airlines?<p><hr></blockquote><p>We all had a long and interesting discussion about this back in April ('02). Naturally, anything sealed or sharp (PSKs, knives & multi-tools) go in the checked bag(s) & are transferred back to person & pockets prior to leaving the destination airport. The discussion really, therefore, was more about carry on gear.<br><br>A lot of what I wrote then was sort of a reaction to being fed up with all the "we can't carry anything with us anymore" complaints I was hearing and reading. I wanted to list some ideas and spur some thinking about just how very much gear we still can carry onboard, if we desire. Since that thread, I have flown to Jamaica and back, passing through Customs, naturally, each way, and also laying over each way and changing airplanes. Since I had written all of that stuff here on the forum, I decided to put it somewhat to the test. (Might as well "put my money where my mouth is", so to speak, if I'm going to shoot said mouth off online, hm?) No, I didn't take all of that stuff that I wrote about, but I took most of it. Aside from standard metal detectors and x-rays, I was also grabbed for two random security searches on the way out (none on the way back in). So, I got to test some of the things I wrote in the April thread.<br><br>No one glanced twice at the disposable safety razor I had with my toiletries, nor my nail clippers (which, no, did not have a horrible deadly nail file on them ).<br><br>Mainstay packages their emergency rations in 9cube, 6cube and 3cube packages. Each cube is 400cal, regardless of how many cubes are in a package. The neat thing for trying not to appear paranoid is that the 3cube packages are not labeled like the 6 & 9cube ones. They don't say "Emergency Food Rations" & "Exceeds U.S. Coast Guard & SOLAS Standards". Instead, they say, "Energy Bars" & "Tastes Great". That and the water filter bottle elicited the admiring comment, "Wow, you're really prepared!" from the first seaching Officer.<br><br>My EVAC-U8 smoke hood didn't cause a blink. Each time, they looked at it, shook it(? ), and set it aside.<br><br>Ironically, given that it was what I wrote back in April, I actually was complimented by the Officer in the first search for having a First Aid Kit with me. "That's smart". "Thanks." <br><br>The Nuwick 44hr candle, the mini Bic disposable lighter I had in my bag and the overpacked box (you can get 30 in them, if you alternate which ways the match heads point) of Coughlan's "Windproof/Waterproof" matches (not just the merely "Waterproof" ones) I had in my pants pockets all were examined quickly and set aside without concern. (Note, as I said in the earlier post, the "tweezers" in the candle were wrapped into a spiral coil.)<br><br>Stefan, since you mentioned having heard about fees for carrying "diving gear" back in April, I thought you might be interested in knowing there was no extra fee for having swimming gear. I was carrying a folding snorkel and swim goggles.<br><br>Presumed Lost, you said you had never seen a folding snorkel before, and would like to see a picture of one. I found one for you. Here it is.<br><br><br>And no, I didn't carry a Float Coat ... this time.

jet,<br> Thanks for trying the experiment. I know that you took a risk to try carrying all that with you and I really appreciate it! Thankfully you didn't get detained or otherwise annoyed by the officials. Seems that there is some rational thinking going on during these extra secure times on the part of the officials. I read with interest your earlier posts and am glad to know that you tried this. I am sure you would have more difficulty becoming comfortable on-board with the float-coat than you will have getting it on board. It's only a jacket after all.<br><br>Thanks!<br>Brad