Here are pictures and detailed descriptions of the emergency kit I take with me into the woods. It covers just the emergency gear, not standard gear like backpacking stove, water carrying system, maps, thermite, etc...



Any suggestions or questions?

-Blast

Looks really good, though I didn't notice any prepared tinder. If there isn't any, maybe that would be a good addition.

What type of compass (brand/where can I buy) is that?

Good kit! Nice and basic.

There is a tube filled with spark-lite tinder in the kit. (nice trick with the zip-tie BTW)

Somethings I would add are some safety-pins and a couple of sewing needles.

A coffee-filter would come in handy to.

In what can you boil water? Maybe add some HD aluminium foil

Do you have a poncho or other rain-gear with you in your regular hiking-kit? If not, I would add a emergency-poncho.

I'd place another vote for a sewing kit. A small tube of super glue might be handy, too. It takes very little space but is very useful for repairing clothing, tools or equipment. In an emergency, it can also be used to close an open wound or gash that is difficult to hold together with a bandage or band-aid.

Nice Kit, and a pretty good write-up as well!

I agree with adding a needle or two to the kit.

Also, I wouldn't epoxy a compass to the sheath as you mentioned in the blog. Not only will it probably affect the compass, but also because you've got a fine solution as it is now with a compass on the necklace and one in your kit.

Good Stuff!

Pretty nifty kit thee. What kind of bag is that?

I would add:
A full sized ferronium rod to the kit.
A 1 ltr flexibottle.


Truth be told, I would buy myself one of Doug's PSK's as the core kit and add bit's to it.

Looks good. Four suggestions:

-A couple of bandaids in a small zipper bag. I know, you've probably got them, but redundancy is good.
-A couple of neon 3x5 index cards, laminated and with holes punched in them so you can lace them together to form a longer signal if someone is wearing the bandanna or using it as a bandage.
-A mini Sharpie or a Lumocolor, which can write on the laminated index cards.
-Duct tape rerolled on a coffee stirrer or something similar.

Unfortunately, not enough space to spare for socks.

I wrap the skeleton handle of my neck knife with cord in much the same way. I agree you can never have too much cord, and it makes the knife more comfortable to use.

You might consider a plastic magnifying lens/card as an alternative or in addition to the mirror. It, too, will flash brightly in the sun, and has the added advantage of being yet enother way to make fire (sun cooperating).

I carry 30' of floss in the little blue plastic container the dentist hands it out in, which I found has a snap-open top and can fit three fishooks, two swivels and two split shot sinkers for an instant fishing kit.

Consider putting together an Altoids or Sucrets tin EMK to go in another pocket.

Thanks for all the feedback. I agree with the need for a sewing kit and will add a few sewing needles and saftey pins.

First Aid: I carry a separate FSK in my backpack but some aspirin and bandaids would be good for the PSK. Maybe some antibiotic cream, too.

Tinder: The PSK has a plastic, screw-top tube tube filled with Tinder-Quick tinder. The tube was in a box of freebies from ETS member ParamedicPete.

Compass: I don't remember the make/model. I think I also got them from ParamedicPete.

Aluminum foil/other water boiler: Not going to add any. I normally carry a large metal cup with me and if I were just lost it would be my water boiling container. If I loose the cup I have the MP-1 tablets in the PSK for water treatment. Most reports I hear about improvised aluminum boilers is they are flimsy and develop pin-holes even if made from disposible roasting trays.

Rain gear: I keep a military poncho in my backpack.

Super glue: It never seems to work on the materials I want glued (however it is great for gluing one's fingers to each other ). I don't think I'll add it.

Ferronium rod: I'll probably add one someday if I can pick some up at a good price. I have a Blastmatch somewhere, but I can't find it.

Flexi-bottle: I have one and tried to make it fit but the hard plastic mouthpeice took up too much space. I'm still looking for something stronger than the Ziploc freezer bag. I'm thinking of trying to make something out of the line of a wine-box.

Small Sharpie permanent marker: Good idea! My company gave out free mini-Sharpie golf-ball markers. They fit in nicely.

Break-away connector on kneck-knife: I used one from a small Wirtz waterproof container. It takes a fair amount of force to pop it apart and it's never accidentaly parted on me.

Neon notecards for signalling: Interesting idea but I probably won't do it. Sorry.

Duct tape on coffee stirrer: The flatten roll of duct tape already fits in there nicely.

Coffee filter: I assume this is to pretreat water before chemical purification? Good idea, I add a few.

-Blast

I'd add some steel wire and a micro multitool (like LM Squirt with pliers) instead of safety pins and small knife. Pliers are like your fingers but far stronger, precise, and indifferent to any abuse You can improvise and repair a lot of things with a strong wire and pliers. Including electrical repairs (fuses, burnt out wires, broken plugs, etc). I'm also keeping a little neodymium magnet affixed to the wire. But that could break your compass.

Actually, I believe that any serious kit must address every item represented in the Doug's PSP - at least. His micro PSK is perfect in terms of supporting of every possible survival situation. It's safe to add something, not to remove (personally, I'd think twice to even substitute anything from it).

The purpose of my kit is simply to hunker down and help me get found if I end up lost or injured without my backpack. It provides shelter, the ability to purify water, make fire and signal rescuers. The Squirt is a nice tool, but I feel it doesn't have bring enough value to the my PSK to add it. If I have some sort of gear that requires a pliers then I probably still have my LM Wave with me, too. Steel wire might be worthwhile, though.

The Ritter PSK is awesome and I've reccomended it to others. But I already had this stuff and my PSK has more sheltering ability than Doug's. On the downside, my kit isn't waterproof, but then most of the contents aren't harmed by water, either.

-Blast

PM me with your name and address and I will send some to you for free. Sometimes they do develop small bubbles in transit, but you should still find even these okay to use as a secondary compass.

Pete

I agree. So I took a 1L platypus bottle and cut the screw top off so it will fold rather flat. No, you can't seal it, but it stands by itself is much more durable than any ziplock bag. And fold over the top and one of the black HD paper clip thingys and it is somewhat secure.

Good kit. I'd add some first aid/ survival instructions (in case someone else has to use the kit), cash and personal info -- things like who the kit belongs to, emergency phone numbers, etc.

I like the Floss card, have to ask the wife about that. Well thought out kit.

Dave

I gave the wine-box liner a try as a water carrier after reading your post.
The pluses: It seems very strong, and doesn't leak at all.
The minuses: a royal pain to clean out and re-fill. After several rinses, etc., the water still tastes a little like Merlot.
Not that that is an entirely bad thing....
Have a great holiday, everyone.

Let the bag sit overnight filled with a mixture of baking soda and water, then rinse 2-3 times with tap water. That got rid of the taste for me.

As for filling, did you yank out the spigot? On mine the black spigot popped out of the white plastic connection with just a little prying with a screwdriver.

-Blast

http://gofastandlight.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=417&category_id=67

zipper pull compass

Aloha Blast,

I enjoyed looking at your blog again. And I was reminded of how adorable your girls are.

Now a serious question...

I don't remember seeing the kukhuri in the banner of your blog before. Is it new? What is it and do you have a review?

Thanks, I always enjoy your posts.

Aloha,

The kukhuri has always been there. It's just one of those $20 "Offical Nepal Army Kukhuri" that you see advertized in Atlanta Cutlery catalogs. I don't use it much as it's too heavy to carry hiking. Can't give much of a review, sorry.

-Blast

The next part probably won't get up until next week. As for the conclusion, that'll have to wait until I find out what's causing all the problems in Spring Creek near our house.

That's the thing about monsters. They always come back.

-Blast

They don't always come back.

Cut off the head and encase it in a block of lucite, after burning the body to ash and scattering it in one ounce lots in random postal codes around the globe. Ain't much coming back after that.

Then again, if I had kids, and they had a monster under the bed, I'd probably use it as an excuse for room clearing practice. And if I was far enough out not to scare the neighbors and had a couple of blanks laying around....