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#294412 - 12/18/19 10:20 PM Survival kit in a tube
teacher Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 12/14/05
Posts: 988
I have my opinions on this; what are yours?

Gadgeteer review

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#294417 - 12/19/19 12:31 AM Re: Survival kit in a tube [Re: teacher]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
A waste of money. Survival is more about knowledge, skills, and attitude than about a bunch of gadgets crammed into a container. Those gadgets would be more accessible just thrown in a loose sack than stacked into that tube. Inevitably, what you need will be buried deep at the bottom.
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Geezer in Chief

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#294418 - 12/19/19 01:32 AM Re: Survival kit in a tube [Re: teacher]
Jeanette_Isabelle Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 11/13/06
Posts: 2946
Loc: Nacogdoches, Texas
I've known about that kit for a while. I was not sure if it was an innovative idea or a gimmick.

As for all kits beeing trash and all that you need is your brain? No! A person needs both equipment and their brain. You can have all of the knowledge and skills to survive the most remote places on earth but if you don't have the tools to make a fire or get clean water, you are SOL.

Jeanette Isabelle
_________________________
I'm not sure whose twisted idea it was to put hundreds of adolescents in underfunded schools run by people whose dreams were crushed years ago, but I admire the sadism. -- Wednesday Adams, Wednesday

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#294420 - 12/19/19 03:21 AM Re: Survival kit in a tube [Re: Jeanette_Isabelle]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
[quote=J

As for all kits beeing trash and all that you need is your brain? No! A person needs both equipment and their brain. You can have all of the knowledge and skills to survive the most remote places on earth but if you don't have the tools to make a fire or get clean water, you are SOL.

Jeanette Isabelle [/quote]

Who said all you need is your brain? Obviously, gear, properly selected and utilized, turns a potential disaster into just a day or two outdoors. But the noggin is by far the most important factor.

Let's say you don't have "the tools to make a fire or get clean water". Are you truly SOL? Are there no other alternatives.

I have always been able to produce fire when needed, but if I couldn't, there are alternatives.

I have been in situations where the only liquid was potentially impure. Given the circumstances, i drank long and heartily from a stagnant cattle pond, knowing that I was beginning to show signs of severe dehydration. I needed the liquid immediately, so that I could return to civilization and cure whatever bugs I might get from the water, which would take a few days to work on my system. As it turned out, I suffered no ill effects whatever.

I usually carry adequate water, which is the best course, and I routinely have three ways to start a fire, and at least a couple of ways to purify water.

I recall one victim,with a large bulky backpack,slowly going hypothermic in a freezing mist when we reached him.

"Say, how about building a fire?," we inquired. "You can't - It's too wet," was his reply.

We started a fire with no great difficulty since there were dry twigs and leaves within the abundant conifers, along with pitch. Lots of gear and no knowledge. But he was equipped, as we learned later on the walk out, when he became annoyed at a light shining in the distance, producing a rifle and attempting to shoot it out. Total lack of judgement...
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#294422 - 12/19/19 01:36 PM Re: Survival kit in a tube [Re: hikermor]
Jeanette_Isabelle Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 11/13/06
Posts: 2946
Loc: Nacogdoches, Texas
Every time we are on the subject of gear, you are always bashing it. "Don't waste your money on this junk."

I'm quite aware that a person can have the best gear but if he has no understanding of how to use it, he will end up dead. I'm a firm believer that a person needs both. If someone has one but not the other, he or she will be the next tragedy we'll be discussing. "What did they do wrong? What could they have done differently to improve their odds of survival?"

Jeanette Isabelle
_________________________
I'm not sure whose twisted idea it was to put hundreds of adolescents in underfunded schools run by people whose dreams were crushed years ago, but I admire the sadism. -- Wednesday Adams, Wednesday

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#294423 - 12/19/19 02:53 PM Re: Survival kit in a tube [Re: teacher]
pforeman Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 04/23/08
Posts: 237
Loc: Iowa
While this is 'interesting' I think it may be too narrow in it's usefulness - such as needing an element in the middle of the stack means having to unpack all or most of it to get to it. I also wonder if the tube/container could be re-purposed some how when the contents are needed so it is not just a container.

I would like it a lot better as a storage/deployment item where it included a small bag/pack or some way to carry the stuff once the tube is opened for use. It's great for having all the components in one grab & go kit but it isn't a good design for ongoing use. Something like this could be used to drop a kit to someone stranded to use until help arrives but would need an instruction section to go with it.

As for training - that is truly the key... having the right equipment to go with it is best. However, having a bunch of tools and no idea of how to use them makes the tools more or less moot.

Paul -

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#294424 - 12/19/19 03:59 PM Re: Survival kit in a tube [Re: Jeanette_Isabelle]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
You are right- my standard line basically is "Don't waste your money on this junk."

That is because that is my honest opinion based on six decades of experience in the outdoors doing archaeological field work, rock climbing, backpacking, and SAR volunteering. I have participated in more than 470 search and rescue operations, lasting from less than ten minutes to more than two weeks.

Venturing into the outdoors, you need dependable, workable gear with which you are familiar. If the situation gets out of hand, there is no time to read the instruction book and fumble with the gadgets. You need familiar items, whose capabilities are known to you.

Different situations require different items. Doing SAR in Southern Arizona, we responded to situations with very hot temps in the summer, sub zero temps in the winter in the mountains, swift water during floods, and all kinds of weird circumstances (cave rescue, stranded horses, etc). What is very good in one setting is irrelevant in another. As one of my comrades observed, "In the summer, your rescue pack essentially becomes a giant water bottle." Months later, you are contending with deep snow and hypothermia.

A dinky, generalized 'survival' pack is rather useless when the going gets tough. It may be better than nothing at all, but purchasing these very generalized kits is not the best way to use your resources.

Don't waste your money on junk.
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#294425 - 12/19/19 04:18 PM Re: Survival kit in a tube [Re: teacher]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
I prefer kits in which the gear can be used and worked with before it is needed in a critical situation. This kit seems to have everything well organized and packed, but would I need to buy two — one to play with and the other to pack away for that emergency? I’d prefer to build my own kit with quality items I choose and have already played with.
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Better is the Enemy of Good Enough.
Okay, what’s your point??

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#294426 - 12/19/19 07:03 PM Re: Survival kit in a tube [Re: pforeman]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
"What did they do wrong? What could they have done differently to improve their odds of survival?"

Good questions. I and my colleagues have critiqued a number of incidents, some which ended successfully and others in fatalities and trends emerge:
1) generally bad situations develop gradually, typically as the result of bad decisions -

"Should we cancel the trip; heavy snow is forecast" I am really tired, should we stop for the night?" "Hold my beer and watch me climb this cliff". Usually it takes about three bad decisions to really get a person in trouble. Typically it is a lone individual, not a group.

The decisions made generally reflect the lack of experience. Along with this inexperience is the usual absence of useful equipment -things like a map, first aid kit,etc.

On occasion we did need to assist those who were well equipped and competent, but this was rare. Quite often alcohol was a factor.

Experience and proper gear develop together. If you are in a new and novel situation, you are at risk to some degree.

I am a good xample. On my very first hike in the Santa Catalina Mountains above Tucson, I found myself caught on a rock sput, with my feet dangling above a forty foot drop that could easily have been fatal. This was the result of wearing grossly improper boots, a lack of understanding the potential hazards, and an uninformed group leader who encouraged us to try our hands at rock climbing (who needs a rope or any of that stuff?)

Tht was the closest call I have ever had. Years later I helped recover the body of a young lady who had flown to Tucson to visit friends, went with them to a popular party spot in the mountains, and suffered a fatal fall. Why her and not me? I wonder to this day....
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Geezer in Chief

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#294428 - 12/19/19 08:22 PM Re: Survival kit in a tube [Re: teacher]
teacher Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 12/14/05
Posts: 988
As an exercise; what kit would you build instead for $100?

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