You may recall I am a den leader with DS’s cub scout troop. This year I have been the Bear leader as DS is a bear and there were no conflicts with another parent wanting to be the leader. At any rate, I asked the forum members before about teaching the scouts about survival kits and about the contents of the kits, what items they could/should have in an emergency/survival kit. I got a lot of responses and a lot of great advice from the ETS forum members. After much deliberation (and begging, borrowing and bulk purchasing to keep the kit cost down) we came up with a final kit contents list. I know it is not the best stuff but budget was a concern. These were the best items we could get without breaking the bank so to speak. Space was also a consideration. Upgrades on some of the contents will be suggested and shown to the kids and parents (for example they could upgrade from the large orange garbage bag to a heat sheet, or from the victorinox signal mirror to a rescue flash). I don’t think we are missing anything but I wanted to present what we came up with to get any suggestions for what to take out or what to add.

Medical items
- 4 Band-Aids - pretreated with antibiotic ointment
- 5 Wound closure strips
- 2 Alcohol prep pads
Shelter items
- Orange garbage bags – not sure exactly what size but they are thick and fairly large
- 25’ bright yellow mason line
Warmth items
- 1 magic birthday candle (wrapped in foil)
- 10 Strike anywhere matches – including part of an emery board as a striking surface
- 2 tinder quik tabs
- small piece of cardboard (mainly serves to protect the baking bag from other abrasive kit items)
Water items
- 1 baking bag with reusable tie
- 6 Micropur water purification tablets (same as in PSP plus - 6 tablets = 2 quarts a day for three days)
Signaling items
- Whistle
- Victorinox mirror
- Bandana
Tools
- Small led light (fauxton)
- STOP card and survival instructions (more like a use sheet for the contents that includes the rule of threes)
Personal protection and comfort
- Leaving for them to add
Multipurpose and repair
- Duct tape (orange, flat pack, about 12 inches)
- Magnifying (fresnel) lens
- 10’ wire
- Aluminum foil (about 2 ft or so)
- 3 post it notes and bic ink pen refill
- One twist tie
- 3 Rubber Bands
- Safety Pins
Navigation
- Button compass

The items fit into a Tupperware type container except the garbage bag, which gets wrapped by the bandanna to protect it and secured to the container with the rubber bands. Sorry I don’t have pics yet, I will try to take some tonight and figure out how to upload them etc. Note that I purposely left out some items for them to add on their own with their Parent’s permission. We will discuss these additions along with the upgrades. They can add a ferro rod or other sparking device, fishing gear, sewing needle and thread, razor blade, etc. This also gives the kids some ownership and input into the kit contents. As part of the meeting we will discuss the uses for each item, and we will take opportunities to practice using the items at future meetings and campouts. The cost at this point is about $10.50 per kit. To emphasize the importance of the kits, I want to make these mandatory to bring for any outdoor activity - no kit, they don't get to go. So what do you all think? Are we missing anything? Other than quality but as I said budget was really limited and this was so important to me I paid for all the stuff myself other than what I got donated or given to us.