Lifejacket Critical Survival Items

I just finished an article on Critical Survival Items you can carry in a Lifejacket. The basic scenario is you are standing on the side of a wilderness river or lake: cold, wet, possibly injured, and likely hypothermic. What should you be carrying in you lifejacket to help you survive. Here are a few of the pictures from the article.



The article is at: Lifejacket Critical Survival Items. The article contains additional pictures and my explanations for the choices that I made.

I look forward to hearing what additions and deletions everyone thinks should me made. Remember that I wisely limited myself to using and not modifying a Coast Guard approved lifejacket and we can't carry handguns up here in Canada (at least us non-criminal types).

Admittedly I only speed read your article, I didn't see a strobe or PLB mentioned.

Good article and site link Bruce,

CANOEDOGS did a similar post a while ago found here
http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=10186&Number=115815#Post115815 and feedback here http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=10191&Number=115895#Post115895

I understand that you are really tight for space in the pockets of a lifejacket, but would there be any room for the following useful items?

- AMK Heetsheet Blanket
- small knife sharpener (emery cloth or diamond sharpener)
- water purification tablets
- water container (plastic/mylar bag)
- insect repellent
- marine flare or strobe

Mike

Hi Bruce. Nice set-up for the PFD. I only have one pocket on my PFD but have a second mesh pocket on my paddling jacket which can also hold a number of items. And of course I normally wear some sort of cargo pants/shorts. One thing I don't see in the kit is any sort of extra vision! I don't know about others but I am getting increasingly reliant on reading glasses and so I always store a set on my person -- it's really the only way I can read maps nowadays.

Good kit considering the size constraints which are a significant limitation.


A PLB would be great because the first thing I'd be looking for in that situation is a way out of it. Obviously no room for that item.

Another item I thought was missing is a good signal mirror, but that's included in the Ritter PSP.

Hopefully an itinerary was left with someone and you will be missed.

Interesting - I'd do something similar with a fishing PFD. More pockets including a large one on the back.

Where I go its all about staying warm;

- fleece hat
- Platypus water bag, purifying pills
- spare vision devices ( contacts, glasses)
tro





( I'd also have a zip-shut pocket on my shorts and safety pin it shut as well.)

Are extra/spare vision devices considered critical survival items? I guess they could be if you were seriously near sighted and as was mentioned they could be critical in reading a map; but is the map itself a critical survival item? I imagine that depends on the definition of critical.

I have a magnifying glass to use for reading maps and other things. I use off the shelf 1.25 reading glasses and sometimes they aren't quite enough for the small print.

The question for this thread is that if there is a significant space limitation, do reading glasses have a high enough priority to bump something else out? Are the glasses critical or nice to have?

One degree of compass error = 92' in one mile. The vikings managed to hit Canada's eastern shore with a lot less in the form of a lodestone and the story of Saint Brendan the navigator.
Personally, I want more than a magnetised bit of iron and some irish priest's word. Some people would look at your Mora as a 'toy' also. Put the button back in. It's better than nothing.

And nothing is your main consideration. Have you jumped from a highboard into a pool with this rig on? my one Lifejacket kit use was at Tilllamook Bay Oregon. I was a rescue swimmer and managed to get 3 people to shore in the rapidly fading light. My survival belt with all my kit was rippped off. I had my secondary Camillus folding sailor's knife inside my wetsuit on a paracord lanyard and little else.

Somehow I managed to make a friction fire courtesy of some dry wood and coals from an recent beach campfire and a really lousy spindle and board. The Oregon Coast isn't exactly noted for the dry conditions in Arizona when i learned firemaking as a little boy.

You try to explain to a screaming CPO your knife,strobe light,penflares and Lifeboat matches were in the Pacific Ocean, the MK 1 Lifejacket was less than exemplary and when you're done castigating californians, I think my left hand is broken.

I carry a SPOT Beacon, but it was to big for the lifejacket so it goes in my Olive Jar

My bad, I thought you were gearing up for overboard in the ocean, if it's a lake then your signal group is fine. I would not recommend your kit for any ocean adventures for the signal group. I would recommend a PLB though.

Your waterproof primary lighter, I would add a small FOV with extra lighter fluid and a ferrorod. Army firesteel FOB

Shelter, I would add a GoLite Poncho Tarp, very light weigh,small and longer than normal ponchos for using it as a tarp. (it has tie down points built in) Poncho shelter

Get rid of the cord you have and go with 25 feet of military grade type IV parachute cord.

Add 1 guyotdesigns (worth there weight in gold) water bottle and put some of your smaller kits in this bottle.
This bottle will allow you to cook food, signal and boil water in it, you can store some of your kits inside it when not in use (it will be waterproof inside of the bottle) and will merge into the space some of your kits are in.
Water bottle

Some of your gear (like your first aid kit for example) is not waterproof plus in your scenario everything will be soaking wet so your first priority will be shelter and fire, so that means shedding the cloths and I would put a MSR ultra lite towel in your kit (waterproof everything of course) to dry off as quick as possible before getting into a heat bag. Time for hypothermia is critical when dealing with cold weather.

Although I haven't tried one but Doug recommend it was the Land Shark Bivy though (I'm a poncho liner man myself but you would not have the room for a military poncho liner)for use in to quickly build back body heat. NEW Military issue poncho liners!!

Hand warmer and glow stick are extra weight and can be replaced with a strobe with extra set of batteries. It will last you a lot longer and can be seen at night allot further out. (strobes at night are worth their weight in gold) If you have room for hand warmers and stick then fine but it's extra weight and space IMHO.

Although this one is big (I can't remember where I saw a smaller version of a waterproof wind up light) but you'll get the idea. Batteries will fail so you would want another source of power rather solar, wind up or what have you.
Waterproof wind uo flashlight

Other options if the ocean is involved.

Rescuestreamer

ACR Firefly 2 waterbug 200ft depth

ACR PLB

Your right about the Mirror, I normally carry a Glass Heliograph (Airforce Type) in my First Aid Kit, but the compromise was to use the plastic one in my lifejacket and keep the good one in my first aid kit in my Olive Jar.

ok, I'll bite - what's an olive jar?

I've dumped a canoe or two, but thankfully not in an ice-cold river. I've also been fat-fingered a time or three, but thankfully not full-on hypothermic.

I think you've created a decent backup kit.

The big thing that catches my eye is "calories -- lack thereof." You've obviously thought about this. But IMO, on the edge of hypothermia, you need to buy time. For me, a handful of Werther's Originals for instant sugar (and a hug) plus a Power Bar to blunt the sugar crash later could get the internal furnace roaring and an external fire built.

Maybe stow these in a bright red clip-on bag that you remove at night?

My 2¢.

"...I guess they could be if you were seriously near sighted..."

Actually, it can go the other way too. I am far sighted, need my bi (actually tri) focals to see anything close up. I would be hard pressed to do a lot of necessary things without my glasses. So I have lots of spares, stuffed everywhere...

TeacherRO brings up something interesting when he mentioned the 'pocket on the back' of his PFD.
I've got 24 sea kayaks, paddle on average 200 days a year, have attended too many kayak symposiums to remember.
One thing I noticed on PFDs of British origin are pockets on the back....a rare thing on USA made PFDs.
But back to what to add to the list and in this vane of the back pocket, I would whole heartedly suggest a minimalist instantaneous shelter in that back pocket...something to immediately block the wind, retard the rain, hold in some heat.
Something like this:
http://www.seakayakgeorgia.com/catalog.php?item=34&all=yes
If you have a mini-candle lantern all the better. When wearing one of these:
http://www.kokatat.com/product_detail.asp?code=psc
I've squatted down and placed the candle lanter on the ground but between my knees and inside the storm cag-amazing what kind of heat builds up and quickly.
Remembering the rules of 3 its a no brainer that shelter and hypothermia have to be dealth with.
I read the post about lossing a PFD, surely it can happen and at least on my neck lanyard I've got a RAT-3,a Doug Ritter squeezy thumb light (can't remember the exact model name), a whislte, and a mini-ferrocium rod--better than nothing; but if I've go my PFD when I get to shore I'll make that guy in 'Castaway' green with envy.
Here on this site we all know about 'BOBs', in my paddling circle we all have hypothermia bags, some of us carry them in the cockpit of the kayak, others in the day hatch...my hypothermia kit is composed of these two items:
1. Hilleberg BivAnorak
http://www.hilleberg.com/2006%20Products/NewBivanorak.htm
2. Bod-i-bag
These two items are also carried when I day hike, the combination of the two is remarkable in its simplicity and the ability to move/cook/ or sleep.
PLBs are awesome for sure....just make sure when they get there you are still alive
http://www.bodibag.com/

I think someone has to chime inhere and point out that every piece of gear you stuff into or onto a life jacket is going to make the life jacket heavier, bulkier and less comfortable. While a lack of comfort and extra bulk and weight may be an acceptable if your a parajumper diving in after drowning boaters on a stormy sea the biggest problem for most people is not a lack of gear in their life jacket. It is simply getting ourselves and others to wear a life jacket.

Load a lifejacket down with a bunch of gear may end up being counterproductive simply because the weight and bulk make it too uncomfortable to put on and wear every time your on deck.

Also it should be pointed out that if you fall over twenty miles offshore most of that gear is just extra weight and an impediment. A mirror, a small combination flare/smoke signal and a knife may come in handy but the compass, candle, firestarter and blanket are useless.

On the other hand if your failing to claw your way off a lee shore in a storm and the rocks and wilderness shore is close enough to have some chance of getting to in one piece. The land oriented survival gear may prove useful if your forced to jump and swim for it.

The wider point being that the selection of survival gear to carry varies widely depending on the situation your in.

For every-day generally mild condition sailing close to a well populated shore the biggest obstacle is simply getting yourself to wear a life jacket. Everything else is secondary.

Offshore your concern is first simply wearing the life jacket and, if you get separated from your boat, getting spotted so you can be rescued. The weight and bulk of the fire starting kit would be better served including something to help you get spotted. And none of the gear will help you if the life jacket isn't comfortable enough to wear so you have it on when that boom sweeps you over the side.

Faced with a lee shore too bloody close for comfort, help hours away ,and nothing but rocks and bears ashore the survival on land gear might come in handy if you make it to shore alive. Of course, for me, a question is if the best place for this gear might not be in a Ditch bag. Hopefully one that you can use as a float as you fight your way ashore. Ashore it might be nice if the stuff was in a small backpack.

Instead of loading down your life jacket all the time the better course may be to keep all but the most light and basic gear, useful in all situations; perhaps just a small light, whistle, and knife; and keeping other gear in separate small bags that can be attached to or stuffed in the life jacket to optimize the kit to the situation.

In fair weather close to an occupied shore you just have the jacket and the few basic pieces. Offshore you add a packet of distress signals. With that lee shore coming up fast you go with that and extra survival gear you may want if you make it to shore.

As a general point I agree with you, but in this case my lifejacket is built to carry someone who weight up to 300lbs and I weight about 210. So my 2 lbs of survival gear makes no real difference to my ability to float. With this design of lifejacket I cannot tell at all that I am carrying anything. I just finished a 10 day canoe trip and it worked great. Different lifejacket/pdf designs can make a real difference.

I'm assuming the original poster is not concerned with off-shore survival situation since he mentioned using the PFD in his canoe.

I agree over stuffing a panel type PFD makes it uncomfortable for lengthy wear. On occasion, I wear a fanny pack as a "bail-out" kit container in my solo canoe.
When I recently began kayak paddling, I found any pocket or belt based kit uncomfortable and makes getting into or out off a kayak cockpit, especially with a cover in place, difficult at best.
In addition to a basic kit in the PFD pocket(s), take a look at the Lotus Design EFT Pack. It rides high enough on the back of a panel PFD to clear kayak seat backs. The problem is, it's out of production, but may be found yet at some kayak shops or on e-bay.
Take a look at www.watertribe.com for some good canoe/kayak based kits.

should i stay or should i go???



after paddleing for several days thru sheltered small lakes i came down from the highlands to find Lac La Croix a wind whipped mess..i went and by the end of the day i surfed into the carry at the end of the lake..
have a look at my overboard vest..i have what after 20+ years of solo canoe tripping what i would want if i went over and lost all my gear execept my PFD and it's gear..lots of way to make a fire.something to make a wind and waterproof shelter and hot food and a way to cook it..no compass,i'm not going anywhere,no big knife,i'm not going to have to dress any game..so on.
next time your out pick a place at random..and not a "good spot" where you could camp but something full of brush and rocks that you would be happy to wash up into and try out your kit.
if you really want to get into it land the canoe and swim out
a bit and back in--did your matches get wet from the drips off your clothes--did the heads "butter" when you tryed to strike them with wet hands?? could you find a place to shelter and make a fire in less that 10 minutes??--all tricky questions..and i would try and get the answers before you pack a PFD with gear..
i left out alot of first aid gear in favor of more food..
this year i made some changes from last years PFD with some good advice i got after i posted my kit.the canoe season is comming to a close in another month or so and when it does i'll break down my kit and post a few photos of the changes i made..

Compact source of immediate calories.

CANOEDOGS +1

Very well said, shelter when wet is it within the first 15 minutes or else anything else you carry is worthless. Cold and wet kills fast,and what happens if you can't get a fire going in the first 15 minutes? Your on a very fast time clock to get dry and warm as fast as possible.

Whats Wrong In This Photo??



after running the shoreline and finding a small bay to pull into for a breather i took this shot as sort of a "pat on the back"...but check out the flasher on the right of the photo--left side of PFD--it's so small that its a joke.later in the day when the storm driving that wind swept down the lake and over me i had a look around and came to the conclusion that the TINY firefly of a light would be invisible to anyone who might be close enought to pull me out of the water and the switch takes both hands to turn on.one to hold the body and one to move a wire clip and turn the small switch..i have one of those large flashers with the clear dome top and safety pin clip but i thought i was heavy and was getting bashed around too much so i went for a smaller one..so next is a better flasher that is at least cheaper than a SPOT PLB..
any ideas??



do you think you could spot a man in the water if he had that flasher running???

I would scrap the wax/cotton tinder in faviour of a esbit cubes or wetfire and add a few lifeboat matches. No less than five and no more than 10. Plus a scout sized fire steel that I have varnished to protect from salt water.

Reason:
I know from personal experience that cotton/wax tinder is not as easy to light as Tinder-Quik. However it does deliver more BTU's. But, and its a big but, neither of them burns long enough to dry out and ignite damp kindling. As for trying to light a fire in any sort of breeze with a match or a lighter when your wet/shivering, well, good luck....

On the other hand,a crushed esbit block that has a lifeboat match dropped onto it, or a spark struck into it will ignite instantly.

One other point: If you can obtain one a Krill Stick would be preferable. rather than a lightstick.

Rather than a Krill, I'd get the waterproof (option) CR123 based (one or 2 models) "Glo-tube". I've tried to standardize on AA/CR123s (actually moving towards CR123). They do have a blink pattern (in fact, more than one), so...

RE Hypothermia

It can sneak up on you real fast.

Back, oh 20+ years ago, I was going for a hike up Slide Mountain in the Catskills. Weather was nice when we left NYC the weekend before Memorial Day

The weather was damp, and kinda chilly at the base of the mountain, and even though I only had a long sleved shirt, and no jacket, the 4 of us decided to head up the mountain. At around the 3400 ft mark, it started to SNOW, but then stopped. I was damp, it was COLD, and surprise, I was seriously hypothermic. Luckly, my hiking buddy Joe took one look at me, and realized what was going on. Spare jacket over my shoulders (I was a larger size so could not wear it, small stove out, cup of hot chocolate, and some food later, and I was fine - didn't hurt that the sun decided to come out, and the temps went up 10-15 degs either - to the point we decided NOT to abandon the hike (we were only 1/3 mile from the summit or so). Hiked up, made lunch (again, hot), and hiked back on down

Interesting experience. The rest of the gang got to see what hypothermia looks like, and I got to feel what it's like, and how FAST it can come on

CANOEDOGS, I went with the ACR Firefly2 Waterbug http://www.afmo.com/ACR_Firefly2_Waterbug_p/218-00032.htm , you can get them cheaper if you Google it but it has its advantages.
1. waterproof to 200 feet
2. 2 modes of operation,
1st mode is water activated, if you fall over it will automatically strobe for 8 hours on 2 AA batteries.
The second mode is if you turn it on on land you can lick your fingers and activate it by touching the two contacts on land and once it turns on it won't stop until you turn it off.
3. AA batteries and durable

Another thing I carry is a diver Signal Marker Buoy, which I attach the strobe to the top of it while in the water which allows the strobe to be seen above wave height. If your happy with your strobe then just add the SMB to your kit and attach the strobe to the top of it when in the water. I like the water bug because if I fall in the water unconscious then it fires off automatically. If you do get one, get one that's 5 feet or greater, the taller it is the more the visibility.

SMB Link

Another source of SMB's


Here's an example of what I'm talking about, the strobe is attached to the top of the SMB (Surface Marker Buoy) and allows your strobe to be seen over small wave heights up to 5 to 6 feet. The SMB with strobe and a dive alert for noise allowed me to be seen when my dive boat decided to go back in shore without accounting for people. It was the day I should have played the lottery because a boat was fishing in that area and saw me. That day I cashed out one of my 9 lives, so I know it does work in choppy waters.

This project has several interesting assumptions:

- that you only have the pockets of the life jacket for equipment
- that hypothermia is your first concern (rather then say, getting out of the water.)

teacher

I would not substitute the SS Mora fot the carbon steel one, I have a carbon steel clipper that I take tubing with me every year and I also put it in my tackle box when I go fishing. I have not had any problems in three years with rust. Good kit though I am in the process of building a lifejacket kit and a waterproof pocket kit for watercraft.

Thanks for a good starting point

goat

Holy crap, man! Glad you made it back in one piece. I think I will skip any SCUBA expeditions that don’t allow me to take the boat keys down with me.

Thanks JCWohlschlag, I won't go out in a boat without a PLB anymore. It was a lesson learned thing. If you go down diving off of West Palm Beach, be careful of a lot of the dive boats,they are like cattle cars. They get you out there but you may not come back. Several years later I was in my friends boat while we were in between dives and heard a help in the middle of the ocean. We picked up a floating diver that had been floating for 5 hours when we saw him and picked him up. (Reminded me of my fun experience thinking that this was my time to go.) Anyway we got him in the boat all dehydrated and the first thing he wanted was a cigarette, none of us smoked but it was interesting that he preferred a smoke to water for that brief moment. Any way we took him back to shore and diverted another rescue attempt for the coast guard. He cashed 1 of his 9 lives in that day as well. It sucks floating out there with sharks and what have you wondering if this is it. Now I keep a ACR PLB and a small bag of water is added to my signal kit. My signal kit is overkill but worth it.

Good point. Very good point.

If you want to live long enough to put that kit to good use,perhaps the honourable gentlemen might want to consider wearing a wetsuit/drysuit on the water?

Discomfort is a small thing compared to being a Darwin Award.

no one in Canoe Country wears a wet/dry suit.sea kayakers out on Lake Superior would but canoe tripping calls for portaging between lakes..the photo is the infamous Steep Lake Carry--



you would have to remove the suit to make the carry.i've done some skin diving and i know that wet suits are made for swimming and not walking around in. and you could not paddle a canoe in either suit.while the water is cold the air temps sometimes get into the 80's and 90's.i dip my hat in the lake and flop it on to cool off on summer days.trippers who run fast water every day on trips thru the big lakes around Hudson's Bay will wear a wet suit vest but thats about it..to get the same level of safety on the carrys that a wet/dry suit would provide on the lakes you would have to carry your canoe with a pack that had all the gear you might need to set up camp along the trail in case you fell and busted something and of course you would need to have a loaded weapon--a big one-at the ready to fend off bear attacks,
rutting moose and rabid wolf.canoe tripping is a sport and not a wild scramble for life thru uncharted wilderness.having a PFD
with enought gear to get a fire and shelter at the very least
is all you need --and here's the kicker--if you go overboard and loose the canoe loaded with all your camping equipment.
the only death i have read about up there was a fisherman in
a easy to get lake with lots of campsites on it who fell out of
an empty canoe right in front of his camp with other people watching on a calm evening.he did not have a PFD.

I Just finished updating the Article after completely rebuilding my Lifejacket Survival Kit. This time I made room for a PLB and Water Purification.

Interesting article, thanks. My survival vest includes items for a more maritime environment and that includes an Icom M72 marine VHF radio with channel 16 capability. I did not plan for a wilderness environment.

Types of lifejackets and fitting

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Float Coats. I really liked them when kayaking around the Channel Islands, especially if I were doing so solo. I would wear the bottom half of a Farmer John wetsuit and load up the pockets of the float coat with flares, mirror, etc. and paddle away. On sunny days I would don a work type PFD - one that had integral pockets and load them up. I was in a situation where I was always close to shore in the event that I lost my kayak and I made sure that I had signalling gear.

If I remember correctly, my float coat was certified as a type III preserver. It did not impede my arms when paddling.

Makes sense to have a Radio in a Marine Enviorment

Yeah, rather than fire making gear (which I do not need in my over-water survival vest) I went heavy on signaling gear:
Electronic:
PLB (ACR ResQLink),
Icom M72 VHF radio,
Garmin GPS (in order to give a lat-long to any nearby ships/boats responding on Ch.16),

Visual:
2 x signal mirrors (I'll probably not be alone),
dedicated strobe,
flashlight w/ strobe mode)
chemical lights (not real bright but totally waterproof and do not need batteries).

Other than the signaling gear, there's a Spyderco Atlantic Salt (fully serrated folding knife) and a small FAK (for use once in the raft).

BTW, no food, no water -- if I'm in the water long enough to get hungry or thirsty, I'm probably already passed out or dead from hyperthermia.

Makes total sense. People who haven't spent time on the ocean have no idea how hard it is to see someone amoungst the waves.

Many years ago, while in school, I spent some time on oceanographic vessels. I still vividly remember one day when we were trying to find and recover a small floating instrument (roughly a meter in size). This was in the pre-GPS era, but we had a small radio beacon and a short mast with an orange flag on it. Because of the radio beacon we knew we were very close to it, but we still had the devil of a time finding that thing. In even a very moderate sea state it was extremely hard to spot.

Being mostly in Gulf Coast waters, inland, I have a Stern's Type IV work vest that has two pockets.

In the pockets are a pr of leather gloves, a 55gal and a 35gal trashbags.

Attached to the upper mesh is an LED flashlight and a red tracking light.

Attached to the waist straps are two radio pouches. One pouch is reserved for a VHF-FM radio and the other pouch has a Doug Ritter PSK and a mini Sabre flashlight.

Also carried, attached to the waist strap is my plastic hardhat and an 8 inch Crescent Wrench.

I carry my EDC religiously and it is a heavier EDC when I am at work or in the woods.

There are certainly more items that could be carried but this seems to be the best all around equipment list for the areas that I play in. If my boat sinks slowly enough, I would have time to grab my E&E Kit which has rations and water purification as well as maps, fire making equipment, 550 paracord, and many other useful survival items.

Looking at my post, I decided to relocate my waterproof IPhone pouch and a couple of ziplock bags (for my Vhf-FM radio) to my radio pouch. I'll get a handheld radio condom for my pouch when I go ashore next month.

Wildman - Which VHF FM radio do you carry? Just curious.
The Icom Marine radios are FM (16K0G3E).

BruceZed,

NICE setup. Very similar to what I carried for years. I have now gone to an inflateable PFD so I have changed to a small fanny pack (actually carried in the rear) while in the canoe.

A couple of suggestions to think about.
1) Replace the caribiners with Camp Nano biners which are actual climbing biners. Along with the rope they can help you down a bank to pick up some of the items from your canoe and help to bring it back up to the campsite.
2) Make sure the rope is best quality for use as above.
3) Consider adding a folding sierra cup (mine is Titanium from Evernew). Almost no weight added and after several tries I was able to pack it with other items in it and no appreciable increase in space used. Gives you something to heat water and cook in, etc.

Respectfully,

Jerry

Wildman & Russ

You guys might want to consider one of the new marine handhelds with DSC/GPS capability. They are compatable with the USCG's Rescue 21 system. A couple of years ago Sea Kayaker Magazine reviewed the two models that were then available with this capability. See http://seakayaker.us/a-review-of-two-dscgps-vhf-handhelds/

That review was from October 2010. Electronics changes fast, and there are now other models available with this capability.

I concur, a forest waterway is a very different environment from the ocean. Each will have its own priorities and critical items needed to give the best chance for survival.

We use ICom handheld VHF-FM Radio's. I rarely use a handheld but will definitely grab the Pilothouse radio if we ever have to abandon ship.

After AKSAR's post re DSC/GPS handhelds I checked online and found the Icom M92D. It's a tad bigger than my M72, but a tad I can't afford due to size constraints in my vest. Regardless, it looks like a good option if someone were looking for a new radio -- IPX7, floats and has DSC/GPS with all the tools that brings (digital compass, navigation functions and waypoint storage). Hmmm, I'd be able to remove the standalone GPS...

One thing to consider are some of the orion mini flares (some walmarts carry them) for starting a fire "right now".

Those little flares work very well!

I forgot to add that in one of my life jacket pockets is a signal mirror and a whistle.

I must be starting to show symptoms of CRS. Getting older ain't for sissies!!!

Remember that color is important too! Think bright yellows, reds and optical greens -- and reflective patches -- get seen! get found!