DIY Survival Kit for the Japanese Environment

A Japanese lady reveals everything she has in a survival kit she built.

While she could use a plastic bag for storing water, I didn't see anything she could use to purify water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdQmKzNcViQ

For those who don't know, it's illegal to carry a knife in Japan. At least she has scissors.

Jeanette Isabelle

Wow, that's a lot of stuff! But probably appropriate for earthquake emergencies. Very smart having a hard cat! It can save your life to have a helmet of some kind in some situations.

It seems to be thought out well and is well organized. The kit contains I would not include in mine and does not contain some I include. OTOH earth quakes are not likely in my neck of the woods and available infrastructure may go into the planning. Obviously she used an officially issued brochure for her preparation.
At around 8:30 you can see that she a SAK style pocket knife dangling from the zipper pull.

The Japanese are very safety conscious. I see videos where people wear hard hats even in situations I see as unnecessary.

Jeanette Isabelle

I see it. Since the lady did not cover it, we don't know what features it has. There may be SAK-like tools that are legal in Japan.

I don't know what the law in Japan says. In a different country, Isreal, carrying a fixed-blade knife or a folder with a locking blade is not legal. However, a folder with a non-locking blade is legal.

Jeanette Isabelle

Japanese knife laws look to be similar to those here in the UK.

Perfectly fine to EDC a non locking folding knife with blade less than 3" (8cm in Japan)

So medium SAKs (upto 91mm) that don't lock are fine.

Jeanette I. : Very interesting post by that Japanese woman prepper. Very good, what I’m sure, was a mostly “ first & inexperienced effort”. I suggest you read Pom Pom’ very useful reply & suggestions. I added a few suggestions as well.

In times past, we used to get non - USA prepper kit posters , but, alas, no more. Anyone have any ideas we could use to fix that void. Know any prep foreign blogs we could formally invite to share kits, contents, prep issues, with us?

This is not precisely true. It is legal to carry a non-locking knife with a blade less than 60 mm. The typical Victorinox Classic SD size is legal to carry. A carried knife must be concealed--you cannot, for instance, hang a Classic SD on your keychain dangling from your belt or handbag, but you can have it in your pocket.

Otherwise, you have to have a definite purpose for transporting any knife outside your home. Camping qualifies (that is to say *actually going camping*, just like in the UK, not carrying it around "just in case you decide to go camping"), and there are exceptions for tool kits, cooking equipment, and fishing equipment. However, I would highly recommend not pushing your luck, as you definitely want to avoid negative interactions with police in Japan.

Even inside your own home, you can't have a non-cooking knife with a blade longer than 150 mm without a special permit from the prefectural public safety commission.

The limit is 6 cm. You can carry up to an 8 cm blade *if* you get a permission slip from the prefectural public safety commission. Anything larger is banned completely.

That sounds horrible

How do they measure, is it just the cutting edge? Just measured a 84mm Walker and it has a 5.5cm edge, or 6.3cm if include the ricasso.

It is always interesting to discuss the idal components of the perfect survival kit, but the necessary items vary tremendously depending upon the situation and the society.

In earthquake country, head protection is a very good idea, regardless. In fact, I regard the construction grade hat shown in the video as minimalist -climbing or motorcycle helmets offer much greater protection. But any pro is better than none at all....

Generally, from the hilt, which often means a lot longer than simply the cutting edge.

There are a lot of things about Japanese society that many Westerners would find intolerable. Japan, for instance, ranks pretty much last on the list of industrialised countries for sex/gender equality, and is at least 20 years behind the US and EU in recognition of LGBT rights.

Japan doesn't have lower levels of violent crime than other nations because Japanese people are less violent, but because Japanese culture is very homogenous and socially restrictive.

The social consequences of criminal activity are severe, and the system of criminal justice is not very well regulated. People are often detained for lengths of time without protection of their rights in ways that would never be tolerated in the US or EU.

No more politics here please, regarding knives or anything else.


chaosmagnet

We should respect chaosmagnet's call to leave out politics. Since chaos has left amper's post intact, let me say that there are many factual errors in that post. I will point out just one factual error that you can verify for yourself. Amper states that Japan is way behind on gender equality. In fact, Japan is ranked 19th in the Gender Inequality Index. The United States is ranked 46th. In other ways, Japan is better than the US for gender equality according to this international, authoritative assessment.

I have many memories (nightmares?) of my military service, 1959-1961. A most pleasant memory is my R&R from Korea, a week spent in Japan among some of the most courteous and pleasant people I have ever encountered. During that time, I made a winter ascent of Fuji-San in company with two Japanese lads I encountered on the slopes. We had no common vocabulary, but we were all climbers and all went wonderfully. Even in the winter, Fuji is non-technical, just a great hike in the snow....

I have often regretted not giving them my contact info, since I soon returned to civilian life and a relatively normal existence.

an important lesson on situational awareness... I was stationed on Kyushu, Japan from Dec 1970 till early 1972 when we closed the intercept site down... I was across Hakata Bay in Fukuoka, on May 1st,(and the date meant nothing to me) and noticed a commotion down the street, heard drums and bugles, and a whole lot of red banners and flags...a very polite Japanese man tugged on my arm and said that it would be better if I went inside with him.... my first experience with a JCP May Day Parade.... regards

If you are going to call out my post for factual errors, then I feel I have the right to refute your assertion and cite my sources, which are widely publicly available:

‘ Japan's low ranking in the Global Gender Gap Index announced by the World Economic Forum on March 31 has highlighted the nation's failure to close the gender gap in the political and economic spheres.

Japan placed 120th out of 156 countries in the index, ranking behind other countries in East Asia including South Korea in 102nd place and China in 107th. ‘

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210331/p2a/00m/0na/029000c

‘ Japan ranked a miserable 110 out of 149 in the World Economic Forum’s 2018 Gender Gap Index, which benchmarks countries on their progress toward gender parity across four major areas. While this rank is a slight improvement over 114 out of 146 in 2017, it remains the same or lower than in the preceding years (111 in 2016 and 101 in 2015). ‘

https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/03/gender-equality-in-japan-yamaguchi.htm

That is the cutest survival kit I have seen.

Lots of good sanitation stuff and moral booster touches.

Are the insect repellent stickers worthwhile?

Pictures of loved ones. Reminds me of SAR colleague who kept photos of every wife and girlfriend he had ever had in his SAR pack. When he would demonstrate what was in his pack he would pull out a clear plastic multifold picture wallet that would drop down to show photos of 10 women.

While a climbing helmet or bike helmet might be better protection for side impact, the bump cap with strap could always stay with the pack, not have to be returned after each bike trip or climbing expedition. They make good basins for washing and water collecting too, better than helmets with vent holes. Add reflective stickers.

Good protection from wet weather-raincoat, umbrella, picnic ground sheet, sit pad. Must be a warm climate- fan and little insulating clothing.

Believe me, it is no big deal to keep your highly rated helmet with your SAR pack. I did it for decades and it is worth the significantly greater overall protection, not just side impacts. I have seen relatively minor incidents involving the head resulting in fatalities and, conversely, one major trauma to the victim's climbing helmet wearing head which he survived. That made me really believe in the value of a UIAA rated climbing helmet. There are lots of ways to gather water.

Did you keep a separate one with each kit? I like having a set up for each activity. I won't be keeping a $60 helmet in a bugout survival kit set aside that I won't likely ever use. Sure, in an emergency if I have time or it looks like I will need it, I will also grab climbing gear. Helmets age out over time as well if you follow manufacturers advice.

A great question which points up a very fundamental issue -how do you organize all this stuff so that you access the right gear quickly??

When I started, a helmet was not considered necessary in either SAR or technical climbing, although this changed eventually. I could not afford separate kits (cash starved college guy) so I had to keep stuff accessible for both situations.

I basically kept, and still keep, for that matter, a pack that can respond to an emergency situation. In Tucson, AZ, where I first did SAR, w could face situations in a variety of environments -everything from desert heat to snow and ice in the nearby mountains. With the seasonal variations, there was no such thing as a static load which could be left on a shelf.

Basically I kept a pack loaded and ready to go on SAR and adjusted it for recreational pursuits. Thee SAR pack itself changed with the seasons - one of my colleagues once remarked "that in the summer, your pack just becomes a giant waiter bottle".

I usually carried 100 feet of 9mm line, a few biners (at least one locking), a few slings, and my harness, as well as a helmet, which was always readily available..

You almost always have a few minutes to gather your stuff, even in an extreme bug out. We had to leave our home a few years ago in th face of an impending wildfire, and it was good to have a basic pack assembled, but there was still time to throw in some potential essentials, like my good helmet..

I think the key is organization, and knowing where your critical items are, at all times.

Good topic - hope there ar additional perspectives

1. As you said, use for recreation as practice. I know it not the correct term, but repeated use will build that so called "muscle memory" and when you need a particular piece of gear you'll reach for it instinctively.

2. Keep things consistent, control changing/moving/replacing gear.

3. Keep things modular so you can swap out modules, but modules should follow the above. A winter and summer clothing module should have similar items in a similar place inside.

4. Make a habit to put stuff back when you use it so its there next time.

5. You begin to move from just buying some gear to having a prepared lifestyle. I have a dairy/journal just dedicated to gear changes where I can write my thoughts and reasoning as to why I moved/replaced/changed something.

5. Some pre-made checklist/plan to follow too so you can go into autopilot in the situation. One might take a look at military manuals and think its a lot of redundant paperwork but in the situation your stressed and might not think/remember things clearly so you have those checklists/papers/manuals to fall back on.



I use our 'neighbors up the hollar ' as an extreme bug out example. They were about a mile or so up the dirt road from us and had bought the small farm after its previous owners passed. Old farm house with a wood stove in the living room somehow caught fire one winter night. Stove was along the wall between the living room with the front door and kitchen with the back door and then a hall to the bedrooms. Fire blocking exit from the hall to either door so the family had to go our bedroom windows. Car keys, shoes and coats hanging by the front door as a lot of people do. So the oldest son ran down the snow covered road the mile to our house, barefoot and wearing only pajamas, to use the phone to call the fire department.
So they had to bug out really quick and with no preps and no time to grab anything ( zero minutes,worst case scenario ). I tell everyone, keep your keys and phone next to you when you sleep so you have them if you go out the door.

So even though I've never done SAR I keep my pack ready to go. I have an old antique chair my grandmother gave me sitting beside my nightstand. My pack stays there, phone and keys on the nightstand as well. Its my recreational pack also, hiking, biking, fishing, whatever. And like yours can go down to just a water bladder and minimal other gear. It has one of those FroggTogg thin flat foldable rain jackets and pants, spare socks and my shoes I use for hiking and biking, and spare keys so if I would need to go out a window I have enough to not have to run down the road barefoot.

Part of keeping organized and knowing where your gear is requires not changing it too often. Change one thing at a time and don't buy anything unless you know how its going to fit in your system. That has a secondary benefit of keeping spending budget in control too.

In a critical situation, I want tools and resources with which I am familiar and practiced. I am not a fan of tucking items away, out of sight, and then employing them only during emergencies.

Now there are lots of variations and exceptions, but in general, in a crisis you want to have resources you know to be reliable and not something unfamiliar. W can be talking about anything from climbing gear to first aid equipment to firearms, but familiarity is crucial to success.

Same here, I don't like to see people buy a bunch of gear and stick it in a box and deem themselves prepared.

Investigation complete. User banned.




chaosmagnet