I just remembered that some of the local PDs here pass out free whistles to anyone who wants one. Maybe you could get in touch with them. They'll most likely be cheapo pea whistles but then again this is more about teaching than actual survival.

Also, contact your local CERT or Civil Air Patrol organizer and see if you can get some donations from them. I know my mother got a whole bag of freebies when she volunteered a couple years back.

Wow some great information provided in this thread, and yes the $5 is in addition to the 10 essentials.

As for fund raising the troop is doing that but we are hoping to use the money raised for a trip down the alagash and other camping trips, which will not be cheap.

This is also to be used as a lesson in being thrifty. anyone can go out and buy a kit but the satisfaction of doing something yourself and without breaking the bank.

I had a question about the hard drive things, is there something reflective inside hard drives? I have never pulled one apart.

The hard drive questions makes me think of old CDs and DVDs. They might not work in players anymore but they'd make cheap signal mirrors.

So they have the basic ten with them... OK. They pretty much have it covered. What needs to be added is a whistle, some codage, and a couple of trashbags.

I typically yank the hard drive before sending a PC for recycling. SOP.

The spinning disc inside the sealed hard drive is made of metal, with a highly polished surface (deposited magnetic recording medium) and a hole in the middle. In terms of reflectivity, IMO it is significantly better than acrylic mirrors, and darn close to glass.

This makes a very high quality, easy to aim, improvised signal mirror. Plus, the other metallic components (moving arms etc.) would make excellent fishing tackle. I you hack one of these apart in the bush and show your scouts what you can do with the internals, you will absolutely blow their tiny minds.

Some notions that might be helpful:
Usually around this time of year, Walgreens still has a bunch of promotional 'back to school' items that have occasionally included relatively inexpensive aluminum tube whistles.

Also, Target occasionally sells very small FAK/survival kits for a whopping $1. In a plastic ziploc pouch it included a set of tweezers in a tube, a box of matches that were dipped in wax, and a few bandages. If they happen to be carrying them now, you could add an inexpensive survival blanket that I often see for sale for another $1, some needles, the dealextreme lights mentioned above, needles, safety pins and thread. Magnetize the needle and include a slice of a wine cork (or whatever) to float the needle on and you have a compass.

Party stores also might be a good source for inexpensive items like whistles and compasses.

I'm starting to think that the form factor is going to be the biggest detriment to keeping costs low.

The tins themselves are over $1 and restrict the size of items greatly.

Found some more cheap bulk on DX.

20 pack of button compasses:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4519

10 pack:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4732

http://www.4imprint.com/
Is a printing company that gives free samples of the items they can do printing on. I've requested one of the Garrity headlamps, it's perfect for a freebie backup.
http://www.4imprint.com/search/garrity/product/100123/Garrity-LED-Head-Lamp

I was thinking char cloth would be cheaper to make and easier to carry for a firestarting kit. It won't require a special container like petroleum jelly and you can use anything that's 100% cotton...old tshirts, pillow cases, sheets, etc.

Regarding the dealextreme compasses: read the user reviews. Not good.

after my post on the use of paraffin and cotton we used in the late 50's which I hadn't thought of in years.. yesterday I was opening a bottle of aspirin... took a piece of 4x4 aluminum foil and pressed it into the cap to make a well, melted 1/8 inch candle wax and pressed about 1x1/2 inch of the cotton filler into the wax... chilled it in the freezer, and then rolled it out to unstick....easily folded up.... not messy... the foil acts as a mini wind screen...and readily catches spark from striker wheel but you need to ignite at the boundary between the paraffin and cotton....a possible alternative to your tinder quest