I promised pics of this guy a while ago. Sorry to people who've been patient, you should have kicked me sooner. :P And since insomnia sucks, I'll put them up now. Already the pics are dated, but here goes.

Purpose: The ditch kit is an intermediate step between a PSK and a BOB. The ditch kit contains the basic, core equipment that you need during a survival or evacuation scenario. It should be carried seperatly from the BOB, or attached to BOB in a manner that lets you shed BOB and extract the ditch kit in 30 seconds or less. The ditch kit should be within arms reach when not on your person while in the field. As a result, everything other than extended medical, food and water supplies and heavier shelter equipment should be duplicated between the ditch kit and BOB, or only in the ditch kit.

Design: My ditch kit built on a Tactical Tailor two piece MAV body. While this does violate my usual advice against looking too "tacticool", a rural scenario and a general lack of (para-)military bearing on my part mitigate that. (I hope.) The MAV was selected becuase it can be worn on the chest, as designed, or by adjusting the shoulder straps (10 seconds), as a kind of lumbar pack. When worn on the chest, it does not interfere with the use of back pack, and can be worn closed or open (much more relaxed looking and less intimidating). It is also much easier to get on and off, particularly in winter clothing or in a hurry.

Attached to the MAV are a pair of CountyComm EOD bags for equipment, and a pair of ammo pouches that carry half liter Nalgene bottles. The EOD bags were selected for thier size, lack of "designer" labels, and quality. Each of these has had a pair of cinch straps wrapped around them to lessen the bounce of the gear. The ammo pouches were selected becuase they fit the left over space, the bottles fit in them, and they were on hand.


Contents:

The right hand side contains miscellaneous items that are good but not critical to have. (more on this later)

Going counter clockwise:
-Drop cloth, 2mil, 9x12. Shelter building.
-Whipped potato packet (shiny and red item). Dinner.
-Light meals packet (other shiny item, sorry about the glare) 4 slim jims, 4 granola bars, 12 starburst candies, 2 packets e'mergen'c supplement powder.
-Fire pouch- 2x cases lacquered strike anywheres matches, mini bic, 3 small candles (tinder), cotton balls (tinder)
-work gloves
-mesh safety vest
-tupperware container with a Gundig 100 miniature AM/FM/SW receiver, 8 AA, 4 AAA and 2 CR123
-Cutter Advanced insect repellent
-6 wet ones
-sun block
-purell
-sisal twine
-flagging tape
-aluminum foil, folded (since replaced with a larger peice)
-TP
-white Krill lamp, attached with a mini-biner, attached to the inside of the bag and shown here flipped out.
-mini Nalgene, since replaced a rectangular lab-grade Nalgene of similar capacity.
-Not shown: spool of solid core speaker wire (strip it as needed)


The two panels of the MAV vest/harness are actually map pockets. In here are small items that might require rapid access but are small and flat.

Again, going counter clockwise:
-5' of 1" tubular nylon webbing (the black object on the left), very versatile.
-repair kit with 1" and 1.5" replacement buckles, triglides and an annex clip.
-2 HD contractor bags. Each is in a ziplock to protect the bag from friction, and becuase it is a good place for a couple of ziplocks. One of these is carried in each panel.
-Paracord, approx 50'. It is in four bundles to make it easier to manage, and packed in a ziplock to lessen the risk of it getting tangled.


The left side is my more critical items. I'm not sure why, it just worked out that way. If I have to, this bag can be removed from the MAV harness quickly and carried on it's own if further reduction in visability, bulk or mass is dictacted by the situation.

-mini Nalgene bottle (like the other, this bottle has since been swapped for a square one)
-1 pair socks. Socks are good.
-hair pick, easier to pack than a brush
-zip ties
-match case
-AMK Heatsheet emergency bivy
-Esbit stove (the grey and black stripy thing) with six tablets, aluminum wind sheilds and mini bic. Packed in a carboard sleeve to keep it from rubbing against other items and ziplocked to keep it dry.
-watch cap, with core survival kit inside, wrapped in two one-gallon ziplocks
-FAK
-light meal pack, as above
-laminated copy of Doug Ritter's emergency instructions (thanks for giving away the PDF, Doug!)
-not shown: 4 cut down and laminated sheets of blaze orange paper, pre punched for holes

The core survival kit is packed in a French(?) surplus two piece mess tin.
-1 pouch with 4 bags of green tea, 8 sugar packets, 4 True Lemon packets
-4 Walnettos
-4 ramen seasoning packets (2 beef, 2 chicken)
-Match case w/ laquered strike anywheres matches, 3 stay lit birthday candles
-8 assorted safety pins
-2' fish tank tubing
-2 mini glow lights, with built in clips for fishing poles (holds onto anything)
-3 breast milk bags
-pencil stub, unsharpened
-MagLite Solitaire (batteries are common and I can rebuild it by touch) with two spare bulbs in the base
-spare AAA battery
-Victorinox Camper
-10 immodium
-bottle of Potable Aqua
-bottle of PA+ neutralizer
-magnesium fire starter (cut down) with a piece of hacksaw blade , a small file and a craftsman 4-way coin screwdriver attached
-full sparklite kit
-tube with duct tape, red electricans tape, 20# spider wire, glasses screws
-tube with 20# spider wire, snare wire, fishing kit:
--12 assorted hooks
--large fish hook/gaff, with tack
--10 assorted needles, including one for a sewing machine to use as a micro awl
--8 screw eyes (2 large, 6 small)
--8 sinkers
--3 swivels
--5 US dimes
--several assorted sequins (bait)
-micro screwdriver, with a 3/64" drill bit, large awl needle, awl/scribe, 2 mini philips drivers, 2 mini standard drivers inside
-small spool sewing thread
-small vial each of salt, chili powder
-zip ties
-3 fishing leaders
-3' square of caterer's grade heavy duty foil
-mini wound kit (2 2x2s, 4 1x3" bandaids, 1 knuckle bandaid, 1 fingertip)
-8 tinderquiks scattered about the kit and several short lengths sisal twine

The FAK is based on the older style USGI design. It is wrapped wita length of red, 1" nylon web with a double adjust buckle. A whistle is clipped to the top of the webbing where it can found day or night by touch.
-1 pr nitrile gloves
-1 trauma dressing (the older military type)
-1 cravate
-1 3" roller gauze
-4 4x4 gauze
-4 bandaids
-2 knuckle bandaids
-2 fingertip bandaids
-6 closure strips
-1 small roll of duct tape (I bet everyone saw that coming)
-3 provo-iodine wipes
-4 alcohol wipes
-12 asprin
-12 tylenol
-12 advil (I know, the three are redundent, but each works better for something for me- tylenol for the head, advil for the body, asprin when I'm sick)
-20 immodium
-6 benydril
-8 sudafed (the real thing, not the reformulated junk)
-1 pr tweezers
-1 surgical prep razor, 2 razor blades
-8 medium safety pins
-1 pr earplugs
-mini bic (spare)
-inventory sheet

To be added:
-Another match case (left side)
-replace drop cloth with tyvek sheeting (right side) much stronger
-compass (left side)
-better meal, probably an MRE entree (right side)
-Mainstay package (right side)
-spare pair of glasses (left side)
-possibly a spare mug of some type for brewing tea, and thus a brew kit (right side if done)
-better flashlight
-replace Krill with Glo-Toob FX, several of them in different colors
-normal people camoflauge, possibly buttons or patches held on with velcro

As you can see, this will probably never be completed to my satisfaction. As it is, it is currently the largest of my kits that is stood to at all times, and lives next to my bed.

Those who've been here a while might think this looks familiar, It is. This is the updated version of the ditch kit, the older version was shown here about 18 months ago. That was clipped to the bottom of my pack frame and was rather precarious in the position, or carried on the chest and I'd strain my shoulder 10% of the time getting it unclipped behind my back. This is lighter, easier to get on and off, and allows the ditch kit to be carried utterly independently of the pack.