What are the absolute most important things you need?

Discussion in 'Essential Items' started by Keith H., Oct 24, 2016.

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  1. Keith H.

    Keith H. Moderator Staff Member
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    * Tools for hunting & defence (and any necessary supplies/equipment/tools to maintain the use of these hunting tools) .
    * Three good knives.
    * Tomahawk.
    * A good whetstone.
    * A good medical kit.
    * An oilcloth shelter or tarpaulin.
    * Flint & steel & tinderbox for long term fire lighting capability.
    * Water containers.
    * Food provisions (mostly dry foods & some trail foods).
    * Good footwear & a spare pair of self-made moccasins.
    * A good knapsack.
    * Haversack or snapsack for carrying food & foraging.
    * Kettle for boiling water & cooking.
    * A good pure wool blanket.
    * Spare clothing for use in winter.
    * Hard bar soap & hair comb.
    * Toilet paper & or toilet rags.
    * (A host of primitive living skills).
     
  2. Zyphir

    Zyphir Member
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    I am a city dweller for now so it can be a shit load of different scenarios that could be considered SHTF and each situation would need a different list of essentials. So the most important thing to have is a wide range of skills and knowledge on top of practicing different scenarios so that you can be prepared mentally.
     
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  3. Keith H.

    Keith H. Moderator Staff Member
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    I think you are absolutely right Zyphir. You need knowledge of the various exits out of the city, but you also need food supplies & some way of defending yourself & obtaining food outside of the city if you have to leave. If anything major should go down, I think your best bet is to get out of the city.
    Keith.
     
  4. Oldguy

    Oldguy Master Survivalist
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    First up for me is a small axe/tomahawk
    then a few small knives
    a dozen or so large quality needles with a large spool of sturdy thread
    and a quality multitool

    With the above most other stuff can be improvised

    I can make footwear, clothing, bags etc.
    I can make use of salvage to improvise whatever I need
     
  5. Keith H.

    Keith H. Moderator Staff Member
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    This depends on the situation. The tools you mention certainly are a good choice, but I think there is other equipment you will need to make life comfortable. If you have a dozen needles, then you are talking long term.
    Keith.
     
  6. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    these are all good lists but i'm sure our ancient ancestors survived with a lot less.
     
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  7. Keith H.

    Keith H. Moderator Staff Member
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    They did indeed, & so can some of us, but I have no intention of living long term in a stone age lifestyle. The right equipment is all about comfort & ease of living.
    Keith.
     
  8. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    as long as that equipment is available, okay for the here and now but post collapse with no manufacturing base there is a limit to how long these things will last, they get broken, damaged or just plain used up, I would need a huge stockpile to last the rest of my life and i'm retired, someone younger would need a huge warehouse of stuff.
    nope, its the simple life for me, if I can learn to make new then fine, otherwise i'll learn to live without it .
     
  9. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    I just think sometimes that prepper/survival has become more about perpetuating the consumer society than about actually surviving, some of the lists that various people have come up with in the past have been nothing short of crazy, I have always thought that survival should be about learning to live with less and putting more emphasis on skills and knowledge and less on "stuff".
    I mean if someone should lose all their stocks of gear-say in a fire or they just had to abandon where they were and run, do they just curl over and die just because they haven't got all their stuff anymore??
    I think survival should be more about living off the land-growing our own food and using natural materials than relying on heaps of shop bought stuff.
     
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  10. arctic bill

    arctic bill Master Survivalist
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    My list.
    a tarp.
    ropes.
    an axe.
    a pot.
    fishing stuff
    salt
    fire lighting stuff
    sleeping bag.
    snare wire.
    knife
    shotgun and shells
    water container
     
  11. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    nice short list Bill, is that just for a camping or hunting trip or is that post collapse?:D
     
  12. Keith H.

    Keith H. Moderator Staff Member
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    I totally agree my friend, but there is certain equipment that will last & has lasted for the past 300 years or so. My fire steel is at least 300 years old, but if I should lose it I can still make fire with the lock on my flintlock gun. If the lock on the gun should break I can repair it, if I have run out of spare parts I can convert the flintlock to a matchlock & continue using it, & I can make fire by making a fire-bow.
    So yes, I totally agree that one NEEDS to learn the skills that allow you to survive, but I would rather not have to live a stone age lifestyle if I have an alternative. That alternative for me is my 18th century equipment. It is still primitive, so it will last, & it affords me a certain level of comfort & ease of living that I can maintain. In short, it is sustainable.
    Keith.
    d04ecf3e6a4c370d6c86fbc5f144c62c.jpeg
     
  13. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    Small Backpack

    Water filter
    Water bags
    Pot
    Fire making kit
    First-aid kit
    Fishing and snare kit
    Sewing kit
    Tarp
    Heavy Survival Space blanket
    Kukri
    Small Ka-Bar belt knife
    Swiss army type knife (Trekker)
    Leatherman Wave With acessories
    AR-7
    Ammo
    Compass

    If there is time and room I will also grab this...

    Small Fanny pack

    Mylar blanket
    Hardware kit
    Zip ties
    Duct tape
    Bailing wire
    Nails
    Screws
    Drills
    Water tablets
    Plastic Cards Survival packs with info and playing cards
    Pencil and Paper
    Wire saws
    Book in bag
    Oil
    Hones
     
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2018
  14. Keith H.

    Keith H. Moderator Staff Member
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    Whatever equipment you choose to carry with you, it needs to be sustainable. If you have a chemical spill in your area & you are evacuated for a week or two & you decide to camp out rather than go to a hotel or relatives, then a couple of boxes of matches, a lighter or a ferocerium rod will do the job for making fire, but for any long term bug out, you need the skills to make fire in all weather conditions & you will be better served by flint, steel & tinderbox as your main fire lighting kit. The same goes for everything you intend to carry, it must be sustainable. If it is going to break or run out, then it is a waste of space & weight, & once it is gone you have nothing.
    Remember, your equipment is for your ease of living, your relative comfort. Like me you may have the skills to survive without any modern equipment at all, but that is a stone age lifestyle, hard work & little comfort. Think about that.
    Keith.
     
  15. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    That is why I listed fire making as a kit. I have ferrocerium rods that will last for years and years. A 1/2" by 6" rod has thousands of strikes in it. I also will have stormproof matches, book matches, Flint and steel, a bic lighter and a fensil magnifier lens. I will have a bundle of jute, some birthday candles, hand sanitizer and some char cloth. All of this together is still a pretty small pouch. I want to be able to make a fire under any conditions. Unfortunately when you need a fire the very most a fero rod, or flint and steel is not a fast or sure fire like a lighter or stormproof matches would be. If it is cold windy and wet I don't want to fail.

    This is one of several things like water that you MUST have that is also why I have three ways to make water safe to drink. Filter, tablets and a pot for boiling. I will also have 4 different edged tools. If I have a sure way to make fire and edged tools I can make everything else that I MUST have. The tarp and blanket are nice but I can get by without them even in the gentle winters we have here. I could easily make a good run with a fanny pouch sized package with the knives on the belt.
     
  16. Keith H.

    Keith H. Moderator Staff Member
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    I have read that ferrocerium rods have a limited life span, also that they break easily if dropped on a hard surface. Lighter flints are made of the same substance & they too have a limited life span. Personally I like to keep everything to the minimum, I don't need several fire lighting tools, just the one. I have more important items to carry in their place. Personal choice.
    Charred cloth is not sustainable, no matter how much spare cloth you carry with you. I have to disagree with you on the flint & steel not being a sure method. It has never failed me yet, even in the poring rain.
    Regards, Keith.
     
  17. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    I think it may depend on where one is living, America is different to Australia-they are on opposite sides of the planet, one is in the north the other is in the south, I can live simply in the UK without going all stone age, the climate is different and the countryside is different.
    one can live simply with a few tools without going all primitive.
    I still think "Tales from the Green Valley" on youtube will give you an idea of what I mean, living simply but without going all primitive, mid 18th century living, which is just before the industrial revolution got going in Britain, which of course will never happen again because we have already removed the resources from the ground and mother nature rarely gives "2 bites of the cherry", so whatever lifestyle one chooses post collapse that's the one that we will have to work with.
     
  18. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    Fero rods last as long as they have enough material to scrape off. I have one fero rod that is over 40 years old and it still makes sparks. When I got it they were called Swedish fire steels and were pricey. They are not all that brittle as long as you keep their length proportional to their diameter. I've never broken one. I limit the small diameter ones to about 3". I can and have made fires with a 1/8" fero rod that was a half inch long. It is embedded in the bottom of a plastic match box.

    The thing about flint and steel is that where I come from you can't find any flint at ALL. The Native Americans that lived there used gar scales and bones for arrow points because rocks just aren't there. This makes even flint and steel of limited life span. The thing about the fero rods is that their sparks are many times hotter and longer lasting than those you get from flint and steel. This means that you don't have to have near as good materials to catch the spark. I use jute and can also just strike it onto tissue paper and have fire instantly. You basically skip the ember stage of fire making.

    The reason I like fero rods is similar to your attachment to flint and steel. It lasts almost forever, it isn't ruined if it gets wet, lighters eventually either run out of fuel or their tiny flint dies, matches get wet or used up. One 1/2" by 5" fero rod is thousands of fires and weighs less than the flint and steel.

    No matter what you prefer you need to carry as many different ways to make fire as possible. Without fire you are not much above the animals. It is mans first and greatest tool and if you limit yourself in your methods it may cost you your life.

    I have several sets of flint and steel, probably nearly a hundred fero rods of all sizes, Book matches, Kitchen matches that are strike anywhere, regular matches that strike anywhere. Dozens of bic lighters, several Zippo lighters, A trench lighter, several kinds of magnifying lenses for fire making, a couple of fire pistons, 0000 steel wool and batteries...

    Every kit has a minimum of three different ways to make fire. Fero rods are my prefered go to. I even have a little one (1/4" x 1") on my key ring with my p-38 can opener and have made several fires with it over the years.
     
  19. Ystranc

    Ystranc Master Survivalist
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    Flint, steel, tinderbox, bivvi and sleeping bag (or tarp & blanket) fly sheet, knife, small carborundum stone, lightweight cooking pots, filter bag, bottle and dry duffle bag.
    A small forest axe, snare wire, para cord, hat and protective gloves would be welcome extras. Having my rifle would be outright luxury.

    I appreciate what you're saying about flint being very difficult to find in some parts of the world TexDanm, there is none in my area of Britain but I have managed to trade for a few chips of flint from elsewhere. I have also practiced using my home made steels with various other forms of chert. I've found that a few of the metamorphic rocks work well enough if you can create a sharp enough edge but I'd struggle to be able to tell you their names.
     
  20. arctic bill

    arctic bill Master Survivalist
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    Lone wolf , that is what i always have in my emergency bag . when i go hunting fishing or camping. short fast and sweet .
     
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  21. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    The chert here works but you are constantly having to replace it because it just isn't as hard as true flint. Where I was raised was swamp with no native rocks of any kind.
     
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  22. Crys B.

    Crys B. Active Member
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    A disciplined mind.

    You can have all the equipment you need, all the skills you need, but the mind will determine whether you live or die. It can be easy to get overwhelmed and discouraged. That can lead to death. All it takes is one moment of panic to make a potent and deadly mistake.

    I'm trying to discipline my mind.
     
  23. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    Knowledge and then the tools to go with that knowledge make a person about as well prepared as possible if you don't know ahead of time what you have to face.
     
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  24. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    skills and knowledge will out last any "gear".
     
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  25. reynolds

    reynolds New Member
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    knowledge dies with you and without tools, your death aint far away. I'd say stored food, cause without it, you soon wont be needing tools. With stored food, you can just hole up, needing almost nothing and then pick up what you need from the dead. There's going to be plenty of the latter, within a very few months of shtf.
     
  26. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    agree about the plenty of the dead but not about the stuff, a lot of which will be destroyed in the madness immediately after SHTF during which all sane people should be hunkering down.
    anything we think we need should be sourced and stored before SHTF, relying on and expecting to just fall over stuff after SHTF is a mugs game. besides, what makes you think the dead will have anything? that's probably why they are deceased in the first place.:p
    ignorance can kill just as easily as disease or a bullet.
    the whole point of being a prepper is to prepare, its sort of in the name.:D
     
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  27. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    I think that if I had to pick only one thing it would probably be my Kukri or my Tom Brown style survival knife. Both have an attached ferro rod and both have a variable ground edge that makes them useful for a variety of uses. These offer me a weapon and tools for a lot of necessary things. Wrap the sheath with para cord with a few things in a bag under the wrap and I can make it indefinitely.
     
  28. Crys B.

    Crys B. Active Member
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    I totally agree that ignorance kills. Knowledge is power.

    I also think that hunkering down will depend. If I know that the city folk are going out to pillage the countryside, and I live in the country, I'm getting the heck out of dodge. I'd probably head to the forest, or the middle of nowhere.
     
  29. Morgan101

    Morgan101 Legendary Survivalist
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    These are always fun debates to have, and I love posts that really make you think. What are the absolute most important things you need?

    Shelter. Water. Fire. Food. Security, and in that order of priority. A sixth category might be Tools, since I would want to have the tools to be able to secure or make the other five.

    Full size axe and smaller hatchet
    Large fixed blade knife (probably Bowie style)
    Smaller fixed blade (maybe K-Bar)
    Multi-tool or Swiss Army knife
    Bow Saw
    Whetstone
    500' paracord
    1000' bankline
    Stainless Steel canteen or water Bottle
    Fire Starting Kit - lighters, wood strike anywhere matches, water proof matches, book matches, ferro rods, magnifying glass, candles, magnesium bar.
    Honey, Salt, Pepper, Sugar, Beans, Rice, Coffee, Cooking pot, Utensils
    20' x 20' Heavy Duty Canvas Tarp
    At least three full sized wool blankets
    Life Straw
    Henry Lever Action Rifle and Ruger GP100 both .357 magnum caliber
    Ammo
    Long Bow with arrows and two spare bow strings

    Are we assuming that we are wearing the appropriate clothing and footwear to survive in the woods? A few layers of everything with a hat, gloves, scarf, heavy coat, and carrying a backpack to contain it all, which is probably the size of a refrigerator?
     
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  30. Sourdough

    Sourdough "eleutheromaniac"
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    The single most important thing that I need..........Is a place to "HIDE".
     
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  31. coffee

    coffee Expert Member
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    A city dweller, with a mind full of possible events, more than anyone else, will need preps an meds. a place to go when you escape the city spot you are at now. I suggest you get your trunk ready to go, keep it full of gas, and have go bags also ready with supplies, foods, water, change of clothes, personal protection, & toilet paper, you will need these things. Hurry.
     
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  32. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    Coffee is right. The biggest threat to your survival if you are an urban dweller is getting trapped there and unable to get away. What you need to prepare for is a fast getaway. You need to keep a rather extensive kit in your vehicle so that in a worst case scenario you can run without going home first. If you have to go in when you should be going out of town you are a lot more likely to be one of the ones that end up in a never ending traffic jam that never goes way. When the people in Houston evacuated needlessly for Rita they ended up in a dead standstill parking lot on the interstate that was 114 miles long. Some were stuck there for 3 days. In an end times event their cars would rust to dist right where they sat because there will be no cops and wreckers to come in and clear out the mess. Have your route planned out ahead of time and have plans for if you were caught in an evac from several places that you frequent most often.
     
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  33. TMT Tactical

    TMT Tactical The Great Lizard ! Staff Member
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    Bottom line!!! If you are going to BUG OUT, do it early or forget it. Half azz plans do not cut it. Stay or be gone but do not wait to think it over. If you do plan to bug out, know your route (several) and for darn sure know your destination. Know home much fuel it is going to take and then double it. Know all the back roads and alternate routes. When I know your routes, I don't mean study a map. I mean ---Drive--- all the possible routes to your destination. You may get a few surprise, that you can deal with now but could be a disaster during the real event.
     
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