What Items Are Most Important

Based on expert advice, these are the absolute essentials for a survival kit. Facts to weigh in on are bulk and weight of the items, the climate of the destination, and the distance you intend to cover. It is important not to get overwhelmed by all the things available to buy out on the web or in stores and remember to concentrate only on the essentials.The absolute minimum amount of water is one liter per person per day. Consider including a water purification system or water purification tablets. Food needs to be as lightweight as possible, so dehydrated meals are ideal. Be sure food doesn't spoil by having the expiration date stated clearly and rotated food and water as they go sour.

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For safety and to satisfy your essential needs you will need to include things such as the following in your survival kit. A light (a battery-operated flashlight preferably LED and extra batteries), a fire for cooking and a means to provide warmth (strike-anywhere matches, stored in a waterproof container), and a first aid kit.
Be sure to include emergency blankets and something warmer, such as a sleeping bag, and a tarp for extra protection from the elements might be a good idea if the temperature plummets. A survival kit must have a knife. Choose a good quality one. Also, pack a stainless-steel water container and 20 feet of cord it has many uses. Add a map and compass and you are ready for the world.

 

Most important items (no specific order):
1. Water bottles, preferably thermal. Also, something to purify water in case you need it.
2. Food containers.
3. Matches.
4. Clothing for both warm days and cold ones.
5. A sleeping bag.

 

I think it all depends on whar you are and might end up. I agree, watter shelter and a meens to start fire. But whar I live in canada. All that means nothing with out good cold gear....boots. coat. Gloves. Thing like that. When it is -30 it is hard to put up shelter. Find wood. Hunt. What ever you need to do. I was always told that the best servival gear is whay you have on. Don't get me rong having lots of gear with you is important. Just my two cents

 

Shelter, fire, water, food. Without those you may not live long enough to need anything else. If it is cold or even cool and raining you HAVE to get out of it or hypothermia will kill you quick. Once out of it you need to get warm or dry off so fire is a must. Water is your next concern because three days without it you will stop effectively functioning. Food is a pretty low priority in the short term as far as starvation is concerned but it is VERY important to most peoples mental comfort.

For a small emergency kit I may carry a small bivy bag, a couple of survival blankets, a 55 gallon garbage bag and maybe an 8' X 8' piece of plastic drop cloth or even a tiny tube tent. It all has to do with how small and light I need to go. When it comes to fire I always have at least three different ways to get it done. A lighter of either the bic variaty or what I call a peanut lighter. Think tiny zippo with a screw on top. Water and wind proof matches, a ferocerium rod and striker. I also carry will be some sort of tinder such as cotton balls, lint from the dryer and or a bundle of jute twine. For water once again I like the three way idea. A survival filter, a small pot to boil water in and some water purification tablets along with some sort of bottle or canteen will work. If I have room for it I also carry plastic for a sun still. For food I carry a little bit but more important is a fishing kit and snare wire.

I didn't mention a knife because...well...I have carried a knife on me and with me all day every day since I was 7 years old. I am as likely to forget my pants as not have a knife with me. Actually most of my needs are in my pants pockets nearly all the time as far as tools. Everyone needs to carry a knife, a flashlight, a lighter and a small multi-tool with pliers and screwdrivers. If you make this a habit the rest is easier.

There are other things like medical needs and maybe weapons but the basics are kind of the same for everyone where as the medical needs are person to person and weapons are dependent on where you live and your abilities. Warning, a weapon that you are not trained with and good with is worse than not having a weapon at all.

 

Clean water, food, fire, proper clothes, shoes that will protect your feet and maximize the distance you can cover, shelter, knife/ax, map/compass -- these are at the top of the list. Note that the ax = gather kindling and self defense. I guess one could call this one's "caveman list". Historically speaking, what kills / disables men at war? Bullets and bombs? Yes, but down the list. Turns out to be dysentery, trench foot, and hypothermia. Closer to the equator it's dysentery, malaria, and dehydration. "The elements" have a marked tendency to do-in humans.

 

I agree with you on that.

 

I actually make a lot of my survival equipment. This has allowed me to tune the various tools to my specific purposes and preferences. I have always been a fire bug and to me ferocerium is about the greatest thing there is for that. Matches get wet or you eventually use the last one. Lighters run out of fuel. Rubbing sticks together can be impossible if you have to do it with green woods or woods that you are not familiar with. The battery and steel wool is ashort term solution. A magnifying glass takes a LOT of patience a bright sun and VERY dry tender. I have ferocerium rods that will last for years and years and with a little understanding and practice it is an almost never fail fire unless you are working in a down pour. When I am out, I save the matches and lighters and make all my fires from a ferocerium rod. I usually have it with a striker and a bundle of jute twine. I have these little kits ranging from 1/8" X 1" rods to a 1/2" X 6" set that is in and elk horn handle. I have even managed to make fire with one of the tiny flints that comes with a striker for a torch but that is too much trouble. I sort of settled on the jute twine because it has several uses where cotton balls and dryer lint only have the one purpose.

Everybody needs to know how to make a rocket stove!! You can make them out of almost anything and they will maximize the fuel so you can cook with a hand full of twigs and also since they actually BURN the smoke you don't give away your location. In a bind you can make one with a few rocks and by digging a hole in the ground. I have a full sized rocket stove that can boil a gallon and a half of water in about 15 minutes and do it with just twigs that I can pick up in my yard in about 5 minutes. A full sized camp fire if used for cooking and boiling water will use a just huge amount of wood and constantly be putting up smoke signals.

I make most of my knives and hawks from other things. An old roofing hammer makes a great light hawk and like a hawk you can use the edge like a knife where a hatchet is usually too coarse an edge. Too many people that aren't into knives take them for granted. If you don't know how to sharpen and maintain a knife it will become worse than useless in a hurry. If you are constantly rubbing it on a rock or rough whet stone it will wear out faster than you would imagine. The secret is to KEEP it sharp and touch it up just a little after every use. I use a steel for this at home and a crock/ceramic rod in the field. A knife like a gun will hurt you if you don't know how to use it and even more so if you don't take care of it.

Some people will disagree with this but my body is a part of my survival tools. I do a lot of odd things to keep ot prepared for a possible less than perfectly sanitary lifestyle. I drink water out of fresh puddles after a rain. I eat tomatoes, peppers, radishes and carrots right out of the ground or off the plants without washing them. One note here, I never use poison on my gardens. I might not get as much and have to share with the bugs and birds but, well, they need to eat too. The reason that I do this is basically the same reason that I had to have allergy shots when I was a kid. If you expose yourself to things a little at a time you will over time become immune to many of the common bacteria that would give someone not used to it dysentery. Never drink stagnant water or still water or even water from a river or stream without treating it but fresh water from a puddle in small bits has made me stronger as far as my immune system to the LOCAL bugs. It is no worse than when my kids were rug rats. Throw them down outside and they would be eating dirt the first chance they got. Also dogs cats and every other mammal out there live off of water that inn't "pure". Just a thought. LOL, I'm also immune to poison ivy and poison oak...sumac on the other hand just won't give up.

THE most important gear that you can have is invisible That is knowledge backed up by the comfort of having actually DONE it so that in a situation you can be comfortable clear headed and ACT rather than just react. It is like swimming. You can read about it and talk about it all you want but until you get in the water you can't swim and if you wait until you are thrown in the water you will probably be in trouble.

I know that I am long winded. For one thing I read a lot and have been doing the survival thing for basically my entire life. I was raised in a time and place that were a lot different from the world we live in now. It makes me sad to think that all the many things that my Dad taught me and that I have learned for myself will mostly die with me. My daughters learned some but don't have the sort of love for the old ways that I was raised with. My Dad believed that it was part of being a man that you could not just survive BUT more important take care of and feed your family under ANY circumstance. I feel that I have a lot to share. I also am a writer and for me typing is almost as effortless as talking. I apologize that I often wander in my missives but I'm an old fart and that is just what happens when I start thinking or talking.