The Personal Survival Kit

The Personal Survival Kit

Not your camping gear. Not your bushcrafting gear. Not your "let's try out a new skill" gear. Not your snivel gear.

We're talking about your core Personal Survival Kit (PSK). The stuff that, when roaming outdoors, you carry no matter what. The stuff you'll rely on when things go wrong, not when they go right.

Naturally, there will be some layering, some things in your pockets not in this kit, and some things in this kit you might use in normal bushcrafting, but this kit is put together and carried as a single item to be broken into when circumstance requires. Tied to your body, more often than not, at all times.

Pictured is 99% of it. Not in the photo is my first and most important survival item: my cell phone. Even in the most remote woods I have available to me, I can often get enough signal to send a text, even if it won't connect voice. SMS requires far less bandwidth, and can handle interrupted connections, as it breaks the text down into packets and sends them as it can until the message has gone out. Also not pictured is my GPS, which I rarely use for personal navigation, but if I'm not near a road intersection, and I need to provide precise coordinates, is an invaluable tool for getting those numbers to a rescue team. I could replace both with a SPOT tracker, and just mash the 911 button if things go wrong, and it's on my short list of outdoors gear to add to my setup.



From the upper left: SOL Survival Bivy. Oven roaster bag for the wayward traveler. About the same cost as a Wal-mart sleeping bag, but tiny and more important, light. Good for cutting the wind off my body at night, and keeping 20 degrees or so inside. Not perfect, but much better than nothing, far better than a mylar sheet. A red bandanna, for whatever you need a bandanna for... too many uses to count. Contrasting color to the woods, though, is important. Next, my most expensive item here, a sil-nylon tarp/poncho. 11.5oz of waterproof heaven, 104x57 inches. Worth every penny in fast personal shelter in place, or on the go. A map of the local area. More useful by itself than a compass, because it contains information about the area, and can be oriented to without any other tools. This one is waterproof and tear-resistant, and has served many trips to this particular locale. Under it are a couple contractor bags. Additional waterproofing for gear, shelter, me, or a buddy. Fill with dry leaves and browse for a mattress, or just use as a ground cloth to keep dry. slippery, though, so be warned.

The beer can had its lid removed with a side-safe can opener, and rinsed well. A favorite of ultra-light backpackers, it serves as the billy pot and weighs nothing. Keep the lid to hasten boiling or keep stuff out of the pot while working. Titanium spork, because the plastic ones melt too easy. The little ziplock bag is my pocket kit, which has a button compass, water purification tablets, storm matches, blot clotter, safety pins, and kevlar thread. Handy if all else is lost, I'm not without something to help improve my situation. Small bic lighter, because that works 99% of the time. Match case with more UCO storm matches, along with a ferro rod and the best blast whistle I've ever tested. Small Petzl headlamp. LIFESTRAW, because they're cheap and they work, really useful if you can't get a fire going for whatever reason. Just keep the drinking end clean, and chug down that dirty river. Pack of dry soap leaves, and a small bottle of hand sanitizer, because hygiene is important in the bush, and the alcohol is a secondary fuel source or firestarter. Hank of paracord, because, well, paracord.

12 hour light stick if I need to save, or have drained, my headlamp. Good enough for one night. Arrowcard dogtag model for extra little blade, saw, and hunting point, not that it should come to that. Connected on a chain is a dogtag-sized signal mirror. At the bottom, my tool kit tin. Heaviest item in the picture, but contains many excellent tricks including bank line, saw blades, a small multitool with pliers, and other goodies. It is an entire post unto itself. Mora knife, floating handle, solid sheath. I own two, neither has failed me yet. Shaving sharp. Some first aid stuff, hard to show as that bit of kit is always evolving and repacked for almost every trip outside my neighborhood, but at a minimum, some gauze and blood clotting agent, in plastic bags useful for sealing up serious wounds against infection or air movement. The duct tape in the tool kit suffices for small cuts. Finally, a bit of food. Mio water enhancer, so that foul-tasting but safe water can be made a bit more palatable, especially warm. Tea would be better for hot drinks, if you can carry it and a little sugar, but this works cold too. Couple flat-packs of tuna and a mountain house ration. Not because I'm going to starve in 48 hours, but keeping both energy and morale up helps everything else.

Pack it all into the container of your choice. Nest small gear in the billy pot, keep first aid and the knife at the top, shelter items next down.

And it goes everywhere with me in the bush. Period.