Survival gear

[T3-OleMan]

..........................
"Carry light, Freeze at Night!".

Like that one!

 

[BountyHunter]

Kind of surprised no one has mentioned some type of plastic sheeting or tarp. All good points on everything else but wet and cold you can die in just a few hours. I have recovered two bodies of military guys who died from hypothermia.

I would add small signal mirror and some type small water purification method.

There is a lot to be said for "Travel light, freeze at night." Learned that one the hard way!

Spent 24 years wandering the non-tourist spots of the world and learned why we taught the survival rules for "fire, shelter, water and signal".

 

[ken snyder]

Here where I am a survival pack will include benadryl, Bees wasps and hornets are the number 1 threat even in cold weather. An extra set of morino wool underclothes and a small towel to wipe out our supposedly breathable hunting gear. Perspiration will give hypothermia almost as fast as falling in a creek, stay dry or die! Now that we made it back to the camp or truck it should be stocked like the Hotel Hilton. Getting snowed in or washed out roads is when the survival really starts!

 

[Tikkamike]

Kind of surprised no one has mentioned some type of plastic sheeting or tarp. All good points on everything else but wet and cold you can die in just a few hours. I have recovered two bodies of military guys who died from hypothermia.

I would add small signal mirror and some type small water purification method.

There is a lot to be said for "Travel light, freeze at night." Learned that one the hard way!

Spent 24 years wandering the non-tourist spots of the world and learned why we taught the survival rules for "fire, shelter, water and signal".

The space blanket me ruined in the first post covers the tarp And mirror. And the jet boils covers the water purification method

 

[Bravo 4]

Kind of surprised no one has mentioned some type of plastic sheeting or tarp.

Here where I am a survival pack will include benadryl, Bees wasps and hornets are the number 1 threat even in cold weather.

The space blanket me ruined in the first post covers the tarp And mirror.

BountyHunter,
I carry a folded up tarp bungee strapped to the inside frame of my pack, as does at least one member of each of my teams. They weigh next to nothing, especially compaired to the benefits! For the manner in which you served, I thank you.

Ken,
An epipen is in my kit as well. Like stated earlier I'm not a doc but had one tell me that if somebody is going into anaphylactic shock then injesting benadryl might take too long.

Mike,
The space blanket is a good idea but isn't nearly as rugged as a tarp, as you know. The small amount of space and weight of each are next to nothing.

I am no expert on survival either, I went through SERE well over 10 years ago and have forgotten more then I remember. What I got out of it was- I don't like being cold, wet or hungry. I really don't like being cold, wet and hungry!!! So I do my best not to be either, but as much time as I spend outdoors it's bound to happen more often then I like.

 

[jmden]

When hunting by myself (and sometimes with another person depending on the situation), I pack a watertight to 15', integral GPS enabled, Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) that's registered through NOAA to me. Before a trip, usually I'll go into the registration page for my PLB and write a little note about where I'll be and what I'll be doing.

 

[ken snyder]

What kind of fuel does a jet boil use. The reason I ask is because many times Ive had a hard time to get things to light without warming them up first or carrying the fuel under my clothes to keep it warm enough to light. I have even had my water bottle freeze in my sleeping bag during the night. really cold but it does happen!

 

[Tikkamike]

The fuel canisters you buy from jetboil are a mixture of propane and butane. They say the propane gives it better pressure in colder temps. And the butane gives it better pressure when the fuel level gets low.

Bravo you are right a space blanket is not nearly as rugged as a tarp. But for me a tarp is a little too much to carry.

 

[jmden]

SOL Emergency Bivvy - Free Shipping at REI.com 3.8 ounces

Here is apparently a heavier version at 8.9 ounces: http://www.rei.com/product/813513/sol-thermal-bivvy

I pack one of these and prefer if over a space blanket as it is much more efficient than a blanket, having had the experience of spending a few nights with just a space blanket.

I always carry a complete set of Bridgedale socks (light [Bridgedale Coolmax Liner] and heavy [Bridgedale Endurance Summit]), Patagonia Capilene underwear, Capilene long underwear bottom and Capilene long underwear tops as a backup. I made a small, nearly waterproof stuffsack that holds these clothes tightly. This doubles as my rear bag. Anytime you can get gear to do two things at once for you, you're making your life lighter in the woods. If I need that dry, warm underlayer of backup cloths, I probably won't be worrying too much about needing a rear bag.

 

[Tikkamike]

Jmden. That's pretty sweet. I may meed to order one of those

 

[LRT]

I don't go off a paved road without survival gear in my pack. To many people find themselves dead from exposure, dehydration, heat stroke and any other number of poor sounding ways to ruin a good trip for me not to carry it.

Most times I am backpack hunting so I try and find gear that carry's over for multiple uses and spend to get it light. I even keep my bag in the truck, I have spent a night on a logging road way out with a cut axle and although I wasn't in danger it could have been bad if low on gas in cold weather.

I attended the pathfinder survival school to get an idea how to use the outdoor skills I thought I had my whole life and it was an eye opener for sure.

I keep two cutting tools, a heavy Bussy knife and my havalon knife
A good compass with sighting mirror
A ss container, I use the 44oz clean canteen. good for water, making char cloth cooking, boiling etc...
Cordage some of it 550 some bank line
A tarp with orange on one side, reflective on the other
Three short bungees
A full change under layers, poly pro and wool socks, gloves, hat
Gortex rain jacket
3L platypus bladder
MSR water filter, iodine
Snow peak micro stove and fuel canister
3 large moutian house meals
3 cliff bars
cotton bandana for char cloth, head wrap etc...
Gerber strike force, lighter, tender, pen flares
Folding Gerber saw
small very tech med kit, I am EMT, SAR and wilderness med trained
space blanket
GPS and spot SOS
All in a water proof pack

About 20lbs total dry, most of it is tech gear and super light weight hiking stuff. Gear has come a long way for sure. I can walk all day with it and a rifle and never know its there. like my instructor said you have to make do with what you have with you so if its good and needed get a gym membership if its to heavy or stay home!

If spike camping I have the tent or bivi, sleeping bag, pad maybe more food but the above goes with me every time I go out no question.

Anything else I can either make of make due without IMO. I always have at least a handgun and spare ammo, most times a rifle to.

 

[Elkmen]

I carry essentially the same as tikkamike. I do however carry a set of Gortex rain gear from my first day in the field to the last. The GPS is a wonderful tool but as pointed out I also carry a compass.
Like LRT, "My cardinal rule is to never leave the truck, trailhead, ATV or camp without my pack" it will do you no good what so ever in the back of the truck. In addition whether I need it or not I always GPS my jumpoff spot when I leave. I have needed it a couple of times in the dark in unfamilar country.

 

[mcseal2]

Great thread, I have posted this on lots of forums and gotten more ideas on what to carry. My lists keeps getting upgraded as I get better or lighter gear. Here are my current lists, the pocket kit, the bag that is always in my daypack, and the items I add for western hunts, bad weather, or coonhunting. These are in addition to my regular hunting gear. I counted GPS, clothes, knife, food, water bottle, etc as hunting gear not survival gear.

Altoids tin pocket kit (4.4oz total)
-Reynolds oven bag ½ (water boiling & storage)
-small firesteel & striker
-small bic lighter
-2 vaseline coated cotton balls
-fish hooks 6 small 6 medium
-fishing line 30ft 25lb Big Game
-repair needle to fit fishing line
-15ft green 152lb braided nylon bank line
-Leatherman mini (blade, scissors,tweezers, file)
-Leatherman mini flashlight (batteries backward, 30hr life)
-4 1qt water purification tablets
-6 18" 30lb wire fishing leaders (snares)

Full-time daypack kit (2lb 4oz)
-spare wool socks
-Adventure medical heatsheets bivy the (3.8oz one)
-MPI red/silver hooded space blanket 5'x7' (tarp, poncho, or blanket)
-compass
-bandana (red for signal, pre-filter water etc)
-Mammut S-lite headlamp (1 AA lithium battery, 60hr life, 2oz) (this is part of the kit, and in addition to the bigger headlamp I count as hunting gear)
-Victorionox trekker knife (decent saw, 4" un-serrated blade, tools)
-little whistle from my Bear Grylls knife
-fire kit: firesteel, lighter, vaseline coated cotton balls, 2oz bottle coglans fire paste, 4 wetfire cubes
-50ft roll 2" duck tape
-frontier water filter straw
-4 tabs potable aqua
-30yds 152lb bank line
-15yds 350lb bank line
-blank CD (signalling)
-little bag with 12 leader snares & 30ft 25lb fishing line, 12 hooks, repair needle)
Medical: (stop bleeding, make splints)
-quick clot sponge
-1 roll hot pink vetwrap (bandaging with duck tape, marking trail, etc)
-small tube neosporin
-4 3"x3" gauze pads
-rubber glove
-6 pills immodium
-2 pills claritin
-1 packet sunscreen
-1 packet lip balm
-4 safety pins
-1 antiseptic towlette


Additional gear for western hunts
-Kifaru paratarp with 10 1/2oz aluminum stakes (18.4oz total)
-50ft bright yellow paracord
-cheap thin silver space blanket (for using as a reflector for fire heat, or for my hunting buddy who didn't bring one)
-Snow peak titanium mug (12.9oz total) with:
-esbit stove (4 fuel tabs)
-2 oatmeal packets
-6 tea bags
-cut down spork
-1ftx2ft aluminum foil folded down
- Bic lighter

My survival gear adds up to about 4.5lbs when packing it all, but it's really not much weight when you look at what it includes. The Kifaru paratarp was expensive, but it's sure quick to put up and big enough to have plenty of room to keep me and my gear dry. The stakes add 5oz for it, but are way quicker than trying to cut them if a rain is coming. I also have the larger 9oz SOL thermal bivy or a little 1lb fleece sleeping bag I can stick inside the bivy sacks I can throw in if I feel it's needed. I've stayed out testing my kit at temps right at freezing and have been fine, and that was with a ponch lean to instead of the paratarp. I figure anytime I'm leaving a trail for a long dayhunt I want to have enough gear to spend the night if I decide to hunt until dark, or kill miles from anywhere. I took the fishing and snare kits out for a while, but then I weighed them and threw them back in. They don't take up much room and don't weigh 1.5oz all together.
I make sure to test everything before I add it to the pack. I'll also go out to one of our pastures at least a couple times a year with 30-45 minutes of light left and make a quick camp. I feel it's important to be familiar with my gear so I don't waste precious time and energy getting set up to ride out a storm or spend a night out. I know people who carry gear that they have never tried to use and that's not for me.

 

[zupatun]

I always carry a compass and a whistle in my pants pockets. In my pack I always have a space blanket, at least two ways to make fire, dryer lint soaked with parrifin. I keep a knife in my backpack, one in my pocket and one in my fanny pack. I have lapsed in my waterpurification pills--I usually always have one or two ways to make drinkable water...

Matt