Updated survival bag again?
Posted: March 20th, 2011 | Author: Mitch | Filed under: Camping Gear | Tags: alcohol pads, assault pack, boot laces, composite steel, cork screw, dangerous animals, head lamp, inner core, magnesium fire starter, magnum revolver, marked trails, sleeve cotton, snake skin, starter food, steel bottle, steel toe boots, sugar packets, tape container, wool socks, zip lock bags | 7 Comments »I know a lot of people don’t agree with what I carry with me but keep the negative comments to yourself.I laid out all my gear and asked myself do I need this?I took a few things out.
So my bag is still the 3 day assault pack.
Cutting tool:KaBar USMC utility knife,Victorinox multi tool which has 2 knives,saw,can/bottle opener,scissors,tweezers,tooth pick,file,cork screw.Pocket wire saw that I might take out.
Cordage:about 200 ft of para cord including my boot laces and para cord bracelet I wear.10 ft of 25 pound fishing line.And a small amount of thread.Also 2 strips of duct tape.
Container:Canteen/cook cup,stainless steel bottle,garbage bag.
Cover:the same garbage bag,poncho top and cover.
Combustion device:Matches in water proof tube with cotton inside for tinder.Magnesium fire starter.
Food:4 MRE crackers,2 oatmeal packets,energy bar,2 sugar packets,2 salt packets.
Clothes in zip lock bags:watch cap,shemagh,bandanna,wool socks,and a long sleeve cotton shirt I will be replacing with a polyester shirt soon.I also wear a fleece jacket and composite steel toe boots which are lighter than regular steel.
Misc:tooth brush with the handle cut down to save room,small rag,1 nail,SURVIVAL Army FM21.Head lamp.
First aid:5 Q tips,9 alcohol pads,small bandages,Neosporine,aspirin,the same thread and a needle.
Fishing kit:2 hooks and the same fishing line plus the inner core of para cord.
Just so you understand what I use this bag for,I hunt and camp in the deep woods around my grandfather’s home.There is no marked trails,no guides that go with us.I have found snake skin and seen wolves plenty of times and I know there is more dangerous animals than that out there.I always take a rifle with me when I go and if someone goes with me they usually do too and maybe a 357 magnum revolver.Yes we have hunting/fishing liscences and even gun carry permits so were not just hillbillies in the woods.Please let me know what you would take out or add and how I can improve my pack even more.Also I try to fit all the little things in my stainless steel bottle to save room.Also a signal mirror.I will probably get a whistle too.I attach my sleeping bag to the bottom of my pack before I leave too.
@ casey
I said composite steel toe boots.It is much lighter than metal but just as strong.It is made out of some kind of extremely tough plastic.They have saved me from having a broken foot more than once.
@ Cody
My multi tool does have all these things.I thought I put that in the list.Its a Victorinox swiss army multi tool and it has 2 very sharp blades,a wood saw,a pair of scissors,a file,tweezers,tooth pick,a cork screw,a bottle opener and can opener,and a flat head screw driver.It is an older model.Also I do carry a compass.
@ Garrick
I use different rifles depending on what I’m hunting.When I hunt deer,I use a Remington 710 7mm magnum that holds 3 rounds in the clip and has a decent Nikon scope on it.When I hunt small game I will take a 17 HMR or 10/22 Ruger.I see a rifle as something that I would need in the woods because if I get in a stand off with a big animal,I’m not throwing a rock at it or using bear mace.I will brag and say I never miss and am a dead eye with all my rifles and rarely miss with revolvers.I know if I’m face to face with a bear or buck I take the shot in the sniper’s shot which is where the spinal cord connects to the head and it drops right there instead of getting pissed off and charging at me.Everybody has their own opinion and almost everyone says they would lose the KaBar but it is my hatchet,my saw,my flint/magnesium sparker,it is only a 60 dollar knife and it is my favorite knife and everything but I would rather use it up first and buy another one later because it is so cheap
EDIT: sniper’s *SPOT not shot.
you might wanna get a torch lighter, some alternative tinder, maybe a little improvised accelerant like hand sanitizer, a cheap knife for the magnesium bar. look into bivy bags and shelters. anything an ultralight backpacker might use could be useful.
For three days? I think you are overly obsessing. I’ve often gone out in trackless woods for 3 days with a daypack with sleeping bag, bivy sack, tarp, headlamp, compass, topo map, waterbottle and filter, pocket knife, extra socks and a bunch of peanut butter sandwiches and apples. I’ve camped out in 30 states including in wolf and grizzly high country and never felt I needed a weapon. Guns are heavy –why carry one if you don’t need it?
I wonder why you are so constantly anxious and insecure about your kit. Just use what you have already and you will learn with each outing what you do and don’t need. That’s what we all do. Everybody has a different set of stuff they use — nobody can tell YOU exactly what you need. Learn by doing, not asking.
I think you should lighten up on the paracord, I can’t see a situation where you’d need more than 50 at a time unless you are rock climbing.
I think you should improve your first aid by adding some gauze, scissors, tweezers, and sting relief pads if you’d like (sure you can just tough it out, but what’s an extra half ounce to a 30lb pack?)
You need to add two full size bricks for killing bugs. Why are you wearing steel toed boots in the woods? These really increase the danger of frostbite.
Still missing some of the most important items:
- Compass and map
- Shelter (tent, bivy sack, or at least a tarp)
- Water filtration/purification system
- Stove
- More food (high energy items)
I would lose:
- KaBar USMC utility knife
- saw
- can/bottle opener
- scissors
- file
- cork screw
- Pocket wire saw
- all but 25-50 ft of the cord
You only need a single well-chosen multi-tool to cover a lot of these items at a fraction of the size/weight.
EDIT: My mistake, I saw the Victorinox, but I thought all those things you listed were separate tools you were bringing, not elements of the multitool.
You have a pretty good start to that kit. There are some things I’d do differently, but mostly it’s a matter of preference.
A couple of areas you might want to beef up are your first aid kit (currently only good for superficial injuries that would have no/little impact on survival), water purification (boiling is slow and inefficient), and navigation (no maps or compass). The Ka-Bar knife and shemagh would not go in my pack; too heavy and not useful enough. Add some complex carbs and protein to your food supply. Put the small gear in a zip-lock bag or a small pouch for organization, and fill your water bottle with water.
If you’re out hunting then you obviously need a rifle or shotgun, or at least a bow. Otherwise, unless you might reasonably be out lost for more than a week, there’s little benefit to that weight and bulk. For long-term survival a lightweight .22 rifle is hard to beat, particularly the Uncle Henry AR-7.
Don’t get discouraged by the haters. Sure, people can and have gone off in the wilderness with nothing more than the clothes on their back, a tube of vegemite and a sheet of plastic for shelter, and survived for months. This behavior is totally ego-driven, self-centered and inconsiderate of others. They go forth on the assumption that they are some kind of superhuman, immune to all obstacles and dangers and incapable of being injured. Their entire plan relies on everything going reasonably well, and maybe 95% of the time it will. For that other 5% they are completely unprepared, forced to rely on others for their survival, sometimes fellow hikers/backpackers, and sometimes formal search and rescue. If you’re not reasonably prepared for emegencies, the difference between pride of completing a thru-hike with only a bag of jerky and a tarp, and the embarrassment of being hauled-off in a gurney (or a body bag) can come down to a single missed step, sip of bad water, bit of tainted food, insect bite or missed turn.
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I would add those into the bag and take out the Kabar.
The first one is a Fixed blade Stainless steel Knife (Paracord wrapped handle) that comes with a Fire Starter and has a saw back to it. This one item solves 4 things. 1st it acts as a knife, duh, 2nd it has a paracord wrapped handle, the knife can be used just fine without it. although it may only be about foot or two or rope, it acts as emergency rope for tying down shelter or gear to your pack, or to tie up a splint in the case of injury. 3rd it comes with a firesteel fire starter which means no need for matches or a lighter because the spark burns at over 7000 degrees. and 4th it eliminates the need of a saw. Obviously its slower then a hand saw and you wont be cutting down any trees but for cutting off small branches that can’t be broke with your hand it works perfect.
The Second Item is Potable Aqua Iodine Water Treatment. Its very small and compact so it takes up nearly no room at all. However it allows you to use water from nearly every source you could find in the wood eliminating the need to carry any larger of a water container then a basic water bottle.
And the last is a flashlight, however, this flashlight is unique, it is extremely bright and is about the size of a quarter in length which means again it is very light and compact and barely takes any space.