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Best top ten Survival gear in your opinion and what you are willing to carry.

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    • Best top ten Survival gear in your opinion and what you are willing to carry.

      OK I hope we eliminated the toys from what we may carry. And to be honest there really wasn't a "right" answer. So this thread is about better ideas - keep in mind your best survival tools is what is in your head and what you are carrying. In short if you are carrying a tent - you don't need a survival tube. I am looking for discussions here and to add things that work for you.


      • Shelter -- For protection from wind, rain, insects and sun.

      • Water -- Carry water. Carry provision for water filtration and purification.
      • Food -- Have what you expect to eat.
      • Extra Food -- For warmth and strength. For unexpected delays.
      • Extra Clothing -- For covering an injured hiker to prevent shock, as well as for keeping yourself warm, dry and comfortable.
      • Cooking Fire -- Be able to make a cooking fire. A knife can be used to make small shavings to start a cooking fire. Keep matches in a waterproof container.
      • Warming Fire -- A fire starter, such as a candle, kindling or chemical accelerant, increases your odds of successfully getting a warming fire going.
      • First aid supplies -- A ready-made, store bought kit may prove inadequate. It is best to add to a kit or construct your own, based on expert advice.
      • Compass and map, and gps -- Have, and know how to use.
      • Signal -- Whistle, signal mirror, orange smoke. A cellular phone can be helpful, if you have telephone numbers and you know where you are or the cellular phone has a GPS locator. However, in the backcountry, a cellular phone often will not work.



      So here goes...

      1 Whistle. Only because it works. wet, dry, soaked. Storm.



      Stick your fingers in your ears when blowing.
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Wise Old Owl ().

    • I bought about 3 multitools in 2014. I think one of them has dull blade or two. The others are a Winchester and the other is a Snap On Tools multi. I need to test them. I don't like the Snap On flashlight that came with it.

      Bought a pocket juice recharger so I can keep my phone going for mapping.

      And a small waterproof first aid kit. Clear plastic. Bright red. Weighs about 3 ounces.

      For a bright light type light. I suggest the floating wedding decor lights. Uses one 2032 flat battery. Has a nice white led in it. I can read by it in a totally dark room. Twist to turn on and off. I used it as part of my hurricane ride out kit.
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.
    • added some band aids to it. The pocket juice is 4000 mah. Supposed to be good for 2 charges of my phone. I have 3 of 1200 mah. ones to. I'll have to weigh them and try them out more to see what their weight is and see how well they are at charging.

      Also have 2 waterproof match cases. And have some windproof matches. I have had the later before the match head covers most of the match stick. Hold them the wrong way in the wind and get a skin scorched spot.
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.
    • Esbit or Coglans Firestarter. One or two in your kit, UL and easy to light. if it has been raining for days and you need a fire, strip the wet bark off the twigs with a knife and use this to get it going, once going you can boil water for tea or coffee and get warm.
      This is better than Fatwood, vasaline balls, birdnests, as it continues to burn 5-8 sometimes 18 minutes. If you like those ideas that's fine.




      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:
    • I've said this before, but I wish there was a knife manufacturer that would build a knife ala carte, many items in my Swiss Army knife I won't use, while other SAK's have features I would use. Here's a snap shot of what my personal SAK would have on board.
      Plier, tapers to needle but stout enough to handle a nut or bolt
      File, one side metal, one side rasp
      Scissors
      Sewing awl
      Cork screw for bears and wine, bears hate the sight of a cork screw.
      Blade, locking and might as well throw in a small one as a back up, though I've never found the need for the second blade, but a knife with a broken blade to my way of thinking isn't really a knife, so yeah, gimme the second blade.
      Then all the other crap, can opener, with screw driver points, yada yada yada!
    • max.patch wrote:

      meat wrote:

      Cork screw for bears and wine, bears hate the sight of a cork screw.
      i think i used my cork screw a couple times on my thru and none since. there are plenty of "good enough for the woods" wine that comes with a screw top these days. at least good enough for my palate.
      if it requires a cork screw, I'd have to drink the whole thing just so it doesn't go bad.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • TrafficJam wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      meat wrote:

      Cork screw for bears and wine, bears hate the sight of a cork screw.
      i think i used my cork screw a couple times on my thru and none since. there are plenty of "good enough for the woods" wine that comes with a screw top these days. at least good enough for my palate.
      if it requires a cork screw, I'd have to drink the whole thing just so it doesn't go bad.
      Cof124

      Atta girl
    • max.patch wrote:

      meat wrote:

      Cork screw for bears and wine, bears hate the sight of a cork screw.
      i think i used my cork screw a couple times on my thru and none since. there are plenty of "good enough for the woods" wine that comes with a screw top these days. at least good enough for my palate.
      yeah mostly it's a curtsey thing, kinda "is there a doctor in the house" cause when a cork needs pulling there is no substitute to the screw.
    • All this talk of wine reminds me of a day hike we did years ago with a friend.
      She brought a pot of sausage and peppers that we heated on our MSR Simmerlite stove and Kathy and I brought a bottle of Sangria. And I don't remember who brought the cheese and crackers. So there we were, overlooking the Hudson River eating and drinking our way into a perfect hike.
    • Wise Old Owl wrote:

      Esbit or Coglans Firestarter. One or two in your kit, UL and easy to light. if it has been raining for days and you need a fire, strip the wet bark off the twigs with a knife and use this to get it going, once going you can boil water for tea or coffee and get warm.
      This is better than Fatwood, vasaline balls, birdnests, as it continues to burn 5-8 sometimes 18 minutes. If you like those ideas that's fine.





      I carry two of those. They do burn really well.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • LIhikers wrote:

      All this talk of wine reminds me of a day hike we did years ago with a friend.
      She brought a pot of sausage and peppers that we heated on our MSR Simmerlite stove and Kathy and I brought a bottle of Sangria. And I don't remember who brought the cheese and crackers. So there we were, overlooking the Hudson River eating and drinking our way into a perfect hike.
      That's a nice image. :thumbup:
    • meat wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      meat wrote:

      Cork screw for bears and wine, bears hate the sight of a cork screw.
      i think i used my cork screw a couple times on my thru and none since. there are plenty of "good enough for the woods" wine that comes with a screw top these days. at least good enough for my palate.
      yeah mostly it's a curtsey thing, kinda "is there a doctor in the house" cause when a cork needs pulling there is no substitute to the screw.
      Neighbors in Italy would perform what they called a decapitation of wine bottles. Well chilled white wine would be opened with a chief knife stoke just below the cork.

      Lest we forget.....



      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC
    • Dan76 wrote:

      meat wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      meat wrote:

      Cork screw for bears and wine, bears hate the sight of a cork screw.
      i think i used my cork screw a couple times on my thru and none since. there are plenty of "good enough for the woods" wine that comes with a screw top these days. at least good enough for my palate.
      yeah mostly it's a curtsey thing, kinda "is there a doctor in the house" cause when a cork needs pulling there is no substitute to the screw.
      Neighbors in Italy would perform what they called a decapitation of wine bottles. Well chilled white wine would be opened with a chief knife stoke just below the cork.
      I've heard of it being done with a sword of sorts, but I'd only try that with a cheap bottle of cooking wine. :D and still feel guilty if it shattered.
    • Dan76 wrote:

      Has anyone mentioned using the brain as a survival tool?
      Don't take this the wrong way - but most readers here will, the average human lately is not up to the Macgyver task. I got my butt handed to me on several embarrassing occasions. Unless you have done woodsman-ship all your life, you and myself are clearly unprepared. Daniel Boone and others at the time carried long rifles and could live off the land in that time period. The bulk of the animals are gone, Back in that time period you could have shot a few pigeons in the woods and had a good meal. I had many discussions with one "modern" woodsman Baird Taylor who was the same neighbor that sued Andrew Wyeth for rebuilding the dam in Chadd's Ford. At the time 1980 he was illegally trapping muskrat year round to put food on the table for his family.

      As a group we are clearly unprepared, we know how to hike, backpack... not survive when the Shite hits.

      Look at this another way, watch the survival shows on the so called discovery shows as I do to see the odd mistakes. there are many, most fail even when they are full of themselves.
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:
    • Wise Old Owl wrote:

      Dan76 wrote:

      Has anyone mentioned using the brain as a survival tool?
      Don't take this the wrong way - but most readers here will, the average human lately is not up to the Macgyver task. I got my butt handed to me on several embarrassing occasions. Unless you have done woodsman-ship all your life, you and myself are clearly unprepared. Daniel Boone and others at the time carried long rifles and could live off the land in that time period. The bulk of the animals are gone, Back in that time period you could have shot a few pigeons in the woods and had a good meal. I had many discussions with one "modern" woodsman Baird Taylor who was the same neighbor that sued Andrew Wyeth for rebuilding the dam in Chadd's Ford. At the time 1980 he was illegally trapping muskrat year round to put food on the table for his family.
      As a group we are clearly unprepared, we know how to hike, backpack... not survive when the Shite hits.

      Look at this another way, watch the survival shows on the so called discovery shows as I do to see the odd mistakes. there are many, most fail even when they are full of themselves.
      You would love my Mother. She feels every child should have a full set of pioneer skills, she is still waiting for the bombs to drop at 85 years old! I learned to make chicken soup starting with an egg, incubate the egg, raise the chick, wack the chicken, dunk in boiling water to loosen the feathers, pluck and gut, cook up the soup. Takes a bit longer than Campbells, but teaches where food really comes from. We had bees for honey and candles, goats for milk, pigs for meat and fat to make soap. Then there was the huge garden and hours and hours spent weeding and canning. If you want easy meat here in PA you can shoot groundhog every day except Sunday and Christmas! As for animals being gone, I heard we have 4 times as many deer in PA as when William Penn arrived here.
    • SandyofPA wrote:

      Wise Old Owl wrote:

      Dan76 wrote:

      Has anyone mentioned using the brain as a survival tool?
      Don't take this the wrong way - but most readers here will, the average human lately is not up to the Macgyver task. I got my butt handed to me on several embarrassing occasions. Unless you have done woodsman-ship all your life, you and myself are clearly unprepared. Daniel Boone and others at the time carried long rifles and could live off the land in that time period. The bulk of the animals are gone, Back in that time period you could have shot a few pigeons in the woods and had a good meal. I had many discussions with one "modern" woodsman Baird Taylor who was the same neighbor that sued Andrew Wyeth for rebuilding the dam in Chadd's Ford. At the time 1980 he was illegally trapping muskrat year round to put food on the table for his family.As a group we are clearly unprepared, we know how to hike, backpack... not survive when the Shite hits.

      Look at this another way, watch the survival shows on the so called discovery shows as I do to see the odd mistakes. there are many, most fail even when they are full of themselves.
      You would love my Mother. She feels every child should have a full set of pioneer skills, she is still waiting for the bombs to drop at 85 years old! I learned to make chicken soup starting with an egg, incubate the egg, raise the chick, wack the chicken, dunk in boiling water to loosen the feathers, pluck and gut, cook up the soup. Takes a bit longer than Campbells, but teaches where food really comes from. We had bees for honey and candles, goats for milk, pigs for meat and fat to make soap. Then there was the huge garden and hours and hours spent weeding and canning. If you want easy meat here in PA you can shoot groundhog every day except Sunday and Christmas! As for animals being gone, I heard we have 4 times as many deer in PA as when William Penn arrived here.
      I love this, raw materials to finished product!
    • Well I will share this with you, He has really good ideas. I find fault with two weak areas of the Swiss, the blades do not hold an edge, the pin that supports the blade is too small, and can be bent, or broken. keep in mind this again is opinion. A good knife should be part of your kit, Mora or something that holds an edge. I have owned Hercules and Wave, I only go with Wave and now I own two.

      1. You do not need a survival knife
      2. You do not need a hollow handle
      3. I would recommend from my own personal accidents a locking blade.
      4. A razor blade / micro swiss is harder to work with when working on feet or nails.
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Wise Old Owl ().

    • below is the official swiss army knife of whiteblaze.

      but all i need is:

      1. a blade for cutting cheese, slicing a bagel, and opening a resuppy box.
      2. scissors for the few times that you'll need to cut paper, moleskin, etc.
      3. while there are stand alone units that are easier to use, the tweezers have always been sufficient to remove ticks, and
      4. since its already there and doesn't weigh much, i've actually used the toothpick a time or two. might as well keep it.


      [IMG:http://partsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Worlds_largest_Swiss_Army_knife_wenger_giant_knife.jpg]
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      below is the official swiss army knife of whiteblaze.

      but all i need is:

      1. a blade for cutting cheese, slicing a bagel, and opening a resuppy box.
      2. scissors for the few times that you'll need to cut paper, moleskin, etc.
      3. while there are stand alone units that are easier to use, the tweezers have always been sufficient to remove ticks, and
      4. since its already there and doesn't weigh much, i've actually used the toothpick a time or two. might as well keep it.


      [IMG:http://partsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Worlds_largest_Swiss_Army_knife_wenger_giant_knife.jpg]
      Now you know you're supposed to open your resupply box with a machete or chainsaw. :evil:
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • Someone once posted a video of a backpacking chef who only carries kitchen scissors (shears?) and with it he cuts food, opens packages, etc. Sounds like there's merit in this as I only use my multi tool knife to cut food and my scissors to cut yarn or open packages. The rest of the implements have not been used. A large pair of scissors also makes a more effective weapon.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • max.patch wrote:

      below is the official swiss army knife of whiteblaze.

      but all i need is:

      1. a blade for cutting cheese, slicing a bagel, and opening a resuppy box.
      2. scissors for the few times that you'll need to cut paper, moleskin, etc.
      3. while there are stand alone units that are easier to use, the tweezers have always been sufficient to remove ticks, and
      4. since its already there and doesn't weigh much, i've actually used the toothpick a time or two. might as well keep it.


      [IMG:http://partsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Worlds_largest_Swiss_Army_knife_wenger_giant_knife.jpg]
      lower level, twelfth from the left ...circumscissors???
    • SandyofPA wrote:

      Wise Old Owl wrote:

      Dan76 wrote:

      Has anyone mentioned using the brain as a survival tool?
      Don't take this the wrong way - but most readers here will, the average human lately is not up to the Macgyver task. I got my butt handed to me on several embarrassing occasions. Unless you have done woodsman-ship all your life, you and myself are clearly unprepared. Daniel Boone and others at the time carried long rifles and could live off the land in that time period. The bulk of the animals are gone, Back in that time period you could have shot a few pigeons in the woods and had a good meal. I had many discussions with one "modern" woodsman Baird Taylor who was the same neighbor that sued Andrew Wyeth for rebuilding the dam in Chadd's Ford. At the time 1980 he was illegally trapping muskrat year round to put food on the table for his family.As a group we are clearly unprepared, we know how to hike, backpack... not survive when the Shite hits.

      Look at this another way, watch the survival shows on the so called discovery shows as I do to see the odd mistakes. there are many, most fail even when they are full of themselves.
      You would love my Mother. She feels every child should have a full set of pioneer skills, she is still waiting for the bombs to drop at 85 years old! I learned to make chicken soup starting with an egg, incubate the egg, raise the chick, wack the chicken, dunk in boiling water to loosen the feathers, pluck and gut, cook up the soup. Takes a bit longer than Campbells, but teaches where food really comes from. We had bees for honey and candles, goats for milk, pigs for meat and fat to make soap. Then there was the huge garden and hours and hours spent weeding and canning. If you want easy meat here in PA you can shoot groundhog every day except Sunday and Christmas! As for animals being gone, I heard we have 4 times as many deer in PA as when William Penn arrived here.
      Much can be said about self-sufficiency. The ability to hunt-gather one's food supply is a skill set lost to much of the current populace. Even most of the hunters I know don't always properly field dress game and will bring it to a processor for butchering. Furthermore a freezer is used as storage vs. smoking, drying, or canning. And of course, most survival scenarios I envision include a loss of the grid.

      Lest we forget.....



      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC
    • Dan76 wrote:

      SandyofPA wrote:

      Wise Old Owl wrote:

      Dan76 wrote:

      Has anyone mentioned using the brain as a survival tool?
      Don't take this the wrong way - but most readers here will, the average human lately is not up to the Macgyver task. I got my butt handed to me on several embarrassing occasions. Unless you have done woodsman-ship all your life, you and myself are clearly unprepared. Daniel Boone and others at the time carried long rifles and could live off the land in that time period. The bulk of the animals are gone, Back in that time period you could have shot a few pigeons in the woods and had a good meal. I had many discussions with one "modern" woodsman Baird Taylor who was the same neighbor that sued Andrew Wyeth for rebuilding the dam in Chadd's Ford. At the time 1980 he was illegally trapping muskrat year round to put food on the table for his family.As a group we are clearly unprepared, we know how to hike, backpack... not survive when the Shite hits.
      Look at this another way, watch the survival shows on the so called discovery shows as I do to see the odd mistakes. there are many, most fail even when they are full of themselves.
      You would love my Mother. She feels every child should have a full set of pioneer skills, she is still waiting for the bombs to drop at 85 years old! I learned to make chicken soup starting with an egg, incubate the egg, raise the chick, wack the chicken, dunk in boiling water to loosen the feathers, pluck and gut, cook up the soup. Takes a bit longer than Campbells, but teaches where food really comes from. We had bees for honey and candles, goats for milk, pigs for meat and fat to make soap. Then there was the huge garden and hours and hours spent weeding and canning. If you want easy meat here in PA you can shoot groundhog every day except Sunday and Christmas! As for animals being gone, I heard we have 4 times as many deer in PA as when William Penn arrived here.
      Much can be said about self-sufficiency. The ability to hunt-gather one's food supply is a skill set lost to much of the current populace. Even most of the hunters I know don't always properly field dress game and will bring it to a processor for butchering. Furthermore a freezer is used as storage vs. smoking, drying, or canning. And of course, most survival scenarios I envision include a loss of the grid.
      a loss of power was a real eye opener for my kids when hurricane Sandy came through NJ a couple years back, I was happy this exercise took place as I felt they needed a reality check on what's important, it had me scratching my head at times too when I'd go to do something and then realize I can't just yet. Should the grid go down and society crumble as in (the big one) I'm as screwed as the next guy...much catching up to do here to close the proverbial gap between the clueless and say the Amish, they'll be just fine! I gotta learn to eat weeds or somthin' hunting and trapping no problem, staying warm, got it, shelter, no worries, but food is the one thing where must people are just screwed if not prepaired and will be standing in a line somewhere fightin' over rice and water.
      Medical emergency is another area that will take so many only hours and days after. There's a good book I read called "one second after" that was a eye opener if anyone is interested..."Dogwood" turned me on to it...good book worth reading.
    • meat wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      below is the official swiss army knife of whiteblaze.

      but all i need is:

      [*]a blade for cutting cheese, slicing a bagel, and opening a resuppy box.
      [*]scissors for the few times that you'll need to cut paper, moleskin, etc.
      [*]while there are stand alone units that are easier to use, the tweezers have always been sufficient to remove ticks, and
      [*]since its already there and doesn't weigh much, i've actually used the toothpick a time or two. might as well keep it.
      [/list]

      [IMG:http://partsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Worlds_largest_Swiss_Army_knife_wenger_giant_knife.jpg]
      lower level, twelfth from the left ...circumscissors???
      Hose cutters.
    • SandyofPA wrote:

      meat wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      below is the official swiss army knife of whiteblaze.

      but all i need is:

      [*]a blade for cutting cheese, slicing a bagel, and opening a resuppy box.
      [*]scissors for the few times that you'll need to cut paper, moleskin, etc.
      [*]while there are stand alone units that are easier to use, the tweezers have always been sufficient to remove ticks, and
      [*]since its already there and doesn't weigh much, i've actually used the toothpick a time or two. might as well keep it.


      [IMG:http://partsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Worlds_largest_Swiss_Army_knife_wenger_giant_knife.jpg]
      lower level, twelfth from the left ...circumscissors???
      Hose cutters.
      aaaaah, thanks.