Post by Res-Q on Nov 16, 2014 18:00:44 GMT 10
Today i thought i would show you guys my RESCUE kit. I dont like to call it a SURVIVAL kit because i dont want to survive, I want to be RESCUED. Too many survival kits on you tube are to big and bulky and start to cross the line into bug out bags.If you cant wear it at all times its not a survival kit. My pouch will fit into my cargo pants pocket or worn on my belt. I steered away from Altoids tin type kits as i cant fit a good size survival sheet into these tins.
The priorities for this rescue kit were the ability to make FIRE, filter contaminated WATER, make SHELTER and SIGNAL for rescue. Food is not an issue for me in a rescue situation as anxiety levels will be high and most people can go without food for longer than they think. Which is the reason i dont carry snare wire as I'm not going to spend time hunting game when my priority in the first few days is finding water, building a signal fire and finding shelter. If things got desperate there is some cordage in the kit for me to build a few bird traps as shown in previous threads but this is low on the priority list.
There is a lot more i would like to put in this kit but i reckon i've covered the basics well enough to get me out of trouble.
Items:
Cordage
Opinal Knife
Star flash signal mirror
Jet scream whistle
Swiss army Ferro rod
SOL 2 person emergency blanket
Sawyer water filter and 1 litre pouch
The reason i chose these items.
Cordage: Venetian blind cordage from bunnings. Cheaper than Para cord with an 8okg braking strain which can aid in shelter building or as a last resort make bird snares.
Ferro rod and striker: Swiss army brand rod from BCF. I have larger more robust, ornamental strikers but space in the pouch is at a premium. Swiss army is a good brand and this rod sits comfortably in the hand. I hate using matches and find them unreliable and a finite resource compared to the thousands of strikes from the ferro rod.
Knife: Nothing really much to say about this except i needed a good quality knife, sturdy but small enough for the pouch.
Whistle: I chose the Jet scream for its pea less design and decibel rating to attract attention and communicate with searchers.
Signal mirror: The star flash is a quality and compact signal mirror with an eyepiece for accurate placement of the flash on your target instead of using the V finger technique.
The rod, whistle, knife and signal mirror are attached to cordage which is worn around my neck so i dont lose any items when i put them down on the ground which has happened to me in the past.
Emergency blanket: Theres many types of emergency space blankets on the market. Most are picked up from first aid kits and department stores. If youve ever opened up these cheap foil blankets you'll quickly find out that they dont cover the whole body. At most you can wear it as a shawl that will cover your head and shoulders and not much else. They tear easily with the slightest snag on a branch or twig and they're noisy. If you've ever wrapped one around and over your head its bloody noisy when you move around or turn your head. In an emergency situation you may not hear your rescuers calling out to you. This is why i chose the SOL 2 person emergency blanket. It covers my body completely. Its big enough to make a shelter with diagrams on shelter building on the back of the sheet . You cant tear the bloody thing, you can push your finger into it and all it will do is stretch. I've wrapped small rocks in the corners of mine to use as tie downs when using it to make a lean to shelter.
Water filter: This is the one item i agonised over the most. The hardest thing to replicate in the bush is a container to drink from or boil water in. If i could only choose one item to take with me in the bush it would be a ferro rod. If i could choose two items it would be a metal water bottle or metal dog bowl. Finding water is a priority, carrying it and boiling it to kill pathogens is paramount to survival. I tried carrying aluminium foil but found it started to break open and tear after repeated heating over a fire. Plastic zip lock bags with puritabs were another option but again the bags started to get holes in them when placed on the ground. I chose the Sawyer because of its versatility. The filter can be screwed onto a plastic drink bottle either on me or if found on the track. It filters out 99.9 % of pathogens and attaches to a 1 litre foldup pouch which i can allows me to drink contaminated water straight from the pouch.
First aid was not considered as this is a bare bones kit. Clothing can be improvised to make a sling or be cut up to plug any cuts or wounds.
Thats it!, I hope i've given anyone who wants to make one up some ideas on what to put in your kit and why i chose these specific items. If any of our members have any thoughts on how it can be improved please let me know. This kit will always be a work in progress. The only proviso from me is that any item must be able to squeeze into this kit or something has to come out otherwise it defeats the purpose of an EDC rescue kit.
Cheers
RESQ
The priorities for this rescue kit were the ability to make FIRE, filter contaminated WATER, make SHELTER and SIGNAL for rescue. Food is not an issue for me in a rescue situation as anxiety levels will be high and most people can go without food for longer than they think. Which is the reason i dont carry snare wire as I'm not going to spend time hunting game when my priority in the first few days is finding water, building a signal fire and finding shelter. If things got desperate there is some cordage in the kit for me to build a few bird traps as shown in previous threads but this is low on the priority list.
There is a lot more i would like to put in this kit but i reckon i've covered the basics well enough to get me out of trouble.
Items:
Cordage
Opinal Knife
Star flash signal mirror
Jet scream whistle
Swiss army Ferro rod
SOL 2 person emergency blanket
Sawyer water filter and 1 litre pouch
The reason i chose these items.
Cordage: Venetian blind cordage from bunnings. Cheaper than Para cord with an 8okg braking strain which can aid in shelter building or as a last resort make bird snares.
Ferro rod and striker: Swiss army brand rod from BCF. I have larger more robust, ornamental strikers but space in the pouch is at a premium. Swiss army is a good brand and this rod sits comfortably in the hand. I hate using matches and find them unreliable and a finite resource compared to the thousands of strikes from the ferro rod.
Knife: Nothing really much to say about this except i needed a good quality knife, sturdy but small enough for the pouch.
Whistle: I chose the Jet scream for its pea less design and decibel rating to attract attention and communicate with searchers.
Signal mirror: The star flash is a quality and compact signal mirror with an eyepiece for accurate placement of the flash on your target instead of using the V finger technique.
The rod, whistle, knife and signal mirror are attached to cordage which is worn around my neck so i dont lose any items when i put them down on the ground which has happened to me in the past.
Emergency blanket: Theres many types of emergency space blankets on the market. Most are picked up from first aid kits and department stores. If youve ever opened up these cheap foil blankets you'll quickly find out that they dont cover the whole body. At most you can wear it as a shawl that will cover your head and shoulders and not much else. They tear easily with the slightest snag on a branch or twig and they're noisy. If you've ever wrapped one around and over your head its bloody noisy when you move around or turn your head. In an emergency situation you may not hear your rescuers calling out to you. This is why i chose the SOL 2 person emergency blanket. It covers my body completely. Its big enough to make a shelter with diagrams on shelter building on the back of the sheet . You cant tear the bloody thing, you can push your finger into it and all it will do is stretch. I've wrapped small rocks in the corners of mine to use as tie downs when using it to make a lean to shelter.
Water filter: This is the one item i agonised over the most. The hardest thing to replicate in the bush is a container to drink from or boil water in. If i could only choose one item to take with me in the bush it would be a ferro rod. If i could choose two items it would be a metal water bottle or metal dog bowl. Finding water is a priority, carrying it and boiling it to kill pathogens is paramount to survival. I tried carrying aluminium foil but found it started to break open and tear after repeated heating over a fire. Plastic zip lock bags with puritabs were another option but again the bags started to get holes in them when placed on the ground. I chose the Sawyer because of its versatility. The filter can be screwed onto a plastic drink bottle either on me or if found on the track. It filters out 99.9 % of pathogens and attaches to a 1 litre foldup pouch which i can allows me to drink contaminated water straight from the pouch.
First aid was not considered as this is a bare bones kit. Clothing can be improvised to make a sling or be cut up to plug any cuts or wounds.
Thats it!, I hope i've given anyone who wants to make one up some ideas on what to put in your kit and why i chose these specific items. If any of our members have any thoughts on how it can be improved please let me know. This kit will always be a work in progress. The only proviso from me is that any item must be able to squeeze into this kit or something has to come out otherwise it defeats the purpose of an EDC rescue kit.
Cheers
RESQ
