How to Make a Survival Kit to Save Your Life
More Articles Related to Survival KitsAnyone can purchase a pre-made survival kit off the shelf. The problem with this approach is that the survival kit you select may not be ideal for your particular needs or may even have inferior survival gear. The best survival kits are those made by the people who rely upon them.
Importance of Survival Kits
For those of us who travel in the wilderness on a regular basis, the idea of equipping oneself with a survival kit seems trivial. Survivalists are sure to have a survival kit on hand at all times and are prepared to use it. This is because the experienced survivor knows the unexpected can happen without a moments notice.
Help or rescue may not always be immediately available so you need to be able to take care of yourself come what may. Making your own survival kit from a judicious selection of gear is the first step towards getting out alive.
Below is a discussion on how to make your own survival kit. Of necessity it is a bit wordy, as I believe it is important to know something about why certain items should be included in a survival kit, rather than just blindly following instructions for creating a kit without understanding why pieces of gear are included.
Why Make Your Own Personal Survival Kit?
Consider making your own survival kit before acquiring a pre-made kit off the shelf. Store bought survival kits are not necessarily made for the environment in which you may find yourself. Often survival kits are created from inferior materials or are lacking certain critical components. In a survival situation you do not want to find that the pre-made survival kit you have been packing has let you down. Poor quality gear can threaten your very survival in the wilderness.
Making a survival kit of your own has the added advantage of learning why each component of the kit is necessary. When you make a personal survival kit you are more likely to know how to use the individual components of the survival gear collection.
Everyone Makes a Different Survival Kit
Nothing can replace real life experience, and the creation of survival kits for the individual is no exception. The custom made survival kits of expert survivalists are assembled according to personal preferences, experience, environments and likely survival scenarios in which we are likely to find ourselves.
Your personally constructed survival kit will likely be at least a little different from the survival kits made by anyone else. Obviously a winter survival kit designed for cold environments is going to include items that may not be necessary for a tropical survival kit. Desert survival kits will have some different items than a freshwater boating survival kit. People with special needs such as medications must include emergency medical supplies when making a survival kit particular to their needs.
Special circumstances and environments aside, the key elements for equipping a basic survival kit are generally pretty much the same wherever you go. The survival kit you make should allow you to survive alone and without outside help for at least 72 hours, the length of time during which 99% of survival situations are resolved.
Components of a Custom Made Survival Kit
A custom made survival kit can be created utilizing the following as a base. Add items you feel from necessity and experience you would need for the survival scenarios you are likely to find yourself in.
Building a Fire is Important to Survival
The ability to build a fire and maintain it is so important to the survivor that a home made survival kit should have multiple means to kindle a blaze. Simply furnishing some matches is not enough.
Matches need to be kept waterproof and you may very well run out of them. For these reasons a survival kit should also have alternative methods of making a fire. I recommend carrying a lightweight firesteel, which have the added advantage of being inherently waterproof. The magnesium burns at a very hot temperature which helps start a fire even when your wood is damp.
When the wood you want to burn is damp or wet, a cotton ball soaked in petroleum jelly is very easy to ignite and will usually burn hot enough to get a blaze going.
- 20 strike anywhere waterproof matches in a waterproof match case
- Magnesium fire starter
- Firestarting aid such as the homemade firestarters
Light Your Way to Safety
I always carry a head lamp in case I am forced to hike out during the night. On a number of occasions I’ve misjudged the time it takes to get from point A to point B and without a light of some kind would have had to hunker down for the night for lack of light to see by.
In any case, your personal survival kit should include at least a reliable small flashlight. In the darkness it can be very difficult to do anything without being able to see.
In addition to a flashlight, you should have an eight-hour candle in your survival kit. A survival kit candle can be used for more than just light – use it to warm your shelter or dry enough kindling to start a fire even when your wood is wet.
Shelter Yourself from the Elements
Another item I always carry is a 5-ft x 7ft heavy duty space blanket. The space blanket can be set up as a tarp for shelter, used to make a debris hut, snow trench shelter roof, or you can just roll yourself up in it. A survival kit space blanket has a wide variety of uses besides just shelter. For example you can use a space blanket as a blanket, to gather rain water, for signaling (one side is reflective), or as a quick place to duck under during an unexpected heavy rain shower.
Basic First Aid Kit
I feel there is no need to carry a large and cumbersome first aid kit into the field. Anything worse than minor cuts or abrasions will require expert medical care in civilization, so the best you can hope to do in a wilderness situation is stabilize and seek rescue. With the items you carry you should be able to rig up splints for broken bones, bandages for large cuts and abrasions, and tweezers for the removal of splinters.
A good survival first aid kit can be made from several band-aids of various sizes, sterile gauze, scalpel, tweezers, and an anti-biotic ointment. Of course enough personal medications to last at least several days must be included.
Cordage and Wire Can Help You Survive
Always include a 50-foot hank of military spec 550 parachute cord when you make your survival kit. 550 parachute cord is extremely useful for a wide variety of survival needs including the setting up of shelter, the repair of equipment, or even new bootlaces. Be sure to acquire the real stuff – seven strands surrounded by a tough outer sheath. For more information on the uses of paracord, see the Survival Topic on 550 Paracord.
Another very handy item to include in a survival kit is about 10-feet of wire. Wire can be used for a variety of purposes including repairing equipment, making tools and weapons, and snaring small game.
A Way to Make Water Safe to Drink
Water is often the most critical resource necessary for survival in the wilderness. You can go without food for days or weeks, but go without water for just one day and you chances of survival diminish.
During a survival situation that lasts several days it would be difficult or impossible to carry enough drinking water. This means that you must rely upon local sources of water to replenish your stocks. But you must always consider water to be contaminated with disease organisms.
Many survival kits include water filters or water purification tablets. Experience has shown that all too often these methods of making water safe to drink fail. Water filters are not as reliable as some would have you believe. In fact, many tests have shown that there are actually only a few brands of water filters that successfully trap many of the disease causing organisms that may be in water of even the cleanest appearance. In addition, if your water filter is dirty, worn out, or used incorrectly it may not work satisfactorily.
Chemical water purification often fails also, due to chemicals becoming out of date or improper usage.
I highly recommend boiling water as the best and most fool proof means of making it safe to drink. This means you will need some kind of pot included in your survival kit in order to boil water over a fire. This can be even made from an old metal coffee can. The pot can double as the container for the survival kit you are making, and can be used to cook food as well.
Personally I carry the 1-pint Kelly Kettle. This device will boil water quickly and efficiently using a minimum of just about any kind fuel. In addition, I can use it to cook up a quick meal by putting a metal pot or cup on top where the flame exits. Nearly all the items of my custom made survival kit fit neatly inside the kettle for storage.
There is an excellent Survival Topics article titled "How Long Do You Need to Boil Water?" which will give you all the information you need to know.
Survival Food
It is a good idea to have some backup survival food and ability to make hot drinks when you make your survival kit. Granola bars, dried fruit, nuts, bullion cubes and packets of honey can offer welcome relief to the tired, cold, and hungry survivor.
In most survival situations food will not be the critical factor in getting out alive. You can last many days, even weeks, without eating any food at all.
Navigation is the Key to Self Extraction
Anyone who ventures into the wilderness should have a map of the area, a compass, and know how to use them. If you have a GPS or Global Positioning device, great – but do not rely solely upon it. Your batteries may die or the GPS satellite array may be suddenly turned off by the government without notice.
GPS systems can fail for a variety of reasons so always bring a map and compass too.
Signaling Rescue
Don’t be so sure you can rely upon a cell phone to signal for help. In may rural, wilderness, or mountainous areas cell phone reception is spotty or non-existant. Just ask James Kim – oh, that’s right, you can’t.
Every home made survival kit should have multiple means of signaling. A simple survival whistle is lightweight and takes up little space; however it can be heard for long distances. You can only shout for so long before you lose your voice, but you can toot a whistle all day if need be.
Other means of signaling include the light and smoke from a fire or an improvised signal mirror using reflective surface of some object such as a pot or your survival space blanket.
Survival Blades and Tools
When you make your own survival kit be sure to include a multi-tool such as a leatherman Wave. A multi-tools small knife blades, pliers, awls, and other tools will come in handy whether you are in a survival situation or not.
I recommend you also carry a fixed blade survival knife for larger chores and even personal protection. A fix blade knife can be used for skinning game, making a spear, shelter creation, and a host of other uses. Survival Topics has an article on How to Choose a Survival Knife that is cutting edge indeed.
Multi-purpose Items for Survival
There are a variety of small items that certainly will come in handy for making any survival kit. One of my favorites is a 50-gallon plastic drum liner. These large garbage bags can be used for a variety of purposes including the making of an emergency sleeping bag, as a door for a debris hut, the making of a solar still, collecting water, or rigged as a raincoat.
In addition, make sure to put several safety pins, a needle, aluminum foil, and a bandana in the survival kit you make for yourself. These items can be used for a myriad of odd jobs including the repair of clothing and equipment, cooking food, or pre-filtering water of mud and sand before boiling.
The Makings of a Survival Kit
And there you have it, the basics for how to make a survival kit. With experience you will no doubt add various items to the survival kit outlined above, or drop items according to the situation and environments you find yourself in.
It is important that you carry the survival kit you have made wherever you go. And knowing how to make a survival kit may very well save your life!
UK
I think the comment: "Just ask James Kim. oh, that's right, you can't" is bang out of order, ridiculing a dead man to make a point. He made a mistake in an attempt to save lives, lets not ridicule him when he can't answer back. This point can be made without disrespecting him and his family.
Survival Topics - Dave, we can learn a great deal from those who made mistakes and paid with their lives. I would like to think James Kim himself would approve using his example so that others do not make the same mistakes and endanger their lives and those of their families.
Survival Topics does not strive to be "politically correct" nor do we distrespect or ridicule anyone by telling the truth. We feel it is most important to help living people survive another day in this wild world and real life examples are the greatest teachers.
Vermont
WF Texas
I am a life scout in the BSA looking around to sharpen my survival smarts and this survival web site just great. All of the info is reliable and its almost exactly what i was taught.
San Diego
Great reading here, just remember to layer you kit so you are redundant with the basics including fire, signaling, compass, etc. Mr. Murphy will make an appearance when you least want him to.
COEUR D'ALENE, ID
Read about your survival knife choices. My research carried me through $400.00 knives and I kept returning to the airforce survival knife in the forty dollar range. I use the rubber handle type and add 10 feet of 550 ParaCord. It does it all and not too expensive.
tristram
Add a swiss army knife because it has many uses, a fire steel and something to cook in.
Wyoming
Arctic Canada
- What I like about this article is a- make it yourself and use it and
- use real tools not the toyish stuff from a kit.
The Kettly Kettle is a good thing to think about for me. A pot for water and hydration. This would work well in my area for 3 seasons. Dead winter on the tundra is still a stretch.
Same challenges though of shelter and warm. Practise using the gear is a good idea. Travel out prepared but see if you can do a couple nights with the basics. Three ways to make fire and signal. Tool logic's survival knife with the fire starter and whistle has worked very well for me and I wear it around my neck with a small flashlight and compass tucked in a shirt pocket.
India
Don't forget medicines in your survival kit including Analgesics, anti-diarrhoea, anti-histamines, anti-biotic, anti-fungal etc.. They're near impossible to improvise on the field. Occupy very little space and even a small amount goes a long way!
Survival Topics: Good point, though you can easily make aspirin in the field if your area has trees related to willows.
Michigan
Add a small lighter along with the waterproof matches. In my opinion they are more reliable than matches and definetly much easier to use in bad weather. I would highly recomend a BIC. I've been using them for years and never had one break before all the butane was used up.
Survival Topics - I agree. Also a FireSteel is an important addition.
Big Sandy Mush
One thing that maybe a great tool is a compass with a back site mirror. It kills two birds with one stone. It can be used as a reflector but also the obvious.
Big Sandy Mush, NC
A small journal with a pencil or pen can be good additions in a survival kit. They can give you a mental lift. You can write down how you feel in the journal but also the paper can be used for multiple purposes such as tinder for lighting fires. The mental part of survival is very important.
IL
I am a boyscout and this website really helped me with the wilderness survival merit badge
Bolivia
Thank you for all of these valuable information that can be used as a basis for a survival kit for any environment. I recently saw the 2012 documentary on the History Channel and got me thinking what to do if suddenly all of the tech gadgets we depend on seized to work and the climate changed. It's most likely nothing will happen, but it's always good to be prepared. :)
You are welcome to share this Survival Topic with others. I only request that you use a short blurb (not the entire survival content) and this code to
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Northern California
I love survival kits filled with small, useful items such as button compasses and have made several. One discovery i have made is that you can have an almost complete kit made entirely from flat items!: fresnel lens, oven bags, tinfoil, dental floss, wire, exacto blades, etc. Actually, my preferred kit container is a metal cup.