How to make a basic DIY wilderness survival kit
You could buy the Sedan or the Limo of survival kits - or build your own! The
basics are a good knife, a way to light a fire, a space blanket or two, some
paracord, an old CD, a stainless-steel mug, some large clear plastic bags, and
yes, some duct tape. It’s up to you if you add other items like band-aids and
some hand sanitizer.
In my order of importance:
1. After your brain, a knife is the ultimate and most basic survival tool. It
should be robust and hold a reasonable edge. You can use it to make the tools to
make fire. If it gets dull, you can sharpen it on a small rock.
2. Shelter is high on the list of survival needs. A mylar emergency blanket or even a mylar
tent can save you time and energy. It can keep you dry, cool, or warm. It’s good
but is best used to supplement a more substantial shelter.
3. Paracord or light rope
has many uses, one being in the construction of a fire bow.
4. An inexpensive magnesium style fire starter is essential until you learn
how to make and use more primitive methods, like making and using a fire bow.
5. Water is essential to survival. Large lightweight clear plastic bags or even cheap
painter’s plastic drop sheets can provide you with safe water if you know how.
Store in a sandwich bag.
6. An old-fashioned metal mug has multiple uses, from
catching or carrying water to boiling and cooking over the fire. Even an old
baked bean tin would work.
7. A very cheap survival item is an old CD disk. It
can be used as an almost unbreakable signaling mirror.
8. A nice luxury is a folding silicone cup. Just makes life easier for very little weight.
You probably have some of these items at home right now. Even bought from scratch, a
kit can be put together for each person for about twelve dollars. The kit will
fit in a fanny-pack with room to spare, and depending on the weight of your
knife if it is not heavy.
9. Knife. I prefer a fixed blade over a folder. A folding knife
is okay, but it must be good quality, or it might not stand up to extensive
usage, likely in a survival situation.
The trick is to have what you will needmost. But don’t make a survival kit so
bulky you’ll leave it at home. Back in the days of the pioneers who traveled
across the plains, the route they took was often strewn with items they thought
that they needed but just became heavyburdens to along the way.
Phase 3 High Desert Survival school will teach you how
to subsist using the basics and manufacturing for yourself other things you
need, using the tools you have. Just a thought; a real expert can make do only
with a good knife. That takes training. Whatever level of desert survival
training you would like to achieve for your wilderness adventure, it is
available at Phase 3 High Desert Survival. A parting shot; while most people take a
standard 16 oz bottle of water with them even on a short hike, it will not last
long. When you’ve drained the last drop KEEP the bottle. It has other survival
uses.
Learn more 
How to prepare for your journey into uncertain times.
ReplyDeleteWhile we don’t know what the future holds, we can learn from the past.
We can learn from the great depression. We can learn from pioneers of old and mountain men, Native Americans.
My opinion is that the signs are all there for another Great depression. Unlike the last one, the homeless and the outcast will not be able to flock to the cities to be fed by soup kitchens and sleep under bridges and in doorways. There will be no safety in the cities for those whose circumstances cast them out of their homes and jobs. Think of the squaller on the streets of San Francisco with tent cities and human waste infesting the sidewalks. Not a pretty sight, nor a place to live.
You can find safety in wild places, but only if you have the knowledge and training to survive. To live in safety far from the mass of humanity, you may have to live like a pioneer of old. You will have to learn basic and mostly long-forgotten skills. How will you stay warm – can you light a fire without matches? Can you build a shelter that will keep you protected from the elements? Do you know how to make water safe to drink? Do you know how to forage for food and stay healthy? These are just some of the skills one needs to survive, both short-term and long-term.
While short-term survival is the most likely challenge you will face, the basic skills are the same. Each year many people find themselves in an unplanned survival situation. Perhaps cut off from the world by a blizzard or floods. Maybe you are on a wilderness hike when everything goes wrong, or perhaps you are on an Alaskan fishing trip, and that airplane that was supposed to pick you up fails to arrive. In desert or mountain, survival skills are essentially the same: shelter, fire, water, food, and communication. Short-term survival may not require navigation skills as it is better for you to wait for searchers to find you. Long term, as in the case of a significant financial depression that leads to a get-out-of-Dodge scenario, then map and compass knowledge may be essential.
These days, it is not difficult to get training in the essential techniques and tools of survival. A good survival school such as Phase 3 High Desert Survival is a great choice. The school is located in the desert of Arizona, where one can experience extremes of heat and cold. It’s a great place to learn. It is unique because they can even teach you how to survive a nuclear event over and above traditional wilderness skills taught by others. Not many schools have that ability.
Whatever adventure you decide to embark on, hiking, biking, or just exploring wild places, you need to carry survival basics with you. Phase 3 Survival will teach you.