Top 5 Pieces of Survival Gear

[Terry]

If you could only take 5 things with you to survive in the wilderness for say a week in the winter what would you take? Myself, I'd definitely want a down sleeping bag, extra thermal socks and gloves, waterproof matches and a Swiss army knife for a bare minimum.

[Grandpa]

It all depends what each person is comfortable with but having spent an unplanned night in a snowstorm at 9000 ft in the Frank Church Wilderness, I can tell you what I had and wished I had. The sleeping bag would have been a nice luxery item but I did have my
1. Poncho
that I folded part to lay on and the rest to form a baker lean to to gather reflective heat from the fire I started with my
2. Big lighter
but even though I had a heavy hunting knife in that situation I would have traded it for a good sharp
3. Axe
because even with a good heavy hunting knife, getting to the inside of a piece of wood to get some dry stuff was a challenge and the heaviest wood I could get was what I could break manually. It takes a lot of firewood to stay warm in that environment and an axe would have reduced my energy output tremendously. (nothing learned here because I still carry a good knife but not an axe) Once I had my fire going I did have an old pop can to heat water in but a
4. metal cup
would have been so much more convenient. Now a week in the winter around here is a lot of cold and a lot of snow which makes food gathering very unproductive but absolutely necessary unless I want to use a rock on my buddy. At this point I could say a rifle to harvest some meat but I think I'll take the easy way out and say a
5. case of mre's
Now your selection of gloves I consider a given if I am in that environment to begin with. A swiss army knife has a lot of uses but my primary need here is the big cutting blade, hence my hunting knife would be more valuable but an axe even more so. With the axe, I could also beef up my leanto so I could wrap up in my ponch and be even more comfortable. Extra socks, like the sleeping bag, would be a valuable luxery, but I can make do drying the pairs I have on.

My only question is why you stranded me in this environment for a week? I would never allow myself to be stuck that long in real life, a day maybe for which I am usually prepared.

[Lamebeaver]

1. A winnebago
2. Heather Locklear
3. Lots of beer
4. Rachel Ray (to do the cooking)
5. An emergency locator beacon (which I may find on the 5th day)

Seriously, It would depend on the location and circumstances. Nearly everyone has matches or some way of starrting a fire on your list, right? Do you have a metal pan or bucket to melt snow? If threre's a water source nearby, do you have a way to filter or purify it. You can survive 5 days without eating, but you will need something to drink. Normally you should stay put (you DID tell someone where you were going, when you'd be back, and who to notify if you weren't, right). So a whistle or signaling decvice might come in handy too.

Keeping warm is priority #1, so the down sleeping bag makes sense...as long as it doesn't get wet. Your most important survival tool is common sense.

warmth
hydration
a way to signal or seek help
food

[Pathfinder1]

I rarely trek very far,
when all around me nothing are.




Hi...


Boy, this one gets hashed around quite frequently, doesn't it...!! Without going into specifics, my BOB contains:

Several means of making fire, plus an esbit-type stove.

A poncho/shelter half, plus several large garbage bags, and more.

Food (MREs or freeze dried...I'm phasing out the MREs), and a means of getting more food (snares, deadfalls, sling shot, fishing gear/spear).

Water, and a means of making it more potable if water which not be drinkable may be needed, and a drinking/cooking cup.

First aid gear, including a trauma pack.

Signalling items, including a cell phone, and more.

My sheath knife and machette are carried on my belt, as is a canteen.

My BOB weighs seven pounds.

I'm presently making up some cooking/heating items from tuna cans, containing 1" wide strips of coiled, corregated cardboard, which will then have melted paraffin poured into them. I'll let you know how they turn out.

[oldsarge]

Originally Posted by Lamebeaver

1. A winnebago
2. Heather Locklear
3. Lots of beer
4. Rachel Ray (to do the cooking)
5. An emergency locator beacon (which I may find on the 5th day)

Again you're spot on with your choice of survival equipment. My only change would be on #2, I'd go with Elizabeth Hurley........and she can search for the locator beacon, which I stored in a choice location

[Pathfinder1]

3. Axe
because even with a good heavy hunting knife, getting to the inside of a piece of wood to get some dry stuff was a challenge and the heaviest wood I could get was what I could break manually. It takes a lot of firewood to stay warm in that environment and an axe would have reduced my energy output tremendously. (nothing learned here because I still carry a good knife but not an axe)


Hi...


While on the subject of an axe...are you famliar with Nussmuk? If not, he was an early (late 1800s-early 1900s) explorer of the Adirondaks...by canoe. He strongly believed in carrying minimal gear with him. Included in his gear was an axe, which he apparently got lots of use out of.

Googleing him will reveal the type of minimal gear he carried, plus some other unusual items he used.

[Michael]

Ax -- An ax is just a gimme. Anything you need to do with a knife you can do with a sharp ax, and axes are much better for buildings shelters and fires. The colder the weather, the more you want one.

Thick sided metal water bottle -- You can boil water in it, and then carry it once it's safe to drink. I'm tempted to say a metal cup, but the container wins. If it's not cheating, a metal canteen with a canteen cup fitted to it would be the best of both worlds.

Full Bic lighter -- There are fancier options and longer lasting options, but there aren't many more convenient options. They're also small and inexpensive. I use these when I feel like starting a fire and not playing around.

Rain-proof shelter -- A big tarp, a poncho, a tent. Whatever. The tarp is probably the most flexible in terms of what you can do with it, since you can build a variety of frames to put it over/ under/ around. If I went with a tarp, I'd want cord tied to the grommets.

A week of food that stays well without refrigeration -- I know you can live for a week without food, but I'd rather not. I get grumpy after about a day without eating anything. I can't imagine how crappy I'd feel after a week of scrounging for berries and bark and hoping that a dead fall trap worked. While I could pretend to be bad-ass and go for peanut butter and say that I'm going to trap a bunch of animals, I'd much rather just sit down, enjoy nature, and eat something out of a package.

That's enough to stay dry, relatively warm, hydrated, and fed. Time could then be spent improving shelter, building wind breaks, and doing similar things.

I guess if I was cheating:

1. A cabin with a fully stocked kitchen
2, 3, 4. Lovely women
5. A well stocked liquor cabinet

[dinosaur]

I agree with all of you but Michael was right about cheating. And if it were truly a survival situation, you'd pretty much be stuck with the things you generally carry anyway.

Aside from the things I always carry which include my Zippo lighter, three knives and my .45ACP, what I could grab quickly would include my horse, my wolf, my mess kit, my lever action rifle, and my bed roll.

If I had the time and a genie as most have envisioned, I'd have everything airlifted in to me.

[Lamebeaver]

An axe would be nice, but it's really not necessary. You can break branches by jumping on them or hittin them against a rock or tree.

[Johnny]

This topic has been rehashed to infinity but redundancy is always a plus in survival gear and talk if you ask me.

1. Container (gathering food and water - boiling)
2. Knife
3. Firestarter
4. Flashlight
5. Something dry to sleep on or in + that will keep you warm.