Jack Richland's Personal Survival Kit

Personal Survival kits are designed to give you a better chance of survival in the wild until help arrives or you escape whatever predicament you get into. They aren't designed to keep you alive indefinitely and should be small enough to be kept on your person or in your pack. Most of the items are small and can't take a lot of abuse and should be supplemented with a fixed blade or multi-tool. I have chosen my kit based on years of personal experience and what may work for me may not work for you, so develop yours based on your needs and skill level. I encourage you to build your own and practice with the contents. Many $30 range pre-assembled kits are more of novelty items than actual survival tools. 

I'll go over my list of contents and describe why I chose such items:
Contents

Case:
Pelican Micro case. These are beast and will protect your gear from being crushed or water. I don't like tin's very much because they can be crushed. Comes with carabiner clip

Water:
Standard MRE hot beverage bag. They are super strong and zip lock closed. You can toss them around and the seal wont break
6 Water purification Tablets

Fire:
Spark lite firestarter/Tinder tabs. The spark lite is one hand operated if I become injured and can only use one hand. Tinder tabs are excellent fire starters and have a long burn time
7 Wind and waterproof matches. Matches are easy
Small Ferro Rod. spits awesome sparks, great for natural tinder
Fresnal Magnifying lens. a good Plan B for sunny days
Fire starting
Signaling/Navigation/Illumination:
Photon II LED light. Can be used to signal and illuminate. has a switch for constant on
2 Mini Glowsticks. for tactical low light illumination
Nato dry button compass I prefer the dry button compass because I travel to very cold regions and this will not freeze or leak.
Marine Safety whistle I like orange because it can easily be seen if misplaced. this particular one can be clipped to you or worn on a lanyard.
Signal mirror. To signal or assess facial or head wounds
Signaling
Food gathering/Cooking:
Thompson small snare Brass wire snares do work, but can be broken. Thompson's wont break and have a locking mechanism
Fishing kit I've included 5 small hooks, 2 flies, and 1 jig, 50 ft of 10lbs test fishing line, and assortment of small lead weights
Heavy duty aluminum foil for cooking or attempting to boil water
food gathering
Cutting Implements: 
Commando wire saw w/ handles I know wire saw's have their shortcomings but for size you shouldn't be without one
HardCaseSurvival Folding Razor Saw I have just recently added this to my kit. One of the best and smallest multi-cutting tool on the market. Saw and super sharp razor combined
Scalpel blade for detail work and back up blade

Medical group:
Band aids
Butterfly bandages
Alcohol swabs will ignite from spark from ferro rod, back up tinder

Miscellaneous group:
Sewing kit hotel grade...repairs and needles to remove thorns
Knot tying card to facilitate my memory
2 sheets write in the rain paper
Pencil
4 ft 550 cord I keep this attached to the outside but I use this to string whistle, photon light, etc.. when photon light is strung around neck it gives you hands free illumination
10 ft nylon cord shelter building
Heavy duty sewing thread
2 Heavy duty safety pins
3 ft electrical tape wrapped around spark lite

As I said before, this is a last ditch effort to keep yourself alive. This is the same kit I carried while in the Marines. I've upgraded and changed items numerous times. Your PSK should be an evolving kit. 

I'd like to get feedback on any hit or misses....Thanks

3 comments:

  1. Great kit, seems to be very extensive and well thought out. Just as a reference for everybody, what would you say it cost to build your current kit, case included? And you're definitely right, PSK's are a constantly evolving thing.

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  2. Thanks...this kit cost around $102, but you could save $40 if you wanted to include a wet button compass and that would be around $65.

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  3. Awesome kit, I was looking into the otterbox/pelican case as well. You just can't beat the crush proof and waterproof capabilities over the standard altoids tin! I like that you included flies, I'm a fly fisherman and in my opinion nothing beats a fly to catch fish. A well assortment of items that cover food,water,signaling,navigation, and medical assistance. Well done.

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