Altoids Tin: Water Challenge

In our last article we talked about the boiling/cooking capabilities of an Altoids Tin in a survival situation. We pretty much debunked the idea of using it for either. We then examined how well the Altoids Tin will protect your kit from water.

Why does my Personal Survival kit need to be waterproof? People find themselves in a survival situation by unforeseen events. Usually those events being bad...We do not decide or predict when and if this happens; but your Personal Survival kit is there waiting to aid you. Your gear isn't going to help you if its been destroyed.

Obviously a tin alone is not waterproof. In many discussions I've had people say they waterproof their Tin based survival kit with some sort of tape (most of the time being electrical tape). So we tested this by wrapping electrical tape around the Altoids Tin and submerging it.
I placed some paper inside the tin and let it soak for about 10 mins.

So after taking the tin out of water and removing the tape; the tin was completely filled with water. Just as if I had not added any tape at all. I'm sure the tape slowed it down but did not make the kit waterproof.
This tin rusted within a day of the test
As you can see in the picture above, Altoids Tin's are also very susceptible to rust. While this is not a deal breaker it definitely isn't cool...

So you may or may not care if your kit is waterproof. Although, I would suggest against that thought process. But if you must use a tin, at least waterproof everything in your kit that could be damaged by water. Again I'm not bashing Altoids Tin's.  But hopefully provide you guys with the best information in building your own PSK's.

5 comments:

  1. Good article. I just found your site and am enjoying reading your posts. Very informative and useful!

    Looking forward to some more great posts.

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    1. Likewise and Thanks! We are glad they are helpful! Let us know if there are any topics you would like us to touch on in the future. Thanks Again

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  2. Have you thought of maybe adding a bead of silicon caulking around the outside? If you don't need to open the kit often this might work.

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    1. That could be a solution for the folks that are dead set on using an Altoids tin, although I do question the durability of silicon in some environments. Like you said its a downer after you open the kit, it most likely wont reseal. It would however do better than the electrical tape most folks use. We've been doing these articles really to highlight the shortcomings of the Altoids tin as a PSK container. I just feel there are many other viable containers out there. But I do realize a lot of people love them and will continue to use them; so thanks for the tip.

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  3. Great article and great web site, as good as your YouTube Channel!

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