Pre-Made Or Homemade Survival Kits?

!±8± Pre-Made Or Homemade Survival Kits?

The Survival Kit's in a Bottle usually run from .95 to .00 according to where you purchase them. These kits use the LEXAN® see through bottle as its basic component. The company advertises it as the ideal item for outdoor type people and comes complete with 12 items of survival equipment.

The point here that I would like to make is that you can easily create your own kit possibly with supplies that you may already have on hand. To start off you can purchase the 32 oz or 1L plastic bottle from your local dollar store. This bottle can be used for holding all your survival gear such as matches, etc and ultimately would be for placing water into. You would need to use water purification tables in order to make the water drinkable.

Also available at the dollar store are very small flashlights. You would want to keep one of these in your kit also. I do not recommend that you install the batteries in the flashlight but rather keep a pack in the bottle. In addition, beware of purchasing batteries from the dollar store. They simply do not hold up well. You would be better off purchasing some quality batteries or even better rechargeable.

A solar Emergency Blanket will fit nicely in the bottle. This blanket will help you maintain your body temperatures in the cool evenings should they be required. They can be used to protect you from the elements such as cold and sun. Since they are reflective they can easily be used as a signaling device to contact passing aircraft.

An emergency poncho takes up little room and you can purchase a package of three at the dollar store. These ponchos take little space from your bottle and tend to protect you from rain and snow while serving as a ground cloth, windbreak shelter and a solar still.

A signal mirror is a good item to include in your kit as it can be used to provide a signal to rescue teams should the need arise. To your signal mirror you would be wise to add a loud whistle so you can use an audio to alter your potential rescuers. It not only saves on your voice but also can be much louder and hear at a further distance.

A compass that you attach to the cap of your bottle can be a great asset when you need to determine where your relative location is.

A small quantity of nylon string can be useful for many purposes such as shelter lashing, or pack repair. Waterproof Matches can be placed inside a small piece of aluminum foil.

One of the most useful items you can have in your kit is a fire starter flint. The original kit has this item built into the side of whistle however with the strong glues out today you should have no problems placing it anywhere that you have the extra room. This item is great for starting fire even if it has been wet.

Of course you would want to attach a 3 inch carabineer to your water bottle to enable you to easily attach it to your belt, etc.

Don't forget to include a small waterproof zip loc bag or two. They fold easily and take up little space but can serve as a water carrier if need be.

To make your kit more useful you may wish to include water tablets, some Tylenol, a small bottle of bug spray, some sun screen and a small container of hand sanitizer. You could include several dried out baby wipes for use as a field toilet paper item.

I would like to add a precaution at this point that when tighten your bottle do not get over zealous and make it to tight as you will take a chance on stripping the threads.