[3/4 time]

After Christmas my wife said that she had wanted to buy my son and me a survival kit as a gift, but couldn’t find what she wanted. That got me thinking, what was she looking for?

We have a first aid/survival bag that we’ve carried for years. Fortunately, we’ve never needed it for more than cuts, blisters and scrapes. Once we needed our water purification tablets. Many of the things we have, such as duct tape and super glue, we’ve used for repairs. We pretty much have enough in that kit to perform minor surgery and to make most minor repairs. It’s compact, zippered, waterproof, and weights only about two pounds. I restock it every spring. We’ve carried it for the last four years. In winter I carry extra clothing, but don’t find it necessary to add anything to my kit. We have a smaller version for local day hikes.

What kind of first aid/survival bag do others carry?

[Ben Smith]

1 roll of fluorescent orange duct tape - excellent for serious cuts, splints, emergency repairs, and temporarily marking junctions when bushwhaking.
1 tarp - Absolutely necessary if there is even the remotest chance you'll have to spend the night in the woods in the event of an emergency
1 emergency whistle/acorn top - I'm old school and just use an acorn top as an emergency whistle, but you can always buy a plastic one instead
1 clear plastic bag - for covering maps so they don't become unreadable in the rain.
1 small first aid kit - for minor cuts and scrapes (still have never found an occasion to use it)
1 bottle of water treatment tablets - just in case I run out of water and need an emergency supply
1 compass - In case I get disoriented, which has happened on occasion (never rely on a GPS...just like a computer they can crash, and will!)
2 headlamps with spare batteries - I have a paranoia that my headlamp will die when night-hiking, so I always carry a spare and extra batteries; I don't want to be stuck in the woods just because of an equipment failure.

Also bring extra layers such that you can stay warm when not moving at night, extra high-calorie food, and make sure someone knows exactly where you're going and exactly when to hear back from you.

[dudley]

I carry way too much stuff I think, but most everything has come in handy at some time or other.
In my survival bag;
I have three sources of fire, kitchen matches, a lighter, and a flint plus a fire starter stick
Small first aid kit. Water purification tablets(never used)
Extra compass, swiss knife, flashlight, whistle, a couple feet of duct tape, an extra shoe lace, a mylar blanket, some zip-ties.
Always an Ace bandage..(saved my ass one time )

Then there's a tarp sized space blanket and some extra snickers bars.
The space blanket is kinda bulky and I use to carry it only when I was X-C skiing but it got use to staying in the pack