[at-l] Emergency Kit.

[stephensadams at hotmail.com (Steve Adams)]

This post responds to ideas many AT-Lers posted regarding items which I 
included in an emergency kit up to the time of the original post.  Here is 
more detail about the items, their weights, and my reason(s) for carrying 
them.  I?ve included the reasoning I used to not carry items some of you 
recommend.

My emergency kit is minimal.  I had a more extensive kit, much of which I 
now include in my pack, but I learned to dislike its bulkiness.

EMERGENCY  KIT:  The items are stored within a pouch which is suspended by a 
belt.  The weight of my gear is important to me.  The value of having 
emergency items at hand, and fully functioning, is more important to me than 
is their weight (if, of course, their combined weight is ?reasonable? - - 
whatever that is).

BELT & POUCH:  The belt is nylon and looks much as a vehicle seat belt, with 
an aluminum buckle.  The pouch is a thick leather ammunition pouch (5.5" x 
3.75" x 1.75") which should provide some protection for its contents.  Belt, 
4.3 oz.  Pouch, 5.7 oz.

CANDLES:  Three birthday candles protected within an old matchsafe.  The 
Candles, alone, don?t register on my kitchen scale.  Candles and brass 
Matchsafe, combined, weigh 0.7 oz.

MAGNESIUM, FLINT & STEEL:  The steel is a 2.5" length of hacksaw blade.  The 
magnesium has a small flint strip on the side.  They are cylindrical in 
shape (1/4" diameter x 2.5 ? long) and fit in a small yet heavy-duty ziplock 
type bag.  I?m still wrestling with keeping or removing the magnesium gizmo; 
an intensely hot flame igniting wet wood of a cold, rainy and windy night is 
just so appealing.  These items, singly, don?t register on my scale.  The 
Magnesium, Flint, and Steel are carried together with the Knife Sharpener 
and Pencil in a ziplock type bag and weigh 0.4 oz.

MATCHES & EXTRA STRIKER:  British Lifeboat Matches in their waterproof 
container, and the striker of another such container.  The combined weight 
of Matches and extra Striker is 0.5 oz.

I carry Vaseline coated cotton balls with my cook kit, but there?s not much 
room in my emergency kit.

INFORMATION about my Medical Conditions and Insurance, Name, Contact Name & 
Telephone Number:  Information of use to medical practitioners is of little 
value, lost in the woods.  Medical information can become timely and 
valuable once I?m out, however, and I may not be conscious when medics need 
it.  These items, Money (below), and Waterproof Paper are carried in a 
ziplock type bag.  Their combined weight is 0.1 oz.

MONEY (Cash & Credit Card Numbers):  Money isn?t of much use in the woods.  
If, when I leave a restaurant, my pack is gone, additional money becomes 
useful.  The weight of Money is included with the paper above.

NAVIGATION (Compass, Pace Counter, Paper & Pencil):  Most of us have only 
become disoriented; we wander about and regain our way fairly quickly.  Lost 
comes later, after you?ve wandered unsuccessfully, when you would be 
thrilled just to find your way back to where you were when you first 
realized you were LOST.  These items allow you to become ?unlost.?  A 
compass tells you the direction you?re traveling.  A Pace Counter permits 
you to calculate the distance - - a watch lets you calculate time but it 
takes up more room, is heavier, and batteries die.  Paper and Pencil allow 
you to record the changing information.  These four combined let you take 
off on an azimuth and then return to your starting point, to repeat casting 
out, again and again, until you succeed in finding your way.   USAF Survival 
Compass, 0.9 oz.  Homemade Pace Counter fits in a 2" x 2" ziplock type bag 
and weighs 0.1 oz.  The weights of Waterproof Paper and 3" length of Soft 
Lead (#5B) Pencil are reported above.

FLASHLIGHT:  The flashlight is the Photon II.  The battery dies quickly in 
winter.  I have AAA flashlights which perform better, but the emergency kit 
lacks the room.  Flashlight, 0.2 oz.

POCKET KNIFE & KNIFE SHARPENER:  The knife sharpener (3/4" x 3/16" x 1/16") 
is one of two metal pieces from a cheap kitchen knife sharpener.  Puma 
Deerhunter Knife, 4.9 oz.  Weight of the Knife Sharpener, which doesn?t 
register on my scale, is reported, above, within a combined weight.

WHISTLE:  The Acme Thunderer (metal).  Probably heavier, although more 
durable, than plastic.  Summon help from far away, or when you aren?t 
capable of making loud noise.  Whistle, 0.6 oz.

Sometimes I am able to cram everything into the smallest silnylon bag (0.1 
oz) placed within the pouch.  This kit, thus far, weighs one and a quarter 
pounds.

Several people suggested food.  You can survive for days without food.  
You?re not going to be happy, and you will be tired, but you will survive.

I regret not including a space bag, for use as a sleeping bag, and space 
blanket, as a tarp, along with some string.  These are light weight but my 
kit is intentionally small.  I hope to have the presence of mind to put 
those items in my pockets before I leave camp.

Orange Bug advised, 2-29-04, ?The personal body kit typically has no 
redundancy.  ...  He has redundancy built in with the fire, maybe a bit too 
much.?  Redundancy is permitted, in literature, when used for emphasis.  I 
toy with the notion that fire is so important at times that it may tolerate 
slight redundancy.    : )     To make clear, some of the items in my 
emergency kit are redundant, since they are duplicative; those in my pack, 
which are used routinely, and those in my kit, which are strictly reserved 
for emergency use only.

I feel a limited kit is better than no kit at all.

Please, continue offering suggestions.  I appreciate that many of your 
suggestions are the result of hard earned experience.  I welcome them all.

Again, thank you all for your ideas.

Steve

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