Does you survival gear work??

[Northcountryman]

This is a great thread , very informative , yeah that’s what I figured with the cotton balls and  vaseline, do you know how effective it is? I think I would bring a bunch in a ziplock bag as a backup but maybe also bring one of those little fuel canisters as my primary fire starter 

[rachunter]

This is some things I keep in a pack, in my truck. When hunting in cold weather, or big woods, the amount of crap and the size of the pack goes up.
Paracord, lifestraw, lighters & candles, winter hat, space blanket, books, snacks and first aid stuff, are a must have for me.
The lighters are all full, and I swap the granola bars out every year. I hope the lifestraw works, but am not going to test it.

The life straw works great. I use one all the time. There’s no way I could carry enough water. I’ve drinking out of puddles with it never a problem. From what I read there no shelf life on them. My sawyer is a little better.


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[rachunter]

This is a great thread , very informative , yeah that’s what I figured with the cotton balls and  vaseline, do you know how effective it is? I think I would bring a bunch in a ziplock bag as a backup but maybe also bring one of those little fuel canisters as my primary fire starter 

They burn hot. You’d be surprised how many you can jam into a 35mm film canister. I vacuum sealed about 40 into a small bag.


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[Hunter007]

Here is another idea if you just don't want to go out and buy special stuff for making fire .

Everyone has cooking oil and paper in there house right ?

You can get a zip lock bag  and soak  a few sheets of papper in the cooking oil  when hit with a flame it will burn nice and easy for you long enough to get a bigger fire going  .

I do this to light the wood or  charcoal in my bbq sometimes when I run out of lighter fluid .

Works like a charm and could be adapted to a survival kit with a ziplock bag . And you don't have to worry if it breaks open cooking oil is not toxic last time  I checked .

[goosifer]

10 hours ago, Northcountryman said:

This is a great thread , very informative , yeah that’s what I figured with the cotton balls and  vaseline, do you know how effective it is? I think I would bring a bunch in a ziplock bag as a backup but maybe also bring one of those little fuel canisters as my primary fire starter 

Vaseline covered cotton balls are very effective fire starters, both in terms of quickly igniting and, more importantly, burning for several minutes to give your kindling a chance to catch on fire. My concern with liquid fuel is that while it may ignite quickly, it will not have a long burn time. A potential flash in the pan, so to speak.

[DirtTime]

I have a week long deer hunting trip in a remote part of the ADK's coming up the end of October. I am not hunting areas with marked trails or "woods roads", so I need to make sure I am prepared for this trip. Below is a pic of what will be in my pack. There will be a tarp as well, but I didn't take a pic of that because I want to try and buy a US Military Poncho to reduce weight if money allows. I also just realized I did not take pic of the flashlights.

 

 

The little black plastic container in my first aid kit, it had the usual items and also two space blankets, some fishing line and split shots, I do have to re-wrap it with Gorilla tape as an added item for a splint or a to seal up a nasty cut.

A compass..Duh!

A few slabs of fatwood for tinder, this stuff burns hot and for a long time!

Plain ole' cotton balls.

A couple tea candles.

Para cord.

A couple carabiners.

Some tent steaks ( oh look, they are still dirty, that's what happens when you actually use gear! ).

My knives and ferro rods.

A small folding saw.

My mess kit.

Water bottles.

Some small rations of food.

 

 

This may seem like a lot of useless gear, but it all fits in my day pack and weighs just about 15#'s. Not much weight really. I don't take chances in unfamiliar territory, and I don't just go 5 feet from the road and snap a pic, so I am making sure if something goes bad, I will be good for a day or two until people find me.

 

 

 

Here's another tip, if you get seriously lost in the woods, don't move! Stay put and set up a camp, learn how to make a debris shelter! Bright tarps and ponchos will also help people find you easier.

 

Another tip, as has been mentioned a couple times in this thread, go out and practice using your gear! Set things up in your yard and dial things in! If it doesn't work in your yard, it isn't going to work when you need it the most!

 

 

 

 

Edited July 11, 2019 by DirtTime

[rachunter]

Got my survival book. Looks good so far.
There’s a story in the intro about a hunter getting lost. When they found him he had a camp set up and was waiting for a rescue team. So letting someone know your route(where about) and like “DirtTime” said stay put.



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[Hunter007]

10 hours ago, goosifer said:

Vaseline covered cotton balls are very effective fire starters, both in terms of quickly igniting and, more importantly, burning for several minutes to give your kindling a chance to catch on fire. My concern with liquid fuel is that while it may ignite quickly, it will not have a long burn time. A potential flash in the pan, so to speak.

I actually have experimented with this  to   light my  bbq  when I had no  bbq fuel  and no really dry wood around adding cooking oil gives you the slow burn to be able to heat up sticks charcoal wood what ever is in there even when it is damp wood.  I believe this mixture or version of it has been used against tanks by  insurgents in the past  .  Actually just the cooking oil soaked in paper and small sticks will work .   Dump or soak a bunch of small sticks and paper in just cooking oil and it will burn long enough to get it going at least that has been  my experience with the stuff on bbqs with wood and charcoal.  Best part cooking oil is not toxic can be stored in just a zip lock any plastic container unlike other fuels that you have to watch out for . I started  my bbq on the 4th this way it works .

Just another option to think about if you got nothing else around to work with .

 

Edited July 11, 2019 by Hawk914

[left field]

Dryer lint will work if you don't have a supply of cotton balls around.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Waterproof-Dryer-Lint-Fire-Starter/

[turkeyfeathers]

Will my 40 year collection of belly button lint work ? Disclaimer is I ask random strangers for there’s 

[Fletch]

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[Culvercreek hunt club]

One thing I will be adding to my pack this fall is a Tick Key. I picked up an additional one so I have one to carry and one in the pack 

[b3h]

Anyone use the SPOT device?


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[DirtTime]

3 hours ago, turkeyfeathers said:

Will my 40 year collection of belly button lint work ? Disclaimer is I ask random strangers for there’s 

Yep that works. Just make sure you are not lost for an extended period of time. You keep playing with that belly and hungry people may take notice and you might be next on the menu. Nothing says food like someone with a big belly and bunny suit LOL!

2 hours ago, old man river said:

A good way to keep your feet dry in emergency conditions is to simply double up a Walmart plastic bag over your socks before putting on your footwear that may be drenched already.

This can work, and I have done it but only for a very short term situation, walking back to my car situation. It's not a good idea in a long term situation. You can develop 'foot rot', which is about as much fun as as having a mule kick you in the face

[DirtTime]

14 hours ago, rachunter said:

Got my survival book. Looks good so far.
There’s a story in the intro about a hunter getting lost. When they found him he had a camp set up and was waiting for a rescue team. So letting someone know your route(where about) and like “DirtTime” said stay put.



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Panic is deadly! You have to remain calm and evaluate your situation.

 

On a side note, if you get lost in an area with no cell service, your phone will die looking for a signal pretty fast. My thoughts on using only new age gizmos in a bad situation, once the batteries die, you just have a tool that doesn't work anymore.

[Jdubs]

Great thread!  How did I miss this? 

I'm an avid hiker and take the warning, "Be prepared to spend a night in the woods" seriously.  You can plan so much, but it's that 1% that might get you!  Could be a medical event, a bad step that leads to fall and serious injury or simply a bad navigation decision.  Now what?

Keep your head and think through your options.  Is self-rescue or hunkering down the best choice?  Make a game plan and set goals.  The tools you have on-hand and/or skill set that allows you to craft them will weigh heavily into your chances of success.

Here's what I always take in my pack, whether it's a day hike or overnight:

Shelter: Top priority right here.  I carry a basic space blanket, duct tape, safety pins, paracord and SOL bivy.  Total weight is less than a pound.  My goal would be to build a simple lean-to fortified with evergreen branches and leaves to keep me dry and off the ground. 

Water: I have 3 to 5 options on every hike.  Primarily, I use my own hack of a Sawyer mini filter and a Platypus 2L Big Zip bag.  Simply scoop the bag into a stream and let gravity do the work.  This fills my 1L nalgene and 1L Platypus soft bottles at a rate of 2 minutes/L.  My backup method is carrying a bottle of iodine tablets.  These weigh nothing and there's no reason not to have them.  Next, there is the morning dew or rain water that can be collected, as needed.  Lastly, I'll drink directly from the source and risk the beaver fever if desperate enough.  It can stave off dehydration before the ill effects kick in days later.  In the winter, I always bring a JetBoil so it's easy enough to boil snow or water.  Only once have I needed to go to option #2 (iodine tablets) because a piece of downfall had unknowingly ripped open my outter pack mesh pouch and the filter fell out.

Fire: Three methods at all times.  1. Bic lighter.  2. Storm proof matches in a waterproof container.  3. Ferro rod and steel.  In addition, I always bring a candle, Wet Fire tablets and a baggie of dryer lint and vaseline.  Birch bark is an excellent tinder that can be found almost anywhere in the ADK's.  The candle and Wet Fire are most useful with wet wood; you need to get a constant flame on your tinder and larger pieces to dry them out enough to get the fire going.  I never thought of bringing a flammable liquid, but tiki torch oil works very well because of it's slower burn rate.

Food:  I always pack extra so this is never a concern.  Clif bars and jerky are my favorites along with peanut M&M's.  You can live 3 weeks without any food so I'm sure that I could forage enough berries, worms and grubs to survive in a true worst-case scenario.

First aid:  I pack very little, actually.  Basic band-aids and gauzes, some duct tape wrapped around a mini Sharpie, hydrocolloid bandages and silicone toe sleeves for blisters, butterfly bandages, Neosporin, some single-use alcohol wipes, Aleve and chewable benadryl.  My worst "injuries" have been blisters, bug bites and some stings from one a**hole ground wasp.

Misc: Headlamp with extra lithium batteries (since I typically hike at night), a Surefire E2D LED with extra batteries, spare headlamp, bandana, map & compass, spare boot laces, bug spray, sun screen, baby wipes, spare Smartwool socks, my Arc'teryx shell, seasonal layers and a multi-tool. 

This might sound like a lot of stuff, especially for day hikes, but it's really not.  My typical hike pack is an 18L Osprey Talon that weighs 10-15 lbs with everything.  I'll lay it all out and take a pic another time.  

[goosifer]

2 hours ago, b3h said:

Anyone use the SPOT device?


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I bought a Garmin Inreach Explorer+, which has satellite gps tracking (others can see where you are using a webpage) and satellite text messaging capability, but I haven't used it yet. If/when I go out alone on an overnighter hike on public land, it will be with me.

[Buckmaster7600]

Good thread! Some really good info here!

 

Some of you guys carry a ton of stuff makes me wonder how far in you’re really going if you’re going to be toting all that stuff?

 

My survival equipment is very small and light. From years of doing it something’s have been added and and taken out over the years but has stayed constant for about 5 years now. Everything I carry fits in a very small wool fanny pack.

 

8x9’ piece of tyvec ironed and vacuum sealed in a package the size of a sandwich bag and thinner than a box of matches.

 

Small Corona folding saw “this is more for processing deer for the pack out but is dual purpose in a survival situation”

 

Life straw

 

550 cord 10ft with inner strands 30ish’ with inner strands removed.

 

Lighter x2

 

Tinder, can’t remember the name of the company but they come in a pack the size of a hard candy wrapper and have a fiber material that lights easy and stays burning for a bit. I have 2 of them in my pack

 

2 large construction trash bags folded and vacuum sealed “smaller and a sandwich baggie and thinner than a book of matches”

 

1 small single aaa led flashlight.

 

2 1ft sq pieces of aluminum foil for boiling water/cooking.

 

I’m sure I’m forgetting stuff but that’s about it. I feel 100% confident that I could survive way longer than I would want to with what I carry into the woods when I hunt the ADK’s.

 

I haven’t been on in a while but how is there 130 posts on survival and stormy hasn’t passed on all of his wisdom?

 

 

 

 

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[Buckmaster7600]

Dbl post

[left field]

4 hours ago, old man river said:

A good way to keep your feet dry in emergency conditions is to simply double up a Walmart plastic bag over your socks before putting on your footwear that may be drenched already.

I grew up poor and my only pair of winter boots had plastic bags as liners so the snow and slush wouldn't seep through the multiple holes in the soles. Plastic bags were a lot thicker then so you could get a full season out of two.

Haven't thought about those in years.

[Jeremy K]

23 minutes ago, left field said:

I grew up poor and my only pair of winter boots had plastic bags as liners so the snow and slush wouldn't seep through the multiple holes in the soles. Plastic bags were a lot thicker then so you could get a full season out of two.

Haven't thought about those in years.

We used bread bags .

[left field]

You could afford bread? Lucky!

When I was a kid, white bread was 25 cents a loaf or five for a dollar. It was a big day when my mother showed up with five loaves.

Anyway, back to the program. 

Most people who get lost and perish do so from exposure and that's usually because they're not dressed for the weather. Cotton kills, wet cotton kills quicker.

 

[kpkot]

21 minutes ago, left field said:

You could afford bread? Lucky!

When I was a kid, white bread was 25 cents a loaf or five for a dollar. It was a big day when my mother showed up with five loaves.

Anyway, back to the program. 

Most people who get lost and perish do so from exposure and that's usually because they're not dressed for the weather. Cotton kills, wet cotton kills quicker.

 

whoa now that came from left field

[rachunter]

8 hours ago, goosifer said:

I bought a Garmin Inreach Explorer+, which has satellite gps tracking (others can see where you are using a webpage) and satellite text messaging capability, but I haven't used it yet. If/when I go out alone on an overnighter hike on public land, it will be with me.

Did you have to pay for a yearly subscription? The spot is $200 a year.I'm thinking of getting it when I retire right now I can't justify that for the few days.

[goosifer]

1 hour ago, rachunter said:

Did you have to pay for a yearly subscription? The spot is $200 a year.I'm thinking of getting it when I retire right now I can't justify that for the few days.

No. Can do 30 days at a time, or annually. See https://explore.garmin.com/en-CA/inreach/ towards the bottom of the page. Looks like as low as$20 for 30 days of basic coverage.

From the website:

• Monthly Freedom plans are ideal for your next adventure or seasonal use, requiring only a 30-day commitment with the ability to suspend service when you don’t need it.
• Annual contract plans a
• re great for year-round use, with lower monthly cost and peace of mind that your inReach device is always ready to use.