Survival kit: Buy or Build?

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asicer

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asicer
I happened upon the February issue of Aviation Consumer sitting on the FBO coffee table the other day and read their article on survival kits. That got me to thinking that the emergency gear in my flight bag (Leatherman, handheld transceiver, old CD as a signaling mirror, matchbook from some restaurant, toy whistle my kid didn't want) could use some upgrading. The article recommended the Doug Ritter Pocket Survival Pak for $30-ish. Looking at the parts list I see some good stuff that I never would have thought to pack. However, I got to thinking that maybe I could assemble my own kit. I don't do serious backcountry flying or cross large bodies of water. It's actually quite the opposite as I typically go out of my way to route my long XC's near roads, airports, etc., so perhaps I could customize the kit to what I think my likely survival needs might be.

What do you guys think? Build my own kit? Or just buy one?
 
Survival kit contents check. In them you'll find: one .45 caliber automatic; two boxes of ammunition; four days concentrated emergency rations; one drug issue containing: antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills, pep pills, sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills; one miniature combination Russian phrase book and bible; one hundred dollars in rubles; one hundred dollars in gold; nine packs of chewing gum; one issue of prophylactics; three lipsticks; three pair a nylon stockings.
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Someone was going to post it...
 
Build your own and outfit specifically for your plane,and area you fly in.
 
Build your own mostly from stuff around the house like you've already done. Look at what's offered commercially for ideas on what needs added and think about your circumstances.

I fly over the mountains and remote areas so I carry a PLB to supplement a 406ELT w/gps. After that it's camping gear to make it as comfortable as possible for the 12 to 24 hours it takes to find & haul me/my carcass out. I did buy some stuff like flares and wool blankets 'cause I don't keep that stuff around the house. I don't carry a tin pot to make tea like some folks around here do...
 
I'll make this easy for you.
1.Adequate clothing to survive a night outdoors in current ambient conditions.
2.A PLB (probably most important item)
3.Ability to control any serious bleeding. This need not be elaborate just functional.

Poof ! Your done, standby for the sound of choppers or approaching SAR teams.
 
I teach the 7 C's of making a survival kit:

Combustion-a bic lighter in an empty Mentos gum case
Cutting-a sturdy knife, a razor blade and maybe a multitool
Cordage-550 cord
Cover-a space blanket
Communication-a signal mirror and a whistle and now a PLB
Container-a metal cup for collecting and boiling water
Confidence-get some good training on how to use your stuff and stay physically fit

For a first aid kit I carry a pack of quick clot for bleeding, a roll of tape and a couple 4x4 pads and several bandaids to cover scratches and prevent infection.
 
Build it yourself, get all the items you know you'd want if you were stuck and hurt. Don't skimp on quality.
 
I suspect that if you buy a survival kit, especially one of the fancier ones, you'll end up on a variety of interesting mass-mailing lists.
 
I have a lightweight set of survival items. Many items are the same that I'd use for sheep hunting in the mountains. when it goes up the mountains on your back weight is critical. Can I survive with that gear? Yes, assuming I'm healthy. After an airplane crash that's impossible to assume. Guys talk about survival like it's a camping trip. Chances are that it won't be comfy or fun. O n the other hand in my life the chances of being forced down short of my destination but completely safe is more likely than a crash survival. Now I've elected to park it to wait out weather for health. No emergency, just inconvenience. In this case comfort is everything. A tent, a cozy bag, some heat, water, food..... All are nice but the truth is the most important piece of equipment for that is a sat phone to alert the family that I'm overdue on purpose and not to worry.

PLBs are for hikers. ELTs are for airplanes. And if I'm not in a life-threatening situation I'm not tripping a beacon so somebody else can risk their life to come find me. Another reason at carry a sat phone.
 
Mobile_radio_telephone.jpg
 
Queuing survival kit from "Dr. Strangelove" in 3....2....1.......
 
frfly172 said:
Build your own and outfit specifically for your plane,and area you fly in.
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Concur. I had fun building my own mountain kit based on a less-Spartan version of what Colorado Civil Air Patrol carries in their mountain survival kits. Theirs is under 20 lbs and I set a similar goal. By using (and paying the price for!) modern light-weight backpacking gear I was able to pack a *lot* of stuff into my kit.

There are some good threads floating around about survival kits.
 
Alaska law requires survival gear in airplanes. My own kit is more comprehensive.
Alaskan Survival Kit Regulations require that no airman may make a flight inside the state with an aircraft unless the following listed emergency equipment is carried:

For all single engine and for multiengine aircraft licensed to carry 15 passengers or less, the minimum equipment to be carried during summer months is as follows:

food for each occupant sufficient to sustain life for two weeks
one axe or hatchet
one first aid kit
one small gill net and an assortment of tackle such as hooks, flies, lines, sinkers, etc.
one knife
two small boxes of matches
one mosquito headnet for each occupant
two small signalling devices such as colored smoke bombs, railroad fuses or very pistol shells, in sealed metal containers

In addition to the above, the following must be carried as minimum equipment from October 15 to April 1 of each year:

one pair of snowshoes
one sleeping bag
one wool blanket for each occupant over four
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My own survival gear priorities
1-a good medical kit. mine is stowed in a well labeled compartment in the panel.
2-shelter. in my case I carry two zippered space blanket cocoon bags. heavy duty rip stop space material that's made into a hooded zip-up bag. in survival situations you get wet and/or perspiration soaked. it's critical to stay warm and these bags are the best thing I know to accomplish it in a small package. I vacuum pack mine. I also carry a sil tarp and parachute cord.
3-heat. in my kit I carry Wet Fire fire starter cubes and a Blast Match. I can start a fire in a driving rainstorm in a puddle. A Bic lighter is almost always useless because it's wet.
4-water. I carry a Nalgene bottle with water and a Katadyne filter to replenish it.
5- food. My favorite is Nature Valley granola bars and Spam. Both are easy to eat in warm or cold weather and they last pretty much forever. I also carry several Goo packets for quick energy. I've learned that it's critical to consume calories while exerting myself or I'm unable to recover my energy and I get cold. Exertion in the initial stay-over is a given regardless of what got me there. I can't afford to get too spent to take care of myself.

I have lots of other goodies like a knife, LED flashlight, Baling wire, hatchet, small titanium pan, etc.
 
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When I'm flying over remote country, I pack enough survival gear in the plane so I can build a shelter, a fire, and have enough food and water to survive for 10 days. And then I have the equipment to survive indefinitely beyond that.
 
cgrab said:
I teach the 7 C's of making a survival kit:

Combustion-a bic lighter in an empty Mentos gum case
Cutting-a sturdy knife, a razor blade and maybe a multitool
Cordage-550 cord
Cover-a space blanket
Communication-a signal mirror and a whistle and now a PLB
Container-a metal cup for collecting and boiling water
Confidence-get some good training on how to use your stuff and stay physically fit

For a first aid kit I carry a pack of quick clot for bleeding, a roll of tape and a couple 4x4 pads and several bandaids to cover scratches and prevent infection.
Click to expand...


Great list.
 
Here is something odd. Most survival kits have fire starter, but no metal cup to heat up water or food in.
 
Small pots with latching covers are readily available and serve to contain small or fragile kit items and then double as a water collector, coffee maker, etc. A folded square of heavy duty foil works and has other potential uses.
 
Communication. 406 in ELT AND PLB. Sat phone. A/C handheld radio.

Even here in Alaska I will be able to contact someone within minutes, if not seconds of having to set the plane down somewhere I did not plan on.

I even have the 121.5 ELT on board.

We also have the spider track. One push of the button notifies the home office and flight tracker that something is wrong. http://www.spidertracks.com/
 
Build you own to your needs. I fly in AK and my survival kit is about 25lbs.
 
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aanderson81 said:
I personally bypass the water purification tablets and boiling cups for a lifestraw, it seems like a more versatile solution than boiling or carrying purification tablets

http://smile.amazon.com/LifeStraw-L...UTF8&qid=1431984492&sr=1-1&keywords=lifestraw
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The Lifestraw is a great idea but the advantages of a fire are many, starting with the psychological effect, the ability to make hot water for cleaning as well as food.
I keep 5-6 packets of soup and hot chocolate in my emergency bag. Salt for the dehydration, sugar for the energy. There's also a couple of those freeze dried meals, which need hot water.
 
I used to keep MREs in the back of the plane, but I eventually pitched them.
 
4x6 gauss. Get like 10 rolls of the stuff plus 3 ace bandages. Also, a speedhook if you are near water so you don't need to "spend time" fishing. A really good flashlight or headlamp is excellent. If guns are your thing, a sturdy .22LR hunting rifle or even a .22LR revolver might be the difference between life and death. Obviously, a 300 Win Mag would be better for battling moose, but you will be taking pot shots at squirrels more often than not.

Get a backpack to carry it all in.
 
Great quote from a speaker at the Salinas AOPA Fly In session on Mountain Flying:

"Survival gear is what you have on your person...everything else in the back is just camping gear!"
 
Bic lighters are crap for a survival kit. You want a better fire starter than that.
 
tinerj said:
Here is something odd. Most survival kits have fire starter, but no metal cup to heat up water or food in.
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Survival usually doesn't mean you'll need to be eating or drinking much. Staying warm, however, is always a high priority. Your point is taken vis-a-vis water; nobody is typically going to have any signify at ill effects from not eating a hot meal for a couple of days.

Most folks who bother with foodstuffs will pack something virtually indestructible like protein bars or other pre-packaged stuff that doesn't need preparation.
 
I would add (or I missed earlier mention of) a compass, insect repellant, sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, a radio, and small field glasses or spotting scope. In some locations, add bear spray. Medical information bracelet or card could be useful. Survival book, too.
 
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First Aid, Shelter, Heat, Water.

That get you through a significant number of days.

A way to communicate that you're alive and where you are, is next on the list.

The way to find out if it all works is to actually throw it in the car and head out somewhere and force yourself to stay out a night in the temperatures and conditions you expect will be the worst.

Lots of the stuff in a typical kit isn't for survival, it's for comfort. The fishing gear is always cute.

We had a guy who's gotten too old to do it around here who would take pilots and their survival kits and meet them at a campsite off the main road in the mountains (close enough you could walk to town) and tell them they just crashed and to set up their stuff for the night, and a rescue crew will guaranteed "find" them in the morning.

Many were packing it all out to their cars around 3AM when they couldn't stay warm and dry. Which was the whole point of the exercise. To see if your stuff worked.

One comment above is to dress to be out overnight. But not many people have actually gone outdoors in winter and actually stayed out overnight in their clothes they have on.

Someone else mentioned the CAP kit. It's stuffed with heavy old school military surplus cheap crap and I wouldn't bet my life on anything in it. Maybe the wool watch cap if you could keep it dry. First Aid for a bleeding wound? You'll be dead before anything in that kit stops the bleeding.

One thing most lists don't mention is a damn bright light source that you don't need your hands to operate. Modern mountaineering headlamps that'll last eight or more hours on full tilt boogie mode and can be dimmed, are incredibly useful for all sorts of things not just survival kits. It's damned dark outside of civilization at night. A good light source you trust that tosses a lot of light can be useful in a number of ways. A Bic or fire starter is great but not for light unless you're planning on setting the woods on fire, which is always an attention getting option. Injured and dazed and without a water supply, dragging wood to a fire will just incapacitate you sooner of dehydration and being exhausted.

I'm stopping now. Just grab your kit and head out somewhere and see if it works. What works for Alaska isn't going to work in some other places and vice-versa.
 
Quikclot sponges, great for major bleeding

See link, not for the wimps though
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e9xvIbKBJn4


Same stuff the others said, ACE bandage wrap is great for making a make due splint, gauze, space blankets are great, MREs, water purification tablets, wind proof lighter, hook knife/leatherman, SPOT/EPIRB. maybe a flare gun. Rest is really dictated by your environment.
 
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