Hi all, I'm new here, nice site you have with lots of information. Very soon I will be taking a job in a foreign land, supporting our troops and I have been looking around for a small portable survival kit and not having much luck. I found one that looks good at bestglide.com, the combat survival kit, but I couldn't really find any rating or info on the site. The kit isn't expensive, but I don't like throwing money away. Has anyone here heard or know of this site? or possibly know of where I can find a decent but small kit?
Well, if you are headed to the Middle East, then your kit will be mainly comprised of the basics pertaining to that environment. You will be best served by making it yourself, taking to account your own logistics which will undoubtedly operate right along side of you by attachment. I will list a few items you can acquire from the command you are assigned, or you may choose to purchase your own: -Saline drip (ringers) -Saline lock kit (NSN 6515-01-537-4094, PN 30-00013) Includes 1 IV constricting band, 2 alcohol pads, 1 needle/catheter 18g x 1.5", 1 gauze pad, 1 hypo needle, 1 syringe luer-lock 10cc. -Re-hydration salt packets -CLS kit (Combat life saver course offered by any company medic) -Signaling mirror -Lensiatic compass The rest of your equipment should be standard issue, to include clothing, weapon, ammunition if applicable, body armor, gloves, etc. You may also wish to purchase your own hydration bladder (Camelback) since most units may not have extras available because they are RFI items, and only the best unit supply will carry extra (high quality) bladders. The M.U.L.E. is an excellent product, and is highly recommended. Aside from all of this, you really do not need to worry about too much because if you are going to be assigned to a unit, they will pretty much take care of the loose ends. Any maps you carry will have to be authorized by your company level and BDE level S1. (company would be the XO)
+1 on Brokor. If you are going into a sit where you are assigned to a military unit or up close and personal with one, you are far better off getting there, seeing what they have, and filling in the missing items by getting someone here to send them to you. You probably won't need medical stuff at all in that sit, but human comfort stuff is another story. Now, if you are going to be remote, you MUST find out ahead of time what resources are likely to be available, then fill in the blanks. Attempting to take every possible thing you might need is futile. Small is not going to happen. FWIW, I have found that these kits available commercially are like a tool that is supposed to do it all. They do nothing well enough to spend money on. Build your own. Local or remote, buy a good multitool sim to those Gerber sells and a good belt knife. You'll find reviews on this site with the search function. They are not an issue item, but are handy as all get out. Good luck and bring them home safe.
Thanx for your responses. I won't be able to anticipate everything I'll need, my main concern is something happening while our team is in transit between camps. I was mainly looking for a compass and signaling device in a small watertight enclosure that I can store matches, water purification tablets, and a few other things in. I need to keep it small as we can't carry to much with us in transport between camps. Our focus is to make sure that there are no more US service men dying of electricution in the camps.
Sorry. I was in several "camps" in Iraq. I remember going through their towns thinking 'how in the world do these people keep the lights on?', when they have bare wires all over the place, things are rigged together in haphazard fashion, and fires spring up all over the place. Even in our outposts, we frequently had short circuits and frayed/spliced wires would overheat and burn. We had to keep A/C running somehow in that forsaken desert. We ended up re-wiring half of our COP, which took a great deal of effort (and Iraqi contractors). You want to keep electrocution down? As I see it you have two choices; either rewire the entire building/camp one at a time...or we withdraw completely. Good luck.
Go to the local place that sells Boy Scout stuff. Get a stainless steel mirror and a water tight match case. The mirror is about 2-1/2 X 4, and the match case is about an inch and a quarter in diameter with a screw on cap, just long enough to hold a dozen strike anywhere matches. Find an old 35 mm film canister (or maybe a used up small vitamin jar with a screw on cap) for the tabs. Get your hands on a space blanket that folds small. Go to your local photog shop and find a camera case "just the right size" to hold that stuff with a belt loop. I don't think you'll need a compass unless you have a map of the area you are in, but the Boy Scout shop will have them, too. And MANY thanks for finding all the sh*tty wiring that's hurting our guys. That has been a travesty. Strap on a voltage tester with your camera pouch, and be careful over there.
