The MINIMUM survival kit - supplies

Discussion in 'Back to Basics' started by monkeyman, Sep 2, 2005.


  1. dragonfly

    dragonfly Monkey+++

    Go see Berkey's newest filters ( water purification) units!
     
  2. bnmb

    bnmb On Hiatus Banned

    What? No replacement? Permanent?...I'll go see what's going on there...
     
  3. rictus

    rictus Monkey+

    Some sort of wind/wet proof tarp, poncho, etc, should rank very high up on your basic list. Even in the desert, it can freeze at night, and you won't always have fuel for a fire, or dare not light one because of enemies. You can easily freeze while just sitting around an open fire, too. It's necessary to arrange a reflector, to heat your back side, or lie down between a couple of trench-fires, etc.
     
  4. Nadja

    Nadja RIP 3-11-2013 Forum Leader

    MM, think total chaos, and then think of your land etc. Possesion will be determined or at least could be by who is strongest enough to hold onto what you have. Papers could be buried close by should you ever need to produce them, but most likely Force would be the issue of the day.
     
  5. usmcvet

    usmcvet Monkey+

    I have a few new USB sticks on my to do / shopping list.

    Along with documents and photo copies I want scanned copies of documents. Storing one in each go bag and one with my folks and another with a trusted friend as a back up will make me feel better too. You can also add some favorite digital photos to them in case yours are lost.
     
  6. beast

    beast backwoodsman

    minimal survival that i can get by with?
    my mind
    and a good knife dont hurt
     
  7. haltoninc

    haltoninc Never Mistake My Silence As A Sign Of Weakness...

    collapse of society is another...


    In the event of a societal collapse, your papers will be worthless, jus sayin.
     
  8. swinefornicator

    swinefornicator Monkey+++ Founding Member

    I think every individul will have different prioritys. Water is probably almost a universal #1. I'd take an Axe over any prescription I ever had. It will give me most of the rest of the items I need. Prescriptions that ain't refillable are just postponed death or whatever malady they stave off. Get it over with and become a Darwin statistic or a contributor to the survivors. Next would be firearms and ammo. I can defend my own and I can take what I need. Sissy social democrats are food for those of us that will survive. Survive... not postpone and hope big daddy will save me. I'm gonna eat roadkill and do whatever it takes to keep going. Whoa be to he who stands in my way.

    A brain and determintaion would be 4th behind the water, axe and weapon. get's a tad subjective from there. Seeing how how you got water, shelter and maybe some scrpt poor females, I hope your close by....

    Just an example. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. when times are tough the best in humanity is rare.
     
  9. DoomsdayNews

    DoomsdayNews Monkey

    Agreed that shelter is one of the more important factors to survival that seems to be lacking in this post. A $20 tent from Wal-mart (if there is even a tent that inexpensive) is certainly not going to keep a family of four (let alone 2 people) dry, warm, and secure from the elements and critters outside. But your second mention of having a tarp and lashings is better, especially if we're talking about surviving on a budget. A big section of plastic sheeting, a roll of duct tape, paracord, bungee cord, etc. can all be had for $20, and can be used in more versatile ways than a cheap tent. It will also take up very minimal room in a bug out bag.

    Also, you'd be pretty hard pressed to find a good .22 for under $100 bucks. The single most important factor in a survival gun is reliability. Buying a cheap, used, and busted old long rifle for $80 bucks isn't going to keep you and your family protected or do much good hunting game.
     
  10. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    A standard roll of Visqueen plastic is 12' X 100' and several mils thick. that's shelter, solar still, and green house.
     
  11. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    And heavy. Not walking far with that over your shoulder. (Then again, it could come in handy if the house catches fire if it were stored in the unattached shed.)
     
  12. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Not that heavy, and out of the box, makes a cylinder 2- 2 1/2 feet long by 6-8 inches thick. Collects rain water, make a sandbag wall water tight, distills dirty water, rain fly, wind break. fish trap, water bag, you can even start fires with it. creates and traps heat and blocks drafts. In cold weather, it can be used to form and stand ice walls (much like concrete poured walls are done) It can even be used to make branches and paracord into a canoe. It is pretty useful stuff.

    It is unlikely to be stored in the house, unless there are no outbuildings. unless the mine get to it, I have never seen a problem with storing it long term, as it never goes bad while stored. And, of course, you need carry only as much as you have need for. 3 or 4 12'X12' pieces would do for most needs you could come up with.
     
    vonslob and Yard Dart like this.
  13. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    Having a roll of the Visqueen would be a definitely good investment to have stored for emergencies. As Kellory noted above it can be used for several survival applications. You can also use it to cover windows, holes in the walls, roof issues and such, either blown out due to whatever may come... storm damaged and so on.

    As far as being on a BO- I would prefer to have a poncho with several bungee cords as the improvised shelter. It has grommet's on the edges which make for fast set up of a hasty shelter with the bungee cords as well as a quick tear down/packing during a movement from here to there. And if you want to have a bigger surface area use regular tarps that come in a variety of sizes. NW camping sometimes dictates we use tarps suspended over tents to add to the rain protection which will keep your tent dry over an extended period. If you have ever been to a campground in the PNW during the rainy season, you will see these tarps everywhere- kind of odd to the newcomers... a joke for the rest of us...but it works.
     
    kellory likes this.
  14. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    I do that as well with the tarp, or go oversized, and staked down for storage outside the tent, and out of my way. Visqueen plastic does not need grommets at corners, I just tie a knot in the plastic, and winch loop that.
     
    Yard Dart likes this.
  15. natshare

    natshare Monkey+++

    The only problem I can see with visquine (black or clear), is that it's not very UV resistant. Living in Texas, it's good for maybe a summer or so's worth of sun exposure, then starts disintegrating. Blue tarps are good for a couple years, usually.
     
    KAS and Yard Dart like this.
  16. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Can't start a fire with a blue tarp. Nor make a green house. Never tried to build a solar still with it, it might work. Makes a very poor window though, and I would have to say visquine/ visquene, is the harder to puncture.
     
  17. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    I have about 10 or so tarps of different sizes....a couple of them are rather large :cool:
     
  18. wastelander

    wastelander Bad English, bare with me

    I don't know where you are from, but I'm Swedish, and English isn't even my second language, but you are doing fine. Founding member or not.

    You don't have to focus on food. I think that's an American thing. Snacks is about as important as Oprah, seriously. You can do without food for a couple of weeks without any problems. Weightloss, yeah, sure, but your body will handle it fine. When I did my survival training with the Swedish army me and my team did without any food whatsoever for 2 weeks and I was fine. But man did that catfood tast great.
    If I was you I would focus on stuff that really matters. Water is no:1 of course. Heat is number 2. Protection from the elements is number 3. Then comes food and after that comes comfort and rest combined.
     
    KAS and Yard Dart like this.
  19. Witch Doctor 01

    Witch Doctor 01 Mojo Maker

    Place a small stone/pebble in the area where you want your grommet and fold the visqueen around it then tie th line around it... no knots to worry about untying it later...

    YMMV
     
    kellory likes this.
  20. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    Tarp vs. visqueen- that is a hard choice they can do a lot of the same things but then they also have unique uses also. I personally like the tarp better, they are made to last. I read a book The Twilight's Last Gleaming: On Your Own in America: Will You Survive: Nathan L. Combs: 9781457503481: Amazon.com: Books that was big on having a tarp. So near the pack it went.

    Also from the book- heavy duty aluminum foil. Over 40 New Uses for Aluminum Foil | Reader's Digest there are more uses then I thought of.
     
    Harbin likes this.
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