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Staying Alive: A multi-level approach to survival kits 
by  Bill Revill 

AMERICAN SURVIVAL GUIDE 
November 1994

Resources:

  LIFE-threatening situations are not something we think about too often. Understandable as that may be, for anyone who spends a good deal of time back o' beyond, it's a dangerous delusion.

  Let's be honest, a survival predicament doesn't always result from carelessness or inexperience.  More often it's that split second in time where fate crosses your path and tears your plans to shreds.  At that moment, you face eternity armed only with what resources you have at the time.

  The secret to staying alive is in maximizing those life-saving resources. And it's the savvy outdoor person who appreciates the fine line we tread between dreams and disaster and sets about planning and preparing never to
be caught with insufficient resources.

  Well-thought-out survival kits, in sizes appropriate to your activities, are the best insurance against that inevitable day when fate decides it's your turn for testing.  Surprisingly, well-stocked kits need not be expensive and, apart from a few items needing periodic replacement, once assembled become permanent items on your outdoor check-list.

  Before we look at an example of multi-level survival strategies it's worth revisiting those survival resources mentioned earlier.  Essentially, they boil down to what you have in your HEART, your HEAD and your HAND.

   First up, when confronted by a life or death scenario, you must have the HEART - the guts - to face it square on.  When the time comes you either have it or you don't.  Even so, the determined, those who know that fate can be beaten, often survive against incredible odds.  On the other hand, quitters might just as well lay down and die.

   Attitude, then, is also a big part of the first of the three essential resources.  If yours has yet to be tested under fire, best look to other resources for more tangible support.

  Which brings us to the second leg of the survival tripod: what you have in your HEAD.  Knowledge or experience of survival situations, and the skills required to overcome them, are a sure way to develop that all-important stay-alive attitude.  The more you read, learn and practice - even in a training environment - the greater your inner resources when life is threatened.  Confidence grows with skill.

 The third leg - what you have in your HAND - includes any equipment or survival gear you're lucky enough to have with you when the crunch comes. Here's where survival kits come in.

  Depending on experience, planning or just plain luck, you could find yourself staring into the jaws of death with anything from zilch to a 4WD vehicle chock-full of food, water and camping gear.  The objective is: never get caught at the zero end of the scale!

  To achieve that, we first need to determine what it is that keeps us alive in the first place.  Once that's worked out, you can then set about gathering essential items to satisfy each of these life-supporting needs.

  So what are they?  To stay alive you need: PROTECTION, WATER, SHELTER, FOOD, FIRE and DIRECTION.

  Depending on climate and geography, the relative importance of each will vary, but all are necessary to some degree in most survival emergencies. 

  These six essentials form the framework around which survival kits should be assembled, whether pocket-sized, or a larger outfit for permanent vehicle stowage.  But regardless of size and content, if any of those six needs are not catered for, your chances of survival diminish accordingly.

  If you value life above all else, a "belt and braces" survival strategy needs to be developed to meet as many as possible of the life-threatening predicaments likely to confront you.

  Let's look at my own strategy as an example: my remote outdoor activities are either on foot, hunting or hiking, or criss-crossing the wild in a 4X4, either my own, or navigating for a friend.  This suggests that, to cover all likely survival situations, I should assemble life-saving gear on three levels: 

(1) items for permanent stowage in my Land Cruiser, 
(2) a self-contained kit that can be easily transferred to another vehicle; and
(3) lightweight, basic equipment to be carried whenever I'm on foot away from the vehicle or base camp.

At first, this seemed like a tall order.  However, by confining my reckoning to those six necessities for survival, solutions at each level became clearer.

  Vehicle Stowage - 

  Apart from the usual mountain of camping equipment, food, water and recovery gear piled into the 4X4 each time I go bush, there's also a specific range of gear carried purely as insurance. This stays permanently on board.

  Like most four-wheel drives, the Land Cruiser has various hidey-holes where all sorts of goodies can be tucked away and forgotten until needed. Under the seats, for instance, there's room for jackets, raincoats, vehicle spares, etc.  Similarly, tool lockers or spare wheel compartments can be handy storage areas.  It's amazing how much gear fits into these small, otherwise part-empty spaces.

  To supplement these, I have installed a lockable steel trunk in the space where one of my Toyota's rear seats used to be.  In this I permanently store quite a range of survival and camping hardware, the majority of which remain unused trip after trip.  But they're there if ever I should need them.

  All up, permanently, stashed on board my 4X4 are 65 separate items, many of which will help to cheat death if life-threatening circumstances arise while I'm still with the vehicle.  Some of the key items are:

Apart from tools, recovery equipment and vehicle spares, there are also quite a few odds-and-ends that, while not in themselves life-saving items, will help make things a bit easier while waiting for help to arrive.  Like soap and a towel.

  Looking through that list above you'll see that, to some degree, all six survival needs are catered for.  Essentially, this on-board kit has been planned as a stand-alone package to serve should nothing else be available. At the same time, though, the lower-level, portable kits supplement and extend most of these items.

  Obviously, the water and, to a lesser extent, the food items need to be date marked and rotated to guarantee usability.  In fact, across all three of my kits, food is sufficient for one person for at least 10 days if carefully rationed, however extra water would be required to go that sort of distance.

  Knapsack Survival Kit -  
  
  No matter what the destination or reason for the trip, my knapsack survival kit travels with me whenever I venture beyond the blacktop.  It's the very first item thrown on board.  No exceptions.

  If I happen to be taking off as navigator in a friend's vehicle, the knapsack is still mandatory equipment.  Survival is a personal responsibility so it's unwise to count on someone else being sufficiently prepared.

  This entire kit is contained in a robust, canvas knapsack that, when full, weighs just under 7 pounds and takes no more space than two six-packs.

  Here are some examples of what's in it:  

In all, there are 122 items randomly packed into the kit, all of which directly or indirectly contribute to the six basic survival requirements. But here too, food items require rotation at least annually.

  Pocket Kits - 
  
  Just inside the knapsack, right on top for easy access, are two important items: a pocket-sized first aid kit and a belt-carried survival pouch. Whenever I head out from camp on foot, both these items come with me.

  The first aid kit, although small, covers the basics like band-aids, wound dressings and bandages, along with prescription strength painkillers and surgical gloves.  In total, it holds 12 items all neatly packed in a plastic soap container.

  The small survival pouch started out as a basic, commercially available kit to which I've added a few extras.
  As compact as it is, it too includes items for all six survival requirements, prime examples being: a plastic "tube tent," nylon twine, button compass, water purifiers, flint and striker, soup powder, muesli bar, diarrhea tablets, butterfly closures and whistle.

  It now contains 30 items, tightly packed in a nylon carry-pouch which fits securely onto the average belt via a couple of loops.

  Not only are these two kits the first things I grab whenever I take off on foot, the water bottle (from the vehicle), plus the multi-tool and compass (both from the knapsack) are also carried on the belt.  At the same time, a heavy duty plastic garbage bag (which serves as a raincoat) and waterproof matches find pocket space.  That way I'm always certain to have the basics should disaster strike some distance from my main resources.

  As for your own situation, after assessing the survival scenarios most likely to arise during your particular outdoor pursuits, the easiest way to set up a multi-level survival strategy is to start small and build from there.  If appropriate to your needs, pocket or belt-sized kits are easy and inexpensive to assemble, following which a more substantial kit, like the knapsack, can be put together.  Finally, a range of extra or bulkier items can be stowed on board your RV, boat or aircraft.

  Once assembled, survival resources require little or no maintenance.  But providing they're planned, and cater to each of the six survival requirements, the extra insurance provided - across a wide variety of life-threatening situations - certainly is worth thinking about.

 

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