Survival Tin ?

[leon-1]

Someone pointed me in the direction of this thread.

I have read through it waiting for anyone to point out the blatantly obvious. Survival tins are based around military survival situations. Most military people do not carry a given set, they tend to mix and match what they want in a tin. They are also taught to look upon survival kits as being that you carry a number of them, the first being your bergan, the second being your webbing and the last being a tin of this type.

ANDYRAF mentioned quite correctly that it has to be something that you can fit in a pocket, but the pocket most of these guys are looking at are the bellows pockets on their jackets.

Why the fishing kit?

That's obvious, a lot of military experience has taught them that the least effort goes into fishing and that if you are going to be static for more than 24hrs then night lines can reap rewards.

I do agree that a solitary snare is pointless, but if there are a few of you together then it ceases to be a solitary snare.

In the end this type of pack is based around military experience and tailored for their needs not those of the civilian market. It is however missing a method of sterilising water as you wouldn't always have either the time or the resources for starting a fire.

My advice, buy the tin and fit in it what you will use, tailor it to your needs.

 

[Tourist]

Good advice Leon.

I personally put together my first tin during an army course in 1983 and it contained all the things Lofty listed. As time moved on things were swapped for other items I added a maglite solitaire which was later swapped for a tichy tiny LED torch. There used to be a little knife in it which was changed for a small multi tool and then a small leatherman. It also has a couple of joke birthday candles that you cannot blow out. Now there are also a couple of phials of pottasium permanganate and something else along with a mini ziploc bag containing vaselined cotton wool balls.......even the tin has been changed a couple of times as it got too battered to continue carrying it. It lives inside a pair of fresh socks with a high energy drink powder sachet all of that being inside a ziploc bag.

The chaps I know that carry these as part of their first line kit normally have them stashed in the lining of a jacket with a couple of stitches around them to hold them in place. I was shown one of the newer official issue kits a couple of years back........they do not look like anything I have seen for sale. If you were to buy the goodies in one it would cost you close on £100 - £120, then there is the tin itself cunningly crafty in its design and I have yet to find a manufacturer that shows it in their catalogue......I've looked.

PSK's are primarily a military thing, they are a tool of last resort, they are not B&Q or Tesco in your pocket if you have one you should never dip into it.

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

But having one in the car and the bottom of a rucksac does help. Just like having MRES and some water in a hillwalking rucksac or car.

Solitary snare - why is it useless ?, surely if you can catch something then great.Those spring shut traps for fish looked good. Also the postive aspects of getting a bit of success when in that situation.

Nick

 

[Tourist]

Nick, the idea behind the PSK is that it is what you have on you in case you lose your rucksack whilst fording a river or climbing a mountain or maybe your canoe sinks underneath you. It is stashed on your person in a comfortable unobtrusive place, some put them in a pocket others in the lining of their jacket.

If you have it in a rucksack for ready accesibility it is, in my opinion, part of your everyday walking kit. Most people I know have a bag or box with bits and pieces in stashed in the car for motoring emergencies, snowbound traffic jams and the like, it makes good sense. Try a four hour traffic jam with a nine month old to reinforce the commensense of having kit in the car........and smiling at the rep in the car next to you when sipping a cuppa.

As for snares, traps and lines get them out there......if you catch something marvellous but, as has been pointed out starvation in the UK, Europe even, is highly unlikely. Here you are more likely to need to deal with the effects of injury or sudden weather change, a space blanket in the PSK is good for keeping the body warm whilst you wait for help or the weather to change.

Just my ramblings.

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

Your rucksac is always on or next to you when hillwalking so should not be lost.
I have never seen a walker or climber in the hills with a seperate PSK outside their pack.

A personal survival kit aids survival. That's it.

So when I'm travelling I have a small bumbag with diocalm, passport, paper money, ins. docs etc. Not a fish trap.

Nick

 

[leon-1]

Solitary snare - why is it useless ?

Ask people that use snares a lot, they will tell you that you never use just one, the success rate is quite poor and a single snare has a very low probability of catching anything even when properly set.

If I wanted to catch something using snares in a survival situation I would be looking at probably between 12 and 20, maybe more. The chances that you would ever need snares in the UK for survival are pretty slim to say the least.

Also snares that are used for survival situations would probably be frowned upon in normal use as what you really want is a locking snare that will not allow your prey to work it's way loose. I think you'll find that all commercial snares in the UK are free running.

 

[Tourist]

I have never seen a walker or climber in the hills with a seperate PSK outside their pack.

But what if they are seperated from their pack? Like I said, a PSK is a tool of last resort in case everything goes pear shaped.

 

[JohnC]

IIRC the Doug Ritter pack was intended to be carried on your person, it has a flexible container and relatively flat profile to let you carry it in a pocket..