by Cody Lundin
WHAT vehicle you’re driving
(or whatever means of transportation you’re using)
Include as much detail as possible, such as the model and make of the vehicle, color, license plate number, and any other distinguishing characteristics. This helps rescuers positively identify your vehicle among the dozens of others parked at the trailhead.
WHO is in your party
Ground trail made by six people looks very different from one created by a lone hiker. Males and females have different backcountry habits and travel patterns, as do various age groups, so include this information as well as each person’s general outdoor experience and clothing. In some cases, adding details regarding medical conditions or important medications is a wise move. Furthermore, to aid rescuers in “calling out” at the search site, include the full names of each person in your tribe.
WHY you’re taking the trip
The activity you pursue in the backcountry, whether it’s hiking, caving, canoeing, mountain biking, or mushroom picking will give rescuers an idea of what gear you might have and what factors might influence your behavior in regard to route finding, campsite location, and attraction to geographical features unique to an area.
The tin-foil tip-off
Unless you’ve achieved the power of levitation, some part of the body, most probably your feet, will be in contact with the ground while hiking. By taking a heavy-duty piece of tinfoil, placing it on soft ground, and firmly stepping on it with whatever boot or shoe you’ll be wearing, you leave behind an effective imprint pattern for rescuers to follow. (If the ground is hard, use a towel or extra piece of clothing underneath the tinfoil.) At a glance they’ll have the exact outline of your foot shape, size, and sole pattern, thus saving valuable time in trying to sort out your prints from the mishmash on the trail. If you’re with a group of people, simply write your name above your impression and have everyone else do the same. Leave the imprints on your dashboard or some other easily viewed locale for rescuers to find. Do not leave a visible note displaying your return time or you’ll find your hubcaps at the local swap meet.
Upon safe return, remember to notify your two trusted people so they don’t contact rescue personnel! Leaving an accurate game plan before each and every outing is your ace in the hole for activating the Search and Rescue system. This fact alone could very well mean the difference of life or death for you or a loved one.
Introducing the typical SAR victim
The following passage was too juicy to pass up. Read it carefully and be honest with yourself, and remember, the very fact that you’re reading this book proves you’re on the right path to proper preparation.
“The average SAR victim is a composite outdoorsman (for example, hunter, fisherman, skier, hiker, climber, boater, photographer). Most do not do any of these activities well and are not members of organized groups that specialize in these pursuits. Most reside in densely populated areas and travel some distance for recreation and outdoor pursuits. They usually travel too fast and too far to acclimatize well to the terrain, altitude, and environmental conditions encountered. Interviews show that they also generally ignore signs of weather change, environmental hazards, body indicators, and written warnings concerning danger or safety.”
Factors Contributing to Survival Situations
and Search and Rescue Missions
• Improper clothing, footgear, or both.
• Lack of rest (fatigue).
• Lack of adequate water (dehydration).
• Hypothermia or hyperthermia.
• Too ambitious an undertaking for skills or proficiency.
• Poor physical condition, lack of motivation, or both.
• Inadequate or improper food.
• Little or no planning.
• Inadequate party for the goal, and lack of leadership.
• Itinerary confusing or not known to others.
• Individuals could not recognize a physical, mental, or environmental threat.
• No preparation for adverse weather.
• Unfamiliarity with terrain and lack of map or compass.
• “It can’t happen to me” philosophy.
Gratefully reprinted with permission from Wilderness Medicine, published by Mosby.
13
WHAT IS A SURVIVAL KIT?
A survival kit is a distillation of the most-effective and simple means of staying alive. In it rests the tools that could make or break your life.
Kits can and should vary with the needs of the owner; thus, one carried by a Canadian bush pilot might look radically different from an earthquake kit in a southern California closet. However, the fact that we’re in human bodies on a physical planet dictates that many components, while they may look different, provide the same functions.
Making Your Own Kit
as Opposed to Purchasing One
The one-size-fits-all survival kit does not exist. There are plenty of kits on the market, and while I haven’t seen them all, the majority of those that I have seen need help. While some components are non-negotiable, regardless of your situation, people are different and therefore have different needs. Many personal needs are subtle, but in a life-threatening circumstance, these subtleties count. In my opinion, you will fare much better if you put together your own. Creating a custom kit has the following advantages.
1. You’re guaranteed that the kit meets your personal needs. The majority of the market sells products by hooking a person’s ignorance, fear, and ego. The outdoor retail gear scene is a multimillion-dollar industry and the rules are no different. Compiling your own kit will allow you to buy or make top-quality items as needed; therefore, the knife you carry will be one you’ve chosen yourself, not one “Joe Blow” thought you should carry.
2. You will be knowledgeable about what you’re carrying. Many commercial kits are “sealed for your protection” for whatever reason, and allow you less of a chance to explore the contents. If you do buy a commercial survival kit, rip the little devil apart and see what you’re proposing to lug around. Find out now if the thing the manufacturer calls a knife is really a razor blade, the snare wire is really two baggy ties, and the signal mirror is really a piece of tinfoil. Don’t you dare buy a commercial kit and shove it under the car seat without inspecting the goods! Thoroughly check it out, as the last things needed in a compromising situation are more compromises.
3. You are more apt to know how to use the components. Although it’s possible to design an outfit using components you don’t know how to use, the likelihood of this happening in a homemade kit is much less than for a commercial one.
4. You can replace worn-out or used items easier. Devising your own setup allows you to practice using what you carry until you virtually wear out the stuff. With a homemade kit, buying new items is easy because you bought or made them yourself initially. Ready-made kits are often dependent upon bizarre gizmos manufacturers bought on sale back in the ’90s at some outdoor show in Chicago.
5. You’ll gain the peace of mind and confidence of knowing that your kit is a part of you. You know it has been prepared as well as possible and is ready for action if necessary. (It also saves legal fees if you bite the big one due to kit failure, as there’s no one to sue!)
6. You eliminate becoming the victim of a bad idea by yet another wanna-be, urban-armchair survival instructor with limited field experience. All too frequently, survival equipment is designed and tested in air-conditioned offices or other temperate areas without any thought given to the oftentimes crappy conditions faced by the user. Extreme changes in temperature sometimes alter not only the user’s dexterity, but the kit material itself. As an example, marine flares were wrapped in plastic that tore easily in a warm room but became stiff, tough, and slippery when exposed to cold water. One after-market test featured a Special Forces soldier who opened the flare package within seven seconds while in a warm and cozy environment. After spending an hour and fifteen minutes in 54°F water (12°C), the sol
dier required two minutes to open the package. To top it off, he couldn’t manage the twisting motion to fire the flare because his hands were numb!
7. Last but not least, anyone who stands to make a profit at your expense will be biased about his or her merchandise. Face it—they have made a product they wish to sell in order to make money. To make a profit, many units must be quickly produced and then sold to a number of buyers. The maker will not be holding your hand if something goes wrong in the field.
There are decent kits out there and having one is certainly better than having none at all, but preparing your own kit or modifying a commercial one is a matter of taking responsibility for your own life. If you frequent the outdoors and can’t find the time or ambition to put together a kit that could save your life or the life of someone you love, then maybe your gene pool should end with you.
Factors to Consider Before Creating
or Purchasing Your Survival Kit
As already discussed, there is no survival kit that could possibly prepare you for every conceivable tragedy. Even the best ones can’t cover the staggering number of variables operating in the natural world. Attempting to compensate for all the “what ifs” in the wilderness would 1) terrify you, and 2) require gear that weighed several hundred pounds. Therefore, it makes sense to look at what has statistically killed the majority of outdoor enthusiasts.
As learned in chapter 8, statistics show that the number-one outdoor killer is death by exposure, either through hypothermia or hyperthermia. Statistics also attest that it is the weather that dishes out the majority of punishment and misery and contributes greatly to the overall success of any wilderness SAR mission. Therefore, the most important survival kit components should be those that directly or indirectly regulate core body temperature. While Mother Nature can deliver an arsenal of “what ifs,” she is also very simple and basic, and, in the end, simplicity always wins. Remember, the outdoors is neutral, she is neither for you nor against you. She just is. It’s our job to adapt to whatever face she puts on at the time.
Preparing Your Kit:
13 Tantalizing, Tried-and-True Tips to Follow
Before Creating Your Emergency Stash
The following list of factors should be reviewed before you attack the concept of what to pack in your setup. Regardless of who you are and what your intentions may be, you’ll find the following concepts helpful in deciding what and how to pack for greater effectiveness in almost any environment. The more we address these common variables in preparing an effective wilderness survival kit, the more obvious it becomes that the kit is not just for wilderness survival.
Our urban, civilized world is arguably the most dependent culture on the planet, which is a side effect from decades of not taking responsibility for our lives. The more rules, regulations, lawsuits, and insurance the nation takes on, the flabbier our self-reliance muscles become. In our technological cosmology, as awesome as it is, we have become slaves to the system itself, not knowing quite what to do if the bottom falls out. At the end of a long day of doing something they hate, most Americans drive home to their 30-year mortgage shelters. Once there, they obtain water and food from holes located within its walls. They cook the food and heat or cool the shelter from a magic source originating from God-knows-where, and they don’t give it a second thought. Only when these luxuries get cut off during a civil emergency or power outage does reality set in. Make no mistake, the benefits of a well-thought out survival kit will shine just as brightly from your backyard as they do in the wilderness. Taking responsibility for yourself and your loved ones is just good ol’ common sense. Don’t get caught with your pants down by assuming that someone else will take care of your problems, whether you’re at home or in the wilderness.
Prepare Your Kit to Be:
1. Relevant to the environment encountered.
2. Lightweight and portable.
3. Waterproof.
4. Durable and dependable.
5. Complementary to the physical fitness and expertise levels of the user.
6. Able to meet a wide variety of conditions—back to basics.
7. Comprised of multiple-use components.
8. Comprised of calorie-conserving components.
9. Panic-proofed-containing components that can be utilized if you are injured.
10. Comprised of components that can be easily purchased or made.
11. Affordable yet effective.
12. Field-tested—use it or lose it!
13. Simple!
Relevant to the Environment
In Arizona, creating a survival kit that’s relevant to the environment encountered is a challenge because Arizona has more geographical diversity in the shortest drive time of any region in North or South America. I can drive from Phoenix in the Sonoran Desert, to the town of Flagstaff near the San Francisco Mountains with their alpine tundra in less than 3.5 hours. In that time, I’ll pass through 10 different vegetation life zones, which is the equivalent of driving from Mexico to Canada. As a result, it’s possible to be faced with a desert or winter-survival scenario within the same day. Even with this geographical challenge, if you stick to the basics of regulating body temperature, your kit should need little modification from region to region. Research the area you’ll be traveling in for specific information that might make or break your experience and pack your kit accordingly. An excursion into the wilderness of Alaska will have different needs than a backcountry trip to Mexico.
Lightweight and Portable
If your kit’s not lightweight and portable, you’re not going to carry it with you. Instead it will be collecting dust in the back of your closet or under the truck seat. A survival kit shouldn’t weigh 30 pounds or more or be a drag to lug around. It should be composed of the simplest methods available for preserving your life. Strive to design your kit with as little volume and weight as is practical. For example, the items in my kit weigh a hair over four pounds. The less obtrusive it is, the more likely it’ll be on your person when you need it.
Waterproof
There’s at least one item that should always be waterproof in your kit. Can you guess what it is? Yup, your matches. Some environments demand that you waterproof the entire enchilada. Again, knowing as much as you can about the area you’re heading into will save you a lot of grief. If your trip research points to the fact that your destination will be dry, don’t assume it will be. In this age of plastic barriers galore, there’s little excuse for not having some way of keeping your kit and body dry.
Durable and Dependable
If your kit is not durable and dependable, prepare your gene pool to have one less participant. This is your survival kit—it’s not a place you want cheaply made gear that won’t hold up to abuse.
My kit recently went through a heinous test of durability. I was meeting a news crew from Ohio in the desert for a two-day shoot on survival skills. My Jeep blew a clutch so a friend offered to drive. As we were loading his truck, I foolishly left my kit sitting next to the passenger door. He backed out of the driveway, turned the wheel, and drove right over the top of it. Awesome! While this is not something I would have carried out myself, I savored the experience as I went through the bundle, piece by piece, to see what had survived. The weight of the truck blew open my bottle of iodine, shattered my compass, and flattened the film vial carrying my tinder, but that was all. Amazing! Incidentally, one of my quart water bottles took a direct hit from the front tire and, other than inflicting minor scratches, was unharmed. I can’t help but think it was saved by the two rows of duct tape wrapped around its middle. While you might not run over your survival kit with a truck, carrying quality gear will pay you back many times over.
Physical Fitness and Expertise
A point that’s completely overlooked in commercial kits is making the kit complementary to the physical fitness and expertise levels of the user. Human beings have dramatic differences in levels of physical fitness, ability, and agility. If you weigh 400 pounds,
have bad knees, severe asthma, or are a couch potato in general, you’ll need to modify things—and that’s OK. I’m simply hammering home the myth of the one-size-fits-all kit. In any survival scenario, your physical body is what you’re trying to take home, sans the body bag. Obviously, the better shape you’re in, the more stress you can place upon your vehicle. If you had a Pinto compete in the Indy 500, it wouldn’t do so well. How can you expect your body to place much better if it’s old, tired, and out of shape? While I’m not Richard Simmons (thank God) the importance of physical fitness during stress situations can’t be ignored. Practice using your kit until you’re intimately aware of how to use its contents. While you might not be an expert, as if there is such a thing in the woods, your kit should reflect whatever skill level you’re at.
