Small kit ups chance of survival

Cell phones, GPS systems, emergency radio beacons, on-call helicopter rescues and other modern introductions have softened society’s survival instincts.

But Doug Ritter, founder of the survivalist Web site Equipped To Survive ( www.equipped.org), thinks modern day men and women could benefit from some self-rescue savvy.

Working with Adventure Medical Kits (www.adventuremedical kits.com), a company known for its compact and uber-accessible first-aid kits, Ritter has developed the Pocket Survival Pak.

The $30 kit weighs 4 ounces and is the size of a small wallet. But its selection of multiuse curios and knickknacks can be used to signal aircraft, start fires, boil water, catch fish, navigate the woods, trap small animals, repair damaged gear and save your sanity.

Details are on the tiny waterproof card that accompanies the kit.

The 4-by-5-inch plastic pouch contains: whistle, fishing hooks, signal mirror, sparker fire starter, waterproof fire-starting material, compass, duct tape, string, wire, safety pins, foil, magnifying lens, nylon thread, scalpel razor blade, sewing needle, pencil, and sheets of paper.

Waterproof instructions are included with details on setting a survival plan of action, building a shelter under a fallen tree, starting cooking fires, procuring water from plant perspiration, tying a bowline knot, and obtaining fast food in the wilderness.

Ritter believes a kit like the Survival Pak should be standard gear for anyone venturing into the outback. I’d tend to agree, though I would recommend adding a few items to make the kit complete:

•First-aid items, such as medical tape, bandages, ibuprofen, anti-bacterial ointment and anything else you usually tote along.

•Knife, water-purification tablets, Mylar blanket and a large plastic garbage bag.

•While the kit includes a fun little sparker for starting fires (and it does work), also include matches or a lighter to double-up on fire-starting capabilities.

•Also, chemical fire-starting tablets that flame like Roman candles are a guarantee that even wet kindling will ignite.

The Survival Pak is not a panacea for wilderness survival. But its menagerie of items, and the useful sheet of instructions that accompanies all the backwoods doodads is a great start. And that’s far ahead of where many wilderness explorers are today.