A guest post by: GoldenBoy
Recently I resolved myself to the idea that one day I'd face some sort of emergency. I keep abreast of the news: both mainstream and alternative. It occurs to me that I have been building up a dependency on, for lack of a better phrase, “external systems”. These systems can manifest as any number of things: my job, public transit, food supply (including frequent garlic delivery, mmmmm garlic), the electrical grid, etc. For each system I've begun to consider what I can do to mitigate against any breakdowns. I'm not naïve to think I can insulate myself entirely, but I'm sure there are things I can do, learn, or have that will help me glide through any emergency.
The perfect companion to any emergency is the emergency kit. Emergency kits are like a matching hand-bag to a new dress or the role garlic plays with a fresh bun with cheese. You can't enjoy one without the other - emergencies can be exciting! Why be left having to suffer through one, when you can thrive through one?
The first kit I've chosen to tackle is the “mini-breakdown kit”. The theme I've decided to go with is: “small & useful”. To this end, I went out and bought a tin of Altoid mints (for the small tin, of course), and rustled up some items from around the house. The following is a list of what I currently have in my kit:
3 plastic band-aids
3 rubber bands
4 birthday candles
1 pocket screw driver
1 round magnet
2 fish hooks
2 bobby pins
4 Ibuprofen (400mg)
9 wooden matches
6 safety pins
3 sewing needles
5 twist ties
1 razor
4 buttons
1 sheet of tin foil
As you can see, this is a work in progress: I don't even have any fishing line for the hooks. But heck, better to build some momentum, than have none at all. I'm sure I'll modify the contents of my tin on a regular basis.
Do you have some feedback for me on what I should include? If so, please post a comment below.
Now, I think I'm going to make me some garlic bread...
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4 comments:
Hey Laurie, member of your survival group. 9 matches and 4 b-day candles is max 9 attempts at fire, how about a fire striker, relatively infinite fire starting.....of course, practice using it before the disaster and it should fit in the tin along with some cotton balls for tinder.
Mike
Thanks Mike, that is a good recommendation for any emergency kit. However, I think GoldenBoy's objective was to put together a basic kit quickly based on things he had around the house or that he could get at the corner store. Ideally, as he refines his kit, I imagine he will improve it by adding more reliable supplies.
Also, a small kit like this is intended for short term emergencies so 9 attempts at fire would be suitable for a one or two day emergency. If I only had 9 matches in my kit, I'd simply keep the fire going 24 hours (if possible).
And you're right about practice! A person could get very frustrated if they tried to learn how to use one for the first time in a real emergency. In fact, any fire starting method should be practiced frequently until it's as easy and natural as brushing your teeth.
Hi Laurie,
To the Mini Emergency Kit that GoldenBoy put together, one question that he might want to expand on is why he chose what he chose to put in the tin. It sounds much like the old Scouts tin I remember having to create.
Certain items also have to be "protected", like the matches (are they everstrike ones) and what about a good length of thread (for the needles) and mono-filament fishing line (for fishing, tying things up and emergency "thread"). I was going to build a similar tin and decided to go with a Pelican 1010 container; it's much bigger and that's both good an bad.
Great idea. This is on my list of must-do's. Lucky for us, we keep finding things we need while out on our morning walks. A few weeks ago we came across one of those mint tins and thought it would be useful for something. We've become quite good at scavenging goodies like this.
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