Im very impressed with how that held up. My mother gave me a survival kit for Christmas in the 80s. I carried it i wanna say 10 years. I remember my last summer camp before i was to old for scouts. We opened it up. The chocolate bar was awful. The sugar we used in coffee. The beef melted and colored everything as well.I still have the mirror somewhere. I remember the candle was melted from heat. Ac wasn't used everywhere back then. It's amazing how well that stuff held up.
I bought one of those kits back in the late 70's and that wasn't waxed paper when it went in and double check that twist tie I had one and it was around 10-12 inches long. There is/was another person that had two of those kits one was in a MOPAR polishing cloth tin with a paper REI wrapper with the same contents made from the same group "tacoma mountain rescue". I contacted them a couple years back and they were thinking of reintroducing that same kit.
That would be awesome to see a revamped version. It’s even cooler that you had one of these in its prime. I didn’t realize there was another version with more contents I need to order it also. You were right also it was a single bread tie and it was like a foot long. It was literally just double the length I showed in the video. I also saw the mopar polish paper wrapped kit but it was 60 dollars this one was only 30. That paper definitely absorbed all the wax 😆
I have a 1972 or 75 kit here to do they are definitely intriguing. I didn’t know until now but they made a bigger version of this kit with more contents
This same size kit must've come with varied contents, because the one I picked up from an Army/Navy store back in the day had a chromed Made-In-Japan case compass included. The tin sat in a car for 2 DECADES and the melted candle was still in the plastic wrap when I emptied it. Domino sugar cubes (perfect), Lipton tea, and unlabeled bouillon. Same wire & matches but a plain red/white whistle. Nylon twine was included with the bouillon-stained yellow tube tent. Survival instructions crumbled to bits. Would love to modernize my kit but the tin was damaged so I just stuck it on a shelf. I think it was pretty nice for the times---shelter & heat being paramount for surviving a night outdoors---but the tin could likely fit a Swiss Army knife, lifeboat matches, ferro rod, Fresnel lens, foil, basic sewing & fishing stuff and a tape patch. Thanks WS!
Thanks for the view and comment. I believe there was two versions of this kit the other kit was the same shape just slightly thicker. I saw one on eBay that had the stuff you just said in it in like mint condition unopened. I should get it to review also
To continue on with how I’d update this kit to a more modern version, I’d ditch the candle and substitute in a light of some kind (either a keychain light or a proper flashlight with a clip attachment), put in a new tri-fold set of updated survival instructions, switch out the bullion broth packets for wrapped or bagged bullion cubes, keep the tea and seasoning packets (but add in an equal number of genuine honey packets, as I prefer honey to sugar in tea, but also because a honey-sugar mixture is a primitive remedy for open wounds), either keep the standard Diamond matches but dip them in wax to make them stand up a bit better in inclement conditions or ditch them for dedicated storm-proof matches, keep the whistle, add in a pocket fishing kit wrapped around a small dowel rod, a hank of snare wire wrapped around a small spool, a survival card, a multi-tool, a Suunto-style clip compass, a simple pocket sewing kit, a mini med kit, a ferro rod and striker, a water catchment bag, maybe a fresnel lens, maybe some fire tabs, maybe a pocket pencil sharpener, a hank of paracord or bank line, and a pocket picnic blanket to use as a ground sheet. I’d also make that signal mirror detachable and add either a sort of notch-and-clasp closure system between the lid and base of the tin or add a gasket between the two for sealing (ditching the tape seal) so that either the clasps double as handles for the lid of the tin or a set of butterfly handles can be added to the lid, effectively turning the lid into a cup or soup bowl as well.
@@TheRealJackOfTrades I wouldn’t at all disagree with you on that, and to be honest, I went back and forth a lot on ditching the candle or not, and I’m still a tad ambivalent on ditching it. If I did keep it though, I’d also want to have in the kit some manner of “pop-up” lantern to place it in. A bare candle with no holder of any sort is rather inconvenient.
This is an extremely substantial list of stuff. It would probably all fit if the main shelter was removed from the kit and added to the outside. I would rubber band it to the outside of the kit anyway to save space for the inside components. Maybe even vacuum seal the shelter component to make it as thin as possible and add an extra layer of protection. You always have an awesome idea for additions plus some good facts to slide in like the honey thing is awesome to know. Honey is really an amazing food. Just the fact that honey never really expires and it carry’s all the local allergens and can be used to help people adapt to local allergens is an awesome thing it really is actually a super food. Thanks for coming back everytime and having such awesome gear lists I really appreciate it a lot!
Yea I like the idea of the candle for that sole purpose. If you put the shelter over your body the way I did and close it up like a mummy. Then dig a small hole in the ground deeper and wider than the candle then set with the shelter over top of it. That makes it way warm enough to survive a rough low temperature night
I had the same kit many years ago. It was a free gift for my purchases totaling up over a certain amount. My kit had the same tube tent but light red and even though not listed on the tin, it came with balled up kite string for the tent ⛺️. Also, mine had bouillon cubes, not powdered, but just as messed up 😆. The tent came in handy for a freak little rain storm ⛈️ that my hiking partner wasn’t prepared for.
Haha 🤣 that storm I was in was actually pretty crazy my wife called my phone in the woods because the thunder and lighting was so bad she wanted to make sure I was good up on the mountain side 😆. Thanks for telling me that short story I love hearing the story’s of people using the kits.
Thank you maybe I will do a few field tests early to keep everyone entertained 😂 I had fun doing it even though I got soaked it’s hard to see on the video but it was pouring the entire time
It's really unfortunate; this kit needs aquatabs 😢 😂 I like these type of kits because sometimes less is more, especially for people who are not kit aficionados. One can easily put one together with stuff from Wal-Mart (uh, except for the tin. Now, a plastic container has to suffice). I can totally see my Baby Boomer mother keeping this kit stashed somewhere.
Pity that tin isn’t any sturdier than it is anymore; if it was, in a more modern variation of this kit (which I would DEFINITELY love to see), I would imagine it coming with a bail on it or soldering one to the tin personally and using the empty tin as a boiler/broiler pot for the tea and bullion broth (and any game I might catch), presuming it had a much sturdier quality to it (I’m actually a little surprised they hadn’t considered to add it on originally, if only for the sake of having a carry handle for it). Of course, in a more modern version of that kit, I’d also imagine the tin to be a little bit bigger and wider to be able to effect that as well (as in, big enough to broil a fish at least). Similarly, I’m also a bit surprised that, considering they intend for you to make tea and bullion broth, they don’t give you any water purification options in the kit, and I’d definitely be wanting that in a modern version of the kit if I’m using wild water to make tea or broth, probably in the form of tablets. In a modern version of this kit, I’d also be updating the yellow look of the tin and the tent to safety rescue orange (of course with the understanding that using the tin as a pot will most likely wear away the orange coloration) as well as updating the tent to be made of a somewhat sturdier material with a reflective underside like Mylar. Side note: something kind of ironic that I’d noticed about the survival instructions is that the melting of the wax candle on them probably actually saved the paper somewhat from the bullion broth and preserved its legibility. Without it, I’d think the broth would have almost completely eroded it.
Yea that would be a cool addition to have some kind of bail or handle on the sides. The lid could also have a small handle to be used as a pot lid. Definitely making it bigger would be awesome. As for the purification tablets in there I don’t believe purification tablets were made until the 1990’s so it would have been dependent on some kind of bleach or similar solution to that. Definitely updating the shelter would be a plus something thicker and reflective would be awesome. It was very warm in that shelter when I was in it but it was also 75-80 degrees 100 percent humidity. You can probably fit 4 to 6 oz in the tin it’s bigger than what it looks on screen you could probably boil water right in the tin it’s probably slightly thicker than a current day Altoids tin.
@@whitetailsurvival2430 Unless I misremember my research, I believe Halazone and iodine tablets were water purification options going all the way back to World War II, with commercial awareness of Halazone going back to at least the 1970’s or 1980’s (so yes, still too late for this kit). Although I believe Potable Aqua tablets (iodine-based water purification tablets) were developed in World War II, I hadn’t been able to find when they became commercially available on a second look of that information.
@@whitetailsurvival2430Unless I misremember my research, Halazone and iodine tablets were water purification options going all the way back to World War Two, with commercial awareness of Halazone going back to the 1970’s or 1980’s (so yes, still too late for this kit). Although Potable Aqua tablets (iodine-based water purification tablets) were developed for World War Two, I wasn’t able to find when they became commercially available upon recent research.
@@andydaniels3029I don’t believe it was released to the public until later on I actually believe I read something that said they were not released to the public until 1989 or 1990 believe it or not but I did read somewhere that your not supposed to consume iodine for long periods of time it’s not good for your health but I guess chlorine dioxide tablets are a better long term option. Best case scenario is to strain filter then boil.
@@whitetailsurvival2430 Yes, long-term iodine supplementation I’ve also heard is hazardous to your health. I’m sure we’ll hear in twenty or thirty years or whatever that chlorine dioxide is also hazardous to your health like they did with Halazone and they’ll come up with something else. Agreed, the best most sure-fire method is strain filtering and boiling.
There’s another version which I did not know about that is actually a bit larger tin and slightly more cylindrical. If I can find one I will grab it to go over.
