Wilderness Survival Kit: The Basics and Advanced Options (Fire, Shelter, Signal, Food and More) 

One thing that I feel is important to mention. All kit items should not be carried contained in the kit in a pack. Very important to carry some items on your person in case you become separated from ur pack. Knife should be carried on you for sure. Whistle, lighter, or matched etc. light, and space blanket can be carried in jacket or pants pocket if u have cargo pockets. Alan Rice

I use dental floss in my kits. Threads through a needle, or a fishing hook, it's super strong, plenty strong enough to build shelters with, and snares, and it's like 100yds a roll, just take it out of the plastic case and it's a tiny 300+ft spool the size of a damn button compass lol Soooooo useful

When you pulled out the family photo I went into tears immediately 😭😭😭😭😭😭 it touched me a lot

Small tip, alcohol wipes are awesome. Besides the obvious medical/sanitation uses, they are outstanding fire starters, 1 strike from a ferro rod, or a lighter with no fluid and they are going. Plus the wrapper itself burns very well also. Super small, lightweight, and awesome.

If you’re going to leave a note, you should always have the date on it. If I find a note that’s says they are lost or injured & it has a current date on it then I’m more likely to look around or try to signal them. If the date is a month old ... well hopefully they made it out or .. R.I.P.

When it comes to dryer lint. If it is mainly cotton. OK But if you mostly dress in wool. Not good as it is flame retardant material. Some thing to defiantly want in a basic kit is a pencil sharpener. Makes paper thin wood shavings for a fire starter. much faster than a fuzz stick. Works well even with wet wood. An upgrade is a carpenter pencil one. Accepts larger sticks. And it leaves you with a pointy stick. Which could be useful. Finally in your explanation you mentioned. A pocket bellows. I find a surgical rubber tube does the same thing but does much more.. Adds spring power to traps, can be used as Hawaiian sling, a Delbow or a simple sling shot.

Weather specific items like socks, hand/foot warmers for winter

Hiking solo years ago in the Rockies of Colorado, my best was 3 large Black plastic bags. I put my sleeping bag in one, with a mylar blanket below. My rain poncho, full size, was my shelter . I was warm and dry. Always carry dry wool socks, they also make great mittens. Carry a light wgt, wool sweater and wool cap any season Great recommendations Thanks Jeannie

I'm glad you started out with signaling. In such a situation, my main priority is getting rescued. All the other kit preppers always ignore the signal aspect of a kit. Im also glad you followed that with the trash bag. Many kit aficionados go straight to the item count of their kits and get into the romance and fantasy of living in the forest like sasquatch. Remember, everybody needs some KFC: KNIFE FIRE COVER

Thank you for not mentioning the words bushcraft and bug out. I got interested in survival gear based on the idea that sometimes an unexpected turn of events can put you in a difficult situation and rather than not having anything you can carry a few essentials just to increase your odds of survival. I don’t feel that I need to learn how to build a house from bamboo. I just need to buy time. I also am not planning on bugging out during an apocalypse and leaving my family behind. In the SHTF situation my home will be the safest place for my family.

I would add an emergency bivvy and a reflective vest. The first keeps you warm if it gets really cold, the latter helps you being seen and found, also at night if a search party uses flashlights or from a helicopter. Both items are small and weigh next to nothing.

skill and knowledge are needed above all else. fallowed with a good and positive frame of mind, folk get into a bad situation and then make it worse with negative thinking.

I'm a ranch hand and a lot of the time something comes up while I'm out away from home. I carry most everything you show here, some different name brands. These are exactly what I tell my family and friends to have in their cars and packs. Excellent job on the video. The only thing I would have added is that 3 blasts on the whistle is the international call for help. Again great job

When you blew the whistles both my pups came immediately to my side 😅

Instead of floss I use fishing string that I had laying around. And bank line.

Great vid! Appreciate that your videos that are relevant and your recommendations can be reasonably implemented. Thanks!

I would add some tin foil, and some bags of tea. With the tin foil you can make a pot to boil water... it folds flat so it takes little space.

This video was very helpful, and I found out that I have some of these items. I think that the most important thing in a survival situation is keeping calm.

Great info for beginners or vets. All kits / gear should be customized for the season and environment you are in. Example, I live in a marsh, swamp and lowland forest area and are subjected to tropical weather, heat, humidity and lots of rain which cause frequent flooding. I added an inflatable CO2 life vest, one for me and one for my pack. and a blow up air mattress. Now i can put the air mattress on top of my foam sleeping mat to make a small raft. Yes I spend a lot of time in the swamps in my boat and have other EMERG gear. I also have 2 red air flares, 2 orange smoke flares, 2 small red road flares for my pack. My flashlight has a strobe and sends the SOS signal. I have a Manta Strobe (MS 0015) which can be seen 3+ nautical miles in overt mode and 6+ nautical miles in near-infrared mode. Also I added a hunters orange vest and hat, and some extra waterproof tinder and some extra hexamine cooking fuel tabs. And I found a hunters orange el-cheapo poncho. I go back into some areas that are very isolated and cannot be reached unless you go in with a very shallow hulled boat. I carry a pack in case I have to hike and swim out. But sometimes you gotta hunt the bass down. I also carry mirrors 3 of them. All 3 can be used for signaling and one of them can be used for fire making and medical. The concaved mirror or magnifying mirror can be used as a parabolic reflector for fires, it also enlarges the reflection like a magnifying lens. The other 2 are for signaling. With 2 mirrors I can signal 360 degrees instead of 180 degrees. Just catch the sun in one hand reflect it to the other hand. Now I can signal ahead of me with the sun at my back. The good news is that you can buy all three of these mirrors at a Dollar Tree for less than $5. Some ladies makeup mirror compacts have both types of mirrors. I enjoyed he video. Well Done. Hand Salute from a Vet.

Good video, covering some great basics. One thing I would've done is have it packed in a small tin that protects it, and gives you an option to cook. Also adding in a basic brew kit (tea/coffee etc) and maybe a meal to cook.

I liked the card with emergency information. I also like that you actually test out your kits in a realistic scenario and that you take suggestions from others. Thank you for talking about having a picture of your family and bible verses. My wilderness journeys are always close encounters with the Almighty. I built a kit in a cheap canvass case I got online. Inside I have mini survival pouch that has basic first aid, a mylar blanket, small knife, plastic bag and water purification tablets, duct tape, etc. I carry bank line instead of paracord because it's more compact. Just a couple items I think might be unusual. At my dentist, they were giving away "floss cards" which are credit card-sized and have maybe 20 feet or so of floss. I wrapped both duct tape and athletic tape around them just enough to be useful and stay flat. I've added some of those little compressed towels (just add water). In the larger pouch I've added a thin pack of picaridin insect repellent. While the small pouch has a tiny mirror (from my wife's makeup case) signaling, I've added a small green laser light pointer. Also, for navigation, all my watches have built in compasses, so as a backup, I saved an old phone (a very small one) and reset it, then put on an app called orux maps (you can get it free online somewhere), with maps from OpenAndro which are very small files and not the best topo, but very detailed with the ability to zoom in very close. Also on the phone I put some basic hiking apps, a star gazing app (to help navigate at night by the stars), survival apps, and an app to make phone calls through wifi. In the bigger kit, I've added a swiss army knife, rain poncho, and snack. The whole kit weighs between 1 and 2 pounds. It has a belt clip but is a little heavy/awkward to carry there. I carry all of these items or better versions of them in my overnight backpack, so I use this in my smaller pack for day hikes. I just thought some people might find those things interesting. Good work on the video!

I've never really thought about the mental battle/psychological aspect to survival kits. So the photo with verses was a cool idea.

Non-negotiables for me are (1) Canterbury’s top 5 C’s: Cover, Combustion, Cutting (fixed blade), Cordage (550), Container. (1)(a) FAK (2) Food (3) Compass (4) Signaling (whistle) (5) Headlamp (6) Phone

Great set up. I think you probably need to be specific that one or more of the containers people are carrying needs to be metal. This to support water treatment, cooking, char cloth manufacture. Folks don't automatically carry nested canteens any more. I also find flag tape a good triple use item: dead reckoning land nav, signalling and strapping for knees/ankles.

Excellent video, thanks for all the good info...very helpful.

You did such a fantastic job here. All the research and the links to find everything. You are a God sent.

Thanks for the vid. I think it’s possible you saved someone’s life out there by making this video.

The greater the dab of the whistle the better (more dB means louder). Tarp: there are tarps (more expensive) that are silver reflective on one side (reflects heat back). Tarps come in different colors, you may be able to get blaze orange on one side and reflective on the other.

Great video Tim, thank you very much for sharing. All the best to you and your family. 🤗

If you are setting up actual survival kit (not some apocalypse kit), get either orange garbage bags or orange tarp. Both can be found on amazon for little money. Orange is common color used in survival and extreme outdoor gear as it's highly visible material.

Great tips. Ordered three things that I hadn’t considered.

This was excellent! I have long time experience with wilderness survival and this video broke it down really well with excellent product recommendations

Great Video! I's add a cheap pair of work gloves. I got some silicone dipped at Home Depot for less than a dollar a pair. A little extra grip and protection, as well as some warmth, can really make a difference. I of course would add the Bear Bowl as well but I'm biased. The photos and bible verses are a solid win as well. Great job!

Carry two trash bags. One to put over your feet and legs and one for upper body. Keeping your feet and legs warm helps alot.

Thanks again enjoyed the video and from my family and I we hope that you and your family have a great Christmas and new year and that you stay safe

For bushcraft my most important is a lighter, saw, axe, knife, cordage, and a couple water containers, one to collect river water, another to hold water you boiled for drinking. And a pack to hold it all. Plus some way to get fish or game to eat and or forage. And a gun.

Great selection ! Thnxs 4 uploading & the links in D. bx

Very informative and educational. Thank you very much

One of the best basic survival kit videos I’ve seen. Over the past couple days I’ve had a guilty pleasure of looking at people’s bushcraft, survival and BOB kits on RU-vid. They’re so ludicrous that I find them hysterical. I don’t judge people for being inexperienced or just starting out. We’ve all been there. It’s the inexperience combined with the hubris that they’re teaching people to carry something they think is important that in actuality is dead weight. This is both the BEST and CHEAPEST kit I’ve seen on RU-vid. I have a slightly more robust system then this for day hikes but the core of it is basically the same as yours. One specific thing I liked about your kit was the signaling gear. Most videos give them a passing mention if they’re even mentioned at all. Coming from a SAR background it’s nice to see signaling equipment being given the importance that it deserves. Up front and multiple types. Well done! As to your question I find a small microfiber towel to be really handy. They are able to be wrung out almost completely so you can actually use a small towel to dry off. Soak up water, wring out and repeat. It can also be used to dry clothes faster by rolling them and wringing them out together and it can also pick up morning dew if you need water. The one I carry is the smallest one offered by msr.

Yeah wife and I have her adult kids living with us, they pay the utilities and such at a certain amount each. I think I'm going to build them all 3 bug out bags, along with nylon tarps, sleeping bag systems, sleeping pads and all that included with small first aid kits. They don't understand how important bug out bags are. But they are going to have them, just in case anything happens in life, then they will have them. I've built a few. I love building them when it can be afforded to have built. At least if they ever go hiking or camping then they will all have everything they will need...

That i3 eos Olight is a great little light, Always on my key ring. Lot of light for a little light.

The one thing people forget to carry is current list of all the medications they take, prescription and over the counter medications. In this information make a list of your current medical status, diabetes, heart problems, allergies, or other medical conditions and important past medical history that affect your current medical condition/status. Indcluding the names of your doctors with their phone numbers and your medical insurance info. This will aid emergency medical personnel and emergency room personnel is giving emergency medical care. DON'T FORGET to bring some Imodium A-D. You could add an extra signal mirror so you can signal 360 degrees instead of 180 degrees. With your back to the sun catch the light in one hand and reflect it to the other hand. Now you can signal with the sun at your back increasing your signaling range. A mirror can also serve as a flashlight. I've used them for snake hunting and checking out dark areas. Enjoyed the video. Hand Salute from a Vet

Great video thanks for sharing

I honestly feel like you should always carry some kind of book on plant identification or anything that could be edible, you never know what trouble you’ll end up in and having some knowledge on edible plants or even medicinal plants could go a long way

Love that you have the most important survival item the lords word with you that alone will mean you'll never be lost

Fantastic video. Best video I have seen on basic survival gear.

Great video! Thanks for listing budget friendly and upgrades. Many videos list expensive items.

I’m about to do a day hike, I’m gonna make a kit base off this for worst case senario . Thank you for video

Bandana: numerous uses 👍 Gloves : keeping your most important tools safe 👍

Great video and great recommendations. I'm not sure if you mentioned it, but a couple of candles are always good. A candle lantern is even better. Hat and gloves are also a must for my kits.

Great video!!!!!

I tried to walk down a mountain trail after dark (sprained my ankle, didn't expect to be out after dark). Only had a squeeze light. Not fun to squeeze that for 6 hours. Recommend a rechargeable headband light. Black diamond are quality caver units. I would trust my life to them.

Awesome content!

Great vid buddy.

Very helpful thanks man.

Excellent advice. On bandannas Royal Blue is another good color as outside of water it is a very uncommon color whereas red and orange are leaf colors during the fall. That is why when I was in Civil Air Patrol aircrew had flight suits in that color.

Just started the video but gosh do I appreciate the lowered volume for the whistles

Thanks bro! Very useful information! Knowledge is power! Especially during these times!

I have a similar kit I carry for day hikes and even in town. I carry a small stainless steel cup for boiling and an SOL emergency bivy.

Great video keep it up bless on your family

good solid options for a bug out bag....ontariot Rat 1 is always a good knife to carry in emergency situations

Great kit and well thought out. One thing, instead of floss or paracord, "bank line" in many colors, offers 35# test/or more , light weight, and a lot for the money.

Really dig the videos Thanks

Excellent video with practical information.

We are in the same line of work. Your video was very enjoyable. Some helpful modifications/additions in no specific order of importance. Reducing Base weight of pack: Separate (or break) the top off the dental floss, and just take with you the spindle and floss. Remove all of your gear's packaging ,bags, pouches as they add to your base weight . Use a thicker blade with less cutouts vs ESEE's completely skeleton blades: [reason is this is for survival not casual]. Use military grade paracord or like Titan cord that have added strands for fishing and fire, and greater tensile strength. Btw, the colored lights on headlamp is for survival situations, and allows one to keep their night vision. The Lifestraw will last indefinitely in storage if never used, and if used you need to pull in salt water to prevent mold from forming in filter( just flush out the salt water prior to use) Also buying Lifestraw gives a child drinkable water for a year a good deed.(I own 3) A small crank radio is always a plus as these people are going to be scared out of their minds in a real survival situation. I look forward on seeing more of your work.

I'm just gonna put ultimate emergency survival kit out there. This would be for boat, car, plane and trekking. Ofc in case of if you are actually going trekking, you might have many of these things already, those you can leave out. Fire starter kit: -UCO Stormproof Match Kit -Lighter -Ferrorod -Man made firestarter in sealed container, more effective the better as this is for those emergency cases of bad weather. Fishing kit: -Lots of strong fishing line -Couple hooks, no need to skimp on these -Couple actual lures -Weights -Two small floaters Signaling kit: -Emergency whistle -Signaling mirror -Flare gun, this is especially important for boats and planes. -Sewing kit -Mora Companion knife -Basic medium Swiss army knife, like Walker -Sharpener -Swayer mini water filter -Pathfinder 32 oz steel water bottle, this can be also used to boil water -Pathfinder 25oz steel cup that nests with the bottle. -(Optional) I would also add metal trekking spoon cuz we are not savages :) -Suunto A-30 compass. Suunto is widely recognized as on of the, if not the best compass manufacturer. -Waterproof notepad, pen or two -Petzl TIKKINA headlamp -Backup led flashlight that uses same AAA batteries as Petzl, get something cheap as long as it's water resistant. -Pack of AAA battery -Paracord -Metal wire, to set up pot on top of fire for example -Duct tape -(Optional) Trip wire or some strong string, this would be your all purpose string, but you could also just have more fishing line. -SOL emergency bivy or blanket if you want to save some money -Rain poncho, light and compact, but not emergency/disposable poncho that breaks easily. -Strong orange contractor bags, couple. -Large zipper bags, to store food, water and items. At least three. -Gloves that are relatively protective against cuts and injuries, you don't want any injuries in emergency -Depending on climate, wool socks, gloves and beanie. This is to protect you during your sleep from frostbite and lost heat. Food: -SOS or other emergency calorie bars, one pack. This contains 3600cal, it's compact, light and are *non thirst provoking* -Electrolyte powder -Instant coffee and tea -Sugar, salt, pepper sachets. I would also add chili. -Water purification tablets -Candy -(Optional) Caffeine tablets -First Aid Kit, I'm not going to advice on this because it's so personal and depends on many factors. There are few items such as extra water and backup phone battery that are also really important but these need to be checked from time to time to charge and switch out the water. There is emergency water but it's really expensive, charged phone is arguably in most cases even more important than water so you would need to check up on these from time to time anyways. Just set up reoccurring phone alarm. I might have forgotten something, but this is basically it. I'm going to explain my thought process behind this kit a bit and some of my choices. This kit is meant to be emergency kit that stays in your plane, car or boat, so it doesn't have the most expensive stuff, but it's also meant to be kit that can potentially last for long time if rescue is not coming or doesn't find you in projected few days it usually takes. So all core items are quality, but still relatively inexpensive. But primary purpose of the kit is still surviving for less than week. When purchasing items like rope and everything else, go for bright orange. This is universally used color for high visibility, it's both for you to find stuff and for rescue. You would ofc need to pack this kit in backpack, I separated items so that it gives you an idea how you would want organize it. Just waterproof what needs to be waterproofed. Boats already have their survival kits and things like beacons, so this would be in addition to that in case you find land. Now I'm going to explain some individual items. -Flare gun is extremely important because even when helicopter for example is looking for you, it can be extremely hard for them to locate you without flare. Especially if you are in middle of forest, it's practically impossible. -Swiss army knife is chosen instead of multitool for many reasons, one multitools are expensive. Secondly, if you are lost on wilds, you have more need for toothpick and tweezers than tools. This is mainly backup knife and to give you small saw. It also has basic things like can and bottle opener. -In case of water bottle and cup, optimally you really want both because this allows you to carry more water and in case of extended survival situation you don't have to use your bottle to cook food and dirty or empty it. -For shelter, you will have poncho and those couple contractor bags. The bags can also be used to collect water. You could also opt for tarp, but it's either going to be large and quite heavy, or in case of light camping tarp, more expensive. -Food items are meant to get you trough first few days to allow you time to get organized, found, or move to safety. Extra bits are to give you morale boost and some energy, spices are in case you capture something. Those little mcdonalds spices will make your survival experience so much better. No need to skimp on these, it doesn't take any space or weight.

My friend does ems, he told me that you should always have a trauma kit with quick clot and a tourniquet on you as well as your basic first aid kit

Sawyer mini is a better option for water purification, it's small, lightweight, comes with a durable water pouch, and filters 100,000 gallons of water.

Also a small pack of fishing line, high test goes a log way to repair gear or use it to hang things up. 30 years of trainer for safety and First Aid and CPR.

One thing I'd change up is the color of that UCO match safe. It's a good match safe but unless you wrap some bright color duct tape around the cap, it can be easy to lose during summer time in the woods. I have the same brand but in blaze orange and another in yellow. Easy to spot on the ground.

All good ideas I make water proof fire straws along with a small designated fire kit also I carry three knives with me along with a tarp ( 12 by 16 ) along with 2 black contractor. Bags along with space blankets and a good idea with the cleaning rounds is to not only impregnate them with either oil or Vaseline but to run them thrive melted wax to make them more water proof.it helps and with all my lighters and matches I double wrap to keep them safe and from wearing out or wet also with the big lighter another trick besides wrapping duct tape or gorrila tape around it it to use bread ties( wire ones ) wrapped up under the button to keep it from discharging by accident and loosing fuel.

I like how little space it takes up.

Lost in the wilderness don't expect help to come. Want to survive. If it is to be, it is up to me!

Good video, thanks

Great video!! Thanks

Excelente video y gran explicación !! Abrazo de Bushcraft ✌️🇦🇷✌️

Great review, cheers.

Thank you for the info sir.

Great video as always!

All my dogs came running when you blew the first whistle lol

Hi Tim, Bravo! This was amazing! I always learn something new from your videos. Having your personal information and family contacts cannot be stated enough. Memorize a few key phone numbers! ☝🏻Love the photo of the family with encouraging scripture. Keeping your head in the game is essential, otherwise you’re not going to be able to use all your survival gear if you cannot think logically. Sharpies are amazing, I’ve seen that they are flammable as well!!! Hopefully this gets a million viewsand I’ll be watching it again! Thank you!

I Love That.

Good job Sir

You rock!!

With regard to the paracord, I recommend cutting it into several separate pieces (for simplicity, I suggest 1 X 50’ + 2 X 25’ or 4 X 25’,) wrapped for quick deployment. You can use one section with 2-3 bank line prussic loops for a quick ridge line. Yes, you can always cut what you need from a 100’ hank, but pre-cutting will give you a chance to seal the ends before you leave home.

Excellent n basic. This vid could save lives. but for water, the WaterDrop filter Straw gives such a high lvl of filtration plus total versatility and a great price. H20 is so very impt for survival, I don't mess around w my filters, i prefer at least a 4 stage one. I also ALWAYS have some coffee filters (tons of uses even as a bandage under your duct tape). For the record, your choices are excellent. Thank you for this vid.

Very nice!!

10 essentials. Anything extra is a bonus. Hike safe & practice often .

Very good..

Consider hand warmers as it gets colder to help with body heat. Great video.

We went on a fairly short hike with some friends & even though I knew it would be heavy to have to lug - I put a crazy high number of full water bottles in my pack & they were soon consumed to an almost surreal quickness . I've watched probably hundreds of survival videos which naturally mention containers & purification methods but , few if any straight out talk about large quantities of ready to drink water.

Great video.

Great video God Bless

Everyday Tactical Vids Brother, I have watch a lot of these videos for entertainment! But your video was Awesome! Great job!

Ps. I always carry canteen with water ( 1-2 liter ) but even make home made mre's to carry with me just in case now have been lost before and learned from mistakes.

i like to long list of all the gears has a link to it, nicely done.

Another good light that doesn’t cost much is the LUX-Pro 130. Flood and spot capability. $5 at Lowe’s. The RAT-1 is a great knife!

Magnifying lense. I prefer a lense from a broken binocular I took apart but could be a fresnel. Wire saw, the one the marine Corp uses. $25.00, available for purchase from the manufacturer. It can cut through the ceramic tiles of the space shuttle, jewlers use them, Chuck Yeager cut the metallic ring of his pressure suit off after a crash where he was severely burned. They are not like the el cheapo brands. Great video (a rarity) with good, solid, time tested tips and advice. I would also include water bags (plastic), a cup (stainless), and 1 or 2 larger plastic bags to use for placing around bushes to gather water.👍

(portuguese Brazil): Obrigado por compartilhar! Saudações do Brasil!

I have that whistle is awesome and the Garmin inreach mini satellite communication