> TEOTWAWKI Blog: Pocket Survival Kit Entry #4

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4/9/12

Pocket Survival Kit Entry #4

OutdoorSurvivalists – PSK (Pocket Survival Kit) Essentials

This is my PSK submission. It has taken over the course of a year to properly refine my kit to the
most basic items that I can use to sustain mine and my wife’s life, should we find ourselves away
from our primary kits for a period of time. I personally feel that knowledge & wisdom alone
can always keep a person alive under a wide array of circumstances… but having a ready-made Pocket Survival Kit can only enhance your chance of seeing another day!



My primary PSK case is from Ultimate Survival Technologies. It was an extra case from a
SaberCut Saw I keep in my primary kit, but I found it to be perfect for my needs because it has
a large belt loop on the back and a harness clasp on the front. I decided to use this case because
I keep my wallet in my front, right pocket for security purposes and tend to either keep keys or
misc. items in my left pocket; thus leaving me without a suitable space for my PSK. I always
keep my black oxide Leatherman Wave in its MOLLE sheath on the right side of my belt and
my Leatherman Crater c33Lx knife clipped in my right pocket, so my PSK balances things out
perfectly on the left portion of my belt. The case is barely larger than the PSK tin itself, making
the case form-fitted around the tin as you can see in the photo. Because of this tight fit, I had to completely re-stitch the entire case so the seams never fail me due to weight or size.

Editor: Click below for the full contents - there's some good stuff! I'm also going to start adding some feedback on each entry as a bit of extra value for entering!

The added benefits of my case was that I could not only keep my PSK tin in it, but I could also
keep my full size Swedish FireSteel with scraper & built-in whistle, ESEE survival card, 1 liter
WhirlPak collapsible container and my 5 Point Arrowcard with Knife & Saw Blades. This added a good deal of weight to my PSK, but allowed me to have all the needed necessities and keep
backup duplicate methods for survival (per Dave Canterbury; “Two is One and One is None”)
This has made my kit feel much more complete!

 This is my primary CRKT Ritter RSK Mk5 knife & tin. I made the decision that this would be
the only premade PSK item that I purchase. I really liked the concept of a neck knife that would fit inside of an Altoids-type tin. The aesthetics of the tin itself really drew me to this purchase, as I wasn’t entirely keen on using a candy tin for my PSK. Picky, I know… but I intended on forming my whole kit around this tin, so I might as well go for something that I didn’t mind showing to others and explaining its uses (I just did this with a female co-worker yesterday afternoon, while at work – and she initiated the conversation!)

Here you will see my PSK tin contents exposed. I will add that it took me a long time to get everything to sit perfectly inside the tin without things moving around or keeping the lid from closing. I completely took my whole kit apart just for this review; which was a challenge getting
everything back how I had it before. I still don’t like the “fit” as well as before, but hopefully you will enjoy seeing it piece by piece.


So here we are; the bulk of my PSK is completely exposed. I labeled everything for you to see for yourself what my kit contains. For the sake of space in the photo, I tried to keep my labels from going too in-depth. You will notice that I have backup methods of fire-starting, catching game & fish, purifying water, navigation, and knife blades. I won’t go into great detail here on how items can serve a dual purpose, other than what it was originally intended for; but with a little ingenuity, most items can provide the capability to resolve different survival tasks.

Here is a formal list of my PSK contents:
  • Ultimate Survival Technologies Case
  • ESEE Survival Card
  • 1 Liter Self-Standing WhirlPak
  • Light My Fire Swedish FireSteel
  • (Army Model) with Striker/Whistle
  • Equinox Coronado 5 Point Arrowcard with Knife & Saw Blades
  • CRKT Ritter RSK Mk5 PSK tin
  • Fresnel 2x Lens
  • Snare Wire
  • (10) Tinder Quik Tabs
  • (10) Aquamira Chlorine Dioxide Tablets
  • Pill Fob with O-ring
  • (8) 1 lb 1-1/2” Nails
  • Berkley PowerBait Crappie Nibbles
  • Micro Fishing Kit
  • (2) Ranger Bands
  • Streamlight Nano LED Mini-light
  • Spool of Nylon Thread
  • ESEE AH1 Arrow Head
  • (2) Liquid-filled Compasses
  • CRKT Ritter RSK Mk5 Neck Knife
  • with Lanyard
  • (1) 1964 Silver Quarter
  • (3) Pre-1964 Silver Dimes
  • (4) Large Safety Pins
  • Sewing Needle
Lastly, I wanted to touch upon the contents of my micro fishing kit. This is just the basic items needed to catch fish and other aquatic animals. You can finger-fish, as my brother and I used to frequently do as kids… or you can tie this strong fishing line to a hand-made cane pole and be ready in minutes to toss your line into the water. My hank of Spiderwire is 13 feet, so it could possibly be split in half to make two separate long cane poles.

This concludes your first-look into my Pocket Survival Kit. I really hope you enjoyed seeing my personal take on such a common piece of survival gear!

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Editor's Note: I think I'm going to start providing some feedback to these entries as a bit of value-add. I'll go back over the next few days at add some thoughts/to suggestions to the first three. It's all meant to be constructive and helpful.

I quite like this kit--it's fun to see some influence from things that we've talked about here on T-Blog. A few things to think about:
  • Between the arrow card and ESEE arrowhead, you have 6 arrow points, but nothing for a bowstring or fletching/feathers. I'm not sure how much extra value the ESEE arrowhead is giving over the arrow card, if you need to drop something, that's a potential.
  • I would probably drop one of the two compasses
  • Silver coins - not sure how a small amount of silver coins coming in useful in a short term scenario, either wilderness or urban, unless a barter economy has already developed in the area. If you want some currency, I'd just include some cash.
  • Consider adding some duct tape to the kit--it's got endless uses, including making fletching for your arrows. 
Interested in entering the Pocket Survival Kit contest? Check out the details.
 
The prize mix is pretty great! First prize will receive a neo-tribal forged survival kit from Randy Church, an AR-15 Essential Parts Kit and Car Rescue Tool from Choate Machine & Tool, $50 in credit from Shelf Reliance consultant Jade Garn, a bundle of survival gear from OscarDelta & SnakeDr666, a copy of the Doom & Bloom Survival Medicine Handbook, and a $25 certificate from Paladin Press. Second prize will receive an AR-15 Essential Parts Kit and Car Rescue Tool from Choate, a bundle of survival gear from OscarDelta & SnakeDr666, as well as at least $30 worth of survival books & gear from TEOTWAWKI Blog. Third Prize will receive a Choate Car Rescue Tool and at least $20 worth of survival books & gear from TEOTWAWKI Blog.