Survival kits

[c_172pilot]

With thoughts of flying float planes crossing my mind I got to thinking about a survival kit. I luckily have never needed one aside from 6 hours spent on a lake north of Campbell river after the mags died on the C172 float plane while I waited for our AME to navigate his way down the labyrinth like logging roads. I was certainly glad I had my lunch with me that day!

In 2008 I completed basic land survival with the RCAF. The course was excellent and certainly made me much more confident that I could survive in the bush long enough to be rescued with very little equipment. The survival kits that you have with you are very small and compact as they fit in the pockets of your survival vest and if your flying a airplane with a rocket seat in the small pack attached to your harness.

I was thinking I may put together something similar for flying in the bush. One never knows when a simple three hour tour turns into a much longer stay. The goals of this kit are to include enough basic materials to make your stay in the bush as comfortable as possible while not taking up too much space and weight in the airplane.

The 1st item is a fishing vest, these are designed for people fishing in fast moving water. They have a manual life jacket inflation in case you end up in the water and lots of pockets for storing survival gear. The idea behind having a basic survival kit on you is sometimes you don't have the option of retrieving your kit from the back of the plane, with this vest it all comes with you. I found one that will likely do the job at cabelas http://www.cabelas.ca/index.cfm?pageID= ... 2&ID=26639 too bad they only come in olive drab...



In the pockets you will probably want to stuff the following:

Medicine (whatever you need for at least 72 hours--mark all drug containers with use, dosage and expiration date)
Compass (with instructions for proper use)
Paper and pencil (you can write down your compass bearings)
Map of the area
Lighter (Bic disposable or equivalent)
Waterproof matches
Magnusium stick (for starting fires)
Utility candle wrapped in aluminum foil
Utility knife (Leatherman, Swiss Army, etc.)
Canteen or water bottle that can hold about 750mls ( heavy duty freezer bags could work)
Water purification tablets
Rain poncho
Space blanket
25 feet of parachute cord
25 feet of snare wire
Small fishing kit
Snacks (some quick energy like jube jubes)
Signal mirror
Whistle
(Spot GPS??)

Many of these items are small and compact but will require some creative packing to fit in the vests of the jacket. I am going to be putting my kit together over the next couple of weeks so I plan to update this thead as things come together. My hope is that anyone who has a suggestion of comment will chime in.

Cheers,

C_172pilot

[CD]

There was a pretty good thread a few years ago too:

AvCanada: Survival Gear - what do you personally carry with you?

[photofly]

Get a decent fixed-blade knife if you have room for one. If not, a good folding knife. The steel on most multi-tools is very soft, and will blunt very very quickly. Mora make some fantastically cheap extremely robust fixed-blade knives.

A pocket PLB costs less than $200 and is about the size of an old cellphone, eg McMurdo fastfind PLB-210.

Magnesium is a total PITA for tinder. The scrapings blow away, and don't generate a lot of heat, even when you can contrive to keep them in the same place long enough to light. Cotton wool dipped in vaseline makes excellent tinder. Take some in an old film canister. And/or make some char-cloth and take that.

For ignition I prefer a fire-steel and scraper to matches. If you're going to take a lighter take one with the catalytic element rather than one that has a flame. The catalytic ones are a zillion times better in the wind, and much much hotter too. Remember butane pressure drops off quickly below freezing, so don't expect to rely on a lighter in really cold weather, when you need to start a fire the most.

Then practice lighting fires with whatever's in your kit: learn how to find good firewood, how to shave it to make tinder, split it to make kindling (and what else to use) and how to set and light a fire with it. When you can do that, try again with one arm tied. Then with the other arm.

If you can be bothered, learn to make and use a bow-drill for fire-lighting.

Replace your bootlaces with paracord, and keep your knife on your belt. That way you can use the knife to make a bow-drill, and make a fire without lighter, matches, etc. Nice if you have them with you - but now you're equipped even if you don't.

Practice with the signal mirror. Make sure you have one with the retroreflective aimer in the centre, and be sure to know how to use it.

Take a toothbrush - cleaning your mouth does a lot for your morale and makes you feel a lot more human.

Take a second whistle: if there are two (or more of you) someone can go to look for water etc; whistles will help you find your way back together if one gets lost.

Also a flashlight: $15 from the far east gets you a stupidly-bright small waterproof AA flashlight with an LED emitter, which will run for tens of hours continuously.

Remember your priorities:

(0. First Aid)
1. shelter
2. fire or water (depends on season)
3. water or fire (see above)
4. food (a very distant 4th priority)

Stay with the airplane. Don't try to find help - let help find you. (Of course this supposes that you filed a flight plan etc.)

Medicines are possibly helpful, but only the ones you need to maintain life on a daily basis.

If I were pushed for space I would lose the fishing kit and the snacks. It's unlikely that you're going to catch anything or need to eat anything sufficiently urgently to make them worth sacrificing anything else for.

Lots of very good practical advice here, about what to have in an emergency kit:

http://www.equipped.com/srvkitstoc.htm

[c_172pilot]

Some great advice guys!

I forgot about the para cord for boot laces, then I looked at my flight boots and yep, there they are. Best part about para cord is that if you take it apart you have a lot of small but strong rope. Nice thing about para cord is that you don't have to walk around with no boot laces after using it because you can take the outer cord and use it as boot lace again.

I will have to look into the PLBs, I like the idea of satellite with lat and long, not line of sight VHF.

Good tips on staying with the wreckage, it can be hard to spot, people are pretty much near impossible. I have a small survival manual, the SAS survival guide. It is about the size of a pack of cigarettes and has lots of useful information. When your out there alone having something to read is really useful. I must have read "Down but not out" 6 times just to pass the time.

I am a big advocate of fishing kits. I had a small spoon (yellow 5 of diamonds) and about 20ft of fishing line. I took about a 10ft branch and made an "cane pole" fishing rod. I caught a small pike after about 20 min. It was quite tasty, just lots of bones. A simple kit like that can be built out of a film canister with the line wrapped around the outside container. Throw a bit of yarn ( red looks like a worm) and perhaps a couple of small hooks and your good to go. Plus it gives you something to do.

Good advice on practicing using your equipment, you don't want to have to figure out how it all works when you really need it.

C_172pilot

[photofly]

If you have a kitchen style vacuum-sealer, consider using it on the contents of your kit. That way:

1) you'll be less tempted to borrow parts of it, in non-emergency situations ("I really needed a match...") and won't therefore need to remember to replace whatever you used;

2) the contents will remain dry, even if you have to swim, and

3) they'll take up a lot less space.

Cut small nicks in the selvedge of the sealed packets so you can rip them open even with one hand.

[Castorero]

Some well considered suggestions, Photofly, especially vacuum packing some of the more sensitive items.

I would add that if you are down in an aircraft , you may be injured, bleeding and in a great deal of pain.

A first aid kit should include compression pads, lots of gauze rolls and tensor bandages to stop or slow down blood loss.

Pain killers with a punch, like Tylenol #3, or better, a few vials of morphine or demerol with syringe and needles can really come in handy in the event of serious injury. A sympathetic family doc can usually prescribe those meds for such a kit.

There is no limit to what you can add to a dedicated kit, especially if one has a knowledge of first aid or more.
The small commercial kits leave a lot to be desired. Ask your friend the Ambulance tech, or your GP about what you should ADD to Your Kit.

In a more practical vein, a small pack of flares and launcher can also be used to frustrate a hungry bear, as well as signal in fading light.

I think the thin aluminum space blankets are a dangerous addition to a survival kit. If you have them you think you can count on them, but you cant. They are useless in a wind and they tear too easily. I learned that the hard way one very long night at six thousand feet in a snow storm...
Better to carry the tougher and bulkier 'tarp" like survival blankets that wont fall apart and can be used as ground sheets as well as body cover.

Carrying some of the items in a personal vest worn EVERY time you fly may well save your life one day.

A friend and his buddy ended up shiny side down while taking off a mountain lake in mid Oct. He swam to shore and started a roaring fire with the bits stored in his vest. They would surely have died from hypothermia had he not been wearing his vest.

I consider the vest the first line of defense, packed with just a little of the stuff that you cant do without. A vest packed to the gills is a vest that gets thrown in the back of the airplane, most of the time.

I carry two separate hard cases, one for Survival kit and the other as a separate Medical kit.

On occasion, i will carry another hard case with the Last Aid Kit, consisting of a good bottle of Scotch, a best port and a great wine, to be opened in succession when things start to look bleak...

[nadam172]

Hey, I would strongly recommend doing EGRESS training if you are planning too or are flying floats. I did it last year and it was an awesome experience. Learning how to escape from a cockpit while being flipped underwater while being fully clothed. It was hard but defiantly a great learning experiences that could save my life. The certificate is good for 3 years after and looks awesome on a resume. Here is the link to the company http://www.dunkyou.com/ They came out to Calgary, Alberta to Mount Royal University and did it with us aviation students.

[Meatservo]

Good advice here. I would like to add, if you pack matches, pack good ones in a waterproof container with the striker included. In my experience, "waterproof" matches are also largely fireproof!

[North Shore]

Don't forget a deck of cards and a pack of smokes...

Open them up, and guaranteed someone will come along to tell you how to play solitaire, or bum a smoke!

[2550]

Lots of good advice here. Ive been thinking about this myself. Ive spent a lot of time back in the bush, not next to a crashed plane im glad to say. In addition to the above advice, I ll add my two cents.

Fire: include firestarter of some type that will get wet wood to burn in a wind. I used to use Zip (white smelly firestarter you buy and canadian tire) I used it cause it was what was supplied, and it worked, but Im sure there are better options.

I have hardly ever lit a fire with a match, let alone a drill or flint/steel. Im sure it can be done, but if you can do it after a wreck when your wet and cold your a better man than I. I ussualy have about 4 bick lighters stashed in various pockets, map pocket, backpack, etc. If im worried they ll get wet, I double ziplock bag them. Vacume packing would be a good idea too. Advantages are they are cheep, so you can have lots, you can hold a flame on something much longer than you can with a match(good if things are a bit damp), and they always work. Yes they have to be warm. I always made sure they were in a inside pocket when it was cold out. There may be beter things, but thats what ive used.

Most important, practice making fires in the environment you might have to. Im helpless when get south of 60, but up here I have no prob.

Shelter: Of course you have to dress for the wx, weather its rain or cold. True, those space blankets suck. One thing that might be nice in a vest is a Sil tarp. They re little silicone impregnated nylon tarps that stuff down to practicaly nothing, yet are very waterproof. Ive slept for months under just this plus a bug net. They can be rigged against a tree, treking poll, etc, or just thrown over gear to keep it dry. With an 8x10 the ropes to tie it out are almost heavier than the tarp. If you do get something like this, get one a bit bigger than you think you need. To stay dry, it has to be rigged low enough to the ground that rain cant blow in, but with enough space underneath that you dont touch the tarp,as condensation will make you wet in that case.

Food: have something calorie rich. True, a person can live for a while without food, but I at least get pretty miserable after a few hours.... Id sugest things like powerbars and jerky for the vest, and lots of freeze dryed in the back of the plane, given the option. I wouldnt skimp on this too much. Weather and darkness can delay rescue for a pretty long time.

Other stuff...a leatherman of course. Bug dope. A headlamp may be better than a flashlight.

I would leave out the map and compass in favor of a spot tracker and spare batteries. In my part of the world at least its about a twenty minute flight to get to somewhere that would be a bad idea to try and walk back from. Much worse in some other places in canada. Sit by a fire and wait. If boredom is a problem, your probably doing ok. But just in case, you could always follow the advice of an old single otter pilot i know and include a bottle of scotch and a hustler magazine.

The best advice on here is the bit about keeping it light tho. Float flying you have a reason to wear some sort of a vest anyway, but yes, if its too bulky it wont be with you when you need it.

[ragbagflyer]

There may be more "practical" fire starters, but this one is so old school cool it makes me want to take up smoking. But since I don't smoke - aside from the very occasional cigar - a couple of tight wraps of electrical tape and this thing is pretty well water tight. It also produces a large flame that would easily light whatever tinder you have at hand. Did I mention it's covered in gold?

[esp803]

A bottle of Dom Pérignon, a small tin of the finest beluga caviar, fois gras, truffles and a good book.

[Redneck_pilot86]

Man, if I'm going to spend a surprise night in the bush, its going to have to be around MA.

[Stian]

I used to do mountaineering, and the worst enemies you can have, it is the cold. The cold can affect you buy a low temperature, but also the wind can give you the sensation of cold same by a day who is not cold and the moisture. If you have someone injured, same by temperature above 0° can be quickly deadly for this person.

In the mountain you have to carry everything so the idea to be light was essential.
So instead to carry a tent, I use a blue tarp. It is very easy to keep that it at the bottom of your bag or of you survival kit. If you have to sleep outside on e wet area that can keep you out. If it rain put that between to tree, with an others one on the bottom.
If you have someone who needs to be warm up quickly, put the tarp on top of them, it is an excellent wind stopper. The eyes around the tarp make it very easy to tie down the way you want.
I have also a firelighter, that can help you to start a fire rapidly same if you don’t have dry wood. And for people who are not good to make a fire that resolve the problem.

One thing I always have with me in my flight bag, it is a survival blanket. It is not expensive don’t and take any room in your bag but work very well. In winter put a candle between your legs and the blanket around you, and you will warm up quickly.

I have of course other thing in my survival kit, but this idem are the very most useful people don’t always think about it.

Sorry for my poor English.

[nadam172]

Another amazing fire starter is dryer lint! You just gotta make sure it stays dry. But, this stuff ignites like crazy when a spark hits it. Try it out some time!