So you’ve decided to undertake an extended survival weekend in the backcountry and have no idea what survival kit essentials to include in your survival gear kit?
The last thing you want is to be in the middle of the bush or high atop the mountains in Chile without an essential piece of survival gear. Nor do you want to have so much gear that it weighs you down and becomes a hindrance in your travels.
We scoured the Internet reading through a large number of articles written on must-have survival gear, talked with fellow adventure travelers and came up with the top 27 tactical survival kit essentials and essential supplies that we feel are the most essential for the beginner survivalist and outdoor adventurer, as well as the different options to carry the gear.
However, it’s important to note that this is a general survival equipment list and other factors should be taken into consideration when putting your own survival kit together. For example, your skill level in the outdoors, the emergencies you could face, will you be on a solo trip or with a group, if something happens how long will you have to wait for help? These are just a few of the questions you need to answer to cover yourself.
We broke our survival kit essentials list into 12 categories and the listed corresponding gear within each category.
We shared what we feel are the most important survival items for the beginner survivalist. However, there are other items to consider depending on your situation.
The following items do not necessarily have to be included in your survival kit per se, but can be included with your other gear. The point is to make sure you have these items and they’re easily accessible.
Fiendish people and dangerous animals are a concern to some outdoor adventurers. This leads some to carry a weapon or self-defense tool in their survival kit, as a precaution.
This can be a hunting knife, firearm, pepper spray, stun gun or expandable baton. These items do not necessarily have to be packed in your survival kit; they can be included with your standard gear, especially for larger items like an expandable baton, which are heavy and bulky.
Either way, if you plan to carry a self-defense item, make sure you know the local laws and regulations or you might find yourself in a world of trouble.
An extra set of medications should also be included with your survival gear. Not only prescription medications but also OTC medications, antihistamines for allergies, high altitude medications, even an EpiPen if an anaphylactic shock is possible.
You never know when you will need to access cash or a prepaid debit/credit card. Even in most remote parts of the world, you may find yourself in need of services or supplies from a local town. That’s why it’s important to include some cash in your survival kit or backpack. Remember, if you’re traveling abroad; exchange your funds for the local currency.
Always keep money in a sealed plastic bag to protect it.
For the seasoned survivalist, an Altoids tin will easily carry their survival gear. However, for the rest of us not so seasoned survivalist adventurers, we need larger options.
The most common ways to pack and carry survival gear is by backpack, a soft-sided or rigid carry case, or a float bag.
Let’s take a look at each –
There are two schools of thought on a survival backpack. The first is that it’s too bulky for a survival kit. Quickly accessing your gear in a cumbersome backpack is pain and carrying a survival kit backpack, in addition to carrying all of the other gear is not fun. The other school of thought is that in an emergency when you only have time to grab one item, a backpack is probably the easiest and most convenient.
If you decide that a backpack is the best options for you, we offer a range of budget-friendly tactical survival backpacks to store your survival kit
One of the most popular ways to carry survival gear. Made from fabric with a single zipper, these cases are lightweight and easy to pack with your other gear. However, they don’t protect fragile items well and don’t stand up to the elements very well. A small tear can put small gear like a whistle, flints or other similar items at risk of falling out.
Definitely heavier and bulkier than a soft carrying case, rigid kits made of plastic or metal better protective gear and are more durable.
The large majority of survival kits with gear on the market come in rigid carrying cases.
Dropping a piece of gear in the water or getting certain gear wet like a map or matches can spell disaster. So if your adventures will take place near or around water, a float bag/waterproof bag is something to definitely consider.
You can either place your carry case in a float bag or simply use the float bag as the carry case.
We hope this sheds some light on the best survival gear you for your next outdoor adventure or survival weekend. The survival gear and supplies you pack and carry is a personal procedure and should be approached as such. After all, the items you include in your tactical survival kit might just be what stands between surviving and thriving or not.
As always, we encourage all outdoor enthusiasts to do their own research and put the time into creating your own personal survival kit for your survival kit essentials.
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