Your Personal Survival Pack

1)      Keep all your items in a fanny pack that can be grabbed on the way out the door, worn around your waist for short hikes or placed in your backpack for overnight trips

2)      Keep it light – all the items below weight approximately 10 pounds

3)       Make sure you know how to use the items in your pack before you need them

4)      Always tell someone where you are going and when you are expected to return

5)      Leave information in your vehicle’s windshield regarding your destination and return date

6)      If you’re lost make a fire  - it will keep your mind occupied and provide you with a companion  

Shelter & Warmth

·         Wyoming saw (collapsible saw with two blades – bone and wood)

·         Adventure Medical Heatsheets Emergency Bivvy (bright orange exterior with silver lining that reflects heat back to your body – it simulates a lightweight sleeping bag)

·         Small Tarp – cut a 10’ x 10’ piece of Tyvek house wrap (lightweight, tough, waterproof, air tight, inexpensive)

·         Fire starters

o   Matches – Pro Force lifeboat matches (comes in waterproof container with striker)

o   Bic lighter

o   Gerber Strike Force fire starter – alloy flint bar with hardened steel striker

Food

·         MREs – meals ready to eat

·         Extra MRE heaters – it will heat long enough to melt a cup of snow

·         Two bow fishing arrows (can be lashed to branches for a make shift spear)

·         Emergency fishing kit – in a small container carry artificial bait (Berkley Gulp), several feet of fishing line, several hooks, and Styrofoam strike indicators)

·         Ability to make snares (your survival pamphlet should describe how to place snares)

Water

·         Water bottle

·         Metal “bottle cup” – tasse from GSI Outdoors which you can boil water in; fits over water bottle

·         Iodine tablets

Finding Your Way

·         Map and compass

·         GPS unit and extra batteries

·         Flashlight – LED Petzl headlamp (3 AAA batteries lasts 150hours)

General Survival – Multiple Uses:

·         Signaling Help

o   Cell phone

o   2-way radio

o   Signal mirror – Hotshot by ACR

o   Whistle – storm whistle

o   Light sticks (if rescue is overhead, tie light stick to rope and swing it overhead)

o   Safety strobe – Leland Strobe; 1 D cell battery lasts 30 hours (tie in the top of a tree at night if rescue is overhead)

·         Heavy duty fixed blade knife (we prefer the brand Knives of Alaska)

·         Pictures of your children & loved ones – will help keep you motivated in trying times

·         Notes or pamphlet on simple survival techniques (The Art of Survival – available free of charge from the Colorado Division of Wildlife)

·         Small first aid kit (bandages, elastic wrap, rubbing alcohol; blood clotting pads (Quik Clot); medical tape; necessary medications such as inhalers; antibiotic ointment; breathing barrier (one-way valve); instant cold compress; electrolyte tablets)

·         Cordage – 550 paracord (one strand holds 550 pounds)