I’ve always been drawn to the mystique of the miniature survival kit. Imagine that you have been instantly transported to the wilderness, and must survive with only the gear that fits in an Altoids tin! If it was packed right, you’ll be able to assemble a shelter out of sticks and leaves, start a fire with some waterproof matches, and catch some fish to fry up with some hooks and dental floss! (Don’t ask where the frying pan will come from.)

In an actual survival situation, things may be a bit different. For one thing, you probably got to the woods somehow, and thus, there was a time when you packed your kit. Which means you had some sort of context for packing your kit: a sense of what you might need, how long you might be in the woods if things go wrong, and the kinds of dangers or issues you might face.

To build the optimal survival kit, you need to think about those things: where will you be, and what will you already have with you? For example, the survival kit guide at Man Made DIY doesn’t include a knife. They point out that if you’re the kind of person to pack a survival kit, you are probably also the kind of person to not go into the woods without a knife.

So let’s look at survival kits in terms of the Ten Essentials, a time-honoured guideline for packing gear for a hike or camping trip. All of these things should be accounted for somewhere in your supplies, and some of these are great candidates for being packed into a mini survival kit.

With those needs in mind, here’s what I would pack if I were making a kit to go on a hike or trail run and wanted to prepare for the possibility I might get hurt or lost and need to spend the night out there:

I’m not including fire supplies, since my goal would be to survive a night in a place that was warm enough that I went on a happy little daytime hike in the first place. I’m not bringing water supplies because I’m not likely to be lost so long that water will be key to my survival. I’ll already have extra water and snacks, since those are a part of my usual packing for a hike or trail run. And I’ll check the weather and bring appropriate clothing, but the space blanket will be nice to have just in case.

But that’s just me. With these considerations in mind, what would your mini survival kit include?

A safety razor blade takes up a tiny space, as does a scalpel (sealed means sterile) blade. A magnifying lens can be used to investigate wounds (splinters, ticks) and start fires, fish hooks take up little space. The inside of the tin if free of paint and rust can be used as a reflector to attract attention (maybe even a crude mirror). Saches of rehydration powder can provide a basic energy source. Cut the striker off a matchbox to light your (5 or 6) matches and get your fire going with a cotton ball with candle wax dripped thereon 🙂

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