So Tom (lane) and I were talking the other night and he got me thinking about my preparedness kit that I cart around with me skiing and hiking and whats in it. If you know me you know I'm okay carrying around a little extra weight to make sure I have what I need if I need it. Sometimes it just means I'm carrying around a lot of extra stuff for nothing (except strength training I guess). Anyway, so I wanted to lay out the things that I have in my prep kit to give other people an idea of what to put in theirs if they feel so inclined. I typically only bring stuff that I would likely use and a few must haves in case of dire emergency. So here is my kit. (Pardon my spelling...no spell check in photoshop)
(click image if you can't read the text)
EDIT: i just noticed that my AA batteries aren't labeled (they are for the GPS)
It made me think there are a few things missing from the kit that I could add, or a few things I should sub out. I probably don't need 2 fire starters, but I haven't had to start a fire in an emergency situation to date and the fire striker has been hit or miss in testing. The 9V/steel wool/tinder combo is proven and absolutely works even when wet but its bulky, heavy and you have to make sure you keep the 9V out of the elements and check in annually. I might dump the 9V for some REI stormproof matches. or I might just make some by dipping some strike anywhere matches in wax (wax is GREAT!). I used to have a small light in there but its light pattern was so terrible i got rid of it. I would like to add this to substitute. Its also got a whistle which I hadn't thought of including but is a good idea. I could have used a whistle one day out skiing with wade when we got separated and he had to hike the long way out. I usually carry two way radios now, but a whistle would always be one and with me (of course, now that I think about it, I had a whistle on my bag...ooops).
So anyway, there you go. If you want cheap disposable stuff that will probably not break for one emergency use, head over to coghlans. Otherwise, just pick and choose as you please.
