Hollow-grip Rambo knife, who needs anything else?!?
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Survival Gear and Preparation...
- Thread starter scoober78
- Start date
A better flashlight - there are a number of very high quality, small, powerful ones available.
Water filter kits and purification kits.
Warm socks/cap/gloves.
Water filter kits and purification kits.
Warm socks/cap/gloves.
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
Spare batteries for whatever survival radio you use, double bagged.
One handed tourniquet. Having seen a crash that someone could have lived if he stopped the bleeding, it's in my gear now. Poor guy (civ crash) cut himself bad in the crash, otherwise OK and bled out before the EMTs could get to him.
One handed tourniquet. Having seen a crash that someone could have lived if he stopped the bleeding, it's in my gear now. Poor guy (civ crash) cut himself bad in the crash, otherwise OK and bled out before the EMTs could get to him.
Spot
11.5 years and counting boat free
Definitely second the multi-tool. I always had my Gerber-tool. (Got in trouble quite a few times because I would use that to do my work instead of my in-flight-toolbox).
I also had a handheld GPS (Garmin GPSMAP60). Very useful if you go on det and get lost on the way to the hangar/hotel.
Whatever you do, don't put any food that opens easy (power bars, candy, etc) in there. I've never seen a person get out of a vest faster than one of our pilots when the ants started getting to him.
Either way you go, let the PRs know about the extra stuff when you put it in there or make sure to remove it before they do the routine inspection on your vest. (They can either get pissey about the fact that they want to tie it into the vest or it has the possibility of coming up missing and "none of the PRs ever saw your stuff and you can't prove anything").
I also had a handheld GPS (Garmin GPSMAP60). Very useful if you go on det and get lost on the way to the hangar/hotel.
Whatever you do, don't put any food that opens easy (power bars, candy, etc) in there. I've never seen a person get out of a vest faster than one of our pilots when the ants started getting to him.
Either way you go, let the PRs know about the extra stuff when you put it in there or make sure to remove it before they do the routine inspection on your vest. (They can either get pissey about the fact that they want to tie it into the vest or it has the possibility of coming up missing and "none of the PRs ever saw your stuff and you can't prove anything").
A set of neoprene wet suit gloves. Having a cool leatherman won't mean jack if you're hands are soaking wet in ice cold water and don't work after about 15 minutes.
A Buddy Christ! I swear I heard a story in API about some dude having that stitched into his harness.
On a serious note though, a magnesium stick is always a nice thing to have in the outdoors. That shit start anything on fire.
Also, a dry sack. You never know when you are going to have to keep shit ( clothes) dry and since they pack down to nothing, it wouldn't really hurt your weight factor.
On a serious note though, a magnesium stick is always a nice thing to have in the outdoors. That shit start anything on fire.
Also, a dry sack. You never know when you are going to have to keep shit ( clothes) dry and since they pack down to nothing, it wouldn't really hurt your weight factor.
AJB37
Well-Known Member
And by weight factor, I assume you mean space factor... unless this is a magic sack that can turn a pound of clothes into 5 ounces.
FlyinRock
Registered User
Some good ideas have been posted. I'll add my .02. In my personal kit I carry a Swiss Army knife-standard issue, a quality flat compass about the size of a silver dollar (you remember what they are?), 50' of 550 cord, fire starter eggs that I made myself, zippo w/extra flints (JetA works fine in them) and a small fuel container for it (I'm always suspect of the pressurized lighters), one of the magnesium fire starters, a water straw, some pain pills, Pelican flashlights of the AA and AAA size w/ a couple extra batteries, and a Garmin GPS with whatever operational area loaded in it (and of course fresh batteries).
I like your attitude of being ready and that already makes your chances much better of an interesting experience rather than a nightmare.
Load yourself up with a bunch of really neat stuff and after you slog or hike thru some nasty shit, or up and down some 10,000' mountains, you'll wonder what is really helpful/useful. Chances are good you won't spend more than a night out there, maybe two. If it goes longer than that, you better have a good handle on survival skills learned well before hand and refreshed on a decent regular basis. Why? Because you aren't where people think you are, or they have a perverse sense of humor. The absolute greatest survival tool resides between your ears.
I lived in the back country for years and learned as a kid how to make do with what I had in my pockets if I got stuck out someplace. Seems to have worked pretty well so far......
I like your attitude of being ready and that already makes your chances much better of an interesting experience rather than a nightmare.
Load yourself up with a bunch of really neat stuff and after you slog or hike thru some nasty shit, or up and down some 10,000' mountains, you'll wonder what is really helpful/useful. Chances are good you won't spend more than a night out there, maybe two. If it goes longer than that, you better have a good handle on survival skills learned well before hand and refreshed on a decent regular basis. Why? Because you aren't where people think you are, or they have a perverse sense of humor. The absolute greatest survival tool resides between your ears.
I lived in the back country for years and learned as a kid how to make do with what I had in my pockets if I got stuck out someplace. Seems to have worked pretty well so far......
The U.S. Army Survival Manual:
http://www.equipped.org/fm21-76.htm
And, this excellent survival kit.. I think the guy also makes them for people if you don't feel like gathering the items yourself:
http://www.m4040.com/Survival/Survival Kit.htm
http://www.equipped.org/fm21-76.htm
And, this excellent survival kit.. I think the guy also makes them for people if you don't feel like gathering the items yourself:
http://www.m4040.com/Survival/Survival Kit.htm
Attachments
Lots of good suggestions here, but there's no point in buying any of it now, really, except for maybe some extra first-aid items (MB's suggestion of an Israeli tourniquet is a good one). You're not likely to be in an extended survival situation in the TRACOM/RAG.
Many squadrons will do a gear-buy before deployment for supplemental stuff, and you'd be amazed how much good stuff is in the supply system nowadays. Before my last cruise, we got handheld Garmins, new knives, better pistol holsters, extra first-aid gear, all kindsa stuff, and nothing was out of our own pockets.
One item that might be worth getting now is one of the current Army first-aid kits. It's more extensive than the Navy box-of-Bandaids you'll get in your vest, and unfortuantely, the Army guys have had a lot of experience treating trauma in the last few years.
At the very least, a few packets of Quick-Clot would be a real good idea. That's that powdered crap that you dump in a wound and the bleeding stops within seconds. I swear to G-d, it's like fucking magic; even arterial bleeding. Cheap, too. The Army and Marines buy it by the truckload now. And it's most certainly possible to have a bad bleeder during an ejection/bailout.
Many squadrons will do a gear-buy before deployment for supplemental stuff, and you'd be amazed how much good stuff is in the supply system nowadays. Before my last cruise, we got handheld Garmins, new knives, better pistol holsters, extra first-aid gear, all kindsa stuff, and nothing was out of our own pockets.
One item that might be worth getting now is one of the current Army first-aid kits. It's more extensive than the Navy box-of-Bandaids you'll get in your vest, and unfortuantely, the Army guys have had a lot of experience treating trauma in the last few years.
At the very least, a few packets of Quick-Clot would be a real good idea. That's that powdered crap that you dump in a wound and the bleeding stops within seconds. I swear to G-d, it's like fucking magic; even arterial bleeding. Cheap, too. The Army and Marines buy it by the truckload now. And it's most certainly possible to have a bad bleeder during an ejection/bailout.
And by weight factor, I assume you mean space factor... unless this is a magic sack that can turn a pound of clothes into 5 ounces.
You get 5 POUNDS. Unless you're selling gold or drugs, 5 ounces would be about worthless.
With the ceramic bullet-bouncer in my flt vest, I've already got a personal-MRAP. My 5-lbs will go in a separate bag or not at all.
There was a decent thread on this last year; still has good gouge.
http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140374&highlight=survival+gear
http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140374&highlight=survival+gear
A few good-quality trashbags - minimal weight, and can be used for multitude of purposes (ponchos, collecting water, carrying misc. stuff)
And by weight factor, I assume you mean space factor... unless this is a magic sack that can turn a pound of clothes into 5 ounces.
I was just talking about bringing the actually dry sack, no clothes inside. The dry sack is just nice if you shed some layers and keep them dry. My way of getting my point across may have been a bit off because I may or may not have been drinking when I posted it.