Agent's 'kinda wild' U.K sit-x/survival...on a budget thread.

I decided to put this together for anyone who was wanting to prepare,but didn't want to get themselves into financial trouble doing so..like meee
.............................
Disclaimer...
This is NOT for the 'Bare Grills' types who can make a 5 star hotel out of a few branches and an empty crisp-packet..
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All links provided are the cheapest I could find for MY requirements.
Yours will differ a lot.. M/F small/tall single/couple.

..

First..
Living 'wild' will keep you busy so if you're a fairly inactive person..Get your arse out for walks,bike rides,camping trips..anything that doesn't involve the TV and a control pad in your hand..

The money saved on electricity and new games will pay for your gear...
I call this 'EXERSAVING'
..........

First you'll need somewhere to live..mobile...comfy..
Nooo. NOT a 3 bedroom caravette with satellite dish coz there'll be no petrol pumps or reception where you're going..
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Tent..

Your home for the foreseeable future.
Go a couple of sizes larger than it states..
Mine is a '3-man' but I STILL wouldn't want to share it with a couple of large hairy guys after my famous 'nettle and jerky casserole'

Avior x3..
tent

Get a tent that is light enough to carry anywhere but has a decent 'Hydrostatic head'..That is what is going to keep you dry.. Dry = happier..
It is also an advantage to get one that is 'tapered' and low so if the wind gets crazy,you don't end up flying over Norway looking for a landing spot.

(I spent a few sleepless nights with an offshore wind blowing past the Isle of Whithorn and a 1,000,000ft drop off the cliffs onto the rocks..(at least 1 million ft.. maybe 2 )

This should set you back for less than ..

£100 for single or..
£150 for a family one..Kerrching..
..............

Of course this is only really big enough for sleeping and stashing your essentials..So you need to make a sheltered 'living area'

The best way I've found to do this is with a IPK (Individual Protection Kit)

(I heard urban myths these are lead lined.. ermmm.. no they're not..)

Basically its a 'mini-tent' .. sheet made from a VERY waterproof material.
This is a real survival tool as it can provide shelter quickly and efficiently for a fiver..

IPK
ipk

They come complete with pegs and rope which are worth the price alone.

Throw it over a couple of tree branches 4-6ft high and peg it to the ground to make a canopy for your 'living area'..slope it slightly so the rain runs off..then you can put a collecting vessel under it to supply some of your water needs.

If secured correctly,wind is not a problem as it will pass underneath quite happily.

£5..Kerrching..
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Now you're on you're way to collecting gear so you're going to have to have something to store then carry them in..

Backpack..
By the time you've EXERSAVED you'll be plenty fit enough to carry one of these with your essentials strapped to the webbing and a change of undies inside..

I took the longest time to choose my latest one of these. I couldn't decide wether to go for a traditional time tested Army type with external frame etc.. or..

Instead,I settled on a modern material 'pack' with a zip off day bag.
It MUST have a framework that will adjust to your size so that the weight will be carried on the hipbelt..
This is on the body's natural strength and pivot point.
It is NOT fun carrying any weight on your back alone..especially up and down sand dunes..trust me..(I used to be a camel in a past life)
Fortunately UK is not in the desert..yet..

(I've yet to REALLY test this for durability)

Backpack
Backpack

(Those bumheads dropped the price on me)£65?? arghhh..

£50-£100 Estimate depending on your choice.. Kerrching

...........

Now,the last 'essential' topic is a stumbling block but I will cover it anyway..carefully..

Because the U.K is such a pissy-nancy country at the minute..It doesn't seem to think you should be allowed to carry tools..

So ALL the following information is in the 'theoretical future' where all Politicians and police have been eaten by zombies OK...

...
Forgetting foraging for guns,bazookas and T.O.W's like some of our American cousins ..

The best thing you could get is a solid Knife..
These can be horrendously expensive from outdoor suppliers but persevere and shop around..
Must be full tang.. ie blade goes most of the way,if not all,through the handle.
FORGET your 'Rambo knives' with hollow handles complete with crochet kit and a billiards table inside...
WHEN it breaks you must have enough length to fabricate a new handle.. be it wooden/animal skin/whatever.

(When you purchase one make sure it stays safe and hidden indoors under lock and key until you need it.. it will become your personal survival buddy..
Chopping wood,Skinning,gutting fish/rabbits etc,carving tools.Everything.)

Don't make the mistake of buying a few cheap ones.
Get used to the fact it could have to last you a lifetime..which will hopefully be a LONG time..
DON'T be shy on getting a large one too..A big knife will do everything a small one can..and a lot more.
Don't get one with protruding rivets in the handle..they hurt..a lot..

'IF' I had already bought one.. I would have made sure it was something like this..
knife

Sorry to say the Yankie Seals Beat the S.A.S in this department ..yaboooo...

It has a finer tip for filleting/skinning,decent balanced weight for chopping.. and staggered serrations for carving your woggle or whatever..

Knife price..
how long is a piece of string??
£100 -£300.. Kerchh... ok I'll stop doing that..
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Total so far... £255 to £550..


All the above items are what I would class as the utter basics for comfort and neccessity..
Everything else is totally dependant on how far you want to take preparation seriously..

In the next part I'll cover everything else from sleeping bags to
miniature fishing rods.. (OKAY.. I bought one )
...................

Disclaimer part two..
Yeah I know this sounds like 'wimp survival' but hey-ho.. Most people aren't used to even picking their own mushrooms or blackberries these days.

(Depending on how popular this thread gets I may even supply some pics of Agent 'in action' )
'star it' or whatever with requests and I'll blag through each topic..

I'll even road test some of the sillier purchases I've made and see just how much they fail miserably.

(NOTHING naughty or remotely illegal before you ask.. )

"No credit cards were hurt err..badly.. em..no 'fatally wounded'..in the making of this series"

"Most people aren't used to even picking their own mushrooms or blackberries these days".




hahahahaha by far the best post I read in a long time! gets a flag from me thats for sure.


As for a tapered tent...


"It is also an advantage to get one that is 'tapered' and low so if the wind gets crazy,you don't end up flying over Norway looking for a landing spot".




But on a deadly serious note.... how do you rate that SOG knife ? good ? fair ? killingly bloody awesome ?

Cheers for the read + greets, Daniel.

reply to post by Dan Tanna


Cheers for the comments..
The S.E.AL SOG 2000?
Well 'IF' I had one..

I would say it makes short work of trees/bushes up to 8" in diameter for shelter building.Feels effortless to use and is making an Ex-army guy jealous to heck coz he lost his off the side of a boat.Hasn't shown a hint of corrosion,still as sharp as they day it 'may' have been bought.And the sheath is RIDICULOUSLY well constructed.

So yeah.. I would say it's alright..
'IF' I had one

ell then looks like i'm going to have to 'maybe' see about 'maybe' purchasing one of those little beauties for my collection.

It looks one beefy 'do it all' tool... just what I need in my survival kit for the long days and nights in the wild.

Got a small hand powered chain saw, a fire kit, a water life straw and a smaller mora knife from sweden... need a mo'fo for the bigger jobs though.....





These little 4 inch blades are razor sharp, high carbon content which is great for the flint and magnesium blocks i use... well worth the small out lay. £8. and they last an age.

[edit on 21-6-2008 by Dan Tanna]

add one of these to your BOB and you'll be laughing. Goes through two foot trees easily, and has to be the easiest tool i ever used to lop down large bows off a pine tree.

Yeah I was reading where you posted that little gem.
Def a 'keeper'

The only 'double hand saw' is the weeny one that came in a 'survival tin'
It has two 'finger size' loops on it and a rough link wire.
Does what it says on the tin 'emergency only'

(I noticed the Cebe box..
Man they were the best fitting sunglasses I ever had.. I left them on the back of a chair in Israel..
They fitted totally around the eye sockets..Great protection.. sonofa.. )

I'll add the 'fillers' of my B.O.B too in the next instalment or two.

Cebe impact resistant cat 4 high altitude glasses. Carbon fibre frames and as I said impact resistant lenses.

They are the Don Corleone of the sunglasses world (mind you, try driving in them in a tunnel...) not a survival tip !

Hey T great thread I knew it was going to be a good read when I seen this...

"Disclaimer...
This is NOT for the 'Bare Grills' types who can make a 5 star hotel out of a few branches and an empty crisp-packet.."

Haha had me in stitches!

The Avior was my second choice of tent I went for the Vango Banshee, its only a 2 man tent but it could fit 3 at a push, its strong, light weight, packs down real small and doesnt get rattled much in the wind as its low to the ground.

i296.photobucket.com...

IPK check check...I was thinking about adding a hammock to this to see if I could rig something up hennesey style

My work knife at the minute doesn't match up to that seal one, it does the job though its full tang with a rubber handle with one side partially seratted and the other razor sharp...good for most things but it only cost £15 so I "might" need to splash out and "maybe" get a new one.

Dan Tanna would you recommend getting one of those saws? Thats one essential I havent added to my supplies yet so I'm open to suggestions.

One other thing I was thinking about investing in is a water filter...

www.rei.com...

Are these worth it or should I stick to boiling water and using W/P tablets?

Cant wait for episode 2 T keep it coming!

EDIT...

Forgot to add...anyone on a tight budget (like myself) can sell old junk to pay for supplies, I recently sold some old junk out the loft and gained enough money to buy a tent and a decent bag, remember one persons junk is anothers treasure

[edit on 21-6-2008 by fred3110]

POST EDITED TO COVER WATER FILTERS..

Water filters..great item..

www.walkandtravel.com...,0,0,4,7
Katadyn pocket filter. £250

If memory serves,replacement filter was about £100 too..
It's a valuable resource and worth it if things looked REALLY bad..but not exactly 'budget friendly' considering you can boil water easily enough.
One of the mods was singing the praises of his filter pump..
lasts for QUITE a few thousand litres as long as you use it in fairly clean running water.. AND wash the ceramic filter in the fresh water it produces.
You could get the full size or a more portable version..

On a more realistic budget
You can get the plastic water bottles with filters built into the lids
www.hardware-ironmongers.com...

The 'small budget version' would be the..
Water filter straw for about £5 .
cgi.ebay.co.uk...

Water can also be purified by ..You guessed it.. Water purification tablets.
www.chasesmith.co.uk...
£2-£3 as a guideline for 50 tabs = 50 litres.

Sunlight/UV light will also purify water.. Sometimes we get sun in the UK
You can get battery powered UV water purifying pens..but that means batteries etc..meaning a finite resource.

Silver will purify water..It is contained in some of the water filters available.

If you are lucky enough to get a site far enough upstream,water will be filtered by water passing through rocks and running water will be quite fresh anyhoo...Boil to be safe..
Just make sure you set up your ablutions downstream from your collecting point...otherwise .. that ain't no brown trout swimming towards you

[edit on 21-6-2008 by AGENT_T]

Ahhh well if your still after getting a Banshee the camping shop up the road from me is selling them for £65 each...you even get a colour preferance...green or blue

As soon as I get the ££ I'm going to get a micro filter...after reading the reviews on that site they look like an excellent addition to any survivalists supplies.

reply to post by fred3110



The saw is a God send. easily lops and chops and the teeth are bi-directional and give a real fast smooth clean cut.

As for usage ? mines taken down two foot trunks and still comes back for more. A little TLC and it lasts ages.

I really recommend getting one if you can.

S n' F for a top laugh T!

A proper all-weather tent is next on my list...the one problem is that all tents i've seen either seem to be only blue or green, and if you've ever been to glastonbury and tried to find your way back 'home'...

("it's the green one thats like a dome shape, I swear I left it in this bloody field"

"which green one? there are 3000 green bloody tents that fit that bloody description

reply to post by citizen smith


Haha.. Sound like Homer's idea to put the orange ping pong ball on the Ariel to find the car..
"Everyone should have one"

My 'non-budget' dream selection was bright yellow.. 4-season arctic expedition mountaineering typa thing..
www.trailspace.com...

It's an American link Coz it's just plain out my budget..

Thanks for the advice Dan Tannna the saw is now on my to buy list, I've just been reading through the thread you dedicated to it...why didnt I notice it before its full of great advice lol!

T I'm just looking at them links now, the micro filter is a bit more costly than I thought, if it does what it says on the tin though I can understand why...cheers they should give me some interesting reading material before bed

Instead of the tent, you could always go the route of a multi-purpose large-span golf-umbrella

Preferrablly it would be re-covered in a camo-pattern, and with a ghillie net to drape over the top as a mobile/collapsible hide and large enough to sleep under in a foetal position...survival kit and button compass in the handle, reflective mylar lining to camouflage from airborne UAV-drone radar/IR/TI imaging, or used as a large wifi-dish for long-range LOS wireless networking...

there are too many practical survival uses for a brolly...and innocent looking when furled and carried down the street too, even as a disguised arrow/bolt quiver, with a broken-down x-/bow carried in your pack

reply to post by citizen smith


Hahaha..Funny you should mention brollies.

I just had a bunch of emails regarding an 'unbreakable' handle model..The guy is marketing it as a potential 'covert' self-defence item.

'Covert' as in.. if you whack an attacker with it and you get stopped by the police..Tell them you were expecting rain.. and NOT carrying it for protection..



(EDIT for Fred below..
Ahh yes. Burgess Meredith's finest hour..apart from 'Micky' of course..
That's when men were real men,brollies had hidden sleeping gas cartridges and the Bad guys all wore matching pyjamas with penguin emblems so you knew whose side they were on... )

[edit on 21-6-2008 by AGENT_T]

Haha where can I get one of these brollies!?

Personally I'd go with the one penguin uses in batman check out the wikipedia article!

"The Umbrella’s usually contain weapons such as guns, flame-throwers and acid spraying devices"

Now thats one bad @$$ brollie!

T...they were pricless haha especially his evil laugh, it was way before my time but I still find it hilarious!

[edit on 21-6-2008 by fred3110]

reply to post by AGENT_T


I was wondering if you could conceal an airgun barrel in the brolly-shaft...that way you could bag a few bunnies Georgi Markov style

reply to post by citizen smith


HAHAHAHAHAHAAH! You sir are a freaking nutter !


This threads ace... i'll be back in and otu for sure. As for mylar lined brollies.. thats not so stupid at all. But i'll say on ething. Sod that for getting cold. I want a tent.

reply to post by citizen smith


Wow I'd never heard of the umbrella murder before!

Talk about James Bond style!