Top 5 Things Every Survivalist Should have But To Few Can afford

alright i am done with this thread people have totally missed the point

the basics are already covered and i like i said in the original op

things that would be nice to have

I have a night-vision monocular that needs no batteries you just squeeze it to charge it.

I started out years ago with a AN/PVS 2 starlight scope till the cops took it under fish and game laws even though i only used it for security work.
Yes it was rifle mounted on a M1A.

Later i got the night-vision monocular and so far 3 meth heads have done time in jail because of a cell phone call when i saw them when they thought no one could.

I paid less then $100 for the night-vision monocular.

I haven't missed the point.

Yes, Night vision and thermal imaging equipment is completely useless.  That is why the military spends hundreds of millions of dollars outfitting their troops with it.

I spend most of my free time in survival mode.  This is because I spend most of my free time in the bush by myself.  I'm bushcraft savvy enough that if I have a Mora knife and a stainless steel cup I'm going to survive.  This is good because I'm not a big person so I don't like to carry a lot of stuff with me.  In practice I carry only a few other things with me.

I have both Gen3, mil spec night vision and Thermal imaging gear.  Here is my advice for the OP.  The truth is I hardly ever pull the NV out of my pocket now that I have the thermal imager.   There are several reasons for this.  First night vision is basically useless in the bush if there is even a medium canopy overhead.  There just isn't enough ambient light for it to give you a clear enough image to help.  Also NV provides only a monochromatic image (shades of just one color) so anything that blends well (such as somebody just inside the edge of a tree line) will be very difficult to pick out with the night vision.

The thermal imagers on the other hand is a solution in search of a problem.  Like cupuscalar and nocturnal animals, when I'm in the bush I generally cover and sleep by day and travel and work by night. With the thermal imager, every warmblooded living thing shows up as a bright spot on a dark background.  It gives me a much heightened awareness of my suroundings.  Not only does it point out people in the shadows, or in the foliage, but it also shows me aircraft and vehicles.  It tells me if a vehicle has been running recently or even if a vehicle has been parked in a spot recently.  It shows me animals well hidden in the understory, even small game hiding in tree cavities allowing me to hunt easily at night and in stealth.  It shows me thin spots in the ice where river currents keep the ice from freezing.  It shows me if someone is sick, or if an animal is injured.  It shows me the terrain in the darkness, fog or smoke.  I can see and follow a path in perfect detail in perfect darkness.  I never have to wonder if that big dark object is a tree stump or a bear. It points out water sources where seemingly there are none. It shows me what my own thermal footprint is so I can minimize it, etc, etc, etc.

Now, before the "Well if you rely on technology, you won't get far" people chime in again let me just add that I don't rely on it, period, and I don't think that anybody else really expects to either. Soldeirs don't rely on it but they do find it useful enough to add to their already heavy kit.  Anybody worth their survival salt should be able to get by with only a knife. And sure technology can fail, BUT there are a number of items that make things a lot easier/ more comfortable and I never leave home without the thermal imager.  When I'm out for extended periods I take a folding solar charger along too, giving me near unlimited use.

reply to post by ANNED

Do you have a link to that? Or even better, the one that does not need batteries? I would really be interested in that one.

reply to post by neo96


Since I intend to bug in... then the one detection goody I'd want for the farm is the
WG 800 Radar Site Perimeter System... you cant hide from this baby...

The WG800 Radar Site Security Surveillance Radar provides automatic perimeter security for large open spaces. The sensor detects moving or stationary objects appearing anywhere within a range of 10 meters up to 800 meters in all weather conditions and light levels.

once an object comes into range... it knows... no ghillie suit or IR protection will help... the computer has premaped the area and anything not on that map sets off the alarms...

know what works just as good... peacocks... man to they make a racket when in intruder walks into their territory

reply to post by neo96


What about skillz and fire building stuff man... Just kidding!! Amazing how people dive in without comprehending the thread title or the OP.

I hear you.

In addition to a sweet UNIMOG conversion I am also of the mindset that I should be prepared to Bug In first and bail out as a last resort. So , I like the notion of a top notch perimeter and general security system as detailed by Daddybare.

Solar generator would be a nice convenience along with a vertical axis wind turbine www.wind-smile.com...

Retractable metal window coverings to harden the house

Large stash of junk silver and gold to withstand phase one of collapsed economy and to buy whatever else I may need.

Solid State HAM radio rig for communication. I'm talking old school vacuum tubes...and a minimum of high tech.

50 cases of assorted hard liquor for bartering and self soothing

I'll keep thinking....

Personally, after a SHTF scenario, the night will be a VERY scary place.

I fully intend to be well tucked into my safety spot during all hours of the night, sleeping it away, so wouldn't have much use for those 5 items.

I'd plan on being well stocked, and more importantly, well hidden, if surviving such an event.

I want:

"...the fully armored Rolls-Royce Phantom [is] able to withstand everything from a direct assault with an AK-47 to a poison gas attack..."


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/a7bff4aabb3a.jpg[/atsimg]

the only problem with all that night vision equipment is finding the replacement batterys. there batterys are not your standerd AA, AAA, battery and you would need to swap them out alot.

My top of the list item that i cant afford right now is level IV body armor. If i can get my hands on some my supplys will be complete

reply to post by neo96

Why do you think you need so many different kinds of optics, for survival? For night time war operations, sure, but survival?

I don't think survival means what you think it means.

With the thermal business would you need a thermal ir mat which disperses your signature?
there is one then,
a thermal ir device sounds pretty cool, would enjoy it
there is two to not afford
have a barrel of morale < a really good reason to live
thats 3
a very fit woman so knowledgeable as to replace the internet
definitely number 4
another extremely good looking and dangerously well armed lady just in case things get really hard

Originally posted by anumohi
Yes thermal is a must,
RPG-7 and a crate of ammo
crate of frags
crate of clays
mini gun with 500,000 rounds of ammo
Semi auto 20mm and 10 boxes of armor piecing incendiary and some HEI
Toyota land cruiser with weapons mounts with anti puncture tires

missile silo with complete life support systems and enough food, water, meds ,entertainment, and select company for 10 years

I figure anyone who has a few cool mil laying around can have pretty much whatever they need to comfortably survive

"comfortably survive": there's an oxymoron for you.How much danger are you in if your biggest worry is if I have enough batteries for the mp-3 player?

Combat survival&"Lesstroud/codylundin wilderness survival" are two different things. Night vision would be"nice." for standing watch(but "essential"?)
(mini rant):
Jim Dakin "bison survival blog" author "would call them"yuppie survivalist scum": i.e.people who pore over "survival"essentials catalogs and spend cash on solar powered"emergency" margarita makers and such.Thinking a flush checkbook and the right preps shopping list. is all it takes.

I call them:"People kicking and screaming trying to drag their 20th century middle class consumer life style into a post-apocalyptic future. Aint happening folks;We've got to do more with less; your"stuff" becomes an anchor around your leg and makes you a target for the rest of the "clueless consumerist culture" who are fighting their("rightful")extinction to the last "checkout stand".(i.e."You can have my "toys" when you pry them from my cold dead fingers")

Originally posted by camaro68ss
there batteries are not your standard AA, AAA, battery and you would need to swap them out alot.

Yeah, I purposefully chose equipment that uses standard batteries.

My night vision scope runs on rechargeable AAAs.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7b89ed1248bd.jpg[/atsimg]

My thermal imager can run on any DC source from 11 to 16 volts. I can even run it on a regular sealed lead acid battery such as this one which I sometimes lug along on particularly long excursions.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/49ee6f749317.jpg[/atsimg]

Originally posted by ZIPMATT
With the thermal business would you need a thermal ir mat which disperses your signature?

Nope. Here is a video I made to show what to do. The Iraqi's have been evading high-end thermal for nearly two decades now with no more than heavy, ragged cut blankets. We can one-up them here with synthetic or down fill sleeping bags.



Also, of the best materials for hiding a thermal footprint (so long as you're not touching it) is tent nylon. this is because it is thermally opaque, has a low thermal mass, and is reflectively neutral. So a low, well concealed tent is an excellent thermal shelter too.

Here is a thermal image I took of a tent with two people sleeping in it (creepy, I know). Notice how the outside surface is the same temperature as the ground and the trees behind it. This forces the operator to recognize targets by shape instead of by an unusual heat source so if the tent is well covered by foliage it's practically an impossible find. By the way, that hot spot at the lower right is a mouse trying to get in.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b4073f032924.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by 46ACE


Wait....
they make a solar powered emergency margarita maker....???

Add one of those to my list Neo...

150 pound draw weight crossbow, silent, can use the 'ammo' again, can be fired from the prone position, (as can pistol/rifle) nothing much to wear out, a couple of spare 'strings' a spare prod perhaps (bow) carbon printed camouflage.
Any thing that shields your heat signature means it will cook you, in a short time.

Originally posted by pikestaff
Any thing that shields your heat signature means it will cook you, in a short time.

Last time I slept in a tent I didn't get roasted.

Originally posted by neo96
my bad people these items are after you have everything else after water and its purification after guns and ammo after food and and everything else.

i cant pick just one i want them all and i can see the need for every single one of them those items are around 25k

but if i had to pick one thermal for the nightvision ability and also to see through smoke and light foilage.

If you are so rich that you can afford to buy 25k worth of night vision gear then you probably wont ever need it because you can afford to have your own bunker with a garden, live stock and 25k worth of packaged food. If you had all that then their would be no need to go out in the night.

Originally posted by dainoyfb

Originally posted by camaro68ss
there batteries are not your standard AA, AAA, battery and you would need to swap them out alot.

Yeah, I purposefully chose equipment that uses standard batteries.

My night vision scope runs on rechargeable AAAs.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7b89ed1248bd.jpg[/atsimg]

My thermal imager can run on any DC source from 11 to 16 volts. I can even run it on a regular sealed lead acid battery such as this one which I sometimes lug along on particularly long excursions.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/49ee6f749317.jpg[/atsimg]

Im not talking about the Toys'r'us brand NVG and thermals. im talking battle ready 3/4th gen NVGs

reply to post by camaro68ss


Read the brand name on the scope.

also, the thermal imager is made by none other than FLIR and is far more capable than standard military handhelds.

I appreciate the low end troll job though coming from you, I suppose it's expected.