Minimalist Survival.. YES It is Necessary

Originally posted by TDawgRex
The key is to breath deep and calm yourself. But there are times when you must realize that regardless of what tool you have...if it ain't working...it's time to move on.

I appreciate those words from the wise!

I bought a "Spyderco Paramilitary 2" knife a couple of months ago to retire my old Gerber Gator. The paramilitary 2 isn't cheap, but it is a significant upgrade from the gator. Much thinner and lighter. Much better locking mechanism. Plus, the knife community had so many good things to say about it. After a couple months of EDC, I really like it. In the minimalist spirit of the thread, if anybody is looking to go lighter and smaller, I recommend taking a look at the paramilitary2. There are hundreds of youtube vids on it if you want a better look at one.

reply to post by semperfortis


Thanks for the detailed breakdown, much appreciated

Will be following the thread as it moves along.


SS

What about a screwdriver, I guess multitool's will have one but I think a good standalone screwdriver would come in handy in urban areas, also an alan key.

That is a pretty good starter kit. That would not slow you down at all.

My kit is way too big to carry any distance. I have 3 BOB's ready to go. I plan to use my truck to get to a destination if possible since I am in the country. I also have my sailboat outfitted to hook up to my truck.

My idea of minimalist survival is cooking fish on the back of my boat and sleeping inside away from the insects.

If I had to put a small running bag together it would be a lot like yours except for toe nail clippers and my thyroid medicine. Unfortunately for me I would be in bad shape after a few months without thyroid medicine. If TSHTF I will have to make my own medicine from animal thyroid glands to survive.

I wanted to mention a major addition that you could add to your pouch without much trouble. There was a recent thread that listed links to text files in pdf form that were downloadable concerning survival. Some were emergency medicine/surgery and others were trap making and edible wild plants. Tons of great information that would all fit on one tiny flash-drive/thumb-drive.

So you have a 16Gig file all you need is a $15.00 MP4 player to go with it. The benefit is 9 hours of battery life as well as radio and music player. Just watch Les Stroud surviving alone for a week and you could appreciate the music if even just one song. If you add a small solar charger with a USB cord you have a mobile computer that fits in your pocket.

Most of us always have our cell phone so why not use it as storage too? Just change the format of the files and save them on your phone as jpg's.

I guess you can see why I have 3 BOB's now, lol.

refreshing to see someone advocating the minamalist approach rather than all the fancy... useless high tech toys ....
suite easy to live with just a knife ,.. here when go on extended trips to jungle carry my randall .. bamboo tube full of rice .. bamboo tube full of water.. easy to find bamboo its tough.. grows fast and can build damn near anything with it... anyhow s&f good timely and interesting thread....

reply to post by onecraftydude


if your running android just store pdf files and install pdf reader .. no need to convert files

This is awesome , Thank you for this i will make a pack soon just incase i get stuck on another world.

Great topic!

The only thing I would add would be a book that I brought my girlfriend as a joke. Upon flicking through it however I realised it would be very handy so I picked one up my self. Not sure if it's available outside the UK but it's listed on Amazon and it's called the SAS Survival Guide. It was only a couple of quid and it could fit in your shirt pocket it's that small. If the world ever goes to # then that will be the first thing I pick up before I head in to the Highlands (Scotland). It covers everything you could think of, shelter creation, cooking tips, what plants, animals, bugs are safe to eat, how to set up a winter camp - in short, its Bear Grylls in a book. If your not sure who he is, he's an ex SAS soldier who does a survival show on the Discovery channel. He is basically dropped in to the most dire places in the world and has to survive and the only thing he takes with him is a Knife, flint and a water canteen - which is empty, he has to find his own source. Of course he has a team with him, all being ex SAS, that film it and help him if things go a bit wrong, but you get the idea. Anyway, if you are thinking of getting a knife (for survival reasons!) after reading this, then I can only reccomend getting a book like the one above. It will go a long way for its low price!


Edit: As an after thought, well question really. How many of you would turn to your Government if # hit the fan? Would you head to the cities and to people? Would you have faith in them to do whats right? Would you listen to the news anchor man/woman advising you to head to your nearest army barracks and head there with the other thousends of people and without question?

Or would you pack up as much as you could and head for the wilderness? I'm don't have any kids yet and my family all live around 600 hundred miles away so I'd be heading for the Highlands, which are on my doorstep. Sadly my Girlfriend would trust in her government and would do as she was told by the newswires. I'd try and sway her of course!

Also, I'd take a wind up radio with me just in case it sorts itself out and I'm the last to know. I picture myself being discovered years later in a cave stroking my knife and calling it "my precious"......Gollum Gollum!

I pray for a bug-in situation but am not holding my breath. We have time now to supply BoBs. It's a good time. After teotwawki would be a bad time. Caching... We still have time for that, also. The high $$ things ppl buy and never test...so silly. You're absolutely right, though. We need to be able to make do with virtually nothing if we have to. Skills are worth more than anything else! That said: I'll put my Buck and Kershaw up against you boys KaBar and Gerbers any day. *grin*


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I hate to horn in and continue the side discussion on multi-tools and I will state that I was a very early adapter to the multi-tool craze with the original Leatherman that I still carry daily and opens almost as easily as a butterfly knife today. I do carry it in the woods mostly due to it being a comfort item, like a favorite hat. That said, all multi-tools are is a compact tool kit. You will always perform any task with the actual tool that the multi-tool is emulating faster and more efficiently.

And yes, I have removed a padlock with the Leatherman once by filing the shackle down enough to twist and cut it with the pliers. It took a very, very, very long time and it not worth repeating and was only accomplished by the fact that it was a cheap lock.

Honestly, in the woods, I have used the Leatherman micra far more times for the nail file, tweezers and scissor functions. Multi-tools are indeed handy in everyday life, but you can accomplish far more in a long term situation with about 10 pounds worth of actual hand tools that you could even use to make things for trade in bartering after you are settled.

In conclusion, any tool you carry should make your life easier. A multi-tool's main function is to be pulled out for a quick easy task rather than going to your tool kit. Would I still carry mine in a situation, absolutely. Would it save my life? Probably not...unless it was traded for something that I needed or was all that I had. But in the world of survival, multi-tools fall under the category of EDC (Every Day Carry, short term mobile/return home over a period of time which includes 12-72 hour packs in my thinking) rather than BOB (Bug Out Bag for long term mobile, 3 day - 3 week packs) or INCH (I am Never Coming Home) kits/plans.

reply to post by TDawgRex


I absolutely love my multitool. Like the old tv commercial used to say..."Never leave home without it".

My little pack holds two knives, my multitool (when it's not on my belt), my magnesium block, some stale Cheetos (excellent for helping start fires...), a couple of reloads for my pistol, and water purification tablets.

In an aside, does anyone know if water purification tablets have a shelf life? I don't recall ever hearing one way or another...

Originally posted by seagull
reply to post by TDawgRex

 

In an aside, does anyone know if water purification tablets have a shelf life? I don't recall ever hearing one way or another...

Top of my head, I think most of them say 3-5 years depending how stored. I change mine every two anyway, just to be sure.

reply to post by khimbar


That sounds about right...

Just checked the bottle...duh. There it was...five years. It may vary from brand to brand... Mine are only about two years old so I'm good for the moment. I prefer boiling my water...but they're useful to have.

reply to post by seagull


I have a bottle of something which is supposed to have a massive shelf life. Can't remember what it's called or where it is since we've moved house. Gah. Off to hunt for it.

Found it. Called Polar Pure.

No shelf life apparently.

Polar Pure uses pure elemental iodine which has an indefinite shelf life. There is no expiration date. It does not degrade with time or temperature if kept tightly sealed. If you do not fill your bottle of Polar Pure with water, the iodine will sublimate (vaporize) if the bottle is left open. Be sure that your bottle is tightly capped between uses. It is best to fill your bottle of Polar Pure with water and tightly cap when you receive it. Iodine complexes -- tetraglycine hydroperiodide tablets -- are sold under various names (Globaline, Potable Aqua) are convenient and effective when fresh but degrade on air exposure; tablets should be discarded 3 months after opening bottle. Polar Pure will produce a saturated solution capable of disinfecting your water for as long as you can see iodine crystals in the bottom of your Polar Pure bottle.

Interesting thread as usual. I do have to chime in to defend the addition of a multitool to a minimalist kit. To date, I've owned three of these tools. My first was a Gerber with a flick open action. Hated it do to the never ending pinching of my palm between the grips. Bad design of that first generation tool. My second purchase was a first generation SOG Power Plier. Great tool and very stout a little tough on the hands when gripping firmly with the pliers. The last tool I purchased was a Leatherman Wave back in 1998. I still use it repeatedly and it has retained a permanent spot in my get home bag as the primary knife in that bag which is set up for an urban environment. The locking blades, file and wood saw are great. That little saw makes speedy work of taking down small saplings to use for a tarp set up or around the camp and the diamond file helps to maintain a workable edgy on my RC-4.

When I'm in the woods or traveling by car I always add a stout fixed blade to the kit, an old and reliable RAT Cutlery RC 4. The 4 inch blade seems small at times but accomplishes most tasks with great ease. If I decide to go bigger it will be a Becker BK2 (traded for the RAT I now have) or the Ontario Blackbird SK-5 . Just because...

Anyway great stuff in the minimalist kit... be sure to add a small roll of Gorilla Tape to every kit and super glue to every first aid kit. Gorilla tape is amazing. I rarely use traditional duct these days...

Great idea in the OP video regarding the "pre-shaved" bits of magnesium. I've never thought to do that and always just scraped them off the block, often at the worst time. I will certainly make that addition and store them in an old prescription pill bottle. Or I just may cover all my bases by ditching my traditional fire steel for a
Misch Metal steel which produces gobs of molten metal.



Way to keep the threads rolling....

Again.. Opinions; and all are welcome

You are all though confusing something NICE to have, something comfortable, with something you NEED

I have yet to read anyone giving a viable example of NEEDing a Multi-tool when you have a knife

That folks; is the very definition of minimalist

Semper

reply to post by semperfortis

I have yet to read anyone giving a viable example of NEEDing a Multi-tool when you have a knife That folks; is the very definition of minimalist

People in another thread a while ago talked about the need of a can opener and i just shook my head screaming to myself "YOU HAVE A KNIFE!!!!!!!"

You are exactly right but to go a step further,who needs a knife when you can smash 2 rocks together and get a cutting tool.
So easy even a caveman can do it.

I like my comforts here and there but I also like to discuss an absolute minimalist approach to things.
Sorry if i am disrupting your thread by going this direction.

Can someone tell how to MAKE a container??
I half know the answer but want to spark conversation.

Originally posted by semperfortis
Again.. Opinions; and all are welcome

You are all though confusing something NICE to have, something comfortable, with something you NEED

I have yet to read anyone giving a viable example of NEEDing a Multi-tool when you have a knife

That folks; is the very definition of minimalist

Semper

Just make sure your knife fits into an Altoids tin if you want to be a true minimalist... Minimalism is open to interpretation and is very personal based on ones habits and frequently traveled locations. Urban vs. rural etc etc A 10 pound pack will seem very light and minimal to a seasoned long haul backpacker but will eventually hinder a suburban refugee who rarely carries more than wallet and a laptop from the parking deck to the office.

Reply to post by semperfortis

Nice vs. Need relies somewhat on skill, training and health, although I -do- agree with you in ideal. A thought: knowledge, a good knife, And a flexible mindsets are things I consider minimals. My minimal list would likely be much smaller 20 yrs ago! Enjoying the thread! TY, ~ann


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