Altoid Tin Survival Kits

woodsmom
reply to post by semperfortis

 

This will sound odd, but thanks for the reminder this morning.
My father in law handed me one several years ago before he passed away.
To the best of my knowledge, it contains waterproof matches, some fish hooks, some band aids, sugar and salt packets, fishing line, duct tape, and some other items that I don't remember. I have never actually looked inside, he made me promise to leave it alone until I needed it, which has been easy since he duct taped it shut too. It has lived in my car for almost 10 years, and it makes me smile each time it see it. Maybe I will take a look at it today with my boys, just to see what he slipped in there. It's definitely more nostalgia than anything since my real gear is in the car too.

Depending on how "well" it was wrapped, you may need to have a knife close by when its time to break into the years old duct tape.

Nice of your father in law to be looking out for you, no matter how small the gesture may seem to some.

reply to post by evc1shop


Haha! It is actually wrapped pretty well, and still sealed as I didn't have the heart to break it open. Luckily a knife is never far away for whenever it may need to be cracked open.
He was a sweet man who loved his family very much, I wish he was still with us.

I also just saw in this thread the wire saw, they actually work pretty good and take up little space. We have found one a step better though I'm not sure it would fit in the altoid tin. It is essentially part of a chainsaw chain with safe ends to hold. The teeth bite right into the wood and work quickly. To put it to a real test we handed it to our seven year old son ( at the time ) and he cut down a 6 inch trunk in about 5 minutes. He's a pretty little guy so we were all pretty impressed. An adult could takedown some good firewood in no time.

Well, I found a good photo, but my uploads just are not working for me at the moment. I have to get to work on other things, so I will post it later if it decides to work.

What would I put into a survival kit that would fit into an Altoids tin? It is a small container that holds very little, however, I find that it is a great mental exercise.

After seeing the reply posts here and discussing the idea with my brother, I decided to cease the mental exercise, found myself a tin and crammed it full with as much as it could hold.

I measured the Altoids tin and found it was 3 & 3/4" wide, 2 & 3/8" high and 1" thick. I fit the following 50 items into the tin.

1 thirty gallon black plastic garbage bag (works as a roof, rain poncho and part of solar still)
1 small 3 blade pen knife (cutting wood, skinning game, etc.)
1 plastic magnifying glass with 3X and 6X lens (fire starter)
1 toothbrush with shortened handle (dental health)
1 four meter roll of waxed dental floss (dental health, use as heavy thread)
1 guitar string snare with swivel attached (trapping small game)
30' - 40' of 20lb test fishing line (fishing and snares)
8 fishing hooks in 4 different sizes
3 different sized snap swivels and 1 large swivel
3 twist ties (multiple uses)
1 small zip lock plastic baggy (for fishing stuff)
2 large heavy gauge sewing needles (for heavy material and leather)
6" X 12" sheet of aluminum foil (reflective signal, part of solar still, fish lure)
11 band aids (1 large 4", 2 large 2", 4 small 2" strips, and 4 small butterflies)
12 OTC or Prescription Pills (2 laxatives, 2 anti-diarrheal, 4 water purifying, 4 pain relievers)
1 sheet (8.5 X 11) with first aid tips and illustrations of simple animal traps.

I'd like to hear about other members actually trying this and posting it here.

ETA: It's up to 51 items in the tin now. I showed the GF and she had me cut down the garbage bag a little so I could put a sani-wipe packet in it.

MSB

reply to post by MichiganSwampBuck

I find that it is a great mental exercise.

NAILED IT!!!!!

The very heart of the reason for this thread