As you know, I’m pretty keen on knowing a few basic survival skills, from How to Find Your Way Without a Compass to How to Start a Fire Without Matches. Today I’m going to show How to Create a Pocket-Sized 48-Hour Survival Toolkit, and guess what I put it in….? An upcycled Altoids tin! A travel-sized kit that fits in a pocket, purse or glove compartment, is truly useful. A recycled Altoids or tobacco tin makes the perfect container; you will be surprised to see how much you can fit in there. As they say in the boy scouts… always be prepared! Here are the useful things to include in your kit, available in small sizes.
How to Create a Pocket-Sized 48-Hour Survival Toolkit:
Watch the video here and be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more modern pioneering tips.
- Safety pins, for mending clothing, lost buttons, and tears in a tent or a sleeping bag
- Thin wire, for many purposes, from fastening to hanging items in trees (it can be rolled into a small circle)
- Button compass, a small compass for finding your way
- Candle, the nontallow durable kind to help you light a fire (you can cut it down to short pieces to fit)
- Matches, the waterproof/windproof kind
- Magnesium fire starter
- Steel striker for starting fire
- Magnifying glass, for starting fires and getting tinder to smoke
- Two magnetized sewing needles, for sewing or making an emergency compass (floated in water on a leaf, the needle will face north)
- Salt packets (essential in hot conditions, salt helps keep minerals in your body as you sweat)
- Cayenne pepper in a plastic packet (it will help stop bleeding when applied to most wounds by equalizing the body’s blood pressure)
- Antibiotic tablets and ointment, for when a cut is infected and medical help is far off
- Adhesive bandages in various sizes to cover cuts and blisters
- Water sterilizing tablets, for when you aren’t able to boil water and make it safe to drink
- X-Acto knife blade or scalpel for cutting
- Pencil and small paper for making notes on directions, edible plants, etc.
- Plastic bag for transporting water from a source or collecting wild edibles
- 2 feet of aluminum foil folded over many times into a small square, for making a cup, signaling, cooking fish, etc.
- Wire saw, for cutting through most things (will roll into a small circle)
Here are the items all labeled for you. You can check out more of our survival skills HERE.
