The Poor Man’s Guide To Survival Gear

www.alt-market.com...

Here's a decent overview of what kinds of equipment are available to the average prepper and how much it costs. For the most part I find myself in agreement with the author but I will throw out my caveats first. There are 7 absolute necessities anyone must have that the article failed to address. Here's the items I would highly suggest one must have:

#1) - A concealed carry handgun. If the sftf concealed carry laws won't matter and you'll be much safer if you have a decent sidearm available. My choice is a Ruger LCP .380. Double action only pistols aren't for everyone, the long trigger travel takes a good deal of practice to become accustomed to.

#2) - A reliable water filter. I carry a PUR hiker model which is shown in my Bug Out Bag thread. (link at bottom of page). $80. 18 years and mine is still going strong.

#3) - Flashlight. Maglites were once the best flashlight available but since the advent of LEDs I have since picked up a LED headlamp which allows you to keep both hands free and can't fall or get knocked out of your hand.

#4) - Rain poncho shelter half. It's your raincoat, rainfly and works well for picking up leaves to help construct a debris hut. Staying dry is a priority not to be overlooked. See my B.O.B. thread for example.

#5) - The author writes about knives but I can recommend an excellent knife for less than $20 that performs just as well as $200 knives I've had. The Swedish Mora knife, renowned among survival experts.


#6) - A cooking utensil. For my money you cannot beat the battle-tested stainless steel GI canteen cup. Don't settle for an aluminum one. The model with the single bar straight handle is tough enough to use as a digging implement and has dug many a fox hole for our soldiers.


#7) - A method for making fire. You should have 3 different ways of making fire in your kit. I carry a lighter, waterproof matches and a magnesium firestarter.

Now for the article:

The overall consensus wiithin the prepper community is that survival planning is expensive, and yes, it certainly can be. Another consensus is that you “get what you pay for”; also true...to a point. My belief is that while no prepping model is free of expense or of quality concerns, perhaps there is a middle road that activists with thin wallets can take which will provide solid gear for less money, and that will serve most of the functions of high-end gear that is ten times as expensive.

www.alt-market.com...

One final note he fails to address is shotguns,
There is No Better Home Defense Weapon.

Here's what's in my B.O.B. - www.abovetopsecret.com...
Contains pictures of everything in my B.O.B. and links of where you can find most of them.

Hi.
Love your threads! I read your other on on the BOB and noticed the Mora knives are out of stock. I haven't been able to find another source for the original knives, but the link you provided has these as an alternative. Any thoughts?
also..Can you address tinders in your thread? I've been practicing with different firestarters and can NOT get a flame with my firesteel. (arg!) Thanks

I got my mora from amazon I actually get most of my camping and survival gear from there because they almost always have the best prices especially if you have a prime membership.

reply to post by Asktheanimals
Good thread. S&F.

Equipment is good to have and your thread for sure covers the basics one would be wise to have. There is also one more extremely important tool that can be acquired by almost anyone for next to nothing. Knowledge. Knowing how to find or make and use what you need to survive is key.

When I first started becoming interested in learning and polishing even the most basic survival skills, I planned a three day trip with nothing but the cloths I had on and a note pad and pencil. Granted, the first time I stayed within hiking distance to a vehicle full of supplies in the event of an emergency, it was a very important time in my learning experience. People would be surprised what they can make due with when they have absolutely nothing to start with.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


Awesome content as usual, Asktheanimals.

When it comes to camping/hiking/"prepper" gear, cheap for the sake of cheapness is not the way to go. This market is filled to the brim with outfits selling utter crap. Spending more is usually spending less when buying gear. You know you have found a hiker/camper/prepper who actually tests their gear in the field when you see their closet full of useless crap they have discarded during trial and error. You know who you are!

Backpack, rain gear, shelter(tent/sleeping bag or bivy), boots, underlayers/spare socks etc., water purification/way to carry water, FOOD, WATER(8.35 lbs a gallon!), boiling/cooking container, flashlight, tools/knife/optic, navigation, various kits/fishing/sewing/medical/hygiene, and all those other little things WEIGH A FREAKING TON Not to mention guns and ammo if that's the way you have decided to roll.

Look at the gear some people have posted up on the popular survival sites. 80 pounds of gear JUST IN THEIR PACKS not including the water is quite common. There must be countless people out there that have sunk a considerable amount of dough on gear only to find that if they actually survive a shtf scenario that they prepped for, its going to be their gear that will kill them faster than anything else. Beware of your gear becoming an anchor on your back rendering you immobile and ineffective. If, god forbid shtf, there are going to be a lot of preppers who are going to wish they could hail a shtf cab after 3 miles of humping all their gear.

Luckily there has been a relatively recent and ongoing revolution in lightweight gear. It has trended towards smaller, lighter and less...to a lot smaller lighter and less. The downside is that lightweight + quality = expensive. There are very very few exceptions to this rule.

If your preps include a bug-out and bug-out gear, look no further than the Appalachian trail Thru Hikers as an example to follow. Thru Hikers hike and camp for months on end, everyday for most of the day, for thousands of miles. Georgia to Maine. A few people turn around and do it again! I hike portions of the North AT during the summer. On the North AT a lot of the hikers have already been out for months and already hiked most of the trail. At this point, they know what works for them and most of them have discarded almost all the gear they had started out with. There is a lot to be learned from their experience when applied to a bug-out. Most of them have a sub 3k cu lightweight pack. Most of their weight (other than water) is food. Their packs are 8-20 pounds loaded. Some of them have 3 ounce cuben fiber packs. Compare that to an alice pack that weighs 5 pounds empty without the frame!

This is the internet and this is my 2 cents. If you are prepping and you actually think you might one day have to use your gear, consider the best bang for your buck, as Asktheanimals is pointing out. If you go the tacticool/cheap/heavy route, and what you are prepping for becomes a reality, reality is going to bite you on the butt.

Springer mountain, Georgia, is the starting point of the Appalachian trail.

Just 30 miles down the trail from springer mountain is a place called Neels Gap. Neels gap is the first resupply point on the trail. Situated just off the trail at this location is an outfitter store called "mountain crossings outfitter". They have quite a famous reputation for being the place where unnecessary gear goes to die!

Every year 2000 thru hikers that visit the store throw away or send home literally TONS of gear at Neels Gap. After just 30 miles! Many hikers slog into the store, slump down their pack and buy completely new gear.

The staff evaluate over 500 packs each year and ship back over 9000 lbs of gear from the store.

Obviously these gung-ho hikers believed that they had carefully planned and picked the right gear; they were sure that they had more than adequate, if not the best, gear. These hikers have altered their lives and cleared their schedules for months to attempt to walk 2200 miles while carrying everything they need on their backs. Surely they knew their undertaking required a wise choice of provisions that they could carry with comfort? The Appalachian trail is the Pro leagues, after all. Not something to attempt haphazardly.

Or so these hikers thought they were adequately prepared, until everything was put to the test. Many find their gear is way too heavy to burden any longer. They find that their boots are too uncomfortable or have little to no support with their pack on their back. Their pack rubs blisters on their shoulders, its also too heavy. The rain gear isn't as waterproof as predicted. There is a realization that the "had to have" Whiz-bangs and Doo-dads aren't worth the weight if there is to be any chance of proceeding.

Many hikers simply quit right there and then. 30 miles of trail.

See what I'm getting at? Attempting to subsist using only what you can carry has a sharp learning curve. It is for the best that we take examples such as Neels Gap and learn from it.

knowledge is weight free and doesnt depend on gas cartridges, batteries, etc. Take time and learn how to reduce your dependecy on gear or to make yoru own simple gear. Guaranteed youll fare better in any scenario you end up in than any gearhead. YouTube is an amazing resource, as instructables.com etc. Even the old books by Sears, Buzzacot, Herter,Jaeger, Beard etc all still have a ton of info thats applicable today.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

reply to post by Starcrossd


If it says Mora-style then NO, it's a cheap knock-off. Google it and get the real thing. It will say mora on the blade.

As for tinder you can make your own char cloth. get some old cotton material like flannel and put it inside an altoids tin. Place it near a fire or use a blowtorch to slowly heat it up with the lid closed. Remove from heat and check often to see when the cloth turns black. Once that happens it will catch a single spark to make a fire.
Or use cotton balls soaked in vaseline and put in airtight container for tinder.
Learning to find tinder in the wild is a skill everyone should have. The easiest tinders to find are usually the shredded bark from cedar trees. You can also use the inner bark of any dead tree if it comes off the trunk in stringy bunches. Leaves from the ground are not a good source, try dead shredded grasses or if nothing else dead leaves still on branches especially thin, papery ones like beech or birch.

reply to post by JBpage76


Great point, With the right knowledge you can walk out with nothing on you and still make a shelter, fire, tools, get food and water, etc. The skills one might want to have would be:

Awareness - including knowledge of tracking and ability to see and read signs, trails, scrapes, tracks, etc. Watching and understanding weather patterns, reading landscapes to find shelter, food, water and other essentials.

Flint knapping - how to spall rocks, find workable fragments, pecking, hammring, pressure flaking to make hand axes, choppers, projectile points and knives.

Shelter building using natural materials
Fire making - finding tinder, laying fires, mastering bow drill firemaking.
Finding and purifying water - Fire is the best method lacking modern technology to purify water.

I could list dozens more but for short term wilderness survival those are the most essential skills that every aboriginal person on the planet has,

You're right, you can survive for several days with nothing but a good shelter and the right attitude.

reply to post by METACOMET


Thanks and you make an essential point - test your gear first. I chose everything in my pack which I will admit is heavy but has everything I need to go for an unlimited amount of time. Food, water and ammo are the heaviest items you will carry. People should remember that if they think they're going to bug out carrying a shotgun or .338 Lapua rifle.
Bill Bryson wrote a great book called a Walk in the Woods. He describes exactly what you said about people carrying too much gear on the AT and dumping it all over the place. You'll have to consider your priorities given the weather, climate, terrain, length of stay and make some hard choices and sacrifices if you're going to end up with a reasonable load to carry. For example if you're going to bug out high in the mountains not only will you need extra water due to water loss at altitude but there is often no water to found at high elevations.

Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us and your usual incisive comments Metacomet.

reply to post by ElOsoDurmiendo


Thanks for your reply, Knowledge is essential as your gear is going to get used up or wear out at any rate. Even though I've been foraging wild plants for 25 years I still pack my Field guide to edible wild plants. The one liberty I have taken with it is to remove all the extraneous pages like the forward, index, plants by season etc, reducing the weight by near half. The reason I carry it is there are still many plants that grow in my region I have yet to try and one wrong identification could be deadly.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


Thanks for putting this together and the link to your other thread on your BOB contents. It's about time for us to do our semi-annual BOB check and these will come in handy as a reference. I think we are pretty well 'stocked' but it never hurts to double check against a list compiled by someone trusted with a greater knowledge than myself.

Thanks again!

Originally posted by MyMindIsMyOwn
reply to post by Asktheanimals

 

Thanks for putting this together and the link to your other thread on your BOB contents. It's about time for us to do our semi-annual BOB check and these will come in handy as a reference. I think we are pretty well 'stocked' but it never hurts to double check against a list compiled by someone trusted with a greater knowledge than myself.

Thanks again!

Thank you and I must say the avatar is looking sharp!
I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving as well, mine was good.

I love survival on the cheap. Nearly all mine is surplus.

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
reply to post by Starcrossd

 

As for tinder you can make your own char cloth. get some old cotton material like flannel and put it inside an altoids tin. Place it near a fire or use a blowtorch to slowly heat it up with the lid closed. Remove from heat and check often to see when the cloth turns black. Once that happens it will catch a single spark to make a fire.
Or use cotton balls soaked in vaseline and put in airtight container for tinder.
Learning to find tinder in the wild is a skill everyone should have. The easiest tinders to find are usually the shredded bark from cedar trees. You can also use the inner bark of any dead tree if it comes off the trunk in stringy bunches. Leaves from the ground are not a good source, try dead shredded grasses or if nothing else dead leaves still on branches especially thin, papery ones like beech or birch.

In addition - make sure you have wet-fire in your pack. Char cloth, bow drill, cotton balls, leaves/twigs/pine needles, etc. are useful but if you're stuck in an area that is very wet, it might fail when you least want it to. Also consider that all of those options have a very short burn time, which means you better hope your fire catches (again, could be iffy in a wet area) whereas the wet-fire may burn long enough that even wet tinder will eventually catch.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


I came across these hand-crank flashlights and they are
nice.They are made by energizer and they aren't too big
and they have a bright light.

www.walmart.com... 00037937920&veh=cse

okay now I'm ready to bob and weave, float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

Gear post from another thread,

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I'd throw in a couple of hanks of paracord, it's cheap and light enough to carry a load of it.

Yes in the wilds I'd make cordage from nettles or something but in case you're short on time or stuck for materials it never hurts to have paracord on you.

Second the Mora though, they make some cracking knives for great prices.

reply to post by khimbar

Cordage making was actually the next skill I would list as it's necessary for so many things: making a bow drill, shelter, tools, snares, etc. Nettle is a great cordage plant too, Some others worth knowing are: Basswood inner bark, Velvetleaf, Dogbane, Yucca, Hickory root bark and Spruce roots.

Paracord and spiderwire are always in my B.O.B and are stronger, lighter and more convenient than making your own, that's for sure.

Along with the Mora I also pack a leatherman tool. When you need a pair of pliers or a screwdriver you have them.