Survival Kits

Survival kits are a composite of useful tools that ensure you will be correctly equipped in case of a disaster or survival situation. Airplanes, ships, spacecrafts and military vehicles ought to be aptly supplied with survival kits.

There is an assortment of survival kits; each accommodating the user of the survival kit. Inside are utensils and supplies that give the owner essential safety in the event of an emergency situation.

Survival Kits are Useful Because They:

• give people warmth
• provide health care and first-aid needs
• help supply food and water
• aid discovering a way to help
• help to signal to rescuers

A first aid-kit, survival knife, sewing utensils, matches, flares, flashlight and fishing line should usually be equipment necessary to keep in your survival kits.

Survival Kits are Universal?

Human’s who work in extreme conditions or in areas with intense weather, unquestionably should have survival kits on-hand. Disaster gear or equipment and survival kits also should be kept by everyday people who live near areas that are prone to receiving natural disasters such as tornadoes, earthquakes, etc.

Craig Edwards Field Director with the Boy Scouts of America met with LifeCaps to receive dozens of free survival kits for distribution to some local troops around the greater Salt Lake area. To obtain the rank of Eagle Scout, the boys need to pass the test and obtain their Wilderness Survival merit badge. The fifth requirement is to put together personal survival kits and a survival pill such as LifeCaps could now be added.

Requirements for the Wilderness Survival merit badge:

1. Show that you know first aid for and how to prevent injuries or illnesses likely to occur in backcountry settings, including hypothermia, heat reactions, frostbite, dehydration, blisters, insect stings, tick bites, and snakebites.
2. From memory, list the seven priorities for survival in a backcountry or wilderness location. Explain the importance of each one with your counselor.
3. Describe ways to avoid panic and maintain a high level of morale when lost, and explain why this is important.
   1. Cold and snowy
   2. Wet (forest)
   3. Hot and dry (desert)
   4. Windy (mountains or plains)
   5. Water (ocean, lake, or river)

Describe the steps you would take to survive in the following conditions:

4. Put together a personal survival kit or survival kits and be able to explain how each item in it could be useful. (Sample Kit)
5. Using three different methods (other than matches), build and light three fires.
6. Do the following:
   1. Show five different ways to attract attention when lost.
   2. Demonstrate how to use a signal mirror.
   3. Describe from memory five ground-to-air signals and tell what they mean.
7. Improvise a natural shelter. For the purpose of this demonstration, use techniques that have little negative impact on the environment. Spend a night in your shelter.
8. Explain how to protect yourself from insects, reptiles, and bears.
9. Demonstrate three ways to treat water found in the outdoors to prepare it for drinking.
10. Show that you know the proper clothing to wear in your area on an overnight in extremely hot weather and in extremely cold weather.
11. Explain why it usually is not wise to eat edible wild plants or wildlife in a wilderness survival situation.

Daryl Stevenett Founder of LifeCaps thinks it would be a good idea for everyone, not just Boy Scouts, to learn how to stay alive in emergency situations.

Many victims of the recent devastation of Hurricane Ike were given 72 hour food pill survival kits to help sustain them since many were without money and the ability to obtain food. LifeCaps, a Utah based company, made the trip to Galveston Island with hundreds of free Survival Kits for the victims there. After the second day, LifeCaps had even more survival kits shipped in to the area due to the demand.

Daryl Stevenett, founder of LifeCaps watched as hundreds of people stood in line for a chance to receive a $200 gift card from WalMart courtesy of the Red Cross. Only 200 cards were to be given out so some people had been standing in line since 10 pm the night before. At 6 am it was dark and the weather was cold and very windy and many people had children that appeared to be sick, wearing flip flops with only thin blankets wrapped around them.

Stevenett said, “It’s hard to watch fellow Americans in so much pain and suffering.” It seemed that FEMA and the Red Cross were overwhelmed and there was really not enough money and help to go around.

Depend on no one to help you in an emergency, get prepared with survival kits and have provisions to help yourself and your own family.

The difference between a survival kit and a survival pouch is that a survival kit is small enough to carry at all times, whereas a survival pouch is usually larger.

Your survival pouch should include solid fuel, matches, flares, and a survival bag. Ideally, it can all be packed inside a mess tin. Then, not only can the mess tin be used as a cooking tool, it also protects the contents of your survival pouch.

The pouch itself should be made from a waterproof material and be big enough to hold the mess tin. The pouch must have a strong fastener and a sturdy tunnel loop to clip onto your belt. This is because, when hiking, your survival pouch should be clipped to your belt, or somewhere else outside of your backpack.

For a car, boat, RV, or aircraft, you should always store a survival pouch as well as a survival kit. You should keep your survival kit with you at all times but, as your survival pouch is generally too large to fit into your pocket, it should be kept somewhere nearby in case of emergency. And, don’t fall victim to the principle of ‘out of sight, out of mind.’ Always know the location of your survival pouch.

Remember that your survival pouch will contain matches, flares and solid fuel, which are all lifesavers but must be treated delicately. With your survival pouch, you will now have a backup plan in the event of an emergency. But above all, always remember that anything used from your survival pouch must be restocked as soon as possible.

Your Survival Pouch Should Include:

Brew kit

There is nothing quite like a brew to restore your confidence when survival is at stake. Make sure you pack tea powder with packets of milk and sugar. Remember, tea will satisfy your thirst, while coffee increases it.

Flares

Signal flares are a must. Pack red and green mini-flares and a discharger that is no larger than a pen (these items are explosive, so pack with care). To fire the flare, simply remove the discharger and screw it onto the flare. Point the flare directly at the sky, holding it out at arm’s length. Then squeeze the trigger. Always use great caution and be sure not to waste your signaling power.

Fuel

You should carry solid fuel tablets inside their own stove container. The stove then opens up to form an adjustable stand and holder for burning fuel. However, you should use them sparingly, generally when wood is not available for a fire.

Marker Panel

A marker panel is a strip of luminous material (1 ft. x 6 ft.) used to attract attention in an emergency. When one bar is shown, it signifies a need for urgent evacuation. You can also form additional signals if others in your party are carrying marker panels as well.

Matches

Carry all the matches you can hold in a waterproof container. But, use caution when packing them, as any friction against a match can potentially ignite it.

Mess Tin

A mess tin tends to be light and strong, as it is made of aluminum. It is a great cooking tool and protects your survival pouch if it is packed inside the tin.

Torch

Torches are a must for your survival pouch and, these days, take up virtually no room (these torches look like a pencil). You should put lithium batteries in the torch, but reverse the last one so that they won’t drain if the torch is accidentally switched on.

Survival bag

A big polythene bag (2 ft. x 7 ft.) is a lifesaver in cold weather. In an emergency, you can get inside the bag to avoid freezing. Even though you may get wet from condensation, you will remain relatively warm. Better yet, a heat-insulated bag solves the condensation problem and keeps you even warmer.

Survival log

Write a detailed log of everything that happens during your survival experience. Don’t rely on memory alone after the fact. Record any discoveries you have made during your time in the wild, such as edible foods you found. It may prove a valuable self-reference, will boost your morale and, later, could become invaluable for survival training.

A Final Word on Your Survival Kit:

Food

Fat is extremely hard to find when living off the land. When possible, you should pack butter, lard or ghee in your survival kit. Dehydrated meat blocks can sustain nourishment, but don’t taste very good. Chocolate is a good moralizer, but is hard to maintain. Salt is a must (most likely in salt tablets). A survival pill is a relatively new concept, but is quickly becoming an indispensible survival tool.

Recently Dr. K. Lahiri – Director of Technical and Business Development for Rajat Pharmachem Ltd. met with LifeCaps own Daryl Stevenett to discuss how LifeCaps may be the solution for the Indian military, which has more than 10 million soldiers. One of the largest army’s in the world.

India is in a monsoonal region in which conditions are always unstable. Millions have died due to cyclones, floods, hurricanes, avalanches, landslides and other natural disasters in India’s harsh climate. The Indian military is often in a remote or desolate environment, where food is not obtainable.

The Indian military can see a variety of scenarios in which LifeCaps can come in handy. Especially in some parts of India when the failure of the monsoons creates a shortage of water, which in turn results with a less than average crop. The drought has triggered massive famine in India before and LifeCaps may be able to ensure that famine will never happen again.

The CIA estimates that India will have the 4th largest army in the world by 2015, and is the largest arms purchaser in the world. No wonder LifeCaps seems like an answer to a problem many of their soldiers will face while serving their country.

Placing a few crucial items in your survival kits can make all the difference in your chance for survival. Try to collect the items listed below and place them in your survival kits. The items can be placed in a small container such as an altoids tin. An altoids tin is extremely portable and makes for a great survival kit. Survival kits that are any bigger can be extremely inconvenient to carry. Having a survival kit could help save your life in a disaster or an emergency.

It’s important to waterproof your survival kit. You can easily waterproof your altoids tin with a strip of duct tape, which can be removed and replaced very easily.

Experience has shown that each item earns its place in survival kits, although some are more valuable in certain survival situations than in others.

Here is a list of useful items to place in survival kits:

• Matches

You can make your own waterproof matches by dipping the heads of ordinary matches into melted candle wax. Matches are the easiest method to start a fire for survival.

• Survival Pill

A nutritional supplement is very useful when food is not readily available. It’s extremely portable and can sustain your life until you are able to find food.

• Candle

Candles can be used as a light source. You can even cut a candle into smaller pieces to fit them easier into your survival kit.

• Flint

Flint can easily start a small fire and also works well when wet.

• Small Magnifying Glass

This item is great for starting a fire with the help of direct sunlight. It can also be used to search for small twigs to burn.

• Needles and thread

Make sure to pack a lot of needles. Include various sizes of eyes and sturdy thread that will wrap well around the needles.

• Fish hooks and line

Carry an assortment of various fishing hooks, both large and small (remember that a small hook can catch both big and small fish, but a large fishing hook can only catch large fish). Also include a lot of line to potentially catch birds as well.

• Compass

Always make sure when purchasing a compass that you know how to read it (some compasses are puzzling). Make sure you have a liquid-filled type compass that doesn’t leak or have any bubbles in it. Lastly, check that the pointer pivots freely.

• Beta light

A beta light is an everlasting “light emitting crystal” the size of a small coin. It is a useful fishing lure and useful for reading a map at night.

• Snare wire

Extremely useful for catching game animals in a survival situation. Keep in mind that it is illegal and should only be used in a wilderness survival situation.

• Flexible saw

These can be used to cut down pretty sizeable trees. Take off the large rings at the end of the handles and replace them with wooden toggles, as this will save space. Cover in a film of grease to protect from rust.

• Medical kit

Only include items you know how to use. Use cotton wool to store medicines in air-tight bottles. This is a brief list of some medications that will cover most diseases: Analgesic, Intestinal sedative, Antibiotic, Antihistamine, Anti-malaria tablets, Potassium permanganate, Water sterilizing tablets.

• Surgical blades

Carry at very least two scalpel blades of various sizes. You can make a handle from wood when necessary.

• Butterfly sutures

These can be used to hold the ends of wounds together.

• Plasters

Be sure to pack different sizes of waterproof plasters, for maintaining cuts and small scratches. They are used as butterfly sutures, when not available.

• Condom

A condom makes a great water storage bag and can hold 1 liter (2pt.) of water.

Being lost or separated from civilization can always create an emergency survival situation. Mother nature herself can sometimes create the worst of all disasters. People are more and more starting to realize that it is up to them as individuals to be prepared. People, who spend much of their time hiking, camping or in the out of doors, are starting to acquire more skills for wilderness survival. Water shortages, earthquakes, floods and fires are capable of striking at any time without any notice. A person placed in an emergency situation ought to understand the methods of handling a forest fire just as they should comprehend how to escape from a bomb site or even a burning building. The one concern should always be getting to food. If a person is hungry and their blood sugar is low, this can greatly affect their mental clarity and judgment. When the appetite is satisfied, people can be more effective in helping others. Since food becomes scarce in an emergency, food pills could be the answer.

You don’t always have to be far away from society to be trapped in an emergency survival situation. Military maneuvers, civil turmoil or natural disasters can be reason enough to block you from getting to supplies that all of us so often take for granted. Again, it would be up to you to administer all of your own resources and skills for the well-being and survival of you and your loved ones.

Central heating, air-conditioning, hot water and lighting would no longer be of any use without power. Without power, food would start to go bad within hours since there would be no refrigeration. Cell phones, email and newspapers would no longer exist. However television and battery powered radios could give local news of any disaster situation. A short wave radio could be useful, as well as a home generator. These items are expensive and are not always affordable to most people. Taps would start to run dry and toilets would become unusable as the main water supply would cease to exist.

The countryside would carry an abundance of natural resources. In large suburban city areas shops would be drained of food very rapidly (sold, stolen, or rationed) and parks and gardens would be quickly raided of their produce. Individuals who live further away from largely populated areas would have more of an advantage since they most likely would have more supplies on hand. The majority of farming community families will always have some sort of food storage, such as fresh fruit and vegetables in a root cellar.

The ideal solution for food for residents in large cities would be a simple food pill. These food pills are small and easy to store. They usually come in a packet or bottle, have a long shelf life and require no refrigeration. They will keep you alive and will take away hunger. It would be wise to keep them in your car since one never knows where or when a disaster or emergency could strike. Food pills are also a must for people who spend time in the wilderness. They too may find themselves in an emergency survival situation.

It started out as a typical afternoon squirrel hunt. The three of us were students at Auburn University in Alabama, and we had taken the day off to bag a few squirrels in the nearby Tuskegee National Forest. By the end of the day, two of us sat on the fender of the car, reliving the hunt, squirrel by squirrel. It finally dawned on us that it was a long time past shooting light, and Mike, the third member of the party, had not yet returned to the car. But we didn’t worry because Mike was a highly trained and experienced in wilderness survival. He was working on his master’s degree in forest management and had just recently returned from four years of wilderness survival in the Alaskan back country.

A half hour passed, it was dark, and still no Mike. I blew the car horn three times. No response. For the next few minutes we blew the horn and shouted, stopping occasionally to listen. We were sure now that Mike was in trouble and began to ask ourselves questions. Had he shot himself accidentally? Could he have had a heart attack? Mike was a believer in emergency preparedness and was in excellent physical condition, so these possibilities seemed slight. As the reality that Mike was lost sank in, we began an organized search.

It was after midnight when we found him. A wild-looking man broke through a thicket and into the light cast by the searchers’ spotlights. It was Mike and he was scared and confused. His clothing was torn to shreds from the waist down, and his legs and arms were bloody from the scratches he had received, The.22 rifle, hunting coat and cap he had taken into the woods with him were gone where he didn’t know. We learned later that his hunting coat contained matches, extra ammunition, a pocketknife, and three squirrels, enough wilderness survival gear & food to live comfortably for many days.

Mike needed two weeks to recover fully from his brief but brutal ordeal. He recalled the panic that had struck him at dark when he realized he was lost. He remembered running for long periods of time. He also remembered feeling afraid of the strange people shouting and flashing lights in the woods. Embarrassment, guilt, confusion, and exhaustion only added to his sense of panic and helped cripple his ability to exercise good judgment. Mike, an above-average hunter and outdoors man, had come face-to-face with a wilderness survival situation and had not used his skills.

One of the first reactions to being lost or stranded in the back country is fear. It is fear that causes many people to panic soon after realizing they are in a survival situation. It was fear that made Mike run blindly and foolishly discard his equipment.

All sorts of people from the military to civilians have at one time or another searched the web for the best survival kits or maybe they are simply looking for products to include in building their own survival kit. Water of course is the first consideration.

Pack lots of Food, but a pill? Is it possible to live on a pill? LifeCaps has introduced the first survival pill. A capsule you can either chew or swallow that contains all the necessary nutrients you need to survive. The capsules comes three to a packet, breakfast, lunch and dinner. The pill curbs hunger and could come in pretty handy for wilderness survival or in the case of some emergency or disaster.

Does the LifeCaps survival pill work? Does it do what it says it will do? According to Russ Bianchi the LifeCaps formulator,

he says “It Works.” Russ has formulated hundreds of products over the years including the majority of the top selling energy and power bars on the market today. Russ says “When the body is satisfied with the nutrients it receives, it will not feel hungry and will give up it’s own stored energy or body fat to stay alive.” Could this be the next new diet pill? Some people I’m sure are using LifeCaps as a weight management tool, however it was never intended to be a diet or weight loss pill.

The idea came to Daryl Stevenett, the LifeCaps founder a few years ago. At the time there were some trapped miners underground in Utah. The search and rescue teams were drilling four-inch holes down to the miners trying to reach them. They supposedly had plenty of water but no food. Daryl thought, “Why can’t someone come up with a pill that people could live on? How hard can it be to put all the vitamins and minerals the FDA recommends as well as calories into a small pill?”

He then contacted his long time friend and formulator Russ Bianchi and asked if he could make such a thing as a survival pill. Daryl asked Russ, “What about adding a stimulant for energy?” Russ immediately said “NO WAY.” He explained that people in an emergency situation would have low blood sugar and if their system was spiked with a stimulant it could cause cardiac arrest. So no stimulants were or ever will be used in the LifeCaps product. A small amount of pure cane sugar was used which helps drive the nutrients into the blood stream within about 20 minutes or so. Anyone who has LifeCaps in their survival kits, has a much greater chance of survival in an emergency.

Since it would be impossible to include the 2,000 calories the FDA recommends into such a small pill, the body could burn its own stored energy or body fat if it needed energy. The body only gives up this reserve energy when it receives nutrients without the calories.

Severe obese people who weigh in excess of 800 pounds find it impossible to exercise to lose their weight, so what do they do? They usually end up in a hospital with their stomach stapled receiving nutrients only through an intervenes line. This solution contains very few, if any, calories which forces the body to burn its own stored energy or again, body fat. This was the idea Russ had for LifeCaps along with his understanding of the Krebs cycle of the human body.

On the LifeCaps web site you can try a free sample of LifeCaps. They do work. The LifeCaps company offers a refund if you are not satisfied with LifeCaps for any reason.

So is LifeCaps a possible solution for being prepared? You bet it is. LifeCaps is the answer to many things from the military to wilderness equipment, disaster emergency preparedness, extra emergency food supplies and even to just add to your survival kits.