5 critical items of survival

Ok here's what I got and probably the only things I'm hauling. It should all fit into a small backpack:

24" full tang machete
magnesium fire starter
100 ft of nylon rope
100 ft of paracord
hammock
mosquito net
multi tool
two folding knives
4 cans of corn chowder
1 can of spam
double layer of clothing
first aid kit
1187 shottie

That's about it for the 4 days out there.

My buddy, on the other hand, has like 12 additional items he wants to bring but we are gonna sit down and sort what he really needs for survival and not for "camping".

We also decided to document the trip with a camera.

http://i693.photobucket.com/albums/v...ps2c45ef88.jpg

Quite excited about this piece. Almost ordered a different one before I learned to always buy full tang for the strength. Full tang it is.

Well this hasn't been updated so I guess you guys didnt survive!

Hasn't happened yet LOL.

Scheduled to start the evening of May 25th. I'm preparing with my food intake, sleep schedule, and stuff like that.

a gun and ammo

https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/3242946048/h9393D506/

I think you could cut your list in half and still "survive" quite comfortably. Do you really need a machete, two knives, and a multi tool?

If you got to fix your machette and hold it down with another knife, yes.

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Originally Posted by always broke

I think you could cut your list in half and still "survive" quite comfortably. Do you really need a machete, two knives, and a multi tool?

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You are right. I will most likely leave the knife home. The multi-tool is a compact version so it will be in my pocket and I'll have the machete in my hand.

I just discovered that our digital video camera has time lapse recording mode. Sweet! That will be useful. :)

I'm late to the party but I would take a stainless steel canteenyou can also use it to boil water fishing line and fishing hooksa multi tool with a good saw and knife blade a small tarp or garbage bag can double as poncho and fire starter....I would leave the shotgun home and bring a high cal handgun instead just for the ease of walking around with besides I'm no expert but if you come across a bear or mountain lion a shotgun is just gonna piss them off and this the season for sightings

Survival camping is fun, brings back memories from Boy Scouts. I believe the last time we went out, was a winter trip (got our Below Zero patch that trip) and had a blast! A good tarp is always nice to use to pack stuff in, as well as using for your shelter when you get to your campsite. Starting a fire with a bow and stick is SUPER simple if you know what your doing, shouldn't take more then a couple minutes with the right setup, but a magnesium started is just as easy. If you are by a pond or river with fish, that's a much easier way to get food then hoping to find small game, which may or may not be available or in season.

Thanks for the tips again. I'm thinking about buying a small tarp and making my own backpack out of it so it's there in case we need it. I could just buy a backpack of some sort but what fun/good is a regular backpack?

Weather looks to be good, although a little chilly on Saturday. 70's/50's are the numbers for those 4 days but still too early to tell.

I'm still thinking about the shotgun. I don't really NEED it but we both are feeling it's better to have it and not need it. My stepfather told us that seeing small black bears around there isn't uncommon but pretty rare to stumble upon one. Maybe I'll swap guns with him and take something smaller than my 1187. He has practically every gun.....

When was the last time you heard of a bear attacking a person in Pennsylvania.............you have a better chance of a tree falling on you than getting attacked by a bear. You're more likely to get bit by a tick and die from lymes disease than get eaten by a bear. I would pack a can of Off bug spray over the shotgun. If you were out west or Alaska it would be different story.

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Originally Posted by muddeprived

Thanks for the tips again. I'm thinking about buying a small tarp and making my own backpack out of it so it's there in case we need it. I could just buy a backpack of some sort but what fun/good is a regular backpack?

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How many items are you up to now?

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Originally Posted by SirFuego

How many items are you up to now?

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Knife
multi-tool (attached to keys of jeep so it's always there)
machete
fire starter (optional)
100 ft of paracord (portion of it used for the backpack)
5x7 tarp (used for backpack but will not be used for anything else unless absolutely necessary)
hammock (thinking about leaving this behind to make it more challenging)
mosquito net for sleeping
7 cans of food and one log of summer sausage (4k calories worth of food, more than enough)
shotgun (optional)

weather forecast is 70's/50's for the 4 days (as of now) so i will be wearing double layer of clothing that can be swapped to suit either weather condition. No soap, toothbrush, shampoo, etc........


Here's where I've progressed so far on the backpack......so far I got the main triangular frame intact and it's very strong. Tomorrow I will work on the netting of the frame that will hold the tarp full of all my items and the shoulder straps and then attach the tarp to the frame but I'm still thinking of what to utilize for shoulder straps so that it's comfortable. I can deal with just plain rope but if there's a way to get some comfort into it (using what I have, or not), then I will try.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e7...pse7de3057.jpg

(cat must inspect n approve everything that comes into the apt....)

So apparently maple seeds (the things in the "helicopters") are edible. I popped one out of the helicopter thingy and tried one raw last night and it actually wasn't too bad. I'd imagine that roasting them over a fire would make them taste even better. Apparently this is the "best" time of the year to eat them since they are fresh. I guess they get more bitter as they get older.

So a little update here....I spent the past two days creating the backpack and sharpening my machete.

Here's the backpack frame all done and mounted:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e7...ps1df0253b.jpg
(pls ignore the toy guy and monster high purse...they are gifts for kids! LOL)


Here are the supplies I'm bringing that will be wrapped up tightly in the 5x7 tarp and then attached to the net of the backpack (tarp will not be used unless absolutely necessary, as in if it starts snowing) :

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e7...ps6b4a372a.jpg

The backpack plus tarp only costs me $7 total.....nice!

I'm still sharpening my machete but once I'm done with it tmw then I'll put the sharpening puck in there (maybe), wrap it tight, and hook it onto the backpack. After that, it's a waiting game till Saturday morning 0900.

The excitement is actually pretty intense...lol.

Funny how the weather is changing at the exact time of our trip. It seems like it will be in the 60's/40's while we are out there, then on Tuesday when we leave it will go up to 80's. It was 70's/80's all last week.

IMO, the weather we're having today (wet, temps in the 40's) can be some of the toughest. (I'd take temps in the teens w/snow any day over this if it was me was camping out.)

I look forward to hearing how this goes for you. Good luck.

Headin to work and then straight into the woods afterwards.


Be back in four days! :)

How did it go?

do we need to organize a search and rescue for mud?

LOL....nah I'm here. The trip was a bust by day 2. Nothing went as planned and we made too many mistakes. We rescheduled the event for August 30-Sept 2nd. It bothers me like mad that I quit early but.....I get a second chance.

I kinda figured.....it got pretty cold that weekend.

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Originally Posted by always broke

I kinda figured.....it got pretty cold that weekend.

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Yeah that's what pissed me off. It was like "ok kids, today is the first day of boy scouts and we will try to make fire with...(starts snowing)...."

It was in the 80's the week before and of course, the week after, but it had to drop down to the 50's/30's the exact day(s) we decided to go out there. The cold wasn't the big reason for us leaving though. My work crushed me the night before and I was totally tanked by the morning we were to leave and then I got no sleep for the next 32 hours and could barely do anything I needed to do. The deer ticks sucking my blood didn't help either and I had no way of removing them before they did some possible damage. My buddy also went sleepless the first night and he's never done that in his life. I had to drive the whole way home cuz he could not keep his eyes open.


A bunch of excuses though......but not next time.

http://i.qkme.me/3q6q4l.jpg