Survival To Go, Revisited- Part 3, by JMD

Today, we are continuing with the revised list of items to carry for survival when traveling, carrying a pack on a flight or otherwise. We are in the midst of going through the content of the main zippered backpack compartment. We’ve covered solar panels, light shelter, lighting, clothing, water, food/energy, and now we’re moving on down the list.

Main Zippered Backpack Compartment (continued)

• “Repair” pouch (because something always breaks when you’re traveling):
  • Assorted sizes of zip ties, including reusable ones, twist-tied together.
  • 8′ of regular paracord
  • 6′ of steel wire
  • 20’ of 400lb Kevlar line
  • 20′ of 1″ Gorilla tape, rolled onto a small dowel (also useful for medical repairs)
  • Gear Aid Tenacious Tapefor Fabric Repair – This stuff is fantastic for making “low visibility” waterproof repairs on almost any kind of fabric.
  • 3′ of rubber latex tubing (Can also be used as a long straw/siphon, cut up to make slingshots, et cetera. By sheer coincidence, I also have a couple of leather slingshot pouches in the bottom of my pack)
  • Small sewing kit
  • A couple of long heavy-duty EPDM rubber bands, twist-tied together.
  • Ranger bands, twist-tied together
  • A couple of split rings, which double as handles for the wire saw in the fishing kit
  • I also have small tubes of E6000 and Super glue in my liquids bag

If I’m traveling during cold weather, I tuck a pair of silk long-johns and a silk long-sleeve undershirt in there (probably vacuum packed).

Finally, inside the external back pocket (under the shoulder straps), I have:

• Four Curad Antiviral Face Masks – As soon as I hear someone sneeze or cough on a flight, I put one of these on.
• Edible Wild Plants: A Folding Pocket Guide to Familiar North American Species– When I’m traveling I enjoy walking in the local wilderness areas and practicing identifying edible plants. Obviously, if I’m traveling outside of the U.S., I try to bring a guide that’s appropriate for the area I’ll be traveling in.
• $500 in cash
• Some gold and silver coins
• Laminated page with important contact information (telephone number, emails, addresses, et cetera). Honestly, could you remember all of your important contact’s information if your cell phone was lost or stolen?
• Hard copy of my travel itinerary
• If I’m traveling in a foreign country, a laminated sheet with translations of words and phrases that would be potentially useful in an emergency situation.
• Two slingshot pouches

Outside My Pack, Attached With Molle

As I mentioned earlier, I have a small NcStar pouch and a dump pouch Molle’d to the outside of my pack. The dump pouch holds my Toaks 450ml titanium cup in its original padded mesh pouch and a Hydro Flask 24oz. bottle with sport cap that slides perfectly inside the Toaks cup. As soon as I get through security, I fill the Hydro Flask up at a water fountain. I don’t feel like paying $5 for a bottle of tap water. Water is also useful for washing out wounds and soaking the bandana to help cool you down. You can wash dust/smoke out of your eyes, et cetera, so you should always have some with you.

The small NcStar pouch is my electronics pouch. It contains:

• Four AA batteries (2 Duracell, 2 Eneloop rechargable) in a Storacell holder (stored in the small black zipper pouch)
• Six AAA batteries (4 lithium, 2 Eneloop rechargable) in a Storacell holder (also stored in the small black zipper pouch)
• Anker PowerCore 10000– The absolute smallest and lightest 10,000 mAH USB battery you can buy. It’ll charge your phone 2-3 times or your tablet 1-2 times. It can charge 4-5 AA Eneloop batteries before you have to recharge it. I typically charge this using the solar panel/AC charger, and then charge everything else from the battery.
• Sanyo NC-MDU01 AA/AAA USB battery charger– This thing is perfect for travel; unfortunately, Sanyo stop making them a few years ago. You can still find them for $60 or so, but there are decent alternatives available; they’re just not as compact.
• iKits 3.4A 17W Dual USB Wall Charger– Small and light USB wall charger with folding prongs.
• USB car charger
• Short USB/microUSB/USB-C charging cables
• Car vent cell phone holder– For mounting your cell phone in rental cars. I buy these by the bunch when they’re on sale.  I always seem to forget it when I drop off my rental car.
• Inside the zippered outer flap pocket of the pouch, I have a few things that I occasionally (but infrequently) get asked to pull out when going through airport security:
  • Uncle Bill’s Sliver Gripper Tweezers
  • True Utility Nail Clippers

Outside of the pockets and pouches I have a few other items attached to my pack:

• Snugpak jungle blanket– Our favorite blanket. We use this all of the time in cold airports and airplanes, attending outdoor events while traveling, et cetera. It is held on with the pack’s compression straps.
• A shamaugh rolled up inside a lime green Sea To Summit Ultra-Sil Nano Dry Sack (2L) and held on with the pack’s compression straps.
• A carabiner clip with:
  • True Utility FIXR – I’m actually surprised that this has never even received a second look at any airport I’ve ever been through, but there’s no accounting for today’s security circus.
  • resqme Car Escape Tool – I make sure I have this on me when I’m in a car. Also works on most hotel windows.
  • P51 can opener
  • A dog tag with my name, medical and emergency contact info.
• 2 Camp USA Nano 22 climbing carabiners

The final piece of my carry-on kit is my tablet case, which is an old Rhino Skin case that I’ve had for years, and it fits on the top inside the main zippered pocket of the backpack:

Inside it are my Samsung Galaxy Tab A tablet with a 32GB microSD card (loaded with all of my eBooks), some JVC fold-flat headphones, and two “Breath of Life” emergency escape masks. In the front zippered mesh pocket (not shown) are a 256GB USB flash drive (with OTG adapter) with a bunch of movies and some cables. So why the “Breath of Life” masks, and why here?

These masks are the smallest and lightest I could find that would give us 15-20 minutes of breathing time to escape a smoke-filled location (like a burning airplane or hotel), and my tablet case is the one item that I always take out and put in the seat pocket in front of me on an airplane; if there’s a fire on-board I don’t have to fight smoke and panicking people to get to my bag and pull the masks out. I transfer one of these masks to my laptop bag when I’m visiting customers at my destination, or to my EDC bag when I’m out and about. Make sure you have one for each member of your family, and make sure everyone knows where they are and how to use them, especially when you’re in your hotel room.

I also wear a dog tag chain around my neck with a dog tag containing critical contact and medical info, and an Acme 636 whistle (useful for calling for help, or disorienting an attacker), another Mini-Match fire starter, and a Photon Tactical X-Light Micro flashlight (very useful in dimly-lit restaurants).

Checked Kit

In my previous article I mentioned that I was no longer taking a firearm when I traveled in the U.S., due to a couple of relatively serious negative experiences I had. Well, the deteriorating security situation around the country has changed my mind on that, and I now take my EDC gun (Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm) whenever I travel to a state that I’m licensed to carry in. I lock the unloaded gun inside a small steel security case, and loop the attached security cable through the metal frame inside my suitcase so it doesn’t “accidentally” walk away.

If your suitcase doesn’t have a metal frame, I recommend using JB Weld, pop rivets, sewing, or something else to permanently attach a steel hook to the inside that you can loop the cable through. Also, if you’re going to check a firearm, here’s some advice. Once you’ve retrieved your checked bag, wait until you’re away from the airport and somewhere where you have some privacy before taking it out, loading it, and strapping it on.

I have a few other items in my checked bag, including:

• A folding and fixed-blade knife that’s legal for the area I’m going to be traveling in. Check on the local U.S, laws for what’s allowed before traveling; for international travel you’ll need to practice your google-fu to figure out what’s legal and what’s not. Just remember “but I read on the Internet…” typically doesn’t carry a lot of weight with cops and courts, so make sure you’re using authoritative sources (like government web sites). Also, keep in mind the difference between phrases like “owning”, “possessing”, and “carrying”. For example, I can legally “own” a long-bladed locking folder in many countries where it would be illegal for me to “carry” it, so as long as I leave it in my suitcase in my hotel room I’m okay. You may not be able to EDC it, but you’ll still be glad you have it if a WROL/SHTF situation arises.
• EZE-LAP knife sharpener
• A Stanley FUBAR Demolition Bar – Good for getting yourself into or out of a lot of tight situations, particularly in urban areas. The blade can be sharpened to make a passable small axe.
• Several Mountain House freeze-dried meals – For when you are jonesing for some comfort food.
• Replacements/refills for the most commonly used consumables in my carry-on kit.
• Gerber Diesel & Leatherman Juice XE6 multi-tools – I find the smaller Juice less conspicuous and easier to EDC when I’m on the road, but I like having the full-size Diesel available for emergency situations. Also, the knife blade on the Juice is 2.27 inches, which makes it acceptable for carry in a lot more places.
• Small spray can of Lysol – When I get to my hotel I spray every surface I’m going to touch – door handle, door lock, TV remote, water faucet handles, toilet flush handle, et cetera.
• A travel hammock – I used to have this in my carry-on, but I haven’t used it en-route while traveling for a quite a while, so now I put it in my checked bag. I still occasionally like to head to a local park, string it up, and relax reading a book. It’s also useful for bedding in a bug-out situation.
• A set of Readyman Survival Cards – I’m not sure how useful they’ll be, but they were a gift and they’re pretty small and light.
• Replacement carbon and cotton filters for the Survivor water filter, plus extra Aquatabs.
• Additional EDC components (mostly in my checked bag):
  • Schrade SCPEN4BK– Pen with a ferro rod and striker, whistle, and glass breaker.
  • ASP Key Defender pepper spray (again, check the local laws)
  • Streamlight Stylus ProAAA flashlight
  • Wallet Ninja Pocket Tool – This is in my wallet. It gets through TSA in the U.S. with no problems (just take it out and put it into a bin by itself), but I’ve had it confiscated by security at a couple of non-U.S. airports.
  • Victorinox Hiker SAK – The one knife you can carry almost anywhere, and I like having the saw. I swap between carrying this and the Leatherman Juice, depending on what I’m wearing.
  • A travel belt with a zippered pocket– Inside the pocket I have a scanned copy of my passport ID page and driver’s license (in a small zip lock plastic bag), an abbreviated emergency contact list, a thin USB drive with the same information as the one in my backpack and some cash. This isn’t a very stiff belt and it doesn’t work very well for holding a holster, so I generally only use it when I’m traveling without my concealed carry firearm.

I organize most of this using some additional Molle pouches stored inside my checked bag. That way if I ever have to get out of Dodge while I’m traveling, I can attach them to the outside of my backpack or clip them to my belt and have additional carrying capacity. There’s also a 1.5L hydration bladder that fits into the pocket on my backpack to add water capacity in an emergency.

So, that’s completed my list of survival supplies, mostly fit in my backpack. Tomorrow, we will take a look at a survival scenario and how you could use this same kit to survive. We’ll also look at some tactics and more.

See Also:

• 1 – Survival To Go, Revisited, by JMD
• 2 – Survival To Go, Revisited, by JMD
• 4 – Survival To Go, Revisited, by JMD (Active on 08/27/17)

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been another entry for Round 72 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
5. An infrared sensor/imaging camouflage shelter from Snakebite Tactical in Eureka, Montana (A $350+ value),
6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
7. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
8. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
5. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
8. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
9. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Third Prize:

1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
2. A custom made Sage Grouse model utility/field knife from custom knife-maker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
3. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
7. Montie Gear is donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a $125 Montie gear Gift certificate.,
8. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value), and

Round 72 ends on September 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.