Survival Kit for the Woods – a List of the Most Necessary Things

In this article I would like to tell you how to assemble your own survival kit. We will consider only the basic necessities, without which you can by no means go on a long hike. Also, such a kit comes in handy even if you are not planning long trips to the countryside – there are different situations, wherever you go – in the woods, in the mountains or going to rafting, without a survival kit it is extremely risky to go.

Beginners always have questions about what you need to take in the campaign, and what not, many take a lot of unnecessary and completely unnecessary things, but if you hike on foot, its all necessary to drag yourself. Recently gaining popularity hiking, the whole sense of which is just to take as little stuff as possible, hikers in every way facilitate a backpack, use modern multi-purpose equipment, the lightness of which lies in the uniqueness of the materials from which the equipment is made.

Therefore, the purpose of our article – to show what you really need to take with you on the road, and what is better to leave at home.

Survival kit – only the essentials

So, the essentials.

1. Means for making a fire – matches, lighter, flame thrower, dry fuel

This is what you will use to make a fire. It is better not to use ordinary matches, but hunting matches, and even better to have a flame thrower, with the help of which you will always be able to make a fire in any weather. About how to make a fire without all of the above, read here.

2. Knife – nothing to do in a camping trip without it

You will do a lot of useful things with the help of the knife – open canned food, use it to sharpen something somewhere, cut up the killed animal, and you cant do without it when cooking dinner. What knife to choose, its for you to decide, the main thing that it must be convenient, sharp enough and reliable. Of course, it would be good to have a good hunting knife made of good steel – Damascus or Bulat, but from my experience I can say that a knife with hardness of 50 HRC will do fine. Basically, you can buy an excellent knife within 1000 rubles, or at least take an ordinary kitchen knife.

3. Kitchen utensils

You cant do without it in a camping trip. This is a kettle, mug, bowl and spoons. An aluminum kettle and an aluminum mug will do just fine.

The volume of the kettle depends on the number of people going camping. It is desirable to have two woks – one for cooking, the second for boiling water. Aluminum kettle is good because it does not weigh as much and boils water faster. There are woks with a copper bottom, they cook food even faster. Many survivalists can make do with a single army kettle.

4. First aid kit

You cant go camping without medication. Theres no telling what could happen. You can get an injury, you can catch a cold, you can be attacked by a wild animal. Therefore, it is necessary to collect a first aid kit. For more information on how to assemble a first aid kit, you can read here.

The first aid kit must include:

In principle, this set of drugs is more than enough, you can supplement it with medicines that you need and require.

5. Spare clothes

If youre going on a long hike (more than two days), you need to take care of a second set of clothes. It is mandatory to have a hat, warm jacket, pants and other warm things. Because it is colder at night than during the day. Also take 2-3 pairs of thin socks and 1-2 pairs of warm socks.

6. Basic stuff

These include a backpack, sleeping bag, karimat (foam), seat, tent, and rain cover. It depends on the nature of the hike what you will take with you of these accessories. Many people go camping without a tent and sleeping bag, its all for convenience. But you will definitely need a backpack, it will put everything you take with you on the hike. The tent will also not hurt, on how to choose a tent, see here. A tent will also come in handy, because its not very pleasant to sleep on the bare ground.

7. Gadgets. Phone, navigator, camera

We live in the age of modern technology, so almost everyone takes all sorts of electronic gizmos with him when he goes camping. Its silly to refuse them, so Ill tell you what you need to take with you. You should have one or two spare batteries for your phone, or a portable charger with a few charges to spare, because when your phone runs out, it becomes useless. Also, a camera, either a spare battery or a charger.

And a means of communication in the woods will not hurt you, especially help when you realize that youre lost. Its good if you have a navigator, but its better to have a good smartphone with a navigator already installed. Navigation in general is an important thing in a long hike, helps a lot to navigate. Youll also need a flashlight and extra batteries.

8. All kinds of additional equipment

It is chosen depending on what you will be doing on the camping trip. It can be fishing gear, rope, climbing gear, diving gear.

You can also watch a video on Survival kit or what to take with you to the hike, here you will see how to assemble a kit yourself or how to choose a ready-made.

The 5 most important items for survival

Renowned survival and bushcraft expert Dave Canterbreri, author of Bushcraft 101 – A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival, suggested a very interesting solution to complete a survival kit. Or, as we call it, NAZ.

Anyone interested in wilderness travel knows that there are a huge variety of survival kits, from pocket-sized key chains to almost entire backpacks. Most hikers and survivalists complete them themselves. And very often it makes me smile to see kits that have a couple or three arrowheads and snares, but no trivial container for water. And something tells me that most of the owners of such kits hardly ever hunted with bows or snares. But, nevertheless, they are sure to use such tools in an extreme situation.

Dave offers a much more realistic and practical option. The essence of his concept is that very many things can be made from natural materials. But there are items that are extremely difficult to make in nature. But in their presence, it is possible to solve most problems of survival. That is exactly what you need to have in your survival kit.

Why 5C?

Because there are five items, and they all begin with the letter C in English

So, here they are:

1. Cutting tool – cutting tool

Perhaps no one would argue that the most important thing for survival is a knife. Even the smallest one. And even if you find flint in the nature, it will never replace a good knife. And if you have it, you can make a very good turn around. Not just survive, but thrive.

2. Cover element – cover element

Of course, in most cases, you can also equip a shelter from improvised materials. But. First of all, it sometimes takes hours and hundreds of calories. And to spread a tent is a matter of minutes. Secondly, it is not a fact that you can build a quality waterproof shelter that will protect you from the rain. In addition, tents can be used for other purposes, such as collecting rainwater, making stretchers, etc. For example, you can use a poncho or a rescue blanket.

3. Combustion device – an object for making a fire

If you are familiar with fire making techniques such as rubbing, then you know that this is not the most reliable technique. No one guarantees that in a certain place there will be dry wood of the right kind, dry kindling. Im not talking about those cases where you need to make a fire immediately (for example, when youve fallen through the ice). So having a flame thrower, lighter, or matches is a must for your kit.

4. Container – container

Making a container in nature is not an easy task. And it is even harder to use such containers for boiling water and cooking. Thats why its important to have some kind of container in your kit in which you can carry water and boil it. Personally, I prefer the NATO mug flask. Its case is also quite handy for making a filter.

5. Cordages – ropes

Of course, there are techniques for making ropes from natural materials. But these are very time-consuming. And youll never get the strength of paracord from them. And there are countless survival applications. So, take as much rope with you as you can.

As you can see, this kind of kit covers a lot of survival priorities and is very practical. Finally, most of these items (except the poncho) can easily be stuffed into pockets or pinned to your belt, which greatly reduces the risk of losing them.