PSK part 1: The Tin

OK, part one coming right up. First things first, what kind of container to use for your kit? Lots of options out there. Sizes vary from "altoid tin" sized kits, pill bottle kits, kits that fit in big pouches. Endless variety.  I wanted to do a mess tin kit. I really want to design this kit to perform as many roles in a survival situation as possible.  With a good sized mess tin as the container for my kit, I can use the tin to boil water when needed. Now, this does make the kit pretty big. All told I still hope to be able to fit the tin into a BDU cargo pocket for another Bush Class elective I'll be working on later.  More info on that to come, but it's going to be fun.

So the tin I chose for this is the Esee Mess Tin:

It measures 6.25" x 4" x 2.5" and weighs 6 oz. empty. It can hold 32 oz. of water, which was an important consideration for me, as  stated earlier. The main container has a folding wire handle that hinges over to hold the lid on. It does NOT latch it tightly, the lid is a little loose on the container.  I purchased this online for $15.99 shipped from 5col, a good, reliable retailer of survival and bushcraft kits and components.

When receiving the tin I did throw in a few components just for fun. I'm not set on what will stay in there yet so I'm not going to get into the contents just yet. But, we have the start of the PSK tin project.  My goal for the blog now is to gather several types of components that fall in to a few categories and test them to see what will definitely go in the kit. Categories like: Shelter, Water, Fire, signalling, navigation, food, etc...

That's it for now,

See you outside!

-J

PSK thoughts

PSK (Personal Survival Kits) are a huge topic in the outdoors community. 

There are, literally, as many variants as there are people who have one. Thus the "Personal" right there in the name. Your needs are different than mine. Each individual's skill set, training, and experiences are going to be huge factors in their PSK contents.

For me, I look at a PSK as a last ditch situation. I've lost my pack and gear, I'm not near my vehicle and all I have to work with is what I have in that kit. It's not a kit I will live out of long term (hopefully) just long enough to self rescue, or be found by others. I'm building a new PSK as I write this article, I'll take you along with me on my thought process and we'll see where this goes.

But you don't have to build your own.  You can pick up reasonably priced kits that are chock full of great items that will be really useful to you in a survival situation.  I have a link in my side bar to a company called Best Glide that sells kits and components. An internet search will turn up many other reputable retailers as well.

If you do pick up one of these kits, consider getting two of them. One to keep for an actual survival situation. Yep, just put it aside until you're going on your adventure and you want to have it with you. The other one? Tear that thing open and play with all the parts!  You can have all the cool tools in the world but if you don't know how to use them, they don't mean anything. Use your components, learn how they work, what they do AND what they can't do. This simple exercise will help you build your own skill set and confidence. Remember that a BIG part of survival or getting out of any tough spot is mental.


That's all for now but there will be more to come in this series.