I didn't feel like paying $500 -$1000 CAD for a little mess tin with a few bits of survival gear in it. This is not a diss at Esee in any way shape or form......but us Canucks get screwed up here on your products (ie; Junglas $300 - 500) due to our piss poor Canuck Buck "aka" the Loonie. I gathered a bunch of gear locally, @5col hooked me up with an Esee mess Tin and molle Pouch. and I went from there....... Esee molle pouck, Lensatic compass and Esee 6 Esee mess tin, FireCord orange paracord with tinder inside, ACR micro signal mirror, candy tin with Exotac fire starter and tinder, plus GITD, hi vis reflective tape, 5Col Whirlpack bags X 5 food bar, sugar, protein, fat. And a pencil the esee tin hand picked items flagging tape, micro signal panel, LifeBoat matches X 2, plus a few Storm matches. Fox 40 whistle, @Reno Lewis custom ferrorod, aluminum EDC match case LOADED with fishing hooks and misc, plus braided fishing line adn cork float, Lensatic compass, Ef-Chlor water treatment tabs, enough to make 600 liters of clean water. (each tab treats 20 liters water), Esee notebook with nav cards and survival cards, Swiss Army knife Cadet, waxed thread and sail needle, 2 X bobbins braided fishing line, 1 red, 1 white led signal flare, with 6 extra batteries in waterproof balck silicone case, 1 WetFire tinder, 1 beeswax candle, 1 roll duct tape, misc safety pins, buttons, micro sewing scissors, grab pouch large, with trapping and fishing gear, plus shelter and heavy duty space blanket, full spool of bankline, industrial drum liner bag, big enough to crawl into . speedhooks x 6 8 assorted size snares, 6 ready to go fishing auto spool sets, leader line, swivels, and screw hooks to attach snares to trees and logs. Stainless steel snare wire could it be improved? yes. I built this for when i go upcountry in the truck, i throw it into a small backpack which is kept by the drivers seat. Or for when (if ) i ever get into a bush plane or boat. feel free to criticize the build. I sure as hell didn't pay $1000 for it though. Probably got less than $400 CAD, not including the Esee 6.
Good stuff. One thing I'd add is a simple Bic lighter (full size or mini, your choice). Pry the child safety off the wheel, take a small (2-3mm wide) ranger back and wrap it 2-3 times around the gas button to prevent it from being actuated, then stick it in a party balloon and tie it off. Water proof, back up flame that weighs next to nothing. If nothing else, you've got another spark wheel. Can also wrap a couple ranger bands or a few wraps of duct/Gorilla tape around the lighter for immediate tinder.
I really like the inclusion of flagging tape and a pencil. It's one of those things that can really help in the case of an emergency. Whenever I go off trail I make a point to tie a flag and initial it, along with adding at least one more for direction reference. It can save a whole lot of valuable rescue hours if the rescuers have a decent starting point.
So looking back at this I don’t want fire cord lol not fixing the ends would bother me so much I would give up the will to live in a survival situation.... you have a great kit, are you guys allowed to use the speed hooks and Fisher yo yos? Most places in the US they can’t be used unless for survival. But then how do you practice with them? One tip on them. I took the rope off and added small (1/16”) stainless steel cable and added the hardware at the end for a snare. Works great on rabbit and squirrel. I caught more of those the trapping season I tried them than any other. You could still add a lead line and fish with it.
In terms of additions, the only thing I can think of would be adding some medical stuff. Even if it's just a flat pack roll of sterile gauze, some neosporin, and hand sanitizer. Maybe a couple of moleskins for blisters.
Maybe I missed it, but what about a small backup light? A LED signal flare is a source of general illumination, but I'd still want a tight, focused beam for certain things.
Very well thought out kit. Nicely done. When i was scrolling through the pics, the pic of the packed tin looked like there was a pair of white Elton John sunglasses in it...i thought that was a peculiar survival item...
In the backpack that this kit goes into , there is a FAK. I normally toss in one of my led headlamps and a box of spare CR123’s. Trouble is which headlamp? I have so many ...... I chose to make this survival kit as a multi kit set up in a micro backpack because it’s easy to grab and wear it comfortably if I need to use it. Plus there is additional room in the pack to add stuff along the way.
Just to show you the insane prices up here for the advanced Esee survival kit....... https://www.herooutdoors.com/advanced-survival-kit-od-green/. Some of the aviation supply houses up here are even more expensive..... I just don’t feel the kit has $1000 to $1500 of value for the items you get.......if I built a survival kit with a budget of $1000-1500, it would have a hell of a lot more high end gear, PLUS a ACR PLB , Topo maps for the area, a GPS, and a VHF radio, possibly a sleeping bag/bivy set up
The Advanced survival kit isn't worth $1000, let alone $1500 (where'd you see it for $1500? That's just insane). 5col has the Advanced Survival Kit for $459.99 USD, which at the time of writing this equates to exactly $600 CAD. Shipping is $20 CAD, and tax for us BC residents is 12%, which equates to $72 on the $600 CAD price, which when totaled with the $10 handling fee from the CBSA comes out to a grand total of $702 CAD. Sometimes it's just cheaper for us Canucks to import stuff, even after duties and taxes and shipping. Honestly, I can see the value at $700 CAD, especially considering $1oo of that is shipping and import. For example, if you're stocking kits for an expedition and want standardized gear, those kits could be a really good base to work around. Of course, if you already have most of the gear already, I see no reason not to just put one together for yourself and save the $700, like you did above.
one of the aircraft supply houses had it for $1500. (but aircraft supply houses are already extremely expensive to begin with. i can see the appeal of the stock kit by organizations.....buy a bunch of pre-made kits to cover the insurance requirements. but it astounds me how much of the contents can be had for very little money, just by shopping carefully and packing it up yourself. again, not a diss at Esee/RAT....the markup is Canada plus our lousy dollar makes your stuff pricy up here. I cant even imagine the cost in Europe.....
Great kit! Many people do not consider taking such type of gear while traveling with a vehicle, at least not until they need it A small survival kit, basic FAK, TQ and Izzy go with me on every trip outside the city, the TQ and Izzy are EDC. Importing stuff from USA is expensive here too - due to many taxes. I recently ordered a knife for a friend, the taxes were around 1/3 of the total price - insane!!!
WOW! Either those folks are out of their tree's, or their customers are? Those are crazy stupid prices.