Righto I thought I would do something fun with the kids and build some survival tins. 2 kids 6 and 5. Put together a list of stuff to fill them and was after any advise or tips anyone may have. Ok so the onto the list 2oz tin :Fire straws (pjcb sealed in straws) :Small ferro rod with hacksaw blade :Scalpel blade x2 :Couple of meters of hootchie cord :Water purification tabs :Safty pins :Rescue whistle :Bandaids :Needle & thread for clothes repair :Signal mirror :Birthday candles or tealigh Anyone think of anything we should add or remove. Cheers bushy
Yes, those are great! I have never had good luck with the straw-pjcb thing, and hints? You need something to put water in...Although its bigger than an altoids tin, I have put together a couple emergency overnight/ survival kits in peanut butter jars- the smallish size that are plastic hold a ton are clear so you can see the contents, are pretty much waterproof, nearly indestructable (ish), double as a water container but aren't so big that you think twice about bringing it.
Cheers for the reply @mmbackpacker that is a very good point about the water storage and an excellent solution with the peanut butter jar sounds like a good bag carry kit. I have never tried the pjcb straws before just thought it would be fun for the kids to make, out of curiosity what did you find to be the issue with them. Thanks again for taking the time to reply
Once you get them hooked on the survival tins they might wander through WalMart seeing various tins and thinking about what kind of kit they could make with them. I have collected tins that held staples, big gum tins that held Wrigley's gums (WalMart up here carries them at Christmas), Boker knife tin, etc. I find myself looking for candy tins that are big enough to make into kits. Altoids is the classic size. I also have some tea tins and tins for Bag Balm.
I use large size clip lock plastic bags folded up as emergency water carrying device. also a snake bite bandage will save a life, particularly being in Australia, we have the world's most venomous snakes, needs to be in the kit...
This is what I got my son as soon as I started carrying him camping at 4 years old. https://www.amazon.com/Survival-Whistle-Emergency-Zone-Available/dp/B000NO08VO?th=1&psc=1 We add water purification tablets and some extra cord. He could start a fire with a ferro rod at 6 and never lit a fire with a lighter until he was a teenager.
Thanks for the replys everyone, I now have the tins and got the kids to make some fire straws and of course test a couple out photos to come when I get home next
It embarrasses me to say, I have these stuffed in ever pack I own, and use them often when raining. They are a little pricey, but man do they work!
Work was pretty flat out to the point I have been staying out at site for the past month and a bit. So only starting to get these organised now Fire straws where fun for the kids and they seem to work well enough. Now just need to organize the rest of the equipment
Good Job Mate...!!! A little bit of this kind of info and thinking will last a long time with your kids, my two Great Uncles were both bushman running sheep and cattle stations down here, they were huge influences on me as a kid (both were in their 70s by then) lots of little things just said or pointed out in passing to me then stick with me even today...especially about Magpies having very little meat on their bones yet possum was OK (both did it hard during the Depression years) . Making it fun for them is the best idea as you well know. Now...take them down to Wollmart ...
Nice memories of your uncles Andy, that sort of bush wisdom is getting harder to find. Wollmart is that a store in Austria
..... yes, that generation of people is almost lost to us now, as is the next, even now I will be doing something around the house or in the yard and some pearl of wisdom Uncle Jim or Uncle Reg dropped all those years ago will appear. Same as talking a friend through her horse riding lessons (I'm not teaching her, just being updated), something one of these two showed me or said or whacked me with a stock whip (attention getting not great pain) for - generally grabbing the saddle pommel instead of bracing with my legs - will flow out of me. yep.... Wollmart - you can have a genuine Austrian experience there...