You mean band-aids, right? Not bandages? I got a free bandage after I broke my arm, I carried it in my schoolbag for months until I got hit by a car (and at the time, I didn’t even have my backpack on me, I had to walk home and fix myself up), what a waste of effort! Don’t EDC things you don’t expect to use daily. Consider taking like 3-4 of each type of pill instead of the whole bottle. Consider leaving the screwdriver- you already have 2 on your swiss army knife. Strike-Anywhere matches suck, use waterproof matches or a ferro rod instead.
I think hatchets are not that useful. If you are going to be home, just get a real, full size axe. If you are going to be on the move, there is very little a hatchet can do that a knife won’t. The best reasons to have an axe are splitting wood and felling trees. If you don’t expect to be doing either of those, dont bother- for splitting small amounts of wood (for example, to coax a fire out of wet wood) a knife is OK, and I have never had such a hard time finding wood that I have had to fell live trees- although I have used a hatchet to chop down dead standing wood (it wasn’t my hatchet).
If you want to purify water, use a Sawyer Mini filter ($20, tiny, you can even stick it in-line in your hydration bladder, thats what I do. Makes drinking kinda hard but gathering water is effortless. Also if you use it in the winter you have to watch out for it freezing- the water will expand and break the filter) or Aquamira chlorine dioxide drops ($10, a little more fussy to use, you have to mix 2 chemicals and wait 30 minutes.)
If you want a “just in case” shelter, buy a poncho-tarp.Probably the sanest choice for carrying daily, it’s raingear (something that you might actually use regularly gasp!) and a tiny shelter. For prolonged use, get a normal-size tarp, at least 8’ by 8’. More than a couple nights in a row under the world’s smallest plastic roof will drive you mad.
Bandaids and a bandage roll both, because yeah, quicker-fix options are important. The roll was included in the kit, I’m likely going to switch that out for waterproof medical tape (which I have sofar used for a lot of not-medical stuff) and more gauze patches or something.
And yes, I just have one bottle with several samples of each pill type in one.
Good point regarding the screwdriver redundancy - I might replace it with a small multitool for my bicycle, but only if I can guarantee access to my bicycle. I probably won’t.
Alright, replace matches, noted! I want a ferro rod but haven’t seen them in outdoor goods stores when I’ve looked. I might just order online and save myself the trouble.
The best reasons to have an axe are splitting wood and felling trees.
The weather dips below freezing as early as October in bad years, consistently so by mid-November. It doesn’t get consistently above zero celcius again until Mid April. Felling trees and splitting wood is exactly what I expect to be doing, for that reason. Gotta have fire! My dad gets the fullsize axe (which we already have, at home yes) assuming I have family on my side still, so I’m adjusting for a supplementary role. I’d rather a 2-in-1 hammer/axe combo if I have to be on the move.
I am not that strong and like, haha, 5’4" - a hatchet brings the usefulness of the axe into a weight range I can reasonably wield in self defense (it’s basically a club with a pointy bit at this stage). A hatchet fits in my backpack. I am a noodle of a man. You’re absolutely right in that there are better options for several situations. This one works well for mine. X)
I do enjoy the discussion of usefulness versus ideal items, it’s a good way to review one’s survival gear choices.
Hmm, I’m so used to chemical mixing and measuring to dechlorinate water for my aquarium, I’d rather go with the drops than the might-freeze unit. I’m so damn biased with the fact winter’s on the way right now, I do not like this season. PONCHO TARP I knew there was something I’d forgotten! AAHGHRLGHALRHG THANK YOU.
depending on what it is, milsurp isn’t the best place to get things. For example MREs that are 1-2 years from expiry, (they are supposed to last around 5-6 years) get sold, as well as plates that have taken a hit (they replace body armor after it gets shot once) and things they don’t use anymore (Steel pot M1 helmets and the like)
Those steel plates make great targets though(22s barely do anything beyond mark the paint)
Surplus stores near me generally have good stuff. A bit lacking in the body armor department but i have a vest anyway. One thing they have, though, is loads and loads of 101st airborne uniforms. I mean damn i even find these uniforms when I’m just shopping for normal clothes. They have those massive ALICE packs as well.
…I’ve actually never been able to use it in a game. XD my laptop can’t run the RMCC. I did manage to drive it for a bit though, it’s so damn long it takes three map tiles for it to turn at speed.
I know exactly how you feel. I have 12 dollars to my name so that Russian gas mask I’ve been eying for awhile is going to have to wait.[/quote]
I have one of those, be careful which model you get. I wound up with one that almost certainly has asbestos in the canister filter. Maybe if the world was ending I’d rather risk the asbestos, but yeegh. Get a modern gas mask for survival purposes, get the russian old one for collection reasons instead.
Yeah, typically the older gas masks had asbestos. But anything after the 60s is safe i believe. The one I’m getting is from the 70s and was used till the end of the cold war so i should be safe, though I’ll probably need a new filter anyway.