Survival tin

[Beatts]

Arzosah, I think you are making out I'm in some way being negative towards these tins, but as I originally said I'm not.

A few of the comments back have been really informative and mentioned the reason they are carried, and now (as a newcomer) i understand why.


I think my tin will only ever be part of a bigger EDC / get home bag and it will only contain items that I am confirdent on using. I think the tins you can buy on EBay are mostly a waste of money as I can't imagine the fishing kits or wire saws are up to much at all.

[Deeps]

Arzosah, I think you are making out I'm in some way being negative towards these tins, but as I originally said I'm not.

A few of the comments back have been really informative and mentioned the reason they are carried, and now (as a newcomer) i understand why.


I think my tin will only ever be part of a bigger EDC / get home bag and it will only contain items that I am confirdent on using. I think the tins you can buy on EBay are mostly a waste of money as I can't imagine the fishing kits or wire saws are up to much at all.

I'm unlikely to use the fishing stuff in this thing so I took it out and tweaked the contents slightly (to be honest I can't remember what with, they ain't exactly capacious).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00I ... ge_o06_s00

Everyone's situation is different and what you carry has to work for you, of course its always good to find out what others are up to. The tins on ebay/amazon are very generic and seem geared towards the wilderness, that's great if you spend most your time out in the sticks but most of us don't and any time we're likely to be its going to be preplanned so you'll be going equipped. If your tin is for EDC then you have to gear it towards YOUR situation and for most of us that doesn't mean signal mirrors, snares and fishing line but hey, each to their own.

[PreppingPingu]

The tins are kinda of personal to you. As with all prepping, there is no point in having stuff you don't know how to use or can't use. Yes I too recall in brownies making up a pouch - plaster, money for phone call, piece of string! I have my own F.A.K too that I have made up rather than buy and that way I can cram more into it My tin/pouch that I always have in my bag along with my First Aid Kit, contains a multi tool, cash, pencil, sharpener - for the pencil and for making wood shavings from twigs, a breakfast bar, sachet of sugar and salt, matches - packed with a bit of cotton wool to stop the rattle and help with fire lighting, and I always have a bottle of water to hand. Yes I know this is more EDC but that is what the survival tin is in my mind - a small Every Day Carry that you can squeeze into a pocket if need be, and that will just give you a bit of extra time. I also have 1 of those use once hand warmers lying flat on top of the tin's contents. You wont be able to use anything in the tin if your fingers are numb!

[Arzosah]

Arzosah, I think you are making out I'm in some way being negative towards these tins, but as I originally said I'm not.

Not at all - looking at your post again, I think the phrase "comfort blanket" in this context might be looked at as being negative, but nothing else. I'm not really a fan of people putting forward a statement like yours and then asking everyone else to put in their two'pennorth without first putting their own in. But lots of people do that, you're not the only one by any means.

As I said I don't have a survival tin, and I've never investigated them, so I don't know what might be in them. Since you put the question forward and made sure people realised it was a genuine query, you might be coming at it from a really different angle.

A few of the comments back have been really informative and mentioned the reason they are carried, and now (as a newcomer) i understand why.


I think my tin will only ever be part of a bigger EDC / get home bag and it will only contain items that I am confirdent on using. I think the tins you can buy on EBay are mostly a waste of money as I can't imagine the fishing kits or wire saws are up to much at all.

Ah! Now it sounds like you haven't had a survival tin either up to this point that's perfectly valid, me too, after all though my sewing kit I mentioned is in a very cute tin - not baccy, but Body Shop Coconut Oil

As for prepacked tins bought on ebay - yep, I'm with you (and the rest of the forum, I think)...

PS I love it that Dusty Dog made one in the cub scouts

[sniper 55]

The original idea of the tins (AFAIK) was for combat survival, they tended to be kept on the person so if the individual had to do a runner they had the very basics, in my day they were changed a lot to to suit the area we were in. They were never intended as a long term thing, just a few days maybe.

[i11matic1795]

It's mainly all been said, but the tins are basically just a last resort, and as mentioned were military based originally.
With the correct knowledge you will be able to last a few days on a tin, if you fully utilise its contents, but it won't be particularly fun or comfortable.

Can you make yourself a shelter?
Can you make water safe to drink?
Can you light a fire?
Can you provide yourself with food?

A survival tin should cover all of these 4 essentials.

[Hamradioop]

Time magazine article http://nation.time.com/2013/02/21/youre ... vival-kit/

an individuals thoughts on the subject http://homepage.ntlworld.com/moonshadow ... al_kit.htm

more thoughts http://www.jackravenbushcraft.co.uk/survival-kit/

[Hoipoloi]

40 odd years ago they were called a 'tramp tin' and contained your treasured possessions. OK the contents were a little different but the concept was similar, to have something that could be kept on your person rather than in a bag so there was less liklihood that it could be lost.
If all your kit is held in a bag then consider what you'd be left with if the bag was stolen, misplaced, fell off a cliff, or dropped in a river.

[yorkshirewolf]

I think the most important part of carrying a survival tin, or indeed a pouch, is the mindset it shows you have; to be prepared for the unexpected, and the will to adapt, improvise, overcome and sort yourself out.

Each tin is individual, and each tin is tailored to the needs of the individual, it's wether the priority is on Water-Fire-Shelter-Food.

If i was going to a cold country for example, my tin would be full of inner tube, matches, probably a lighter, and water purification tabs, things like fishing kit and snare wire would go because it's unlikely to be used.

As it is, my tin has a load of stuff that could definitely get me out of bother if the need arose, but it's set-up for a UK type climate and environment.

Really though, if i was going somewhere that was so remote there was a chance of me getting lost for days or weeks, i'd be taking an emergency beacon and flares! As much as i have confidence in my ability to manage and survive a 'lost in the woods' situation, i''ve got no problem being un-macho, honest and saying that after a day or two lost, i'd be far happier throwing in the towel, using the beacon and within a few hours having a warm meal, warm bed and warm lady to keep me company!

[munchh]

Beatts, i spent alot of time on this one,

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=10151&hilit=+ultimate+tin

like some have said, its a very personal thing, long and short of this one is that when i was about 9 my Uncle gave me his survival tin that he made while in the TA, he was my way into the way i think about all this stuff, so for his 60th i wanted to create the best kit i could, see what you think.

i have 2 or 3 of these in my responce pac, they are all different.

A brew kit, a general survival kit and a battery and mini tool kit.

i like to compartmentalise the stuff in my bag, as having it all floating about was doing my head in, but saying that ive just upgraded my pocket EDC to what i suppose is a larger tin/pouch kit. I will post it.

Tin kits can be fun and the ultimate game of Tetris