We received an excellent question by email the other day on the topic of wilderness survival for students. Let’s take a look:
Sebastian’s Survival Gear Question
My name is Sebastian. I’m 16 years old and have a passion for going out in the wilderness from time to time, and usually stay there a couple of days. I’m mostly accompanied by my cousin, who like me also loves the peace out there. Anyways, I love your blog and I would like to ask: If you could make a survival kit for a young student like me, who doesn’t have enough money to buy the more expensive survival gear, what would you suggest as a budget survival kit? I’m especially interested in the best knife and tent for the money. Thanks!
Our Response: Student Survival Kit Recommendations
Questions about survival kits get asked pretty frequently around here, and although I do stress that you should always customize your survival kit to fit your personal needs and environment, there are some pieces of gear that will likely be useful just about anywhere.
In terms of building the best student survival kit, typically I’d suggest building a kit around 2 or 3 core pieces of gear, but you beat me to the chase and suggested you want to be working around two excellent ones: a knife and a tent. Other than that, you can adjust what you bring based on the trip you take, how long you’ll be there, where you’re going, how lightweight you’d like your kit to be, etc.
With that said, I’ve listed two different knife and tent combinations below, depending on which price bracket you find yourself most comfortable with. I’ve also recommended some add-on gear you might like to consider for expanding your kit later, depending on your needs and budget.
Mora 2010 Bushcraft Forest Knife – Amazon
Just The Survival Staples: Two Budget Options
1. Student Survival Kit Staples: Budget of $30
- Knife: Mora Outdoor Fixed Blade Knife (or pretty much any Mora for that matter)
- Tent (substitute): Texsport Reinforced Rip-Stop Polyethylene Tarp
The Mora series knives are classics. They’re honestly, bang for buck, your best bet if you’re on a really tight budget. They’re the go to knives for many survival and bushcraft experts and are worth their weight in gold. You’ll never regret getting one. They’re just too handy.
In terms of the tent, I haven’t managed to find a quality one for under $20, and since a simple tarp can provide adequate shelter with the right skills (rope + wood poles go a long way!), I thought I’d recommend exactly what I’d use if I was on a really tight budget. I would hands down prefer paying for a $15 high-quality, sturdy tarp that isn’t going to rip than pay the same price for a crappy tent that likely won’t even last me more than a night.
2. Student Survival Kit Staples: Budget of $50
- Knife: Mora Outdoor Fixed Blade Knife (or, again, pretty much any Mora for that matter)
- Tent: Mountain Trails Current Hiker 2-Person Dome Tent
Honestly, no point “upgrading” the knife to a different brand, though of course feel free to substitute that particular Mora for any other you find to your liking. If you have some extra money, it’s much better spent buying a quality tent than upgrading a Mora, since the Mora can take whatever hard use you might like to throw at it anyway. This particular tent likely isn’t going to last forever, but if you treat it well and don’t use it roughly, it’s unlikely to break or leak either.
Light My Fire Swedish Firesteel Mini – Amazon
Student Survival Kit Add-On Gear
On top the your knife and tent, if you wind up with some extra money to spend on gear, I’d allocate the rest of your budget to purchasing some of the items below:
- A sturdy backpack
(ex. Condor Compact Assault Pack) - A good quality firesteel
(ex. Light My Fire Swedish Fire Starter) - A reliable form of water purification
(ex. Portable Aqua Water Treatment Tablets) - Some paracord or other cordage
(ex. Titan Genuine US Military Paracord) - A basic first aid kit
I would suggest assembling this yourself; pre-made ones tend to be of dubious quality and usefulness. Will write a post on this soon for anyone interested. - Some form of container
(ex. Klean Kanteen Wide Mouth Bottle)
Anything else you need you should add as you go along, just to make sure you actually need it and aren’t just adding extra expenses and weight to your bag for nothing. Personally, I’d throw some spare socks, a blanket, and some artificial home-made tinder (like petroleum jelly soaked cotton balls) into my pack, but that’s just because I live in Canada. I can’t stress enough how important it is to adjust your survival kit to your needs.
That’s about all. Enjoy your time in the wilderness!
If you have a survival, preparedness, or gear related question you’d like us to answer, don’t hesitate to let us know! Find out how to reach us via the contact page. Although we don’t publish every question we’re asked on the blog, we try our best to respond to each and every one we receive.
In case you’re interested, you can also view our past responses to reader questions here.
Before worrying about a survival kit, one should look into survival knowledge. Equipment can, to some degree compensate for lack of skills, but knowledge compensates for lack of equipment. In order to have an effective survival kit, you must have a good idea on what should be in the kit, and how to use each item to its best effectiveness. And the realization that equipment and knowledge can vary from environment to environment.
Thus, the first piece of knowledge, which can guide you in choosing skills and equipment, is deciding what it is you hope to survive. A way to help remember this is the “Rule of Threes”. This states:
You can live 3 minutes without air or with severe bleeding
You can live 3 hours without shelter (in an intemperate environment)
You can live 3 days without water
You can live 3 weeks without food
Of course this is not a guarantee (either way). All these will eventually kill you, so all are important; this just guides you in priority in gaining skills and equipment. Plus, assuming you want to be rescued, signalling methodology should be considered, with a priority similar to that of water.
The next decision is how much space and weight you are willing to devote to a survival kit. The best kit in the world won’t help at all if you leave it at home. For convenience, kit sizes can be divided into EDC (Every Day Carry, what you always have with you, more of a “normal life kit” than a survival kit), pocket kits (which fit into a shirt sized pocket), belt kits (in a pouch on your belt, a fanny pack or a multi-pocket vest), backpack kits and vehicular kits.
Some great tips John, and I agree completely that gear is no substitute for knowledge. With that said, it does make it much easier! ;)
Yep, the trick is to have the knowledge to a) know you need a piece of equipment and b) know how to USE that piece of equipment.
Be aware that Potable Aqua is iodine based, and research shows that iodine is not reliable against Cryptosporidium. Chlorine Dioxide based tablets seem a better choice and even with that, it takes several hours to kill all those little buggers..
Also, Iodine leaves a nasty taste, which can be neutralized with Ascorbic Acid after it completes its work. Chlorine Dioxide tends to have less bad taste, but does not have an easy way to neutralize it. An activated charcoal filter may help.
Some people with thyroid problems can be harmed by iodine based water tablets. Even healthy people should avoid using it long term.
All water purification tablets are designed for a specific volume of water. Make sure your water container can hold, and is marked for, that volume of water.
These days I carry a physical filter around, I own both the Sawyer Mini & the Lifestraw and i find myself amazed at how technology has advanced!
Both good filters; neither will help against viruses or chemicals. Lifestraw has a “steel’ model which includes an activated charcoal element to reduce some chemicals.
Great blog I would love to have survival gear but in the uk it’s not really sold in many places. Good read though very informative and gives a great perception and insight into the different class of knives and survival gear and which is best to use
Interestingly enough, I am a Brit mate (wife is Canadian, hence my current location). ;) Plenty of places to get survival gear- check out britishblades.com for a British forum on knives & heinnie.com for a British store.
Hi, I remember that when i started going outdoor i bought a lot of cuasi survival gear that was bulky, heavy and didn´t worked well so by failing and passing cold and some headaches i realiced that as the article mentions the best you can do (in my opinion) is focus on some central items and be prepared if time changes.
Recently i made a 900km walk on 30 days starting in france and finishing on the sea in spain on november with only what i could carry on my backpack and i can certainly tell you that some of my most important gear was what you are wearing on. (It is critical to have at least some idea of the time you are going to be out, even in an emergecy, you only need to keep going luckly for a couple of days mostly), so this is for bigger exits.
Buy the best jacket you can (gore tex or other good textile) to keep yourself reasonable dry, another one to keep you warm (primaloft or polar), a first layer and some good pants (not jeans, or cotton, they are to heavy or cold if wet) wool socks and a good pair o middle mountain boots (not so hard sole but that can help your ankle if necessary). If you have this even if you have a light sleeping bag and a shity tent or only a tarp or a bivy bag, you are going to be fine, remember that water goes from hot zones to cold ones so even if you we wet with all your stuff on into the sac, you are going to be dry thanks to the first layer. (I, ve made this above the 5000 mts line and have some decent sleep) don´t forget a sleeping pad, good backspacks already include one (but you can buy one, they really improve you rest). You can make one yourself also. (The warming jacket i sugers to keep it on a dry bag. After a rain, when you finally found a place to shelter, you really are going to be thankfull to have dry stuff)
Get a simple but really confortable backpack with a emergency blanket (55-60 lts) (arcteryx is the best of the best but deuter or mountain hardwear stand well also), buy two carabiners (HMS is the best even for making yourself a hammock and something to carry water easily (i have a nalgene 1 lt, and for years and years mountain and caves it has survived for only 10 bucks, i think they are great) and some purifing tablets, and if you have some extra bucks with time you can buy this (http://www.puralytics.com/html/solarBag.php) they are great (better for disaster situations).
A bic lighter is great (and something for backup like water proof matches, with some you can be fine for some days) and something to cook, (primus have some really nice stuff, form the omni fuel to the micron, everything is very trustworthy) for making anything, from te to rice and a metal spoon, (plastic is not so great) you can carry always some oats, and 1/4 kilogram of rice is enought for a couple of days (with high quality energy).
With a tarp and some paracord you can do almost anything for shelter and with enought paracord and proper training you can build some cool stuff.
Saws, axes and other tools can be replaced (in my experience) with only two items. A good knife (they have great reviews on the blog but if you are starting buy a mora so you don´t fill sad if you chip it or something, at the begining we tend to abuse a lot from our knives) and a multitool ( i have a leatherman skeletool for years and works really well, the key is to have really easy access to it.
A headlight will make your life easier and there are some like the e-mergency light from petzl that you can even carry in you altoids tin!!!!
A small first aid kit, the key is bringing with you what you know how to use and only that. It depend on your level of knowledge and on the objective, atending lifetreatening things).
If you plan to go out for a day trip, focus on weather, water, some energy bars and your multitool.with your edc tin, and a good jacket, all the rest is only going to be extra weight.
Of course this is only my opinion, so fell free to change whatever you want. Enjoy your wildland trips, and prepare always beforehand.
What an amazing report! Thanks for sharing! 900km in 30 days is no joke, thats one hell of a baptism by fire for your gear. Which boots did you end up wearing & how did they fare?
How did you deal with socks & the like? 3 pairs & cleaning whilst on the road?
Fantastic read, thanks again for dropping by!
Very well thought out article. I wish i read this a long time ago! Now i have a blog to follow. All the best!
Thank you & Thanks for visiting us!
Irresposible to suggest a blade to a 16 yo without mention of safety and training.
Should I be putting warning disclosures on posts where I talk about fire explaining that fire is hot, too?
Knives are perfectly safe for a sixteen year old to possess and use. I won’t be patronizing teenagers on my site by drowning my articles with safety warnings for them – if they’re old enough to drive in nearly every state before the age of 16, they’re sure as hell are ready to use a knife at 16 without being “warned” about their dangers and that they need “training” before they use one.
I second that. If they are ask about a survival kit they know what the dangers are.