What To Pack For Survival Gear

One of the most important survival skills is being able to get out of a survival situation. This can be done by packing survival gear. Survival gear includes items that will help you stay alive in an emergency or disaster, such as water purifiers and food rations. When planning for survival, there are three basic survival equipment: a "get home" kit, a "grab-and-go" kit, and an everyday carry (everyday carry). It's important to know what kind of survival situation you might face so you can pack accordingly.

What Should I Put in My Survival Pack?

You may need to survive on your own for several days after an emergency. To be prepared, you must have enough food, water, and other resources to last many days. A disaster survival is a collection of essential materials that your family may require in the event of a crisis.

Here are the things that you should put in your survival pack:

Basic Disaster Supply Kits

To put together your kit, place goods in airtight plastic bags and place your full disaster supplies kit in one or two easy-to-carry containers like plastic bins or a duffel bag.

The following items are recommended for a basic emergency survival pack:

• Water (one gallon per person per day for several days, drinking and sanitation)
• Food (at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food)
• Battery-powered or hand-crank radio and an NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert
• Flashlight
• First aid kit
• Extra batteries
• Whistle (to signal for help)
• Dust mask (to help filter contaminated air)
• Plastic sheeting and duct tape (to shelter in place)
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags, and plastic ties (for personal sanitation)
• Wrench or pliers (to turn off utilities)
• Manual can opener (for food)
• Local maps
• Cell phone with chargers and a backup battery

Additional Emergency Supplies

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that consumers include additional items in their kits to help prevent the transmission of coronavirus or other viruses, as well as the flu, since Spring of 2020.

Based on your specific needs, consider including the following items in your emergency supply kit:

• Masks (for all ages 2 and above), soap, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes for surfaces
• Prescription medications
• Non-prescription medications such as pain relievers, anti-diarrhea drugs, antacids, and laxatives 
• Contact lens solution and prescription eyeglasses
• The formula for infants, bottles, diapers, wipes and diaper rash cream are all available.
• Cash or traveler's checks
• Important family documents such as copies of insurance policies, identification, and bank account records saved electronically or in a waterproof, portable container
• Sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person
• Complete change of clothing appropriate for your climate and sturdy shoes
• Fire extinguisher
• Matches in a waterproof container
• Feminine supplies and personal hygiene items
• Mess kits, paper cups, plates, paper towels, and plastic utensils
• Paper and pencil
• Books, games, puzzles, or other activities for children

How Would You Maintain The Survival Kit?

After you've put your kit together, remember to keep it in good working order so it'll be ready when you need it:

• Store canned goods in a cold, dry location.
• Boxed food should be kept in firmly sealed plastic or metal containers.
• As needed, replace expired items.
• Every year, reevaluate your needs and upgrade your kit as your family's demands evolve.

Kit Storage Locations

Prepare supplies for your house, work, and cars because you never know where you'll be when an emergency strikes.

Home: Keep this kit in a dedicated location at home and have it ready if you need to leave fast. Make sure that everyone in the family knows where the kit is kept.

Work: Be prepared to spend at least 24 hours at work as a refuge. Food, drink, and other basics such as medicines and good walking shoes should all be kept in a "grab and go" case.

Car: Keep an emergency supply bag in your car in case you become stranded.

What is Inside a Emergency Kit?

It's a good idea to have an emergency supply kit ready and on hand in case of an emergency. The necessities for survival would be prioritized: water, food, and warmth. They are the things to think about including in your personal or family emergency plan.

What Food Should I Buy For Survival

You can stock your emergency food store in two ways. One option is to stockpile non-perishable items that you already consume regularly. This list includes that type of food you can get in any shop and is ideal for stockpiling.

Another option is to purchase specialized 'survival food,' which you don't open until an emergency but typically lasts considerably longer than supermarket food. It's fine either way, and most people do both.

Basic requirements:

Long storage life. Even while you aren't attempting to equal the 20-30 year shelf life of freeze-dried food or the 5-8 year of MREs, you should still choose sturdy products with care. Anything that doesn't last at least a year should be avoided.

It's simple to store. More durable packaging, such as that found in a can or box, is preferable to potato chips. Food that needs to be kept cold or frozen isn't automatically excluded, but don't rely too much on electricity.

It's simple to put together. You could not have utilities or other items that make cooking easier in a situation where you're reliant on this cuisine. As a result, we prefer foods that may be eaten raw, require minor reheating or rehydration, or are simple to combine with other components.

Nutritional. While mental/emotional comforts are important in a crisis, you don't want to make things worse by trying to live off junk food.

Calorie density measures how many calories are in a given. Some foods (or the way they're packaged) provide more caloric bang-for-your-buck than others, and limiting space is frequently your largest issue when stocking a pantry.

What Do You Do in a Survival Situation?

You're in a dangerous wilderness situation and want to get back to civilization. But, do you know how to defend yourself against harm? In a survival crisis, you can perform the following:

Master Your Attitude

It is not the time to panic in a survival crisis. Instead, if you focus on having a positive, proactive attitude, you are more likely to withstand a challenging scenario.

• Make a strategy.
• Make a list of your available resources.
• Identify the key tasks that must be completed to survive (water, shelter, warmth).
• Grit: What differentiates a survivor from a non-survival is frequent determination.
• Recognize that emotions aren't facts. Keep your thoughts focused on the activities that need to be completed, even if you feel hopeless.

Make an Insulated Shelter

You can protect yourself from hypothermia — and the elements — by constructing an adequate shelter.

• Build a shelter just big enough to fit your body when lying down since your body heat will be your major source of warmth.
• Assemble the framework: Use available resources, such as a fallen tree or a sturdy branch, securely against a standing tree to build a simple lean-to.
• Assemble the sides: On one side, stack the sticks tightly together. Fill in holes with smaller sticks as you go.
• Add insulation: Cover the sides with bark, leaves, pine needles, moss, or other natural materials – the thicker the material, the better. The thicker the belt, the more insulation you can add to the ground.

Make a Shade Shelter

In some cases, heat protection will be the most important factor.

• Keep it cool: Just a few inches of digging in the soil can reveal cooler ground.
• Make a lean-to shelter out of branches or limbs to protect yourself from the elements.
• Allow air to circulate: The goal of this shelter is to provide shade. Cover one side with any accessible material, such as bark, leaves, a poncho, an emergency sleeping bag or blanket, or any other suitable cloth.
• Keep cool by lying in the cool earth in the shade.

Find a Safe Source of Water.

The holy grail of survival is finding pure, uncontaminated water.

• Collect, store, and drink rainwater
• Snow: It takes a lot of work for your body to absorb the water from snow. Rather than consuming the snow, it would help if you melted it first. This is simple to do over an open fire or on a camp stove. If none of those possibilities are available, take advantage of the sun. Chopped ice can be hung in a water bag in direct sunshine to speed up the process. Use your body's heat if the sun isn't shining.

Light a Fire

You'll want to practice alternative methods of fire starting before when they are needed.

• Easy: Using a lighter or waterproof match is simple. Keep your matches in a waterproof container to keep them dry.
• Medium: Start a fire with a magnesium fire starter. Shave the magnesium filings off the stick, then produce a spark with the back of your knife to ignite the filings.
• Advanced: To light fuel, a battery can be used to create a spark. Connect your vehicle batteries' positive and negative posts (taken from your vehicle or boat) with wires or steel wool. This will cause the wool to catch fire or spark. Align two smaller batteries together, positive to negative, with smaller batteries. Connect the posts with strands of steel wool to create a spark and ignite the wool. A 9-volt battery will suffice.

Thoughts

It's always a good idea to be prepared for SHTF survival. However, you can begin assembling your kit now if you believe you will be evacuated in the future.

Putting together an SHTF gear or survival kit is a very personal decision. At some time, your life may be dependent on your decisions, so think about the possible calamities you might face and do your best to put together the materials that will help you survive. However, if you start with the items listed above, add in those that will meet your specific needs, and transport them in a sensible container, you'll most likely stay alive and come home with a terrific narrative.

If you're looking for survival gear for SHTF, we at ApeSurvival have the best gear and kit for emergency and survival situations!