For the benefit of the youngsters in the crowd, back when photographs required actual film, rather than bytes of digital media, the film came in virtually bomb proof and actually waterproof little plastic film cans (or cannisters), with pop-off lids. Anyone who shot pictures had dozens of them, more often than not. And if you're older than dinosaur teeth (call it late 1960s back to the 1930s or so), they came in aluminum film cans, with screw-on lids.
What good are they?
Watertight leakproof storage for: treasure maps *important ID or papers *stash of paper currency, coins, gold, silver, gemstones, etc. a buriable cache (pronounced cash, not cashay , unless you're a Common Core moron) of any kind *tinder *fuel tabs or firestarter *matches *spices (Coghlans still makes snap on spice shaker lids for plastic cans) *a mini-survival fishing kit (hooks, line, weights) anything else you can think of.
None of that requires the film cans, and seldom seen film doesn't matter. You can buy 10-12 of the cans, empty, new, for $5 on Amazon.
And really, it's not just film cans, it's any sealed waterproof container. Film cans just used to be as ubiquitous as phone booths. Unfortunately, they still are now. But while phone booths and film cans have gone out of style, the utility of the latter remains unsurpassed, and for prices from free, to cheap as dirt, brand new.
You can also go to The Container Store website, and find a yuuuuuge selection of other cans and containers of food-safe waterproof sealable plastic cans, tubes, etc. for similar purposes. And you should.
I found a flatter round one the perfect size for medical tape, to keep it from drying into a ball of congealed unusable goo in a car first aid kit. A longer thinner one that holds IV and chest decompression needles visible, without letting them poke holes in everything, or lose sterility. GoToobshold all sorts of things without burping the contents all over your gear, from Betadine to sunscreen, and everything in between.
All of the above are highly recommended. Dropped in water, they'll usually float. Buried for months to years, they remain intact, with no metal parts to rust and fail.
Take advantage of the multitude of uses to store items safely, and have them as fresh and useful when you need them as they were the day you loaded them up.
*The Sergeant Major notes "You will see this material again."
A good quality glass magnifying glass is versatile. It will let you read a topo map, fine-printed instructions, or labels and books when your glasses are broken. It will help you find that last nettle or bee stinger, and scrape it out. But what it really excels at, is setting things on fire, any time the sun is out.
Every young boy worth his salt figured out this last use, which is by far the most important, while visiting the wrath of the sun on ants in the playground. If you have a magnifying glass and sunlight, you have a match that will last forever, half of most every day.
I've used and carried all kinds. My go-to choice is a simple 3x pocket magnifier. My latest is a 16X jeweler's loupe. I've used the former to set someone's boots on fire on a May afternoon; the latter on a clear day will make a solar point so hot I can melt laboratory glass. And have.
Just imagine what it does for making a campfire, esp. if you added fuel-soaked tinder*, or magnesium shavings*. For all those reasons, you should have one.
But if you didn't bring a dedicated glass in your fire-making gear, you have options.
The flimsy plastic ones may suffice. Eyeglasses will definitely do a good job. So will a camera lens removed from its mount. In a bind, any clear water bottle* full of water may even suffice.
And if you lack paper* and pencil*, you can use all of the above methods to burn a message into any piece of wood you can find.
Small. Lightweight. Multiple uses.
The very acme of a survival implement. Nothing fancy. Just something a lot of people never thought about.
*The Sergeant Major notes "You will see this material again."
Snare wire rolls. Nota bene, Gentle Reader, I did not say "a snare". Or even two snares.
Germane-to-the-topic exchange at Mountain Warfare Training Center:
"I put out a snare, Sergeant!"
"Well, gee sir, that's really nice. Now go put out 20 more, and you might get one scraggly squirrel or rock marmot to eat before next Christmas. Your choice. It's a long evolution out here. Carry on, sir."
I mention that because it happens all the time. The dotMil, in all incarnations, even packs one or two snares, steel, in their aircrew survival kits. With a spiffy soft metal locking link, in case you get some action. Dumbasses who've never used them think two is enough.
Not hardly. Try 20-50. If you actually want to eat. Consider the number required for a single squirrel pole, of which you should try 3-4, or maybe 9 or 10, if that sort of game is on the menu:
If you live in suburbia, I highly recommend practicing with this.
Just not if you have cats. And NOT in the front yard, m'kay?
Check local laws and requirements for a hunting/trapping license too.
So you need a lot of snare wire, just for one proper pole. A snare, singular, isn't going to get it done. Ever.
Second problem. Those spiffy issue snares are made of steel. In the white. Wanna know what their lifespan is in a survival kit, even in a dry climate? Fifteen years, at which point they'll be a rusty circle of worthless shit. (Ask me how I know.) Don't even ask about in a near-ocean salt air or high-humidity climate, in which it's probably measured in months. You can oil them, which spooks game. You can use animal oils and grease. Which stinks like sh*t in your gear. Or you can use things other than the issue white steel. Things that don't rust out.
Stainless is always a good choice. You can find (and I have them) 2-3' stainless leaders in the BassPro angling aisles, that make great snares for anything up to probably raccoon and beaver-sized prey.
You can even buy some really splendiferous pre-made snares from the few remaining trapping companies that PETA hasn't driven out of existence.
Both options are rather spendy, however. And you should know how to make your own snares, with no hardware, or fancy catches, from scratch. You may be working from salvaged wire from any number of sources (vehicles, etc.), which likelihood is much higher than having a survival kit with two dozen game snares of all sizes with pre-made locking links.
A brighter choice, therefore, is to go to the hardware store, and get spools of wire that won't rust: Brass. Copper. Aluminum. Or green coated floral garden wire. Which last is the cheapest thing you'll find, and the most bang for the buck. Strength and durability is always a function of price and your desire.
Unless you're thinking of trying for deer and such, you're aiming at squirrel to rabbit sized prey. So 20-26 gauge wire will suffice. If you want more strength, braid it, like any other line. Or buy stronger wire. Generally, thicker gauge equals shorter amount on spool. So read the labels.
More strength, fewer snares. Buy more wire, make more snares.
Need a bomb-proof tightening wire?
Take one end. Roll the wire around a small diameter roundish piece of wood (twig, pencil, etc.) two times, leaving several inches left over. Take it off the stick. Take the additional length, and twist it around the wire before the double loop. Don't crush or tighten the double loop. Put the running end through the double loop. That's your won't-loosen locking loop. Make the loop the correct size for the game you seek. Anchor the other end appropriately.
When Bre'r Rabbit or Bre'r Squirrel goes in, it tightens on itself, locks up the snare loop, and won't let go. If you anchored the other end securely, and found your catch before some other predator, dinner is served.
The spool above will get you plenty of snares. A few such spools, minimum, is the correct amount. They also make, or can make, leaders for toothier prey on fishing line. And trip wires for deadfalls, spring snares, etc. You can also use military trip wire spools, which come in green and yellow.
The mil-surp stuff can be had usually for about $1/roll, in endless quantities. And it's not just for flares and land mines, okay?
(You can always paint your brass, copper, or aluminum wires, but it has to be done unrolled, then allowed to dry thoroughly before re-rolling. I would rather get blackened anodized aluminum, or other pre-coated options, but I may not have as much time to watch paint dry as you do.)
You can catch anything with a head or feet with a big and strong enough snare. But only if you have enough. (And then, a way to dispatch the prey from a distance that isn't strangled, without becoming a meal yourself.)
Snare wire rolls, kids. Not *a* snare or two. Survival is hungry work.
The humble zip tie ( AKA cable tie) always punches well above its weight. A bag of 50-100 4"-6" weighs only a few ounces, but replaces yards of cordage and does many other tasks as well or better. They come in a wide range of lengths, strengths, and colors, from day-glo to near invisible. They come in nylon plastic, Velcro, and metal. You can even find re-useable ones, rather than single-use. The heavier-duty ones stand in for handcuffs, and frequently do.
Eight of them, two per corner, will lash thumb-thick sticks together to make a frame for a tarp* or poncho*. No fumbling with knots and wet cord as the temperature is dropping; just plug and pull and you're in business. Half a dozen more, and your poncho* or grommeted tarp* stays where you put it indefinitely on that same frame. Odds are the wind would rip the material before the tie fails.
If you were smart enough to replace bootlaces with parachute cord,* you can pull that out, and replace them with single or paired zip ties, and make your footwear into slip-ons. Now you've got 12' of free paracord, and your footwear still stays on.(You can never have enough cordage.)
If a pack, strap, or other LBE linkage fails, you can replace the connection with zip ties.
Many high-speed low-drag units specifically removed all the metal failure-prone ALICE metal clips from LBE, and replaced them with zip ties, which were non-metallic, lighter, stronger, and more secure than what they replaced. Some people still do that with MOLLE gear. You can too, and you don't even have to go to Ranger School or SFAS to do it.
You can take a pair of the sturdier ones to lash hooves or feet together for game kills, for easier toting.
They can even stand in as ad hoc snare* loops, as is.
They can be used for emergency hose clamps. The metallic ones can even replace hose clamps, as long as you have spares, and a method/tool for cutting them.
Lightweight. Versatile. Multi-use.
The acme of any survival implement. They probably belong in your kit and car if they aren't there already.
*The Sergeant Major notes "You will see this material again."
Fire is always handy. But sometimes, there's no tinder*. Or there's tons of it, all dripping wet. And you need something handy to catch a match, a magnesium bar* or spark rod* spark, and ignite or dry out your other fuel.
Your best friend is a simple cotton ball, soaked in petroleum jelly, wrapped in a foil layer.
Ingredients: Bag of 100% cotton cotton balls. Roll of aluminum foil* Jar or tube of petroleum jelly Metal bowl or dish Tongs, etc. No-flame heat source
First, get a bag of cotton balls at the store (or, a cotton plant, if that's an option). Note that we said cotton balls, not polyester balls. Read the label. Only 100% cotton will do.
Get petroleum jelly. Vaseline™ preferred, but generics will do fine, as long as they're pure petroleum jelly.
Over electric (flameless) heat, melt a large blob of the jelly into a clear liquid. If you use an open flame source, you are solely and totally responsible for the house fire and 2nd and 3rd degree burns you ignite. Personal choice for a vessel is a small stainless steel pet bowl, and an electric warming plate, or electric radiator.
Monitor your batch of melting jelly closely.
Get tongs, long tweezers, hemostats, etc., and once the jelly is liquid, dunk the cotton balls into the liquid. Push them under with the tongs to insure they are thoroughly saturated with the liquid. Once again, if you try this with your fingers, or anything equally dim-witted, you are solely and wholly responsible for the 2nd and 3rd degree burns you will suffer. I will, of course, be happy to laugh at you after the fact.
Once they're completely soaked, set them, one at a time, onto a large sheet of aluminum foil to cool off.
Take some more of that aluminum foil, and cut it into approx. 3" x 6" rectangles.
One at a time, put one of the completely cooled off cotton balls onto one side of each piece. Fold the sheets so they are now 3" x 3". Fold the three open edges together about 1/8" so they overlap and seal. Twice if you're a bit anal about leaky petroleum jelly. Smash the cotton ball flat enough to make this work.
When you're done, you'll have a stack of relatively flat, mostly leakproof tinder patties. They can be stored inside a plastic baggie in your gear, and pulled out as needed. You can also fold the corners in, and take a dowel slightly smaller than an old 35mm plastic film canister*, or short piece of PVC*, and ram them in, one at a time, and have little round tinder patties, also safely leakproof. Cap the ends of the pvc, or put the cap on the film can, and you're set.
4-6 of them can fit into a film can or similar sized container.
You can put eight of them in an Altoids tin*. You can also skip the foil, and just make a monster block candle in any small metal container, like an old shoe polish can (for those of you who still shine shoes, and know what I'm talking about there).
You can even make them one at a time by hand-smashing Vaseline into cotton balls, but it's far slower and messier, so I recommend the dunking method, because I do 40-50 at a time.
You can get a few thousand handy illustrations of this by typing "cotton balls soaked in Vaseline" into Google, and looking at "images". So I won't bother.
To use one, take a small, sharp blade, and cut a small "X" in the center of the cotton ball tinder patty. Peel the triangles open, as seen in the header for this post. Pull out a few strands of the cotton. That's your wick.
Light it.
It will start a larger fire of wood, or dry it out to do so. It will burn as a candle*, or small heat source, for 30-60 minutes. (My record was 74 minutes on one ball).
If all you have for shelter is a poncho*, it will keep you quite warm underneath with no other help, under the poncho. (If you screw that up, and light the poncho or yourself on fire, it will keep you much warmer, for a much shorter period of time. Don't be That Guy.)
They're small, light, bombproof, and mostly idiot-proof. (The usual caveats regarding some idiots will always apply.) And they'll start a fire on a wet rock in a stream. Or anyplace easier.
And you can make them yourself, by the dozens, for a couple of bucks, far cheaper than commercial tinder balls and such.
*The Sergeant Major notes "You will see this material again."
We mentioned this last week. Anyone who ever had military-issue flight gear already knows this one.
For those who don't, I once wondered why surplus flightsuits and aircrew survival vests (of which I own a number) always had little lengths of high-test string sewn inside the pockets.
They did that, for the same reason the dummy in the above video should have attached his phone (and the idiot stick), and anything else he was fiddling with to himself, or his airframe, with dummy cord. (This is someone too stupid to be allowed to fly, even a paraglider, IMHO.)
Because dummies drop stuff. And you will, too. Usually something important, and irreplaceable. (FFS, they even cover this in a vintage 1960s USN aircrew survival film {which I can't find on YouTube to link you to because of so many uploaded vintage films}, where Ensign Dumbass leaves his compass behind.)
So, the knife you had to cut parachute shrouds, in case of a tree landing, was dummy-corded to your flightsuit. Because if you dropped it, you could retrieve it, instead of watching it fall 50' down into forest or jungle, as you continued to hang from a tree.
Perhaps with people looking for you who didn't have your best interests in mind.
It's why both the M1911A1 Colt .45 and M9 Beretta 9mm pistols have lanyard loops built into the butt of those pistols. And the .Mil issues pistol lanyards to the brighter folks, so they don't lose their pistols.
Good ideas are always in style.
It's why your mother gave you "Idiot" mittens, with a cord running from L to R across your shoulders, so the Idiot wouldn't lose his mittens.
In a survival situation, got something small, high value, and very likely irreplaceable?
Knife*?
Compass*?
Radio*?
Flashlight*?
Whistle*?
27 other odds and ends*?
Dummy cord that sh*t to your body, or item of clothing, so you don't lose it!
Military vests back in the day, it turned out, used high-test fishing line. Like 100-150# braided Dacron, where 100 yds on a spool will set you back $10-20. Strong enough to catch marlin, strong enough to hold your survival gear on you.
And, bonus for you, if you had extra, you could also use it to, you know, catch fish.
Make snares*.
Lash things together.
You can gut paracord*, and use the interior strands, in a pinch, but you're far better off saving that for other uses. Get the fishing Dacron. Or go online shopping from somebody like Atwood Rope, and get some of their Micro-paracord line.
It comes in camo colors, solid colors, whatever. Or just buy the 325 paracord at WallyMart, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, etc., in whatever shade floats your boat.
Then, tie it to your important items, with a bowline*, and fasten or machine sew the other end to your pack, vest, belt, or other load-carrying gear, so you don't drop important things off a cliff, into a river, lake, or ocean, or like our exemplar dumb @$$ above, from 7000' and onto someone's head.
You can learn from the opening dipsh*t, or you can be that dipsh*t.
It's your gear, and your life.
Save your gear, and save your life.
*The Sergeant Major notes "You will see this material again."
The smarter types know why already. (Don't get too far ahead of the class, kids.)
1. Kept in a small plastic baggie ($3/100 at WallyWorld) it lasts everywhere, forever. 2. At some point, you may be called upon to make traps* and snares*, or weapons*. You have a tool that will produce, far quicker and easier than your knife or multitool ever could, spikes for traps, snares, spears*, fish- and frog-gigs*, arrow tips*, and all manner of pointy wooden sticks, near endlessly. 3. Most importantly, to get a fire started, you'll need tinder*. So let's imagine a device that can take small and large sticks, and create a highly flammable ribbon-thin strip of combustible tinder, even from wood that's wet on the outside. 4. It also sharpens pencils*. (You have forever-pencils in your kit, not just pens, right?)
The really indestructible brass and aluminum versions can be found online, at better art stores, and at most chain office supply stores, for around $5. (Far less for cheaper plastic versions. I bought a round dozen of them, carded, at the local 99¢ Store. At 8.5¢@ for made-in-China goodness, you can give them away.) You can store them in a plastic baggie for waterproofness. A Swiss Army Knife* or Multi-tool* will have a file that can sharpen the blades, eventually.
You can (and should) also drill a small hole in the block somewhere out of the way, and put it on your EDC keychain, dummy-cord* it, or add it to a survival necklace*, so you can't lose it without your head coming off (at which point, you won't need the tool anymore anyways).
You will not find this on any military list of survival items, AFAIK. And yet...
$5. Small. Compact. Lightweight. Multiple uses. Nearly indestructible. Requires no instruction manual nor complicated directions. Can save your life several ways.
Slam-dunk.
Buy a number of them, and squirrel one of them away in every version of your emergency gear.
*The Sergeant Major notes "You will see this material again."
OMFG: Let's all pause and contemplate, for a minute, the fact that there's someone using the internet in Comments to this post who cannot identify the item pictured without having their hand held. Despite point #4, above.
Not counting the news outlets or websites along the full range of accuracy and veracity, I follow multiple actual individuals' handwritten blogs. (Bot news aggregators don't thrill me.) Looking them over, many are current serving or former military and a couple are some variation of high-speed low-drag elite forces ninjas. Or just funny as all. Because life without humor is just despair. So in other words, the same folks I trusted in the military not to wet the bed, sh*t themselves, or otherwise run around like headless Nancys, are the same folks I trust on the interwebz, for demonstrating pretty much the same trustworthiness and circumspectly responsible behavior. Color me shocked.
Comments are fully moderated, due to idiots and trolls. Grown up discussion here will appear just as soon as I have the time to push it through. ANONYMOUS UNSIGNED COMMENTS WILL BE AUTO-DELETED WITHOUT MERCY, and the url added to the spam filter, or mercilessly mocked at the bloghost's sole discretion. If you're too chickensh*t to come up with an alias for online purposes, you're not tall enough for this blog. Pick a name, and stick with it, and you're good. Get cute, and you're wasting your time and my electrons, and your masterpiece will never see the light of day. No warning shots will be fired. If you can't maintain decorum and polite behavior, I won't toy with you, I'll squash you. If one of your comments disappears, YOU f**ked up. If all of them do, it's time for you to go. Disagree with the points made, on the merits, and you're good. Go after me personally, or other commenters, and your comment will never see daylight here. My tolerance for skirting the line is at absolute zero, and will remain there. Don't f**k up.
