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From: Mike McNally <mmcnally3_at_PRODIGY.NET>
subject: [Paddlewise] survival kit
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 16:53:48 -0600
I use a med/sm clear waterproof bag.  To date I put fast access stuff in
there as well, toilet paper, lunch, visine.  But I would like to stuff my
orange fly & a water bottle in there.  I'll probably get a bigger bag so it
will all fit.  The fly would be hypothermia gear on the first night and
thereafter tied in a tree for a signal.

additions to Bob's list
------------------------------
vhf & gps (better yet add epirb)
banner like signal device (fly for me)
fishing bottle (spice bottle with hour glass shape to hold line)
  20# braid w/ 15:12 leader:tippet (that way you don't loose the whole line)
  earplug with a few flies and hooks stuck in it (earplug will make a float)
  plastic worm (in a baggie or it disolves the bottle) & p.worm hook
  worm sinker and split shot
compass
water bottle (conserve energy: your best signaling position may be a ways
from h2o)
tether bag to wrist

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From: Philip Torrens <skerries_at_hotmail.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] survival kit
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 16:17:04 PST
>From: "Rev. Bob Carter" <revkayak_at_ptialaska.net>

>     I would be interested in suggestions from the paddlewise gang on 
>contents
>of the survival kit. If you carry one what do you carry it in and where?

>Bob

Gosh, Bob, given your line of work I'd have thought just a couple of loaves 
and a few fishes would be all you'd need:-) but I guess you're of the school 
that believes "the Lord helps those who help themselves."

I've snipped and pasted my response to a similiar question from last year 
below. Hope it's of some help as a springboard for disscussion.

I have to confess I'm sometimes embarrassed by the amount of stuff 
festooning my PFD when it's configured for offshore/expedition mode - it 
looks a bit like I'm a Navy SEAL wannabe. However, everything I carry does 
have a purpose, and I bear in mind the point made in "Deep Trouble" about 
emergency and survival gear: if you don't have it on your person, you don't 
have it. So here's the guided tour of my PFD:

Left front shoulder: Geber paddling knife (fends off sharks, cuts entangling 
lines, spreads peanut butter, assuages feelings of inadequacy).
Right front shoulder: the existing pocket is modified with a custom Velcro 
loop to hold my VHF radio for one-handed removal/replacement (There's also a 
custom webbing loop above the pocket to keep the "rubber duckie" antenna 
from poking me in the eye.) The radio is in an Aqua-Pac drybag and lanyarded 
to the PFD.
Lower left PFD pocket: Part of my survival kit, housed in a watertight 
sealing stainless steel camp cook pot (sort of flat and oval, like those 
"mess kits", but much smaller and sturdier). The pot content's include: two 
food bars as used in liferafts, a couple of bullion cubes, two herbal tea 
bags, fishing line, lures, hooks, and sinkers, a few assorted bandages, a 
"Photon Micro" key fob flashlight, fire-starting materials, a wire "pocket 
chainsaw", about thirty feet of thin but strong braided nylon line (for 
rigging lean-tos, Space Blankets as tarps, snares, etc.) Even fully packed, 
the pot is slightly positively buoyant, and rides low enough on the PFD not 
to drag me down. Outside the pot, in this pocket, I carry a Space Blanket 
where I can get at it without opening the kit, for possible use on the Sea 
Seat (see below).
Lower right pocket: Three Skyblazer self-contained flares, a signal mirror 
on a lanyard, a "Cylume" chemical lightstick, and sunscreen.
On the zipper pull of the PFD: a basic "watch fob" compass
In a custom back pocket, behind my shoulder blades: A "Seat Seat" personal 
life raft, protected from UV by a layer of Space Blanket material. Note: 
this after-market pocket technically invalidates the PFD's government 
approval, but it is removable (Velcro straps) to pass inspection.
Not on my PFD, but part of the survival "system" that is: Under my 
sprayskirt, I wear a small "Sealbag" that dangles at my front like a sort of 
sea-going Scot's sporran. It contains my money, credit cards, my 
prescription glasses (I wear contacts at sea), a second Space Blanket, a 
folding cup, a folding water bottle, and iodine tablets (for suspect water).
These items were chosen for the Pacific Northwest, where finding drinking 
water ashore is not usually a problem, but hunger, cold, and exposure might 
be. I'd modify the selection as needed for different paddling environments.



Philip Torrens
N49°16' W123°06'

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From: Patrick Maun <pmaun_at_bitstream.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] survival kit
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 13:03:52 -0600
Philip wrote:

>In a custom back pocket, behind my shoulder blades: A "Seat Seat" 
>personal life raft, protected from UV by a layer of Space Blanket 
>material. Note: this after-market pocket technically invalidates the 
>PFD's government approval, but it is removable (Velcro straps) to 
>pass inspection.

An option I recently discovered is a small PFD backpack made by 
Lotus. I use it with my Rio Grande, but it would probably fit most 
PFD's with comparable clip points. I think it was designed to carry a 
hydration system, but I use it for my survival kit, radio and if it's 
winter, a thermos. It is pretty compact. I keep stuff in a small bag 
attached to a cord which I can use to pull the whole mess out. I also 
keep a couple flares and other stuff in a naglene bottle wrapped in 
closed-cell foam in the knee tube in my boat.

-Patrick
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From: <Sandykayak_at_aol.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] survival kit
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 06:33:23 EST
In a message dated 12/10/1999 6:41:02 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
revkayak_at_ptialaska.net writes:

<<  I would be interested in suggestions from the paddlewise gang on contents
 of the survival kit. If you carry one what do you carry it in and where?   >>

Bob, we discussed this a while back.  Check out Coughlan's  (Coughlin's ?) 
Survival Kit-in-a-Can.  It is a sardine can with a pull tab and contains 38 
survival items (including tea and boullion) and the can itself can be used as 
drinking vessel/plate.  If you put the can in a ziplock and then in your PFD 
pocket, you'll have somewhere to keep all the little bits and pieces once it 
has been opened.

I got it at the Sports Authority for $8.99, but any camping goods retailer 
should have their catalog and be able to order.

Sandy Kramer
Miami
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From: <Sidney_Stone_at_amsinc.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] survival kit
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 21:09:51 -0500
The survival kit should also include several days worth of any medications you
may require on a regular basis.  Of course, you need to remember the medications
go bad after a period of time.

sid


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