I recently used my survival kit and now it's a good time to resupply. You can read about that misadventure in Mistakes were made 2: PSK kept it from being serious
Some time ago a made a post detailing my Personal Survival Kit (PSK). You can read that post Rethinking a Personal Survival Kit behind them. One major theme from that article is that you should never copy a PSK, Always think about your climate, activities, skills and needs.
My needs have changed: my knee is better and so I venture out further than before. Time to review.
This is the current PSK contents, minus the sugar sachets I used. While I'm replacing those I should also change out expired/expiring items and tweak things.
With sugar added back into the first aid kit, here's the current contents. Sodium Diclofenac 25mg, Paracetamol 1000mg, Immodium, Omeprazle, safety pin, sewing kit, hemostatic agent, rehydration salts and a big band aid. If I'm going out further and using knives more, then I need more items.
First the expiring items. I replaced the rehydration mix because it was about to expire. The foil on the paracetamol was broken. The Celox clotting agent is expiring, but I don't have replacements so I hope it's okay for a little while longer.
I'm adding in gauze and another 20mg Omeprazole capsule. Since my activities will include knives and axes, then sterile gauze is handy to stablise injuries. Since I'm out for longer I might need more Omeprazole. I get really bad stomach acid issues that can be debilitating so I might need two capsules to get me home.
Here is the kit packed. The Ziploc is still in decent enough condition. There are now 3 sugar sachets in the first aid kit. Read the previous posts above and you'll have a good idea why I include sugar in my first aid kit. I don't have a pressure bandage though I have enough other things to improvise.
The next job is to check that the batteries on the headlamp are good. For some reason the red light setting isn't working but otherwise the batteries are fine. The PLB is within its service life. The lighter has plenty of fuel and still sparks into flame. The button compass points almost North which is a surprise for a cheap button compass. The compass has a small air bubble, but it's still good enough for now.
Now I have to decide on whether to keep the Victorinox Mini Pocket knife or change to this credit card size knife. While I like the greater size of the credit card knife blade, the blade is thin and I doubt it will hold an edge. Stick with the reliable SAK.
Here's the PSK packed sans headlamp and a Hank of Paracord. It's tight and doesn't rattle.
The whole kit and bag weighs 466g, which is just over a pound. That's acceptable for the types of tasks I do. The PSK is a single thing I can pack into almost any load out as I head out.
See you on the trail