The Friendly Swede Survival Kit.
Most of us have this grand idea that we could survive any disastrous circumstance using only our bare hands and a manly beard. This is completely untrue, but survival kits such as this one offer us all we need for most survival situations we may ever encounter. The rule of three is the basic theory behind most survival situations:
3 weeks to survive without food
3 days to survive without water
3 hours to survive without shelter
There is also 3 minutes without air, but let's be realistic, if you find that rule applies to your situation there's no emergency survival kit in the world that can help you. Most companies look at this set of rules and design their kits around it. So with that in mind let me tell you what they include in this kit and how it can help you survive.
3 weeks to survive without food
3 days to survive without water
3 hours to survive without shelter
There is also 3 minutes without air, but let's be realistic, if you find that rule applies to your situation there's no emergency survival kit in the world that can help you. Most companies look at this set of rules and design their kits around it. So with that in mind let me tell you what they include in this kit and how it can help you survive.
The full contents of this survival kit include.
Paracord Rope(8m/26feet), Emergency Rescue Blanket, Wire Saw, Washer(flint striker), Flint Rod, Carabiner, Compass, Zip Lock Bag, Tin Foil, Iron Wire, Whistle, Needle, 2x Safety Pin, Tinder, Fishing Line, Weights, Swivels, Floats, 2x Fishing Hooks, and Lure
Paracord Rope(8m/26feet), Emergency Rescue Blanket, Wire Saw, Washer(flint striker), Flint Rod, Carabiner, Compass, Zip Lock Bag, Tin Foil, Iron Wire, Whistle, Needle, 2x Safety Pin, Tinder, Fishing Line, Weights, Swivels, Floats, 2x Fishing Hooks, and Lure
On the outside of this kit are a whistle and a compass which is absolutely great as you have some form of navigation and signalling capabilities without needing to unpack any of its contents, so a big thumbs up from me there. I blew the whistle in my armchair and quickly regretted it, as this room is quite small and it was very loud, but at least I knew it worked well. The compass had a little bubble in it so it's not amazing quality but it does point north and that's all you need. There's also a carabiner on the outside that's very lightweight but is a great little extra if only for attaching to your backpack or belt.
I figured I had to remove the whistle from its case in order to access the ends of the paracord but I honestly could barely get into this by hand. I was sat in a warm room in a comfy chair and all I could think was if my hands were numb then I'd be smashing the whistle up with a rock. So I was not a fan of that as a very important signalling device would be destroyed in that scenario. That being said with a knife or another small object I did manage to push the whistle out easily enough but sometimes these things aren't available. After that though there were no issues getting inside and all of the contents came wrapped in a piece of foil like wrapping to help keep it all dry.The paracord was wrapped very tightly around the items but I only needed to pull out about 5/6 layers of it out and could pull the contents out through the gap I had made. I quickly realised when I had done this though that there was no way I could put it all back together, but I had pockets on my trousers so all was good and if I somehow had access to this survival kit, but had no trousers on, then I'd probably need to reassess my outdoor skills in general. So inside there is a variety of nice little items for such a small package. I think there is more than enough for most survival situations and if you were so inclined you could even add one or two small things into the wrap if you were very persistent (a few water purifying tablets would be a great addition).
I wont go into detail with what you can do with all of the items, as that would be a very long and boring article, but I'll try to give you a bit of useful info based on what I have in front of me.
Shelter and Fire
You have a form of shelter and fire which can be the most important things in a survival situation depending on your climate (usually water is the most important, but it's not always the case). Cold
weather, or cold and wet weather could see you perish within 24 hours. You would have to use some ingenuity but there is the survival blanket which can be turned into a small roof or obviously slept in and there's the 8 meter's of paracord and wire saw so you can build a better shelter if the materials are available.
There's the ferro rod and striker (that's the washer that's mentioned in the item list) and a bit of tinder. It is a small of tinder but if you are careful in your preparations you could get it to work, but I would definitely source more and any you find can be stored in the zip lock bag to keep dry for later on.
You have a form of shelter and fire which can be the most important things in a survival situation depending on your climate (usually water is the most important, but it's not always the case). Cold
weather, or cold and wet weather could see you perish within 24 hours. You would have to use some ingenuity but there is the survival blanket which can be turned into a small roof or obviously slept in and there's the 8 meter's of paracord and wire saw so you can build a better shelter if the materials are available.There's the ferro rod and striker (that's the washer that's mentioned in the item list) and a bit of tinder. It is a small of tinder but if you are careful in your preparations you could get it to work, but I would definitely source more and any you find can be stored in the zip lock bag to keep dry for later on.
Food and Water
You can easily use the foil to boil some water, but wouldn't make a container and put it in a fire or on coals. It is only foil so it would break, but I would happily dig a small hole and line it with the foil to hold some water then, CAREFULLY, place a few hot rocks in it to boil the water. I would also find some leaves to put at
the bottom of the container to stop the rocks breaking through.
I don't fish but there's plenty here for an inexperienced survivor to get a meal. Don't be afraid to try a few different things, I seem to recall people using foil to catch fish as its shine can attract them to the hook. Also if you do catch a fish or two there's enough foil to wrap them and cook them on your fire which is great for locking in moisture. I still would hold off using the foil for boiling water though but if you have that covered then go for it.
There is also some snare wire in here, but you need to understand how to make and use snares effectively and what game can be caught with them. I would suggest learning proper trapping techniques as they aren't very complicated and its something handy to know that could save your life in a bad situation.
You can easily use the foil to boil some water, but wouldn't make a container and put it in a fire or on coals. It is only foil so it would break, but I would happily dig a small hole and line it with the foil to hold some water then, CAREFULLY, place a few hot rocks in it to boil the water. I would also find some leaves to put at
the bottom of the container to stop the rocks breaking through.I don't fish but there's plenty here for an inexperienced survivor to get a meal. Don't be afraid to try a few different things, I seem to recall people using foil to catch fish as its shine can attract them to the hook. Also if you do catch a fish or two there's enough foil to wrap them and cook them on your fire which is great for locking in moisture. I still would hold off using the foil for boiling water though but if you have that covered then go for it.
There is also some snare wire in here, but you need to understand how to make and use snares effectively and what game can be caught with them. I would suggest learning proper trapping techniques as they aren't very complicated and its something handy to know that could save your life in a bad situation.
Signalling for Rescue
Well I mentioned the whistle, which is very handy as it can carry noise in built up locations very well. There's a reason that birds have high-pitched tweets and its nothing to do with their size. In a jungle bigger animals on the ground have lower tones as they carry well over open ground. In the trees where there are lots of leaves high pitch noises reflect and so they travel further than low pitch noises. You also have a shiny blanket and foil that you can use for visual cues. Mostly if you can
build a fire that will always be a better signal for rescue, remember the rule of three here. Three is the universal signal for emergency. Three fires in a line will tell any planes, helicopters or boats that there's somebody there who needs assistance. If you can build a fire keep a pile of green vegetation nearby to throw on top to make some extra white smoke.
Well I mentioned the whistle, which is very handy as it can carry noise in built up locations very well. There's a reason that birds have high-pitched tweets and its nothing to do with their size. In a jungle bigger animals on the ground have lower tones as they carry well over open ground. In the trees where there are lots of leaves high pitch noises reflect and so they travel further than low pitch noises. You also have a shiny blanket and foil that you can use for visual cues. Mostly if you can
build a fire that will always be a better signal for rescue, remember the rule of three here. Three is the universal signal for emergency. Three fires in a line will tell any planes, helicopters or boats that there's somebody there who needs assistance. If you can build a fire keep a pile of green vegetation nearby to throw on top to make some extra white smoke.There is also a needle included in this kit, and while I wouldn't rely on it and certainly wouldn't want to use it, could be used with some fishing line to stitch up a wound or two, but it is very big so it would be quite painful. Maybe I would just go for one of the fishing hooks, but lets just hope it never comes to that. If it did though make sure you sterilise the needle in some fire to avoid any extra contaminants.
Overall I'm impressed with this survival kit. It has almost everything you need in most survival situations besides a knife. I have spoken to The Friendly Swede guys and there is a 'ring knife' in most of the kits, but its unavailable in the UK thanks to Amazon's stupid rules. The only things I would add to it would be some water purification tablets or some potassium permanganate so you don't have to rely on fire for safe drinking water. These are things you could easily add yourself though and the whole kit at is incredibly good value and it all comes with a lifetime warranty from The Friendly Swede. This will definitely be part of my outdoor kit, providing I can put it all back in.
[taq_review]
The Friendly Swede Survival Kit
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