- While we were having a feed after the session at the Pistol Club range - another old mate came on the phone from twelve and a half thousand miles away to say "Happy Birthday".
The 'prezzies' of superb books, a new silencer & thread-cap for my Buckmark S/A pistol, Single Malt Irish Whiskey, - and an Opinel #8 Outdoors knife are much appreciated. - And I guess it was a biggish birthday really - and I will have to last another 10 years for a repeat!
Did you know that the Irish and Americans spell it Whiskey while the Scots and Canadians prefer 'Whisky' ? - Way back in the 1870s Scottish Whisky wasn't very good, so the Irish put the "e" into the whiskey name to differentiate their superior distillate from the poor stuff.
Over a smooth sip of the Bushmills malt the new Opinel quality folding-knife reminded me of my plan to put together a 'handy' 'Survival Kit'.
The first consideration has to be the container - as a plastic 'lunch-box' wasn't going to do it - but a metal billy-can might serve brilliantly:
- Is that copper - nah, that'd be titanium eh - I've got to have one !! - or maybe a 'Zebra' stainless steel outfit like Ray Mears uses.
- Into it goes a 'Bic' disposable lighter, a couple of packet 'cuppa-soups', a 'space blanket', tea-bag & sugar sachet, a sharp Opinel knife, - maybe a wee LED torch, a length of 'para' cord, and some bits of old bicycle inner-tube (for fire lighting) and, depending on the container sizes - how about a small water bottle (full), some wrapped energy foods, an emergency collapsible cook stove with 'meta' or hexamine fuel tablets.
- This is different again from a 'Bug-out Bag' that would need to be a full-sized back-pack or car-load of gear and foodstuffs. - What you decide to include in your kit may be very different as the result of your different circumstances and location. e.g. if you are in an arid desert area water stores would need be big - whereas on the West-Coast of New Zealand or in UK - you'd more likely need cover or shelter from too much water.
The way I'm set-up at home I'd not be 'bugging-out' but staying-put in an emergency - such as a big Southern Alpine Fault Earthquake - because I've got wood heating, battery PV lighting, rain-water tanks, bottled gas cooking, and food growing in the veggie garden.
To be honest - most everywhere that I go will be on wheels so I'm not too concerned about weight or bulk - but trampers, climbers, and touring cyclists will have a stronger emphasis on weight eh. - But what I'm talking about here is an emergency kit - not a full camping - away for the summer vacation - outdoors set - for that maybe I could find room in the vehicle for the Bushmills too.
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