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Survival Kits for the Prepper on the Go

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survival kit, pocket survival kit, bug out kit, mini survival kit

The pocket survival kit is a great everyday item for preppers. Light and compact, it is the ideal temporary substitute for your bug out bag or stow bag. If you find your bug out bag difficult or impractical to carry around, these smaller kits will do the trick and keep you prepared on a day to day basis.

Pocket Sized Survival Kits for Preppers on the Go

Obviously, the pocket sized kit cannot replace the contents of your bag. The contents of the mini kit should be limited to the most important items in case of emergency or when SHTF and you stashed your bug out bag somewhere else. Your choice of items is therefore critical, prompting you to think carefully about what should be included.

We have put together some ideas from YouTube as to what essentials you have to put in your own pocket survival kit. Whether it’s a sealed plastic sandwich bag or a tin can/Altoids tin that you want to use, what matters is that you choose the survival items that are important to you when things go wrong.

1. Leon Pantenburg’s Kit

Outside:

Bicycle tire inner tube

Duct tape

Inside:

Aluminum foil

Sandwich bag
Alcohol prep pads
Medications (Imodium, Benadryl, Ibuprofen)
Flashlight
Whistle
Hot spark with jute twine

Swiss Army knife
Wax fire starter
Petroleum jelly
Nylon cord
Char cloth

20-gauge wire

2. The Pocket Survival Kit by Whiskeyfox

CONTAINER:
BCB Bushcraft Mini Mess Tin

FIRE:
Light My Fire Mini Firesteel

Beeswax Candle
Bic Mini Lighter
Ultimate Survival Wetfire Tinder
Best Glide Fresnel Lens

TOOLS:
ESEE AH-1 Arrowhead
Small sharpening stone
Leatherman Squirt P4
Steamlight Nano Light
Shelby P38 Can Opener
Uncle Bill’s Sliver Gripper Tweezers
Nite Eze S-Biner #2
Krazy Glue Single Use Tube
Arm Ropes Braided Nylon Cord
4 Mini Zip Ties

1 Small Ranger Band
5 Ft Gorrilla Brand Duct Tape
2 Ft Reynolds Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil

SIGNALING:
Adventure Medical Kits Mini Rescue Flash Mirror
Fisher Space Pen
4 Sheets Rite-in-the-Rain Paper
20mm Compact Tracker Survival Compass

Fox 40 Micro Whistle

FIRST AID:

3 Large Fabric Band Aids
Neosporin Packet
Travel Package of Advil
Durex Condom
2 Katadyn Water Purification Tablets
1 Alcohol Swab
Ben’s Wipes Insect Repellent

FISHING/SEWING KIT:
Bobbin 8lb Monofilament Fishing Line
Bobbin Green Army Sewing Thred
1 BDU Button
2 sizes Sewing Needles
2 sizes Safety Pins
Cabin Creek Baits Pop-Eye Lure
1 #12 Baitholder Snell
3 #10 Eagle Claw Baitholder Hooks
3 #8 Eagle Claw Baitholder Hooks
7 1/32oz Round Split Shot Weights
3 #12 Eagle Claw Barrell Swivels

 

3. Ultimate Survival Tips: Kit Comparison

DAVID’S KIT:

GENERAL SURVIVAL

Trash Bag – Scavenge Home

Stainless Steel Pen
Bandana
Pocket New Testament
Paracord
Snare Wire
Emergency Blanket

Zip / Cable Ties – 8 inches
6″x4″ Plastic Milk Jug Side – Cut from Milk Jug
Victorinox Swiss Card – Credit Card Sized Multi-Purpose Tool
Sewing Kit
Pro Knot Cards
Duct Tape – 20′ Rolled Small
Signal Mirror
Fishing Kit
Bear Grylls Micro Torch / Flashlight
SOG Knife Sharpener / Firestarter
Button Compass
Swiss Army Knife
Emergency Whistle
Pencil – Collect at Home
Note Card – Collect at Home
Survival Saw

 

Bear Grylls Priorities of Survival Pocket Guide – Free with any Gerber Bear Grylls Gear Purchase
Bar of Soap – Save from Hotel on Your Next Stay

WATER
Water Purification Tablets
Self Standing 1 Liter Bag

Coffee Filter – Scavenge from Home

FIRE
Lighter
Candle
Magnesium Fire Starter
Tinder Quick (Cotton Balls with a Dab of Petroleum Jelly will Do)
Matches and Striker
12″ x 12″ Aluminum Foil Square – Scavenge from Home

FIRST AID – This kit has about everything you need. Buying individual items is TOO expensive
Assorted Bandages
Alcohol Prep Pads
Aspirin
Tylenol
Wash n Dri Packs
Gauze Pads
Antibiotic Salve
Medical Tape – Small Roll
Tweezers – Scavenge from Home
Safety Pins – Scavenge from Home

BAGS
Quart Size Freezer Bags – Scavenge from Home
Small Zip Seal Bags – Scavenge from Home

LAST but not least…

Silica Gel Pack – I save the ones that come with new products but you can purchase them also…

Silica Gel is a desiccant – and absorbs moisture from condensation and changes in humidity, so it will keep things bone dry in a small sealed container – like a quart sized zip lock bag.
JOE’S SURVIVAL KIT

Orange Flagging Tape

Black Electrical Tape
Water Purification Straw

Lighter
Magnesium Fire Starter
Matches
Wax Firestarter Rods
Extra Fine Steel Wool

Compass
Compact Mirror

Knife
Survival Whistle, Compass, Cordage and “Aspirin” Container

Survival Cards – Lee Nading – OUT of PRINT

Survival Blanket

 

4. Instructables

The Signaling & Navigation Group

1. Vector 1 signaling mirror
2. ACR rescue whistle
3. Mini Maglite LED flashlight w/ AAA battery
4. Brunton liquid filled button compass
5. 3 sheets of Post-it note paper
6. Small lead pencil
7. Brass trap tag with my name and address

Fire Making Group

1. Fresnel magnifying lens
2. Military damp proof matchbook from an MRE packet
3. Mini Bic butane lighter
4. Magnesium bar with an attached ferrocerium rod and steel striker
5. Spark Lite Tender-quick tabs

Sharps or Cutting Group

1. Gerber slimline folding knife
2. Folding surgical prep razor
3. Military P-38 can opener

Food Gathering & Repairs Group

1. (1) 18″x24″ heavy duty aluminum foil sheet
2. 40′ spool of military surplus trip wire
3. 10′ to 12′ feet of 100 lb test braided fishing line
4. 25′ or so of 30 lb test Spider Wire braided fishing line
5. (1) #6/0 Stainless steel O’Shaunesy style fish hook with a carpet tack
6. Small styrofoam fishing float
7. About 6′ of 2″ duct tape
8. Various sizes of safety pins
9. (1) 1/8th oz crappie jig
10. Spare carpet tack
11. Fish hook and sinker assortment
12. (1) sewing needle and a spool of nylon thread
13. Small plastic vial
14. 15′ of 100 lb test waxed braided fishing line

Medical Group

1. Standard 3/4″x3″ adhesive bandages
2. (2) Alcohol swabs
3. (1) packet of toilet paper from an MRE accessory pack

 

5. Florida Adventurers’ Version of the Kit

Outside:
Rubber band
Electrical tape

In the tin:
Knife
Sewing needle

Eyelet screws

Fishing hooks
Ibuprofen, Benadryl
Lighter wrapped in hemp cordage
Pen wrapped in 8 lb test fishing line
Neosporin

Duct tape
Coffee filter
Tweezers
Knife blade
Candle
Dental floss

Safety pins
Waterproof matches
Small nails
Stripped flashlight
Bandages
Alcohol prep pads
Gauze pad

Want to know more? Check out these related articles:

DIY Outdoor Survival Kit

Must Have Items For Your Survival Kit

Everyday Uses For Your Emergency Survival Kit

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46 Comments

46 Comments

  1. Joe P.

    January 2, 2015 at 10:16 AM

    For fire starter material on the cheap you can use dryer lint also. Free and available from the laundry room

    • TripodXL

      January 26, 2015 at 10:23 PM

      Iam soooo tired of hearing this BS. How many of you have ACTUALLY USED DRYER LINT? Tried making a fire with your fire steel. I spent 4 hours on a Saturday playing with my dryer lint. MY dryer lint SUCKED at burning. Why? On examination I found it was mostly pet hair and synthetic fibers. Yes, it sort of burned, but not very well. If my life depended on it, I would have been in deep shit on a rainy damp day. If you don’t have any pets, and all your clothes are cotton, your dryer lint is fine…does that describe your dryer lint? Please QUIT RECOMMENDING DRYER LINT AS PERFECT FUCKING TINDER…IT ISN’T. Perfect tinder/fire starter is a cotton ball with vaseline in it. I use small pill bottles and stuff vaseline soaked cotton balls in them. THESE WORK, AND I HAVE TRIED THEM. Don’t take my word for it. TRY THEM…AND DRYER LINT…you’ll be surprised.

      • Scott Sasse

        November 19, 2017 at 8:55 PM

        I still prefer 000 or 0000 steel wool. much hotter and you can pack a lot into a 35mm film canister. I have 6 or 7 stashed in one of my survival kits with a ferocium rod. Very hot and light weight.

  2. Stephanie

    January 2, 2015 at 10:27 AM

    This is all incredably useful information , i seriously want it all. I keep a back pack ready with what seems like random items to my family, the drier lint really made me look crazy, but i’d love to have a comeplete kit and the free knife. I hope its still avalible by the time i cam afford it- i know the shipping only 5$ but still out of my budget at the moment. So if you ever have a drawing for totally free stuff, put my name in 100 times. And i totally support you on twitter!

    • TripodXL

      January 26, 2015 at 10:27 PM

      See my post above.

  3. Denny W

    January 2, 2015 at 10:35 AM

    Your “Meet our Experts” section is covering your your main page. Hard to read!!

  4. Tombstone Kid

    January 2, 2015 at 8:52 PM

    Fishing equipment is useless if you are buy a river in less then ten minutes I can hand fish don’t know if it’s legal but fish have no never endings on the belly just slide up pinch at the head a least this works for trout they sit under rocks where the water swirls easy to catch why take all that time to set up a line and wait just go grab them. Lake is a different story but your going to need a 5-6 foot pole to cast out where the fish are. I’m in Utah this technique works but you will get wet and cold so start a fire use snow to dry off get warm and eat no waiting. Every survialist needs to perfect their skills in hand fishing just watch out for fish and game don’t know if it legal but if you need to survive then do it you won’t believe how easy and fast it is I could have 20 fish in a hour. People relying on item and not skills need to worry like if you find berries grab the branch if it pricks you eat it if you grab it and nothing happens don’t eat it. Simple skills should be one of your focus not just what can I carry. Might be different in your neck of the woods but here is my two cents contact me if you want more survial skills not just items rose hips have more vitamin C then a whole orange.just a thought

  5. Prepper

    January 3, 2015 at 5:28 AM

    I bought the Bear Grylls Basic Survival kit and heavily modified it for my own needs. I carry it every single day 24/7 because you never know when you may need it. I attached a carabiner to the lanyard and keep it clipped to my belt with the kit in my pocket so there is no way I would lose it. My survival kit contains:

    20 metres waxed string-shelter building, lashing tools, repairs, sewing

    sewing kit-your clothing must always be kept in good condition

    orange 100 decibel whistle-travels further than shouting

    signal mirror-essential

    pencil and notepad-leaving or writing notes

    150 dollars-very essential separate it into small denomination notes with a few coins

    1 litre ziplock bags-collecting water and food

    1 square metre Al-Foil-boiling water, signalling

    50 metres nylon monofilament line-fishing, snares, sewing

    3 metres brass wire-snares, repairs

    6 fishing hooks-fishing, straighten out to use as sewing needle

    6 safety pine-fishing, catching birds, repairs

    2 eyelet screws-making fishing rod

    This is all packed into the orange nylon pouch.

    So this is what I Every Day Carry (EDC)

    Gerber Multitool

    Tactical pen

    Magnifying glass

    Pack tissues

    Watch

    Tactical belt

    Survival Kit

    • chuck cochran

      March 23, 2019 at 11:42 AM

      That’s what I do as well. The Bear Grylls Basic kit, and then heavily modify it for my neck of the woods. Some goes right in the orange bag that comes with the Grylls kit, everything else in a small sling pack.

  6. Evan

    January 3, 2015 at 10:37 AM

    Don’t forget any personal meds. (inhaler, heartburn) also a small tube of Vaseline can be for lips, body or fire start. Anti diarrhea tablets also recommended.

  7. obsidian

    January 3, 2015 at 1:06 PM

    1. A sure way to make fire.
    2. A steel pocket flask.
    3. A Multitool.
    4. A Bandanna.

    • KB5YKE

      January 5, 2015 at 11:47 AM

      An easy way to start a fire is to have a roll of paper towels and some Purel hand sterilizer. A bit of Purel on a paper towel and a flame from a match or lighter and wallah! You have a fire.

  8. Brian Sandman

    January 3, 2015 at 2:24 PM

    Thanks for sharing this great info and instructions!

  9. USpatriotVet

    January 3, 2015 at 11:11 PM

    The two best things I put in every one of my vehicles is “fine” steel wool and a 9volt battery. These two things have saved me from freezing twice in my life while hunting.

  10. Weaver

    January 4, 2015 at 12:07 AM

    You might also consider the minimalist survival kit by Survival Resources. The kit is small and lightweight and can be used in both an urban and rural hostile environments.

  11. Old Nam Vet

    January 5, 2015 at 10:52 AM

    I would suggest putting a packing list facing out and in view to the packs. The assumption you both made is that you will be 100% cognizant or that a stranger coming on you will know what each item is used for. I would also label what each inner bag contains, if not a list of the items at least a title that is on the main packing list, i.e. “burn kit”, “fishing kit”, etc. this will save time and increase effectiveness in the use of the bag.

  12. Whiskey Sierra

    January 5, 2015 at 5:32 PM

    Okay guys, I really have to say something here. As a career USAF Special Ops SERER instructor, I used to argue with other instructors and commandos about what we should be teaching our operators to carry on their person in any environment. I eventually became a civilian SAR tech and instructor, and again, I had heated debates with the team members on the same subject. That is until we developed the FUNSAR course with the input of the military, the SAR community and the National Park Service. That’s when we finally started using a universal survival priority system; the Rule of 3s. Finally, we had a way for SAR teams, adventure sports participants, the military, etc., to judge what their biological needs would be, and what equipment/pocket items they should have on their person before setting out on their mission. Its really simple to figure out what to put in your survival kit; only those items you will require to meet your body’s needs, in order of priority. The generally accepted survival priorities are: your mind/spirit, circulation/respiration/viable health, body core warmth/shelter, security, water, defecation/urination, sleep, rescue, nourishment. So, if you equip yourself with at least minimal knowledge and equipment to meet those needs in that order, you should be able to keep yourself alive in most environments until you are found. Based on this kind of analysis, the kits discussed in your article have alot of unnecessary junk and many personal trinkets folks feel like taking with them in the bush. Fishing kits and snare materials are cool and fun, but if you don’t have sufficient amounts of materials to meet all the higher priority needs than food, you are setting yourself up for failure; i.e. death. We need to teach folks the information that will truly help them keep themselves alive till they can make it out of their predicament. I hope your readers search for teachers, instructors, schools, programs that adhere to some form of the Rule of 3s system. “First There, That Others May Live”

    • BillH

      January 8, 2015 at 2:17 PM

      @Whiskey: Given your list: “your mind/spirit, circulation/respiration/viable health, body core warmth/shelter, security, water, defecation/urination, sleep, rescue, nourishment”. All of them except for security, water, rescue, and nourishment can be nominally provided with at most one physical tool need: a knife. (Typical kits include items that help some of the others in your list.) Best solution to security is to keep hidden; only thing to add beyond a knife would be a firearm, which is not going to fit in a pocket survival kit. Rescue is considered something to be avoided in most scenarios that survivalists are preparing for, and kits typically include a whistle and ways to make fires for signaling anyhow. That only leaves water and nourishment.

      So, it seems to me that water is the only item in your list which is not sufficiently handled in many survival kits.

      I believe that your suggestions are based on scenarios which are in some sense the opposite of what today’s survivalists are looking to prepare for. From a search and rescue perspective, you want the victims to protect themselves from the elements for a few hours or days and make themselves easy to find. The objective is to bring them back to civilization. Most survivalists are preparing to escape from civilization, not the opposite. So your list is missing a major need, which is travel. You don’t want the person you are trying to find to travel, as that makes it harder to find them, so it isn’t even in your list. And nourishment is almost irrelevant in your perspective, as an untrained person thrown into a wilderness situation is likely to die of something else before he dies of starvation.

      So I don’t believe that the kits are as irrelevant, for their intended purpose, as you imply.

      As for the rule of threes, that is an old American Indian rule that you want to have three relatively independent sources for each major survival need which is likely to be in short supply. At least some kits support this by providing three different ways to make a fire, and three ways to get food.

      • Whiskey Sierra

        January 15, 2015 at 10:09 AM

        Ah, BillH, you have nailed a major discussion point that most survivalists (preppers) miss; the difference between wilderness survival, disaster survival, primitive living skills and bugging out in a SHTF scenario. Thus, when you want to to train someone on “survival kits”, you have to know the context that the kits will be used in. Also, if you expect to train most folks today in prepping E & E, and all you give them is a knife and a gun, 90% of them will be dead in a week in a real emergency scenario. Most of these people you are trying to train don’t have the warrior skills or mind set to use these two tools/weapons. If you give them only rudimentary training on a pocket survival kit of choice, then the same mortality rate will occur because they don’t have the woodland experience to use the items in the kit to keep themselves alive in the bush for more than a week. I’ve been training folks aged 4 to 80 in all of these skills for the last 50 years, both voluntarily and professionally. There’s some basic instructor principles you need to understand. You have to know your audience and you have to know what level of expertise your students want to be trained to. Not everyone wants to or is capable of becoming Daniel Boone. Best of luck with your knife and gun!

        • TripodXL

          January 26, 2015 at 10:57 PM

          Are you Mick Dodge’s son?

        • TripodXL

          January 26, 2015 at 11:26 PM

          What a pompous ass. There are some of us that have been there and done that. Most people in the AF are pussies. SERE training in the other services is significantly harder than the USAF. I say that as a SMSGT with 38 yrs. I have been sheep dipped, screwed with, done contract work, and worked with ALL the services, and been shot at and shot back. Been in places we were never in. Never had to use SERE, BUT I’ve spent more time in places where the SERE was probably the better place to stay and safer. You are right about some kits. Fishing crap, if you aren’t bugging out is useless, BUT if you are bugging out you should have some. Not sure but I might be agreeing with you, but you come across as an asshole….just sayin. And I wouldn’t mention that Air Force thing, no one respects it. Every time I’m in a conversation that has to do with the military it goes like this; “yeah, you were in the military”, “yeah, I was in the air force OH”. “What?” “I was in the air force OH”. “What’s that?” “Well, if you’re in the Marines and you tell people you were, then they go Urahhhh! If you were in the Army and you say that, they go Hohaah, Rangers lead the way, death from above. If you say you’re in the Navy, people go ‘oh, my uncle was in the Navy, and he saw the world’. AND then if you say you’re in the Air Force, they go ‘OH’. ” The Air Force OH. I’m so fed up with that shit. And you do nothing to remediate it. You exacerbate it. I have my kits, and they have never failed me. Gun, knife, and stuff. I will survive, regardless of what you teach. If they aren’t smart enough to survive…oh well. I didn’t get the benefit of SERE school going to VietLaoBodia, I got fucking civilians and no ID card and NO dog tags cuz I volunteered to be a hero. THAT SUCKED. I learned to survive the hard way…by surviving with civilians that didn’t have my survival in mind. Anyway, lighten up. Contribute instead of bitch. Put a kit out there with some options and SHARE your experience instead of lord it over people. Be Well.

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  32. Isidra

    October 18, 2018 at 3:30 AM

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    Ι want to purchase Lace Crop Toop annd Thong Ⴝet

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