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21K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  MTTAZ 
#1 ·
Now, I know these exist right from the store but, I have yet to find a ready made kit that meets my 'seal of approval' with regard to contents and quality. So, here is a 'water bottle kit' I am beginning to put together and would love some feedback on. Why a water bottle kit? Isn't water the most necessary thing to remain alive? Thus, without a device to carry/purify water in when you may not be able to stay in immediate proximity to a water source dictate the minimum size of a minimalist bug-out kit?

So, here are my initial thoughts:

1. Water Bottle with large mouth with lid attached to water bottle (you chose your favourite brand). Caribiner attached to device (cord etc.) that attaches the mouth piece to the bottle to attach water bottle kit to you.
2. First Aid supplies: 'polysporin' or similar antiseptic, hydrogen peroxide in small container to clean wounds (even in mouth and better than alcohol which evaporates over time), cotton swabs for applying/cleaning wounds, assorted bandages, assorted gauze compressors (2"x2" etc.), roll of gauze, medical tape, mole skin, athlketes foot medication (Tinactin) because my feet are prone to athlets foot, nail clipper, sunscreen, bug spray, pain medication (i.e tylenol), meds for allergies and cold/flu, super glue, please feel free to add...
3. Emergency rain poncho.
4. Emergency bag (not blanket because bag is more effective in keeping in heat).
5. Garbage bag.
6. Lighter and matches. Type of lighter?
7. Safety pins.
8. Bandana
9. Rubber bands.
10. Twist ties.
11. Small sewing kit.
12. Swiss Army knife/multi-tool. Let the ideas/debate begin...
13. Small lock blade knife with a partially serated blade. Have not found this on a Swiss Army knife or multi-tool.
14. Tinder (lint). Other ideas?
15. Water purification tablets or bleach. Which one? I don't think bleach 'expires'.
16. Fishing line wrapped around cigar tube (Real Cuban Monte Cristo Torpedo. Sorry, I am Canadian and the Helms Burton law does not apply to me even though I am a resident of the U.S.) with hooks, jigs, bobber, weights inside.
17. Duct tape wrapped around outside of wtaer bottle.
18. High energy bar(s).
19. Head lamp with extra batteries. Make/model?
20. Small water resistant bag (tri-fold with attachment for caribiner) to put all of the stuff in when the bottle is full of water.


Looking forward to all of your great ideas...
 
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#2 ·
I forgot to mention I am considering a 'deringer' style 2 barrel gun in .38 special as well. Can use shot shells for small game. I know, not a great way to go for a gun choice but, if you can only have what can fit in the water bottle... By-the-way, I live in Wyoming so, it would not be illegal to have in your bottle in your vehicle while waiting for the STHTF. Once it does hit I don't care about concealed carry once I take it with me on foot.
 
#4 · (Edited)
That is a fantastic idea!!! Thank you! You dont happen to have a measurement chart do you?





TO THE OP:

My mom knows about everything I do and like and is supportive of it! That being said she bought me for Christmas one of the commercial kits! It was not half bad! I digress BE CAREFUL CARRYING IT BUY THE THIN PIECE OF PLASTIC!!!!!!!

It will brake very easily! On the net (someone will post a link I hope) There are plans to weave a nalgene bottle holder out of para cord! This would be the best way to carry this or get/make a haver sack!
 
#5 ·
Not offhand, but I know that per volume measurement is fairly close.

I believe pool shock is about 65% calcium hypochlorite by mass, while liquid bleach is 3-6% sodium hypochlorite by mass. Of course, liquid bleach weighs 10-20 times more than dry granulated pool shock, per volume.

Any way, I think it's about 1/10 teaspoon of chlorinator per gallon of water. When I was doing the math, that's what I remembered. Do not take my word for it, do your own math to double check (and please tell me if I remembered wrong!).
 
#7 ·
Ok. I will Fisk this.

1. Water Bottle with large mouth with lid attached to water bottle (you chose your favourite brand). Caribiner attached to device (cord etc.) that attaches the mouth piece to the bottle to attach water bottle kit to you. Kind of hard to have a bottle kit without a bottle. What ever brand you get I suggest a clear 1L one as the purification tabs are for 1L/qt of water.
2. First Aid supplies: 'polysporin' or similar antiseptic, hydrogen peroxide in small container to clean wounds (even in mouth and better than alcohol which evaporates over time), cotton swabs for applying/cleaning wounds, assorted bandages, assorted gauze compressors (2"x2" etc.), roll of gauze, medical tape, mole skin, athlketes foot medication (Tinactin) because my feet are prone to athlets foot, nail clipper, sunscreen, bug spray, pain medication (i.e tylenol), meds for allergies and cold/flu, super glue, please feel free to add... That is lot of stuff. My FAK has less than that and is about the volume of a 1L Nalgene bottle. I am not sure how you would fit it all in the bottle. The bug juice and sun screen would be nice but I think you could dispense with them for a last ditch survival kit. I would keep most of those meds in my FAK/PAK in my main bag so I would not be tempted to break into this whenever I need something. You might want to add some surgical blades, though. They would be sterile when your knife is not.
3. Emergency rain poncho. The ones I have seen are such crap that I would just leave this out and use the garbage bag if you need rain shelter.
4. Emergency bag (not blanket because bag is more effective in keeping in heat). Certainly in a cold climate. I have not seen one small enough to go in a bottle with all this other stuff though. If it is warm enough in your are there will probably be bugs and it might be better to switch this for a head net and just sleep in the garbage bags.
5. Garbage bag. I would have two. Make them orange. If you are using this thing the chances are you want to be found. Possibly make one clear if you are in an are where you can use that trick of wrapping a bag around brush to gather water. I forget the proper name.
6. Lighter and matches. Type of lighter? Mini-BIC all the way.
7. Safety pins. Can not argue with that.
8. Bandana I would include two. One blaze orange and one uncoloured. The uncoloured one for prefiltering water and the orange one for signaling.
9. Rubber bands. I am not sure how useful these would be but they could be wrapped around the outside to hold the paracord on. See below.
10. Twist ties. Again, I am not sure what these would be for but they are thin and could certainly be packed in around the side easily enough.
11. Small sewing kit. A couple of pre-threaded needles would be good enough here, IMO. Make sure they are big enough to accept the inner strands of the paracord. See below.
12. Swiss Army knife/multi-tool. Let the ideas/debate begin... I think everyone would choose something different here. I would choose a model with an awl, pen, tweezers, and two blades.
13. Small lock blade knife with a partially serated blade. Have not found this on a Swiss Army knife or multi-tool. One knife is good enough. I do not like serrations so I would not take a serrated knife. Instead I would take a small sharpening implement of some kind. Probably a diamond stick of some kind to save space.
14. Tinder (lint). Other ideas? I would but the real stuff. I have had problems with dryer lint; I think it does not work very well if it is mostly polyester and once it compacts down to a useless mat. I would use liquid fire (?) or those ones that look like waxy rope. Of course, if you are making your own take what you know works for you.
15. Water purification tablets or bleach. Which one? I don't think bleach 'expires'. As noted, bleach does expire. If I were building my own it would have couple strips of Katadyne MicroPUR tablets.
16. Fishing line wrapped around cigar tube (Real Cuban Monte Cristo Torpedo. Sorry, I am Canadian and the Helms Burton law does not apply to me even though I am a resident of the U.S.) with hooks, jigs, bobber, weights inside. Fishing stuff is optional. Depends on if you can fish in your local area.
17. Duct tape wrapped around outside of wtaer bottle. I would also wind as much paracord around the bottle as you can.
18. High energy bar(s). Possibly switch to some hard candy. I would also add some drink mix packets or bullion cubes to dull the flavor of the muck you might be stuck drinking.
19. Head lamp with extra batteries. Make/model? Petzel e+lite. It is tiny but bright and has a red light that can be set to strobe. It runs off lithium button batteries so it will not wear out before you are either found or you die. Alternately a Photon MicroLite.
20. Small water resistant bag (tri-fold with attachment for caribiner) to put all of the stuff in when the bottle is full of water. Great idea! I just had a problem with suddenly having stuff to carry and nothing to carry it in. I carry a tiny nylon bag in my GOOD bag for this reason. Even a folded up shopping bag would be fine for this.
A big miss IMO is a button compass. If you know where you are (or will be) you could also add a basic map.

I am sure you could slip some folded sheets of tin foil in there. Ditto for a few sheets of paper and a pencil stub. The papers could be blank on one side and have survival tips on the other.

Since you do not have to make it look good like the Nalgene FAK bottle you can just wrap the paper, map, tin foil, bags, gauze, and twist ties around the inside of the bottle. You will not be able to see what is in there but you already know and do not need to advertise.

You also do not really have any signaling devices; the headlamp might work but not during the day. A Fox survival whistle and a signal mirror are pretty small. You would have to experiment with packing though. I would dump the food in favor of these as you can probably last three days without eating if you are desperate.

You could probably jam a straw in there. Even if it gets crushed it should still work. If water is hard to find in your area this may let you suck it out of cracks or fissures.

For cold weather I would try to get a tea lite in there.

Photos of your loved ones for motivation.
 
#8 ·
I had purchased one of those bottles, and found it inadequate as well (however, I got the whole thing on sale for less than the bottles alone would be), so I "tweaked" it. Here is what is in mine:

32 oz plastic bottle w/carabiner
1 bottle water purification tablets
10 bouillon cubes (helps kill the taste of the water purification tabs--those things make the water taste NASTY)
5 Crystal Light tubes (also for killing nasty water taste)
Instant Coffe pkt.
Sugar pkt
1 Emergency poncho
1 emergency blanket
2 10-hour hand warmers
1 AA flashlight and 6 batteries (I replaced the one that came in the kit for a smaller but more powerful light, leaving more room for the "extras")
1 mini lightstick (actually, this was designed to attach to one's fishing line...I just got the "replacement" lightsticks)
1 whistle/compass/matchcase combo. I filled it with "strike anywhere" matches.
1 "tealight candle"
1 magnesium firestarter/flint block
1 multitool/knife
1 "GI" TP packet (from the MRE packs)
1 snakebite kit
1 mosquito headnet (doubles as a fishing net)
Fishing line & hooks
1 First aid packet
Plastic bag.

I actually made several of these "bottle kits"-- one each for the car and truck, and one for each member of the family.
 
#10 ·
Macumazahn had some great ideas.

In addition to those I would add:

If you can find space, try and carry a firesteel (pull off the handle if that will make it fit better)

For the multitool I would carry a Leatherman Charge TTI. The knife on this is pretty good so you can eliminate the other knife. Take it out of its sheath and pick your favorite bit and install that and leave the rest at home so it takes up less room. I used to carry a swiss army knife, but the pliers (and wirecutter that comes with them) on the Leatherman are just too handy to do without. If you chose to go a different rout than the Leatherman, I still advise a pliers based multi tool.

Frenzel Lense may be handy.

For sewing, dont worry too much about thread, just take a needle big enough to use the inner stands of the 550 paracord, and take enough paracord.

For a light I would recommend a stainless steel Fenix LD01 or the Fenix L0D. Both are VERY bright for their size. Put a couple of Lithiums AAA's in there and you will have as much light as would be reasonably expected for a kit of this size. Both are multimode so you can have brightness when you want, or use a lower setting to conserve battery.

As Macumazahn said, ditch the emergency poncho, they are too thin to be of any use at all, and will rip the second you put it on (or while your putting it on). Depending on your area I would plan on building a rudimentary shelter and would go practice that a couple of times in your area so if you have to do it for real you can use as little energy as possible.

Also as Macumazahn said, I would carry commercial tinder OR a candle :). The knife on your leatherman should be sharp enough to make feathersticks with any wood you find. Additionally the Leatherman has more than 1 usefull blade, so you can use one for "dirty" tasks, and one for "clean" tasks (or blunt/sharp tasks, whatever the case may be)

I wouldn't be concerned about food at all, you can survive for 4 days comfortably without food (though they say you can survive for 3 weeks, I have never tested that far :) ). If you fill the bottle up with everything else though, and theres still a bit of space left sure throw in some food :)

If your running out of space and ditching the twist ties will make the difference, ditch the twist ties ;)
 
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