When it comes down to it, a true survivor can survive without any kit by making the best of what they’ve got on them or in their surroundings.  In a plane crash for example, there’s plenty of sharp bits of metal about to make a knife as well as potentially plenty of luggage with other bits of gear.

Survival tins are seen by some to be the pancea of what you should carry – but it’s rubbish really.  You need to pack for whatever you might encounter, but it’s handy to keep a few bits and bobs in a survival tin for those odd times when you need to adapt a situation to your advantage.  An example of this might be that you’ve gone hiking, you’ve fallen in a river and whilst you’ve got your ultra lightweight stove and (wet) matches, you need a firestriker and a mini saw to get some wood lit for a big fire.

With that in mind, you need to prepare your survival tin to cover your skill set and what you’re likely to encounter.

I would recommend:

- Mini LED keyring light
- Scout light my fire ferro rod/sweedish firesteel
- Cotton wool rubbed in vaseline (stored in clingfilm)
- Cheat sheet – http://www.troop149mchenry.org/PSKsheet.htm [mirror]
- Bin Bag (black ‘trash’ bag)
- Birthday Candle
- Safety pin
- Jigsaw blade
- Fish hooks & line
- Split shot sinkers
- Rubber band
- Non lubricated Condom
- Plasters/blister plasters
- Teabag/Stick of instant coffee

Most of this can be assembled on the cheap, if you’re creating this for a scout meeting, make sure you analyse what you’re going to provide them & take into consideration factsheet fs950000.pdf before handing out any sort of contraception items (or avoid that minefield altogether, though I have requested advice from Gilwell, I’ll let you know how I get on)

Why a Tea bag/Coffee?  Well, always a good idea if you get into a survival situation to stop, think & have a cup of tea.