The Basic Kit

You do not have to break the bank to put together a good usable kit.

Sure. If you have it to throw around you can spend a couple thousand dollars on the items that make up a kit. Buy a $300.00 knife and a $200.00 oilcloth and you are ¼ of the way to a couple grand. Another three or four hundred for a pack and you are pushing a grand. Maybe if you are planning a long and hard year long expedition. For most folks though it honestly is not necessary.

I am not downing those that can invest big bucks. Truth is though that most folks do not have that kind of wad stashed in a fruit jar or lying around collecting dust. A shortage in financial flexibility should not, however, be an impediment to putting together a good usable kit.

Quality is important. No denying it. Quality, however, in the woodcraft-bushcraft-survival realm … just as in any other arena … does have a tendency to become something of a status symbol. There is enough of that in the world already and it is something we want to avoid in what we are doing here with those we work with.

I think, rather than having the best quality, it is more important to have what is necessary and functional within the realm of one’s affordability range. Realize and respect the limitations of your gear. It is pretty simple. Do not ask something to do what it is not designed to do. When you do you are bound for a let-down. Once you have your kit together … once you are taking it out into the woods and using it … you can always do an item-by-item upgrade as you go along and step things up a notch or ever how many notches you happen to have loose in your pocket.

Getting out there doing it is essential. Personally understanding and developing the triangle formed by knowledge, skills, and resources is paramount.

A usable kit can be thrown together in a few hours. Discovering a proficiency zone and developing confidence inside the triangle requires a much larger investment of time and energy. You can have the best quality of everything in your kit but if you do not intimately know the ground you are walking on and the enveloping natural surroundings a $300.00 knife is not going to take care of you any better than a $50.00 knife. An expensive knife, even within the intimate relationship, is still just side-dressing.

Anyone, when it comes to kit contents, would be hard pressed to improve on Dave Canterbury’s 10-C’s explanation. His take on the kit comes from gleaning a lot of resources on the subject of tramping in the woods and he makes no claims on originality where the kit items are concerned.

Those of us who have spent our lives going into the tames and wilds camping, hunting, and fishing have been using these items all along. What he does do is begin them all with the letter “C” to describe them to make them easier to remember.

Canterbury’s “C’s” and the brief explanations as I have adapted them to my own preferences and geographic needs … the basic kit essentials … fit easily into a military surplus rucksack that is comfortable to carry. It makes a great short-trip pack (or get home bag) and keeps my kit essentials safely collected and ready to go on a moments notice. For longer trips, especially when I am going to be gone for a few days on a hunting trip or need to pack some extra winter-season items, I use an Army surplus ALICE pack with an external frame.

1.   COVER – 8’ x 10’ tarp*, 8’ x 9’ sheet of 3.5 mil plastic, wool blanket, leather gloves

2.   CUTTING TOOL – Fixed blade knife, folding knife, folding saw, hand axe

3.   CORDAGE – Paracord, #36 tarred bank line

4.   CONTAINER – Cook pot, canteen, military mess kit

5.   COMBUSTION – Primitive flint and steel, ferrocerium rod, bic lighter**

6.   COMPASS – Which way is North?

7.   COTTON BANDANA – Multiple uses

8.   CANDLING DEVICE – Flashlight (LED headlamp)

9.   CLOTH SAIL NEEDLE – Sewing repairs in the woods

10. CARGO TAPE – Duct tape … multiple uses

There are a few other things that reside in my kit … like a container with a dozen or so 18” stainless steel fishing leaders that make excellent small game snares*** and a small fishing kit. I also carry a small personal hygiene and first-aid kit as part of my basic kit.

* I prefer camouflaged or low visibility items that blend into the natural surroundings.

** A fire kit is a kit within itself. The items mentioned are in their own bag along with extra 100% cotton cloth to make charred cloth, a tin for charring cloth or other natural materials, jute twine, a small container of fat wood shavings, and a container of Vaseline impregnated cotton balls.

*** Snares are light to carry and an effective means to catch game. I do need to note that snaring is NOT a legal means of taking game in Alabama. Possessing and knowing how to utilize snares is not illegal. In a genuine survival situation you employ whatever means are available to secure food.