Prepared for Christmas: DIY Mini Survival Kits

By Tyra Baird

In the previous post I listed preparedness oriented stocking stuffers, with survival kits at the bottom of the list. Those are great, but you’ll have to admit, if that’s all I had I’d be a little concerned. For $10-20 bucks some of the supplies are pretty cheap. I’ve been seeing these around for a long time (I live outside a national forest so our local store sells these). The most interesting to me is the “survival in a bottle.” It looks pretty scant to me, there has to be a way to “upgrade” it or create a better one on your own. So here we are!

Survival Kits in a Bottle: 101

Start with a water bottle – I’ve seen sizes ranging from 26 oz to 36 oz(1 liter) with a wide mouth so it’s easier to get things into and out of the bottle.  I prefer the 1 liter since it is perfect for water purification tablets. Get a good quality bottle; nothing is worse than losing your precious water supply, especially into your pack! Nalgene wide mouth is the best at about $10-20, check www.Amazon.com for the best prices.

The Guts of a Mini Survival Kit

Stuff the bottle with a variety of the following items, * are must haves:

• *Mylar blanket
• *5-in-1 whistle OR spend a bit more on the compass and fire starter, and get the mirror, matches, and whistle on a lanyard separately
• *Emergency poncho
• *Multi-tool (Swiss army, Leatherman, Gerber pocket or keychain sizes will save space)
• Water purification tablets (* if you’re using a1 literbottle)
• Safety pins
• Hand warmers
• Paracord
• *First aid kit
• Carabineers (these will attach all the items to your clothes so that you can actually use the bottle for its intended purpose)
• *Small flashlight (Fenix or Maglite) or headlight
• Extra batteries (to match flashlight/headlight)
• Tea light candle
• Fire starter – (not the matches/magnesium stripe kind but the tender kind)
• Chapstick/lip balm
• Small sunblock
• Insect repellant wipes
• Glow stick
• Hand sanitizer
• Granola Bars or MRE’s
• Travel tissues (not just for your nose, if you know what I mean)
• Ziplock baggies
• Survival tool (kikkerland for instance)

Place your chosen items into the bottle and shut the lid. The finished ones at the store always look like they’re half full, so you should be able to get a good amount of stuff inside your survival kit.

Feel free to use our gift tag for your personalized “Survival Kit in a Bottle” Gift

Just be sure to write what you included on the back or use a sticker label right on the bottle so they know what they have.