Emergencies are unplanned. That’s what makes them emergencies. They are things you can’t avoid, things you didn’t expect. And often, they catch you unprepared. Keep an emergency kit packed full of the right survival gear and you’ll be ready for any situation.
By definition an emergency is ‘a sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence or occasion requiring immediate action’. Emergencies come in different sizes, different styles, and last for different durations. Bad weather can turn worse and become hurricanes, tornadoes or flash floods. Good days can become bad ones by sudden fires, car accidents or simply with a person getting lost.
You never planned to get lost, the first time it happened. But that should have taught you to always have a map on hand of where you’re going, and make sure people know where you intend to be, at what time. If you don’t check in, they’ll know when to start to worry and where to look. A GPS receiver would help to have on hand, but you should also have a compass in your survival gear with your map. Keep a flashlight on hand. If you end up staying out after the sun sets, you’ll need light to keep from falling and hurting yourself. Emergency food rations will become important too, as time passes between your emergency and the last time you had a full meal.
What about extra clothing? You might think that what you have on is perfectly fine for a day of adventure. However, if there is an emergency, you might need the extra clothing. Even deserts get amazingly cold late at night and wearing layers is a good thing. You can use clothes for other purposes too, if the need arises. You have to stay warm and dry as much as possible. Rain gear can protect you from the wind as well as the rain, and can double as an insulating blanket or a shelter in a pinch. Sunglasses too are part of survival gear. How many times have you tried to see into the distance, in the direction of the sun, and found yourself blinded by the light reflecting off snow, water or fog? You have to be able to see clearly because your rescue could be right over that next hill.
First aid kits are important to include, especially ones that are compact but serve many purposes. Bandages, antiseptic salves and creams, and ways of treating burns, cuts and allergic reactions could be crucial at certain moments. A multi purpose tool is a good thing to have in our survival gear, as it might help us pry open food containers, build a shelter or an all important fire. The material to start a fire is also essential in survival gear. This could include waterproof matches, a lighter or a rod that one can purchase cheaply that can be scraped to shoot sparks onto a pile of dry grass or bark.
Normally people aren’t planning on staying lost forever. It’s better to be safe than sorry when packing an emergency kit of survival gear. Be sure to add some way to make water safe to drink. There are disinfection kits available but there are other methods to use too, like solar methods that turn water into condensation that can be collected safely for drinking and cooking. A whistle is another important piece of the kit. Being able to make noise without much effort, and a noise that will be heard for a long distance, could be critical to being rescued.
Night time is coming and you’re still lost or suffering the effects of an emergency situation. In your survival gear you packed a tarp or space blanket that you can now use to build a survival shelter or to insulate you while you curl up against a log or a pile of rocks. You also brought cording, perhaps in the form of twenty five feet of parachute cord. You’ll need this in your survival gear, either tonight to help you create a shelter that is off the ground and keeping rain off your head, or if you have to scale a hillside that’s too steep to walk down. Another thing you might, even more so at night time, is bug repellant. Insects can carry diseases and parasites. You’re going to be rescued. Include this in your survival gear so that your rescue isn’t marred by sickness.
The fifteenth and most important thing to pack into a kit full of survival gear is something a person can’t pack at all. That’s their will to survive. All of the above fourteen items are worthless if a person doesn’t have that will to live. Sometimes emergencies happen out of the blue. Having survival gear packed and ready for any situation that might arise will save a person’s life. But having the will to think smart, think ahead and be prepared is the most important survival tool of all.