Tic Tac pocket survival kit – what would you include?

[Monte Masterson]

I have an irrational fear of getting separated from my pack and having to survive like on Naked and Afraid. So I heard of people who see what survival gear items they can get into a Tic Tac breath mint container. It only measures 1 3/4″ X 2 7/8″ X 5/8″. Not 100% waterproof, but it’s pretty tight and you’d have to submerge it for awhile for any water to get in.

In the pic below starting at top left and going clockwise: 1) Stainless steel blade from an old pocket knife. Cutting edge is 2″ long. Far more solid and a better choice than a razor blade for most uses (6.9 g) 2) One dozen waterproof matches with striker (2.1 g). 3) Photon Micro Lite. Puts out a surprising amount of illumination (6.3 g). 4) Ten Aquatabs. Enough to treat 7.5 liters of water (1.5 g). 5) Seven yards of 8 lb test monofilament fishing line and 2 Eagle Claw hooks (0.9 g). 6) Duct tape 1″ wide X 14″ long (2 g). 7) SPF 30 sunscreen in plastic straw with each end heat welded to seal contents. There’s just enough to cover nose, face and neck in an emergency (1.3 g). 8) 3 ml glass vial with Deet. In a situation where there’s a lot of mosquitos it can keep you from going crazy. Just a little goes a long way. Simply apply very small amount to fingertips and rub onto exposed areas. 9) Compass. Works good enough to accurately show general directions and that can be enough to save your life sometimes (4.4 g),

And here is with everything packed in. Total weight 1.38 oz.

[Ryan Jordan]

I’ve been separated from my pack while swimming the upper Yellowstone River in the Thorofare area during runoff. I had my survival items in a fanny pack with me, and allowed me to warm up by an emergency fire after my swim before heading out to search for my pack, which I found after a few hours, thankfully.

On a different trip, a bear drug one of my partner’s packs out of the camp while we were away for an hour. We didn’t find it til morning, and thankfully, it didn’t contain any critical gear.

I had my entire cook kit stolen by pack rats while backpacking in the Dosewallips valley in the Olympics. Never did find my stove, pot, lighter, mug, or spoon. Just footprints and droppings where I left my stuff out.

The tic tac container is terrific, just keep it on your body and not in your pack!

[dirtbag]

I like what you have, but not too fond of keeping it in a tic tac container. If you wrap it in a mini plastic zip bag,  it may be more water proof and also, the tic tac plastic has potential to crack, split or shatter.. Then what?? Though maybe packed full like that it will resist cracking if any pressure applied.  I keep mine in the small size plastic bags from Dutch Gear.. Then wrap it shut with medical tape or duct tape.. Its now water proof and submergable..

[David Thomas]

A nice selection.  I particularly like the aqua-tabs, compass and light.  And the nod to those topical lotions that can really improve your quality of life – DEET and SPF.  There are single-use DEET wipes, although your little container would allow multiple (judicious) uses.

I had a super-hairy cold-water river crossing to do on my way out of the Brooks Range after hiking part way with Manfred & Sons.  I thought a lot of what to put in my pockets versus my pack in case I ended up swimming.

I’d forego the fish hooks.  I know they’re traditional, but you’re rarely in a place where 1) you can catch a fish with just a hook & cricket/worm nor 2) really even need calories to survive a few days.  The fishing line makes total sense in conjunction with the hooks (plus a branch = tenkara).

I love a mini-Bic.  Fire, light, more BTUs than 10 matches to get stubborn tinder going.

That’s a lot of blade but no handle.  I could see mild batoning with it (using found sticks), but for most tasks, I’d shift the balance to more handle.  Potentially even putting that blade on a belt sander to affect two finger grooves (giving up half the sharp edge in the process).

And there’s no great cordage.  You can do a few things with fishing line (like fish for little dinky Californian fish) but not much.  Add a sewing needle and no you can use that line to repair gear.  I like a “glover’s” needle for its sharp point.  For great cordage, I like 100- to 150-pound test Dacron line sold for flying big kites or catching big halibut.  Tent guylines, shoelaces, clothes lines, etc are then doable, plus big gear repair (shoes, pack straps).  Let me know if you’d like me to send you some.  25 feet is 6 grams (from memory).

[Matthew / BPL]

Interesting topic.

If you are separated from your pack what would you use to store water so that you could treat it with the tablets? It seems like you need a bag to hold/treat water.

[David Thomas]

A Hefty garden trash bag or a trash compactor bag has a LOT of uses, including as a water container and/or sink basin in a hole in the ground.  A parka, poncho, or tent fly could also be used for 30 minutes to hold water for chemical treatment, but that assumes your pack is still with you.

[HkNewman]

If a little bigger, add a translucent glow-in-the-dark LED penlight with both a focused beam plus an area light with white and red options at high and low levels.  The red should also have a blinking function.

Have one of RovyVons myself at 0.6oz  as I got tired of my headlamp cutting off when needed the most (at 7 to 8 lbs baseweight, I can start adding in – gearlist goes where included Uberlight + thinpad can go).  I use a rechargeable one but there were battery powered ones available last I checked.

One hiker (Jupiter iirc) used one for a TRT thru this yr hanging it on a baseball cap with its clip, but for chores I prefer a headlamp.

Still for “survival” it could fit the bill.  They’ll just get better too as tech progresses.

[John S.]

Gerber breast milk bags and condoms are used in some survival kits to hold water.

I would consider not leaving striker in same bag as matches.

A plastic qtip container is a little bigger and would hold more stuff.

Some might try to waterproof by covering top in tape.

[Monte Masterson]

But everything has to fit into a Tic Tac box. The idea is that if you use anything larger it won’t feel comfortable in your pocket and therefore you won’t be inclined to keep it in your pocket, but rather you’ll likely have it in your (now lost) pack instead.

I dig what you’re saying about a small plastic zip bag instead of a Tic Tac box dirtbag, but I must say that the box is really pretty bomber and it would take a lot of force to crack it. That’s one of the main reasons why Tic Tac boxes became popular as pocket survival kits. And unlike a plastic zip pouch things inside won’t get crushed when in it’s in your pocket. Of course a naked knife of razor blade isn’t good in a plastic bag either.

The heavier test fishing line is a good idea for all around utility cord David. Volume is the concern though. I like the 1 mm polyester cord from ZPacks. Only has an 80 lb test, but seems smaller than 1 mm diameter. https://zpacks.com/products/50-feet-1-mm-polyester-cord. The fishing line is probably stronger for the volume and length though

You bring up a good point Matthew. I’ve seen some guys on YouTube who place little ziploc bags in similar sized pocket kits and the plastic bags fold up very small. The snack size measures roughly 5″ X 5″ and will hold about 400 ml water. Simply break an Aquatab in half with a knife and drop in. If you cut off the top zip portion off the snack size ziploc with scissors you can only get in about 325 ml (pic below) and it’s not as stable, however the bag will then fold up incredibly small. I suppose I could ditch the fishing line and hooks and/or the duct tape to fit in a bag.

[obx hiker]

What’s the biggest immediate threat? Exposure? (fire) Then hydration? Or both.

List your problems then pick your tools.

I only carry a photon microlight (well 2 of them) on all my backpacking trips and find it to be completely adequate but I seem to have pretty good night vision.

I’m in agreement about the mini-bic. I want me some fire.

I was looking at that SS blade and the hole at the end of it and thinking about a nice little 3/32nds x 2″ stainless steel threaded screw with a nut and a lock washer but then how would you get a hole through the hypothetical handle? Ohh the things you could make! A knife and a spear!

But what is the goal here? To survive until you are found or can make it out to civilization? Or are you going full on “The Road”  That would change the emphasis. A more likely scenario is something like Ryan’s and David’s stream crossings.

Wouldn’t some regular bleach or some iodine go a lot further (treat a lot more water) than the aqua-tabs?

[HkNewman]

.. fit into a box of Tictac

North of the border, their box is a bit bigger (~15%), … so if going to Canada (maple syrup run?), may want to keep an eye out.

[Monte Masterson]

Again you have to keep in mind the Tic Tac volume limit of 48 cc or 2.93 cubic inches. A mini Bic is great, but that takes up at least half of your space. And Aquatabs can be taken out of the wrappers and put in mini ziplocs to free up a lot of volume. I like to leave the tabs in the factory wrap so as to keep them fresher and hopefully more effective, but you don’t have to. I could probably get 25 Aquatabs in a mini ziploc and take up the same volume as 10 tabs in their wrappers. When it comes to volume per the amount of water you can treat I’m not sure if iodine or bleach could beat Aquatabs. Not to mention that the tabs taste far better and are probably more effective than iodine or bleach.

[obx hiker]

I checked out bleach and read that 8 drops treat 1 gallon. Haven’t checked out iodine yet.

Yeah that mini-bic is bulky. Still I want fire. I too have fallen into freezing rivers. The mini-bic is a real life-saver. And campfires etc. are key as well for a variety of survival reasons. Maybe there’s some sort of mini-mini-bic?

[obx hiker]

Something like this little thing?

[obx hiker]

Emergency Water disinfection methods

Reading the article it looks like sodium hypochlorite crystals are the ultimate lightweight/low volume water disinfectant. Problem is you’d need too big a container for all that disinfected water!

[Matthew / BPL]

Not trying to derail but what other containers are similar (or slightly larger) in size? Pill bottles or mini m&m tubes come to mind.

[Kevin Babione]

I’ve enjoyed this thread – I haven’t ever hiked alone and I haven’t been any place where the chance of losing my pack was more than a very small likelihood.  I feel this is, like a FAK, a very individualized assembly of items.  You need to think through a number of questions:

• How likely am I to lose my pack on this trip?
• If I do lose it, how far (or how long) am I from help or other people?
• If I do lose it, will I be hurt as a result?
• Can I navigate without my pack or do I need to fold a map into my kit?

Water purification, for example, for me is not necessary.  In the northeast, at least where I do my hiking, I’d probably be okay (at least for 24-48 hours) drinking directly from the mountain streams like I did as a kid.  In PA I’m probably never more than 3-4 hours from a road traveled by someone (and that’s a stretch).

@Matthew – I think the appeal of the Tic Tac container is that it fits comfortably in your pants pocket, where a pill bottle may not be as comfortable.  My hiking pants have a cargo pocket with a velcro closure and, as long as it was so packed that it didn’t rattle, it could go there.

[Matthew / BPL]

Yeah I agree pill bottles are a little large.

I feel like my priorities would be water and fire. Water is harder to take care of in a tic tac container so that’s why I was thinking about something just a little larger.

FAK is in my fanny pack and I’m less likely to get separated from that than my backpack. I like the InReach there too.

My point is the tic tac (or similar) container comes into play when I have lost my pack and my fanny pack. It’s a last resort, only water and fire.

[dirtbag]

For what its worth.. have you ever tried lighting a mini bic with COLD fingers???  It is horribly horrendous! I think for emergency I would rather have a full size bic lighter or some storm waterproof stick matches.

[John S.]

[Steve M]

Whatever mini kit you use I would add one aspirin tablet…might buy some time for a heart attack victim.

 

[jscott]

Waterproof duct tape to the rescue. Wrap the Tic Tac box with that. It will be stronger and more waterproof.

[obx hiker]

I’m guessing the tic-tac container is a specified item of some sort of group exercise.

Dirtbag I hear ya about operating a mini-bic with cold fingers!

Kevin good point. What are ‘we’ trying to survive? The furthest I’ve been from ANY trailhead is in the Wind River Range on the eastern side of the divide and a good 24 hours of fast walking and the better part of 2 days; so I visualized that as my extreme.

When I think about it I imagine for most of us the greatest danger is getting wet and then hypothermic. Water. You can fall in it or it can fall on you! That’s why I think of fire. We have a surprising # of fatal encounters with cold water around here. But I still think water to drink is another concern and for the west a potentially most critical concern.

I can’t think of a weapon that would fit into such a small container except again to some degree if only defensive; fire.

I’m beginning to think this thread may be like a sort of Rorschach test. What are you afraid of?

And Steve good point about the aspirin!

 

[dirtbag]

Continuing about the fire.. ditch the fish hooks and add 1 or 2 quick tinder tabs??  Depending on the time of year i was heading out.. I would also ditch the deet..ie.. winter, fall. And.. for me personally being in the North East, i would ditch the sunscreen since I could easily be under cover from trees and leaves.. unless it was winter.. or early spring.  But fire would be my priority.. wet, wet and cold, cold.. a fire would be beneficial.  Signal for help?? Fire would be beneficial.  Cook food? Fire would help. Boil water if I found a means to contain it? Fire works well. Keep pesky bugs and mosquitoes at bay? Smoked fire helps. Dry my wet clothing? Fire can speed that time up.  Possibly a false sense of security at night? A fire can do that too.

[Steve M]

“And Steve good point about the aspirin!”

Thanks!   (Thread drift and aspirin story below):

4 days ago my wife had a heart attack–while we were day hiking.  I always keep a tiny pill FAK in my pocket (4 Ibuprofen, 4 Benadryl and one Aspirin).  Because of the stress of rushing her to the hospital, I had forgotten about the aspirin…until we were almost there.  Luckily we made it–but just barely (according to the cardiac doctor).    YMMV

https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/aspirin-for-heart-attack-chew-or-swallow

 

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