Bumbling Bushcraft Comic: It's Bigger on the Inside

I Will Survive: Comparing the Survival Water Bottle to My EDC Kit

Last week we finished building our EDC Kit and we talked about the three characteristics we want our gear to have: familiarity, compactibility, and re-usability. We packed away all of our stuff into a fanny pack as well. We valued this kit to be about $57, however I only spent $10 on my kit for the fanny pack. The rest of my gear I already had lying around the house. I did not buy gear for this kit. This week we are doing the review. That’s right, this week we will be comparing the survival water bottle to my EDC kit.

First let’s get into the survival water bottle and see what we are getting for $20. The water bottle itself is a 1000 ml. plastic water bottle with a red carabiner attached to it. I have some black 550 paracord at the top of the water bottle, one bandage (the card says there were supposed to be three),

an aluminum carabiner with a compass and an LED flashlight. It also comes with a tiny pocket knife with a tiny nail file. The next item I remove is an orange safety whistle, and a floating compass with a container that stores matches, however, no matches were provided. The last few items are a survival blanket that reflects up to 90% body heat, an emergency poncho which I can see from the package is very thin and will not last long, (I may be able to fly it like a tarp), and an emergency sewing kit with a button and a latch pin. I am not satisfied with what I have for $20. I do not feel that it meets the criteria of 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. My final note is that repacking the bottle was extremely difficult and all of my gear was crammed back inside.

I am going to be testing the survival water bottle in the same location where I had my 3 Day Camp. I

am going to attempt to set up my shelter, start a fire, and boil water. Now, I am not going to spend all day out here trying to accomplish these tasks with this kit. If I hit a road block that I cannot overcome or at least overcome quickly, I am going to say the test is done. I am going to follow this same practice with my EDC kit as well. One flaw I am going to point out with the survival water bottle right away is that I had to dig a box of matches out of my car to add to the kit, because the kit itself did not provide them.

The first thing I did was use the paracord to suspend the plastic water bottle over the site where I am going to build my fire. I tied the paracord off to a tree, threw the length over a limb, tied a loop in it, and clipped the water bottle to the loop with the red carabiner. The goal is to get my water to boil by controlling my fire. Normally I would use a tripod to boil water, however  I do not believe I could cut down or carve one with the tools provided by this kit. This attempt failed

I used my matches to start my fire. If I had not supplied the matches I would have had absolutely no way to make fire. I could have added a lighter instead, however, the kit was designed to use matches. While setting up, the branch above me became over encumbered and fell out so I had to improvise and suspend the water bottle from a much less distance. I filled it up with 16.9 oz. of water so that it will be boiling the same amount as my EDC kit.

Unfortunately I was not able to get the water to boil. While trying to control my fire the water bottle began to melt and warp. Also the tripod type branch I was using was dry enough that it started to catch as well. I probably could have waited a little longer, but I was not satisfied with how things were going. If you don’t know how to boil water in a plastic bottle pre-emergency, you are not going to know how to do it in the actual survival situation. I’m ranking the bottle a D, not an F, because you cannot purify water in it, but it can hold a significant amount of water and that’s worth something.

For the shelter I decided to use the poncho as a moisture barrier and I used the survival blanket to wrap up in. It is very noisy and if I were to sleep like this I would definitely wake up any time I moved. Other than that it was kind of nice. I rank the shelter a C. If rain were to come I would be left completely out in the open. If I had a fire to sit next to it would be even better, however the blanket says to keep away from fire. I may even consider getting one of these for my EDC kit.

Now that we have finished testing out the survival water bottle, it is time to test out my EDC kit. Right away you will notice that there are things I can do with this kit that I couldn’t do with the other kit, and actually there is one thing that I could have done with the survival water bottle kit that I could have done, but chose not to. We will talk about why a little later.

I will be testing my EDC kit the same way I tested the survival water bottle according to the rule three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food. My first order of business is to make a shelter. What I did was lash a branch horizontally to a tree with my bank line. Next I found some small rocks and folded them into the corners of my poncho, tied off the corner to keep them in place, and then tied the corners to the lashed branch. I took a long stick that was smaller in diameter to the one I lashed to the tree and used my 11-in-1 card to saw it in half. The stick was mostly greenwood so the 11-in-1 card had some difficulty getting the job done, but it did get the job done. Next I used my Camillus Seize to carve the two half pieces into tent stakes. I repeated the process with the stones in the bottom to corners of my poncho, attached them to the stakes, and then staked them into the ground. This results in my poncho being set up like I would my tarp.

The reason I did not do this with a survival blanket is because I was having so much trouble with the

survival water bottle kit, I just wanted to get any kind of shelter together. I absolutely think that the survival blanket could do this, and it is roughly the same size as my poncho so I think it would do it well. The only problem being with that kit, if I chose to make the survival blanket into a shelter, I would have nothing to cover up with at night. If you have a extra survival blanket in your kit I highly recommend that you try to do this. Unfortunately with the survival water bottle kit, I just don’t think it’s worth it.

With the assistance of my lovely wife, we did a weather test on the poncho. I sat underneath it with my moisture barrier, the black contractor bag I included in my kit and she prepared the water hose to spray down my shelter.  Now the water from the garden hose was a lot heavier than any rain I would typically experience, but it held up well and no water got in. The hood of the poncho faced downward and while it did move and buck with the water hitting it, it did not open up to let the water in.

Now I am going to test the abilities of the second contractor bag that I packed in my EDC kit. First I

can get into it and use it like a sleeping bag if needed. While standing the bag comes up to my arm pits, but lying down I can hunker down into it and it will retain my body heat fairly well. The next thing I am going to test is how well it holds water. I filled the bag up just enough for me to be able to lift it and also so it did not rip out the bottom of the bag. It held up well, I have plenty of contractor bag left to tie it off and store it, and all I have to do is untie it to get more water.

Speaking of water, now it is time for our boiling test. I am going to use the same amount of water as well as the same type of bottled water as I used in my previous boiling test to be fair in judging which boils better. I used my lighter in my combustion kit to light my tinder and get my fire started. After that it was just a matter of placing the metal water bottle into the fire without the plastic lid on top and waiting for it to boil.

Another thing that I want to show you my kit can do is make char cloth. The Altoids tin that is also

the container for my combustion kit can also be used to make char cloth in. Now I didn’t have any cloth packed in my EDC kit so what I did was cut a strip out of the bottom of my T-shirt, placed it in the Altoids tin, closed it, and put it in the fire. It’s as simple as that. Now I can make char cloth while I am waiting for my water to boil, which it did! To remove it safely from the fire, I used my bank line and a small stick to make a toggle, carefully slid the stick into the bottle, and lifted it gently out of the fire to cool. The char cloth actually turned out very nice as well. It blackened well and there were no white spots. Unfortunately the inside of the Altoids tin charred up pretty badly as well so I can no longer use it as a signaling device.

For my final thought, I like to think it is pretty obvious which kit is the winner, but we will still go ahead and break it down. Overall I was very pleased with the fanny pack, more so than I thought I would be. Everything I needed was at my hip and was easy to retrieve. The water bottle just did not have what you needed to survive in my opinion. I ranked the combustion kit in the survival water with a D, because I had to provide my own matches and in that kit that was the one and only way provided to make fire. For cover I ranked it a C because of the survival blanket, but I think there could have been more options in the way of cover. I gave the container a D, because I could not boil or purify water in it. It's saving grace was that I could hold a large amount of water in it. I gave the cutting tool an F, as it was pitiful. It isn't the smallest knife I have ever had, but it was definitely the worst knife I have ever had. I gave the cordage a C. It did it's job, however, I had 33ft. of  550 paracord in the bottle, yet in my kit I had 60 ft. of bank line that was much more compact. Moving on to my kit, I felt it performed above and beyond. My poncho worked very well as a cover, and I was even concerned it would rip but didn't. The contractor bags served their purpose as a moisture barrier and even held up to the task of having extra jobs, so to my cover I give an A+. My combustion kit had a rocky start, but I did have multiple ways of making fire and even created a fourth way to make fire while testing the kit so I give it an A. My container did it's job boiling water and my cordage did a fantastic job setting up my camp. I even had plenty left over. The Camillus Seize performed well in the field. I used it to clean up branches and carve stakes with ease. The 11-in-1 card had a rough start, but it did its job in the end. The final results are the Survival Water Bottle overall is ranked D, and the Fanny Pack EDC Kit is ranked A, at the lowest, maybe a B.

Next week we will be picking up where we left off two series ago. David Canterbury first started off with the 5 C's of Survivability, later he added an additional 5, which in total became the 10 C's of Survivability. We will be beginning next week with Compass. It will also be our first on location video. Make sure you don't miss out! As always feel free to comment, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Cordage in a Bottle: Container and Cordage Options for Your EDC Kit

Last week we started talking about EDC Kits, what they are, what they should be comprised of, the problems with bad EDC kits and how to avoid them, and good EDC kits and how to get one. I also talked about three characteristics your EDC kit should have. Last week we talked about the first characteristic, familiarity. I then added some gear to the kit and valued it with the current gear to be about $25. I would also like to reiterate from last week’s blog how important it is NOT TTO BUY FIOR YOUR EDC KIT. You are better off building your kit out gear you already have. Buying new gear takes away from the familiarity of your tools. If you were to recreate the kit that I am using, then yes, you will be out about $50, but I cannot stress enough what a bad idea this is. You likely have similar cutting and combustion option of your own to use that you are more familiar with. This is also effective for keeping costs down.

This week we will be adding another characteristic and two more items to our already growing EDC Kit, The next characteristic we are going to talk about is compactibility, which will give us two distinct advantages over non compactible gear. Number one is the obvious: compactible gear takes up less space. The Camillus Seize in my EDC kit is about half the size of the Camillus Bushcrafter in my full size pack, likewise my combustion kit is about a sixth of the size of the one in my bag. Having lightweight and smaller gear is going to make it easier for you to pack it, as well as make it easier for you to take with you every day.

The second advantage is that most compact gear or at least true compact gear will be just as good as a larger counterpart. My Camillus Seize can do a lot of the same things my Camillus Bushcrafter can do. It can baton wood a bit, strike a ferro rod and carve wood. The same goes for my combustion kit. I can set sure fire, spark fire, and solar fire. I’m sure you are wondering now what the point is in having a bigger option if the compactible gear can do all of the same things. Well the answer is that you have more options with the bigger gear. While my Seize can baton, carve and strike a ferro rod, my Bushcrafter can baton more efficiently, is made of better steel so it casts sparks easier, and it has a bigger belly for carving and even skinning. The same goes for my combustion kit. My larger fire kit can create sure fire, spark fire, and solar fire, the difference is that I have more options and more ways to start a fire. It has two lighters, a large ferro rod, and a very powerful magnifying glass. When you are putting together your EDC kit you will likely notice that the bigger and better gear is harder to pack and you will have to use the compact option. This is okay! Remember, our goal is not to go camping with this gear, but to have it in case of an emergency.

This week’s gear is going to be a container and some cordage. Our container is a 17 oz. stainless steel water bottle. I like this bottle because it is metal, it is single walled, and the plastic cap can be completely removed so the bottle is completely metal at the time we are going to boil it. Being a metal bottle means that I can boil my water. If you can’t boil water in your bottle, you don’t need it. Boiling water is the most simple and easy way of purifying your drinking water. Chemicals can be used to purify water, however, you need precise measurements and any variation can result in unsafe drinking water. I prefer to place the bottle of water into the fire, wait for it to boil, boil for two minutes, and my drinking water is now safe. Some people prefer to go with plastic bottles. I think that is a horrible idea. You might be able to boil water in it, but it is extremely difficult and I wouldn’t recommend it. Chemicals may also break down part of the plastic in the bottle and it will end up in your drinking water which is simply no good. The only problem I have with this water bottle I that it is only 17 oz. My larger water bottle is 32 oz. which is closer to the recommended 64 oz. that it is recommended that we drink daily. I believe this is debatable because we outdoorsmen should probably be drinking more than that. At any rate, to get that 64 oz. of water I will have to make more trips and boil more water to achieve this. It is the sacrifice I have made for a lighter and more compact water bottle. You may not want to do this, it is your own personal preference.

My next gear item is 60 ft, of bank line. I am choosing to use
bank line because it can set up just as well as paracord, and you can make a net with it. This type of cord can store easily, but I will be saving even more space by storing it in my water bottle. Now bank line is not my only option so I thought I would talk about some other choices that are worth a mention. You could wear an 8 in. paracord bracelet. I believe the rule of thumb is that there is 1 ft. of paracord for every inch of bracelet which equals out to about 8 ft. of paracord. This is plenty enough to construct a shelter and with bright colors, you could even signal with it. If you would like an option with more paracord, I’ve made a one ring belt out of 6 strands of paracord that are each 16 ft. The single ring belt is super easy to wear, and yes, the colors I used are very flamboyant, but you can use browns or blacks to make it more discreet.

If you want to make your own paracord belt, you will need a 2 ½” metal ring, 6 sections of 16 ft. of paracord, four strands being the same color, and two being a different color. You will also need a knife to cut paracord to determined length and a lighter to melt the mantle so the cordage will not unravel. Next, you will want to place your ring on something at chest level or higher so that you can work. You will first begin by draping one piece of paracord over the ring with a lark’s head knot. You will want to do this for all 6 strands of paracord. I recommend for beginners a single color, followed by four of the primary color, and the last strand being the color you started with. Now to begin the weaving. Begin by taking the far left piece of cordage, and weave it in front of or behind the cordage directly to its right. You will then alternate weaving over and under until you reach the end and there is nothing else for you to weave against. It is at this point where it is recommended for you to place your line that you have weaved all the way through somewhere to rest so that you can begin weaving the next line. It’s brother line will follow the opposite path that the first line took all the way to the end, for example, if you started weaving over with the first line, then you will start weaving under with the second line. The resting line will then be treated as the last line being weaved and will either come over or under depending on how you are weaving your current line. You will continue this way until you get to the end of the project; you will know you are at the end when you do not have enough cordage to weave through again. I recommend tying them off in pairs so it will all stay together; tying it in any way possible so that it doesn’t come loose, or cannot be undone until  you want it to.

Now let’s talk cost. The paracord bracelet should you choose to pack it is about $5. The paracord belt ran me about $15 to make. These two items are not going to factor into the value of my kit. Y water bottle I bought for $10, but you could easily find it on sale for less. The bank line came from a spool of about 120 ft. that I purchased for $20. I used about half the spool so I will value what is in my kit at about $5. This brings the value of my EDC kit to $40, the equivalent of two of the plastic survival water bottle kits.

Next week we will be discussing the last characteristic, our cover option, and what we will be packing our gear in and why I made these decisions. As always feel free to comment, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.