The right gear in your backpack can literally save your life. But what survival gear should you bring?
Surviving in the wild — no matter the location or the time of year — depends more on human wit than the gear you have in your pack. But all survival experts still recommend assembling an emergency kit of equipment to stay with you at all times in the wilderness.
(This article first published in 2007. It has been updated for 2020.)
Indeed, if you’re lost or injured, the right gear can mean the difference between a comfortable night spent outdoors and a cold one. Items like a whistle or a signal mirror can alter fate to issue rescue instead of abandonment.
We interviewed survival experts for advice and top gear picks for survival situations. Read on for their recommendations.
Survival Gear to Save Your Life
A survival kit is something most hikers, hunters, and explorers will never break open. It will sit in the bottom of a backpack, potentially for years, encased in a waterproof vessel of some sort, lightweight and out of the way.
The leanest survival kits are stored in Altoids tins and the like, and they include just the bare backwoods essentials: matches, firestarters, fishing line, a tiny compass, water purification tablets, a whistle, a small rescue mirror, and so on.
“As far as survival gear goes, it really depends on the space you have available, how much weight you can comfortably carry, and how far you plan to venture,” said Mike Forti, a graduate of the United States Air Force Survival School.
“In reality, a backpack full of camping gear is simply a large ‘survival kit’ designed for a comfortable and extended stay in the wilderness. A much smaller version of this might consist of a tobacco tin with relatively few items tightly packed in.”
Doug Ritter, Survivalist Website Equipped to Survive
Developed by Doug Ritter, founder of the survivalist website Equipped to Survive, the Pocket Survival Pack is a commercial option for people who choose to take the minimalist route.
Made by Survive Outdoors Longer, this wallet-size packet of miniature multiuse survival items is like any emergency kit. It can help lost or injured explorers signal helicopters and planes, start fires, boil water, melt snow for water, catch fish, navigate through the woods, trap small animals, perform rudimentary first aid, and repair damaged gear.
The kit includes duct tape, a pencil, safety pins, a sewing needle, nylon thread, aluminum foil, a compass, fish hooks and sinkers, a magnifying lens, braided nylon cord, stainless steel wire, a scalpel blade, a signal mirror, a firestarter, tinder, waterproof paper, a whistle, and a waterproof instructional sheet on the items.
All these items squeeze into a waterproof container, and the whole 4-ounce bundle costs $41.
Mike Forti, United States Air Force Survival School
But minimalist kits have limitations, Forti said: “They can provide the bare essentials for a miserable, short-duration stay.”
His kit of choice is a bit larger and bulkier, but not overbearingly so. It can be worn on a belt in a pouch and includes enough gear to make a longer “unplanned wilderness excursion” survivable with some modicum of basic comfort.
When assembling a kit for any trip, Forti takes something he calls the “rule of 3’s” into account. This helpful guideline assumes that you can die in 3 hours when exposed to bad weather, in 3 days from thirst, and in 3 weeks from lack of food.
“These are not hard-and-fast timeframes, but they are easy to remember and are therefore decent guidelines,” he said. “For this reason, most survival kits do not contain Twinkies and juice boxes.”
Instead, Forti’s gear stresses rescue and protection from the elements. His No. 1 piece of survival gear is a knife, specifically something large like a machete. “A good knife can be a survival kit unto itself,” he said.
Todd Smith, Outdoor Life Magazine
Recommended Survival Kits: Top 10 Essentials
Doug Ritter, Equipped to Survive
- Heatsheets space blanket
- Gloves
- Chlorine dioxide water-purification tablets
- Braided nylon line
- Whistle
- Lighter
- Waterproof matches
- Tinder (for fire-starting)
- Signal mirror
- Personal locator beacon (class="caps">PLB)
Mike Forti, United States Air Force Survival School
- Large knife (machete or hatchet)
- Cellphone
- BIC lighter
- 9 x 12-foot plastic painter’s tarp (0.35 mm thick)
- Mylar survival blanket
- Mini LED flashlight
- Water-purification tablets
- Water container of some sort
- Small roll of fishing line or dental floss
- $50 bill (“After a few days lost in the woods eating bugs, it would be a real shame to emerge next to a 7-Eleven and have no money for food,” Forti said.)
Todd Smith, Outdoor Life Magazine
- Personal locator beacon (PLB) or cellphone
- Map of area
- Compass
- Small first-aid kit
- Water bottle
- Flashlight/headlamp
- Lighter and firestarters
- Space blanket/bivy sack
- Whistle
- Signal mirror