Survival kits

[MLS-12D]

Just wondering what sort of survival equipment people carry when they fly.

I'll get us started, with a list of the contents of my own kit that lives in the back of the 'plane and is checked twice a year (April and October):

Mosquito and black fly repellant (“Deet”)
1 mosquito net
Sunblock lotion (SPF 45)
Multi-vitamins
First-aid kit (includes 2 army field dressings)
Ibuprofen 800 mg
Superglue
Toothbrush
Comb
1 pair leather work gloves
2 pairs wool socks
1 pair underpants
1 wool toque
Compass
3 tea candles
200’ duct tape
Water purification tablets
2 1-quart canteens, with covers and 1 canteen cup
4 breast milk storage bags (300 ml. capacity)
20’ small gauge copper wire
50’ paracord
300’ dental floss
2 sail needles
Assorted fishhooks and sinkers
1 set bear-bells
1 pen launcher
10 pen flares
3 bear bangers
1 signal mirror
1 Fox 40 whistle
1 strobe light, with spare battery
1 8’ x 8’ orange panel
1 Pocket Chainsaw
1 hatchet, with file
1 Leatherman Supertool 200
1 sheath knife, with diamond sharpener
1 Landshark survival bag
1 12’ x 12’ tarpaulin
50 matches in waterproof (35 mm film) containers, with sandpaper for striking
2 disposal lighters
1 single-handed fire starter, with tinder
Magic stove, with four fuel canisters
15 energy bars
20 bullion cubes
beef jerky (sealed bag)
hardtack (indestructible!)
2 flashlights (1 AA-cell, 1 D-cell), with spare batteries and bulbs
1 portable AM/FM/SW radio receiver (with handcranking feature)
1 survival manual
1 copy of Lansing, Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage
Rucksack

I don't carry a firearm, since they are bulky, heavy, and vulnerable to theft.

What do you carry?

[FNG]

A fine kit list for bush flying, but you have omitted the lemon spoons (the informal ones should do).

Do you get Ray Mears' survival progs on Canadian cable channels? He's a specialist in outdoor skills, and features various true tales of wilderness survival, including one of a floatplane pilot in (I think) Alaska, who got stuck at a lake with minimal kit. He made it, but had a rough time.

For flying over the rugged and inhospitable terrain of south eastern England, my survival kit consists of a mobile phone, shoes stout enough to walk out of a muddy field in, and a spare clothing layer, regardless of outside air temperature, as you experience (at least) mild shock and get cold after a forced landing. Hopefully the first aid kit will not go up in smoke with the aircraft, which doesn't have a fire extinguisher. If flying over Essex I take some brightly coloured beads or other wampum in order to trade with the natives (assuming they don't eat me first).

A few years ago some people got lucky after they crashed in the Scottish highlands in winter and were found by the rescue teams despite having wandered away from the beacon equipped wreckage. What was surprising was that they were dressed and equipped for an afternoon watching the telly, despite their chosen route over some of Europe's most lethal mountains. Similar to people who set off from car parks for walks into the hills and wonder why they get hypothermia in their shorts and flip flops.

[IO540]

Gosh, and there was me lending my life raft to a local school who were doing a fly-out to France in four planes, with no life rafts and several life jackets short... the CFI told me in strong terms that they were doing was NOT illegal.

That's an impressive list MLS!

[Monocock]

300 feet of dental floss?

[Kolibear]

Impressive stuff that DEET. I sprayed some on a painted door once. 12 hours later, the paint had blistered. Shame its noe so good on mozzies.

FNG - I've got some nice beads I'll trade you for a new mobile!

Credit card & mobile phone are the best survival kit I can think of.

[englishal]

FOr flying in the mountains of SW England, I normally carry a mobile telephone, and a packet of tobacco with lighter. I'd hate to get stranded somewhere withough being able to spark up I normally carry enough money to be able to head off to the nearest pub to get hammered to celebrate still being alive as well.

For further afield, I carry all of the above plus an ELT, and one of those shiny survival blankets. For the long journey across the channel, I also carry a liferaft, life jackets, and may wear a dry suit.....

EA

[Genghis the Engineer]

I think that there's an important point here which is being missed.

MLS lists an extensive survival kit which is appropriate to flying across large amounts of Canadian wilderness but would be somewhat overkill where many of us fly - alternatively if you were flying routinely over desert a similarly extensive, but probably quite different, survival kit would be appropriate.

But, I'd also guess that MSL knows how to use all of that kit.



So, anybody carrying survival kit really should (a) be carrying kit appropriate to the trip, and (b) know how to use it.

For the record, if flying over the Scottish Highlands / Welsh Mountains (or walking in them) my standard kit, from memory is something along the lines of:-

- First aid kit
- Survival bag + silver blanket.
- small tablet stove
- Water sterilising tablets.
- Lifeboat matches + lighter
- Torch
- Beef stock cubes, coffee, tea bags, powdered milk.
- Parachute cord
- Swiss army knife.
- Mobile phone.

In the south of England that would be down to the first aid kit and swiss army knife. Over water anywhere add lifejackets, for long water crossings add a dinghy, for water in winter, a drysuit.

But, I have been taught how to use all that stuff, and let's be honest, after you've found yourself "stuck" is not the time to read the survival manual MLS carries, except to relieve the boredom whilst waiting to be rescued (alternatively, you could use it for lighting a fire ).

G

[englishal]

Water sterilising tablets.

Why on earth would you need them in Wales or Scotland? Everybody knows that it rains 300 days a year in both those places, and rainwater is as fresh as you'll get....Good list mind you, though I'd replace the Beef Stock Cubes with a French stick, some Pate, nice bleu cheese and a couple of cans of cider....Might add a fly fishing rod, so I can do a bit of salmon poaching, you could then smoke it and have it with the French stick

[FNG]

tsk, tsk, Al, have you forgotten your survival training? A perfectly serviceable fly fishing rod can be fashioned from the elevator control rods of your smouldering aircraft. Drinking from bonny brooks and braes is OK unless there's a dead sheep (or, as they say in Welsh "leisure centre") lying in the water upstream, and there usually is.

Joking apart, Genghis is talking sense as usual.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Problem with Pate and French Stick is that, apart from being a little bulky, they aren't all that useable after 2 years in my survival pack, whilst Oxo cubes are usually still okay.

Regarding sterilising tablets - my standard army mess tin is about 3 inches deep. I can either (a) scoop it full of water and add a steritab, wait 20 minutes then use it, or (b) leave it out and wait for 3" of rain. Even in Scotland that usually takes a bit longer than 20 minutes.

I tried fishing for a while, with full tackle I've only caught anything on about 1 trip out of half a dozen before I gave up for good. That has never given me great confidence in it as a survival method.

G

[Kolibear]

MLS-12D,

As a matter of interest - how much does that lot weigh?

Who prompts the next question - what are you flying?

[MLS-12D]

300 feet of dental floss?

This is not primarily for dental hygiene, but rather for fishing line, sewing, and generally tying jobs such as shelter construction (in case I run out of paracord). Dental floss is very strong for its size, and 300' takes up almost no space or weight. It's cheap, too.

As a matter of interest - how much does that lot weigh?

It's been a while since I weighed it (admittedly I should be more diligent about Weight & Balance), but not that much, really. If you review the list carefully, you'll see that all of the gear is pretty small and lightweight (no canned food, for example). Fortunately there is a lot of compact gear manufactured for hikers, mountain climbers, etc.; it's all readily available and can be used by pilots, too. Even the fuel canisters are quite small. The biggest item in my kit is the hatchet, and that is not heavy.

Who prompts the next question - what are you flying?

Cessna 170B.

Anybody carrying survival kit really should (a) be carrying kit appropriate to the trip, and (b) know how to use it.

Agreed (although I would amend Genghis' comment to read "anybody flying really should be carrying survival equipment appropriate to the conditions and know how to use it").

Let's be honest, after you've found yourself "stuck" is not the time to read the survival manual MLS carries, except to relieve the boredom whilst waiting to be rescued.

Agreed: a book is no substitute for proper training. However, I don't have perfect recall, and a manual makes a good aide-mémoire.

The book about Shackleton is to relieve boredrom, and also to remind myselft that it is possible to survive some pretty awful situations, given the right mental attitude.

P.S. A couple of years ago, I read an article in Soaring magazine about survival kits for gliders flown in the American west (Nevada, Arizona, etc.). Most of the gear listed made sense to me: except for the loaded 9 mm. pistol and extra magazines! A gun like that is essentially useful for anything except shooting human beings ... methinks the author had seen one too many reruns of the movie Mad Max 2 (aka The Road Warrior).

[ABO944]

3 Bear bangers! They must be big hefty guys!

Do you actually take-off with all that load?

[Monocock]

MLS-12D

Where do you sit to fly this C170?

[NinjaBill]

Fly it? why would you want to do that when you can go camping instead

[Saab Dastard]

I find it absolutely INCREDIBLE and INCOMPREHENSIBLE that a Hi-Viz vest is not only NOT the first item on the list but isn't even ON the list!

This surely is the most important bit of survival kit in any aeroplane, anywhere in the world. More important than fuel, even.



Smiley added for those from parts of the world that don't understand sarcasm or suffer "Sense of Humour Inoperability Trouble". There's an acronym there, if only I could think of it...

SD

[Megaton]

One man life raft
Heliograph
Water
Hi energy sweets
Gloves
Headover
Personal locator beacon
Razor blade
Fishing line
Hooks
Waterprrof matches
Guide to emergency signals
Miniflares
Night and day flares
Sea sickness tablets
First aid kit

And some more water.

Sincerely hope never to use any of it.

[Evo]

Hell, i've seen Alive. Mountain flying requires a well-fed passenger...

[MLS-12D]

Ham Phisted: sounds good, except that you might consider replacing the one man raft with one ostensibly designed for two (those raft manufacturers seem to assume that an average raft occupant is 4'6" tall and weighs 75 lbs).

Also, I would suggest supplementing the sweets with a few well-chosen energy bars that will provide a more sustained energy release as well as some vitamins and minerals (can you say "scurvy"? ).

Finally, you should have a knife: a razorblade isn't really enough. If you're worried about puncturing your raft, get something like the Spyderco Rescue, or the Myerchinuk Shark. Stay away from the huge, double-edged, saw-toothed "survival knives" that appeal to the teen-aged set.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

And ... not exactly a piece of survival equipment as such, but don't forget to tell the passengers how to turn on the ELT. Ever since that story about a plane crash in the Alps (IIRC): the pilot was killed in the crash, the passengers survived, but the ELT didn't go off by itself and when the wreck was found four days later the passengers had all died of exposure. If they'd been told to press the red button the chopper would have been with them in an hour - that little bit of knowledge would have been worth any amount of survival gear.