Could you survive with what is in your pocket right now?

[comanighttrain]

It's a bit quiet in here...

So what do you have in your pocket right now?

Could you survive a week with it? (no phoning the wife for pick ups!)

Rules are
A) Survive for a week, thriving is not necessary
B) No outside help
C) you pick your terrain and scenario

I have a wallet with some coins and cards, a swiss army knife and a mobile phone...

The situation is ... I've been out a short walk in the middle of nowhere and some goon has nicked my car. There is no phone signal. The terrain is coastal forestry.

My strategy would be to first build a viable A frame, slightly higher than usual to allow for bedding to be added below. I would gather any available dry wood and store it near the entrance of the A frame so that it is sheltered... I'd imagine night would probably arrive soon around then so id try to get some sparks from the mobile phone battery to light some dry grass and get a fire going. Oh i'd build the shelter in the forest... out on an exposed area would be a better to sleep on unless the weather moves in...which it will.

The remaining days I would reinforce my shelter and, provided a fire was going, gather some food from the coast... shellfish i'd guess, if theres enough, try to bait some crabs/bottom feeders out and spear them...

[Ben Casey]

I would be done for Im sat in the house with epmty pockets as I always empty them when I get in :)

[comanighttrain]

haha, if you start off in the house with empty pockets and manage to die that would truly be a disaster

[Aaron Rushton]

i have a mobile phone, but no outside help so apart from that: a wallet, a pair of nai clippers, a few keys on key rings, and a scrunched up ball of paper (don;t what use that could be!). short answer, i have nothing really helpful in my wallet apart from the nail clippers which i could take apart and use the blade for various things. but if it was teperate forest with a ready supply of water and meadows with all sorts of plants and animals, i'm pretty sure i could survive for a week with empty pockets and decent clothes. but the reality is, we don't get to choose situations so in a more extreme area (australian outback, within the arctic circle i would die without any equipment like a knife, tent, map and compass, firesteel ect
.

[CanadianMike]

I just got back from a flight and am still wearing my flightsuit, has a small survival kit in it, my CRKT M21 knife, wallet, candies, Blackberry, Wave multitool, SAK soldier knife, key chain in my jacket pocket, have extra sick bags for our clients (paper envelope with plastic bag inside), smokes, lighters, etc. So ya, it'd be a pain, but I could.

[Sleepy]

I would be done for Im sat in the house with epmty pockets as I always empty them when I get in :)

I'd be nearly as bad; I've got my phone, a big paperclip, my wallet which currently holds three cards and nothing else, a sweet wrapper of some sort and two lighters.

The scenario, hmm. I've parked the lorry in a lay-by in Cumbria (as I do twice a week), I wandered off to find a nice spot to do what bears do and the lorry went up in smoke! I've (foolishly) walked several miles to find help but am now hopelessly lost. It's about 3am, 5'c and the cloud's come down so visibilitys poor, it's fairly cold and everythings wet.

I'd start by trying to find some woodland or other form of shelter (including man made) and, unless I also found something to burn, rough it for the night. With things looking better in the morning I'd find water as clean as possible and forage for anything I know to be edible before sorting a better shelter if needs be and getting a fire organised, boiling the water if possible (water can be boiled in a plastic bottle carefully and/or by putting hot stones into it).

What with all the fairly tame sheep about, a spear would be the next priority. The poached sheep would then be butchered with the metal part of one of the lighters-sharpened on a stone. From there on, it's just lamb and salad of some sort, collecting firewood and improving my shelter and making sure I've got enough clean water.

Then I'd remember my phone, use the maps on it to get to some landmark and ring for help, then ring the boss about his truck lol

[swkieran]

you could always use the sun and youre watch as a compass,providing it was out because it sets in the west etc

[swkieran]

also things like shoe laces,belts,and if there was any stone about you could forge primitive cutting tools

[JonnyP]

All I have in my pocketses is a handkerchief, my car keys and my EDC knife, which would be a big tease, as it has a bottle opener on it.. Hmmm
I would really struggle in any terrain.. I know I could do a shelter of some sort, so I would prioritise getting a fire going. I would have to use strips of material off my trousers or handkerchief for the bow string as I have no laces on my shoes I have on.
I have tried a few times in the past to get a fire going from what I have around me in woods I am camping in (and a bit of para cord to replicate my laces) and I have not managed it yet. Its a good challenge at the best of times, so to have to do it would put more stress etc on the situation.
I am sure I could survive a week, but it would not be fun and I would be weak by the end, unless a few things went in my favour.

[garethw]

Ok pockets right now.... at this moment and of any use other than a bit of change..
1x Lighter
1x Leatherman

I think to survive a week I'd need minimum a water container, and a metal cooking pot Ok I might not die, but to get by!!!!...give me my canteen and quart as well and I think with that I'd be ok.
Without those I'd be hard pushed. Finding water here in France is easy but drinking without boiling??? Well I guess I'd survive but get ill.
You can see how the Japanese and New Orleans populations suffered.
Cheers
Gareth

PS: Reading JonnyP's post.. I agree fire would be the hardest challenge, I neglected to consider this..would have cost me.. If I could add a fire steel I'd be well away.. but I've not yet managed the challenge of a bow/hand drill .. guess I'd have to learn..fast!!!.

[cuppa joe]

I have no pockets no wallet and the terrain is moorland and fields...first thing I see are magic mushroom's .....10 weeks later "BODY FOUND WITH GRIN ON FACE IN FIELD".
Wish I had done that survival course and not just thought about it.

[Roadkillphil]

Funny how my first look at this is sat in ma gruds and t shirt, no pockets no shoes and nursing a bottle of mead. I'll be fine until the mead runs out, but then I have a bottle of rum too. Once the rums gone I'll be stuffed, until I sober up, then I'll have my inventive imagination to tide me over...

[comanighttrain]

Ok pockets right now.... at this moment and of any use other than a bit of change..
1x Lighter
1x Leatherman

I think to survive a week I'd need minimum a water container, and a metal cooking pot Ok I might not die, but to get by!!!!...give me my canteen and quart as well and I think with that I'd be ok.
Without those I'd be hard pushed. Finding water here in France is easy but drinking without boiling??? Well I guess I'd survive but get ill.
You can see how the Japanese and New Orleans populations suffered.
Cheers
Gareth

PS: Reading JonnyP's post.. I agree fire would be the hardest challenge, I neglected to consider this..would have cost me.. If I could add a fire steel I'd be well away.. but I've not yet managed the challenge of a bow/hand drill .. guess I'd have to learn..fast!!!.

I think the other issue in NO and Japan would be salination of what are usually fresh water sources... With all the wreckage I would try to construct some primitive fire run condenser with a very basic cooling system.... maybe some bladder over the top of some metal sheet (first thing that springs to mind is find a washing machine, use a side panel and a wet rag as the condenser and boil some water below it...who knows...sure thered be a pot or something floating around.... plenty of burnable materials too...

[JEEP]

Since I have just returned from a scout meeting, the answer must be; indeed!

In my pockets: Garmin Asus A10 - an Android smartphone w. built in Garmin GPS, Google Maps, compass and the US Army Survival Manual

In my belt: Mora Bushcraft Triflex, Victorinox Spartan SAK, Led Lenser P3 LED flash light and Ray Mears firesteel

In my uniform: Silva Carabiner 9 compass, miniature scout's handbook, small writing pad, Fisher Space Pen, LMF FireSteel Mini, Primus foldable spork, matches, waterproof matches and a miniature first aid kid w. band aids and alcohol wipes

In my bag: Knifeless Leatherman Fuse w. bit set, Tikka Petzl XP2 w. Petzl Core, alcohol hand sanitizer, Buff, painkillers, mints (w. green tea) and various bits and bobs. The bag itself is a waterproof Ortlieb Zip-City, which can be used for carrying water

Except from the Mora, the firesteel and the items in my uniform (aside from the pen), I carry these items on a daily basis.

[bigzee]

Like most people here probably, I have a border across which I never pass without putting a swiss army knife in my pocket, called the front door. Also usually a phone, but without the knife I would feel utterly naked and at the mercy of all the perils of the outside world (like a blunt pencil or an unopened bottle of beer).

Sat here now with one snotty tissue and some belly button style fluff in my pocket, I would have no reason to worry unless an alien suddenly sucks me out the house and deposits me somewhere unfriendly (like Birmingham or London). Being caught out somewhere in a remote wilderness environment with "at home pocket contents" would not occur, because most of us lot would have put something in our pocket as we went out.

Correct me if I'm wrong (it has been known!)

[bigzee]

Since I have just returned from a scout meeting, the answer must be; indeed!

In my pockets: Garmin Asus A10 - an Android smartphone w. built in Garmin GPS, Google Maps, compass and the US Army Survival Manual

In my belt: Mora Bushcraft Triflex, Victorinox Spartan SAK, Led Lenser P3 LED flash light and Ray Mears firesteel

In my uniform: Silva Carabiner 9 compass, miniature scout's handbook, small writing pad, Fisher Space Pen, LMF FireSteel Mini, Primus foldable spork, matches, waterproof matches and a miniature first aid kid w. band aids and alcohol wipes

In my bag: Knifeless Leatherman Fuse w. bit set, Tikka Petzl XP2 w. Petzl Core, alcohol hand sanitizer, Buff, painkillers, mints (w. green tea) and various bits and bobs. The bag itself is a waterproof Ortlieb Zip-City, which can be used for carrying water

Except from the Mora, the firesteel and the items in my uniform (aside from the pen), I carry these items on a daily basis.

Blimey Jakob, I'll bet you get some funny looks as you check your coat in at the local disco??!!

[JEEP]

When going out on the town (which rarely happens), it is the only time where I do not carry alt least a SAK and a small flashlight.

[comanighttrain]

Haha Jakob, You probably wouldn't even be terribly upset at such a situation!

bigzee, i keep my Swiss on my all the time, unless im going to a club or something....rarely do...doesn't do it for me and never has.... took me years before i realised id rather be gymming, cliking or camping... well anything outside and perilous really...

[garethw]

To me the post was "What I'd have on me .. like now!!" ... If a Tsunami hits what would I have???.. A lighter and a leatherman probably that's it.!!...
Ok I have bags with stuff I could grab..my fishing overnight pack would be the first..(ie:tarp, mat, sleepingbag, billys, canteens, cups, knives, axe, etc....) But would I be able to reach it?
I think its a very good point : how many could survive with what they have there and thenin their pockets?
Worth thinking about!!!
Gareth

[comanighttrain]

I mean what you would have on you whilst doing your day to day... like uhh I almost certainly wouldnt have a good jacket or a lighter as...i dont smoke and I usually get a bus right outside my house to go to work... however my phone and my knife are only out of my pocket in my house... Go with your day to day....

The situation obviously effects it... Tsunami is a good one...takes a lot of thought on how to survive even in just the aftermath!

[bigzee]

This is a good thread to make you think, and take stock of what you have on you at any given time, should an extraordinary scenario occur suddenly.

There was even an earth tremor in Lincolnshire a while back, and although not sufficient to wake a light sleeper like me from desperately needed beauty sleep, it could have been worse I suppose. Then, I would come-to (hopefully) in a pair of threadbare shreddies and without contact lenses. I could always eat the wife (which would keep me going a while!), but beyond that - who knows?

I would still find that scenario far preferrable to finding myself in a nightclub (shivers at the very idea).

[comanighttrain]

I think it would be a fun idea just to see one can (safely) go...been watching survivorman a lot recently...inspiring stuff

[CanadianMike]

I think it would be a fun idea just to see one can (safely) go...been watching survivorman a lot recently...inspiring stuff

Quite, Les Stroud is one of a kind......... :)

[MikeWilkinson]

One of my favourite things to do on one of my many evening walks - what can I do out here if I had nothing but the clothes on my back. I always surprise myself with how much I have remembered from everything I have read and watched, and also how a good imagination helps to see tools in everything.
Reading and understanding are completely different to the doing, so I try to put as many things into practice as I can (Hence my little debris shelters, camp loom, fire by friction etc...)

Each walk out usually ends in a mini project of some sort, gathering natural materials along the way.

I am quite happy to say, that I can build a primitive bow drill and get a fire lit by using a fairly sharp piece of stone found on the floor, some fairly thick cordage made from green willow and a piece of lime wood and hazel found hanging in some trees. (you need to make several strings and have them ready to swap out quickly when they break - which is often)

The Debris shelter I made with my daughter is lashed together with Willow Withies and Birch Roots. The bed and blanket made from more willow or nettle cordage and grasses/ferns/twigs woven together on a camp loom.

And I've burnt out containers from dead wood.

Foraging is an on going project and I am learning more and more every evening about my local flora and fauna, so food shouldn't be a problem.

I reckon I'd pretty much O.k. in most situations so long as there is woodland nearby and it is dryish.

Once I've got Flint knapping nailed down, I reckon I could probably get my self fairly comfortable with the tools that skill would make available to me. Would certainly keep me busy for the full week. I'd be just about finished by time up.

[MikeWilkinson]

This set of Videos is pretty good at inspiring you to think about what you could do out in the wilderness with nowt but your clothes on your back.

He waffles a bit at the start of everyone unfortunately but get past that and the content is fairly good.

http://www.youtube.com/user/BushcraftOnFire#g/c/3BA9A3CF850DA7C7

Now get outdoors and see what you can do without using anything you've bought with you!!!

[Ben Casey]

On E and E all we had was a noddy suit (NBC Suit) Boots laces and socks and after a body search you started to run :) It was cool

[RobbC]

Well, in my pockets just now there is:
My mora clipper(with a firesteel attached to the sheath by a piece of inner tube)
Small tinder bag packed with some fatwood, charcloth, birch bark and some cotton wool balls
Fjallkniven DC3 combination sharpening stone

On my wrist is a paracord bracelet

In my boots (which are on BTW), i have some snares and a wire saw.
It is unusual for me to have this much stuff while lounging about my house.

So my scenario, im in my regular woody stomping ground, in the hills about 5 miles from my house. I get hopelessly lost in the huge forest, its about 6pm so theres about 2 hours of light left so i find a good spot for a shelter, construct a basic lean to with a raised bed using pine tree roots and withies, a shelter i have built many times and am very familiar with. Id lay down a thick bed af pine bows then go to set the 6 snares that are in my boots. On the way back to my shelter collect fire wood and when i reach the shelter light a long-ish fire. The next morning i would head out to check the traps i set the previous night, forage for some food and get some water from the spagnum moss which totaly covers the forest. So all in all i think i could survive quite well in a forest enviroment. Then again ive probably missed something very important...

Robb

[comanighttrain]

you have those in your boots? how?

Im thinking of carrying a firesteel around...just need to find a decent mini one so that my key ring doesn't get any larger

[comanighttrain]

for anyone who may be interest, here is another thread discussing the effects of no food for 7 days

http://community.myprotein.com/advanced-discussion/32298-effects-fasting.html

You could go without if you had to

[RobbC]

you have those in your boots? how?

I have them in a couple of small sewn pouches, that i velcro to the inside, i have high leg combat boots so there is plenty of room And the pouhches actually add some additional padding, whichs adds to the comfort weirdly.

Robb

[Nature Unleashed]

I have'nt been in long from a walk down the canal and through the forest. I have in my pockets 2 mobile phones, my firesteel, my swiss army knife, some tissue paper and some lace (dont have a clue why thats in there).

The scenario is, I am out walking the moors, the weather moves in and the visibilty becomes very poor, I can hardly see. First thing I would do is forage for some fire wood and some shelter in some woods, I would try and get a fire going and try to keep warm. As soon as the weather clears and visibilty has risen, I find myself to have wandered into an unfamiliar place, so I am dis-oriented, so I would try and get some items together to build a proper shelter, set up a couple of snares with the lace in my pocket and the laces on my boots. I would forage for some edible flowers and insects, worms, snails etc. I would also try and find some source of water, preferably from a stream or from fresh rain water on leaves. In a morning I would walk the fields collecting dew on my shirt to get some sort of fluids and I would check my snares regularly till I get some meat. After a few days I still havent been found, I would probably risk it and use the sun to navigate my way back to civilisation. Then get a nice cold bevvie down me whilst telling the family about my outing :) then get a nice warm shower some sleep, then try and complete the walk I originally set out to do this time, taking all my gear in my rucksack lol

[comanighttrain]

dew in the shirt...thats a great idea... that would work extremely well here in the mountains too (yeah...in the unlikely even that we are ever short of water)

[Nature Unleashed]

we have had hosepipe bans a few times here now last year we had a pretty long ban aswel

[Humakt]

With what I have in my pocket now (keys, bit of cash, mobile phone, credit cards) I could easily survive in the environment that I am currently in (town) for a week.

[Adam Savage]

Just a quick pointer with the whole sparks from a mobile battery idea. Firstly, the myth busters tried to ignite petrol fumes with this method, it didn't work, so if it won't light petrol it won't light much else. Secondly, modern lithium rechargeable normally have a safety device to prevent sparking and short circuiting. Just thought I'd let you know. The best way I can think of to get some flames going, is to make a bow drill, using a shoelace for the string.

[Ben Casey]

Just a quick pointer with the whole sparks from a mobile battery idea. Firstly, the myth busters tried to ignite petrol fumes with this method, it didn't work, so if it won't light petrol it won't light much else. Secondly, modern lithium rechargeable normally have a safety device to prevent sparking and short circuiting. Just thought I'd let you know. The best way I can think of to get some flames going, is to make a bow drill, using a shoelace for the string.

All I need is a spark and my mixture goes witha bang I will have to try the battery one :D

[Martin]

Just a quick pointer with the whole sparks from a mobile battery idea. Firstly, the myth busters tried to ignite petrol fumes with this method, it didn't work, so if it won't light petrol it won't light much else. Secondly, modern lithium rechargeable normally have a safety device to prevent sparking and short circuiting. Just thought I'd let you know. The best way I can think of to get some flames going, is to make a bow drill, using a shoelace for the string.

I'll show you next time we're out. :)

Martin

[Fletching]

All I need is a spark and my mixture goes witha bang I will have to try the battery one :D

I'm getting a bit worried about you and your 'mixtures' Ben. I thought you were Signals, not Ordinance! :)

Steve

[Ben Casey]

I'm getting a bit worried about you and your 'mixtures' Ben. I thought you were Signals, not Ordinance! :)

Steve

Yeah but they let me play with things when I was in esp when I was at the School of Inf the guys I served with used to take rounds apart and set the insides alight and we used to have dets and PE LOL

[Adam Savage]

I'll show you next time we're out. :)

Martin

no cheating with wire wool either LOL

[Ben Casey]

no cheating with wire wool either LOL

Can I come to? :)

[jus_young]

you have those in your boots? how?

Im thinking of carrying a firesteel around...just need to find a decent mini one so that my key ring doesn't get any larger

I was looking for a firesteel to let the kids loose on rather than my decent one getting the abuse and found one of these in my local camping store

http://www.gelert.com/products/safety_survival/heat_fire/firelighting/fire_lighting_unit

It is relatively small and would be ideal for a keyring if you take the rather useless blade of the thing. It takes a little to remove the coating off and you have to be a little precise over how you scrape your knife down it as the metal support can get in the way a little but overall its not a bad little starter for the fiver I paid for it.

[comanighttrain]

I was looking for a firesteel to let the kids loose on rather than my decent one getting the abuse and found one of these in my local camping store

http://www.gelert.com/products/safety_survival/heat_fire/firelighting/fire_lighting_unit

It is relatively small and would be ideal for a keyring if you take the rather useless blade of the thing. It takes a little to remove the coating off and you have to be a little precise over how you scrape your knife down it as the metal support can get in the way a little but overall its not a bad little starter for the fiver I paid for it.

thanks thats not bad at all! I think ill have to order it though, the store in Glasgow is in the back end of nowhere...

[Marvell]

I'd have trouble surviving in the Arctic with what's in my pockets, but could get away with, Dartmoor, say.

[Adam Savage]

I'd have trouble surviving in the Arctic with what's in my pockets, but could get away with, Dartmoor, say.

That's the advantage of having your skills as much as the contents of your pockets ;)

[Big T]

That small gelert firesteel is exactly the same that the Navy (and poss the rest of the MOD) issue in their "Matchless Fireset". I have used them and for their size they are quite good!

[Metal mug]

So what do you have in your pocket right now?

Could you survive a week with it? No. :D

[nature nut]

shame! i aint got pockets!!! i could probably survive a while though! After all the most important but lightest piece of equipment is knowledge!

[scorpian]

thank god for cargo pants, means i carry too much in my pockets, but its always usefull stuff and that means i usually have a belt needed to keep them up, my belt is of paracord so i always have a supply and so i would answer 'yes' in most cases!

[Bushwhacker]

I have my watch which has a compass function. My phone so the screen could be used as a signal mirror. SAK. Paracord bracelet. I always have my rucksack which has a wool cardigan and my waterproofs. Cigarette lighter. So it would seem that I'd be ok. Sadly I wouldn't, because I only have 8 cigarettes and I'd go mental before the week is up!

[Adam Savage]

I have my watch which has a compass function. My phone so the screen could be used as a signal mirror. SAK. Paracord bracelet. I always have my rucksack which has a wool cardigan and my waterproofs. Cigarette lighter. So it would seem that I'd be ok. Sadly I wouldn't, because I only have 8 cigarettes and I'd go mental before the week is up!

Could you not find some kind of root to smoke? Maybe some kind of vine? You're a man of limitless ingenuity, I'm sure you could think of something mate.

[lruggier]

I reckon I would have the best chance of survival with the pocket-full I have at the end of the day after working outside with children on outdoor environmental play and learning (which includes constructing items from natural materials) - not just my knife, firesteel etc, but also a huge selection of bits of string and cord, scissors, glue, tissues, bags, first aid, nails, wire, secateurs, bits of china they collect when digging, shiny things, and the all important hair slides, single child's glove, random small plastic toys and usually a crayon. When disaster strikes I am ready!

[bikebum1975]

At the moment I'd be screwed all I got is the key to my bike and a penny LOL though SAK is sitting right next to as is my bike light. LOL

[mike 01302]

MMMM i have just got out the bath guess im screwed then lol

[schooner]

Does what's on your belt ATM count?

[Kieran]

I just got back from a flight and am still wearing my flightsuit, has a small survival kit in it, my CRKT M21 knife, wallet, candies, Blackberry, Wave multitool, SAK soldier knife, key chain in my jacket pocket, have extra sick bags for our clients (paper envelope with plastic bag inside), smokes, lighters, etc. So ya, it'd be a pain, but I could.

Think you'd be fine with that!!!

[schooner]

OK, cuffs, (very)basic first aid pouch, capsicum spray, asp (not Cleopatra's) Gerber multitool, e-cigarette, iphone, Glock, 2 mags (15 rds each).

[Aaron Rushton]

you carry a handgun in your pocket!?

[schooner]

See post 55 for clarification, I asked for a ruling from the umpire. Do you think I'm a gangsta:)

[Aaron Rushton]

See post 55 for clarification, I asked for a ruling from the umpire. Do you think I'm a gangsta:)

yes, yes i did :). are you a police officer?

[schooner]

Public servant. In UK terms I approximate to your Mod plod, but with police powers.

[Martin]

Where are you from Schooner?

Martin

[schooner]

Australia.

[Kieran]

Where are you from Schooner?

Martin


Wasn't you a PC before Martin?

Kieran

[Adam Savage]

Wasn't you a PC before Martin?

Kieran

Martin's never been PC. :p

[Ben Casey]

Australia.

An old Army buddy of mine is in the police down there :)

[dsavidge]

5” Cold Steel folding knife
2” Cheep O’ pin knife on the key chain
Kubaton on key chain
Nail clippers on key chain
Zippo
iphone (No survival manual… but Angry Birds)
Handkerchief (gentleman’s pocket stile, not biker head bandanna style)
Some days a Leatherman, some days not.
Enough blubber for 3 weeks.

Looks like I need to only find water… or a pub

One note on the GPS is the iPhone 3G… Not a real GPS. It still needs cell towers to work. Found this out while 4x4 off roading a year back. Regardless of any other hype… when you’re out far enough to lose all cell coverage, the Iphones GPS also dies. Don’t count on it to work!

[LSKnives]

Theres certain things I never leave home without. My Maxpedition mini pocket organizer with pens, diamond sharpener, lighter, ferro rod, SOG Access Card 2.0, cell phone. Then loose in my pockets are 4Sevens Mini Quark AA2, extra batteries, ESEE Izula in my wallet, GEC Pioneer, Buck Ultra Light, and lighter.

I guess it would all depend on were you were surviving. Japan and Katrina were weeks and weeks without aid. If it was local Id just walk to the closest farm or highway. Call for help. Great to think about though. So many folks, my wife included, leave home with nothing but a dead cell phone in their pockets. Thats just asking for trouble.