Flint....... or Bic lighter......

I'll take the Bic lighter. I carried a "mini" Bic lighter in my combat gear for almost 20 years. I didn't smoke. I carried it for survival reasons.

I did hear one silly reason not yo carry a bic or butane lighter because butane has a freezing point of 0 degree C.

Here's a Team Sergeant secret to all those that throw this argument on the table: put the lighter in your pocket in extreme cold weather..... If you have dropped to 0 degrees you're dead..... I'd rather not be "banging" on a flint behind enemy lines....

TS

TS:

Agreed, and the lighter will still make sparks, even after the butane is gone.

I keep at least one in each of my lines of gear, in my ruck, in my LCE, and one in my pocket.

A mirror would be handy for visual signaling and for other purposes as well. No batteries, pyro charges, or other single use worries, unless you break it, and the issue survival models, in all sizes are very tough.

TR

sidenote, There are some who should never carry a bic lighter in their pocket while at work, like welders or those who run the risk of hot metallic spray going in the pocket.
Edited to add this link:http://www.safetyxchange.org/forum/v...31cc0da218e905

Ahh yes, this brings back memories of my days as a midshipmen at the US Merchant Marine Academy. Arc welding while wearing spit shinned shoes is always not a good idea. Not only does the melted metal screw up your shine and make you fodder for the upper classmen but it goes right through the leather giving your feet that nice speckled look.:D

Firemaking, when it can be -35 C, your on the run and you got some matches...

What Tuukka no "green" Logs on the Snow for that fire.. Now thats Smoking :lifter

Great Picture

A survival signal mirror takes 15-30 seconds to learn how to use..... It's worth a few seconds to master.....;)

TS

I've had my position verified (or defined), arrainged for exfil, called in "Danger Close" (as it is termed today) Air Support, all with the use of a Signal Mirror and commo. We did have alternate means, using said mirrors, to use in place of the RF commo.

To this day, I do not get onto an aircraft without a Signal Mirror!!!!

Later
Martin

"green" logs, now you´ve lost me on that one ?

Break squlch once for yes; twice for no!

Small items that can be carried by anyone:

In wallet:
Tool logic credit card companion -
Provides a can opener, compass, magnifying glass, tweezers, toothpick, combo knife/saw (of limited use), screwdriver (of limited use), rulers

In a small waterproof tin in a pocket:
The pocket chainsaw, a signal mirror, dental floss, safety pins and fishhooks, a bic lighter, all weather matches, condoms (unlubricated, for water storage)

On belt:
A Leatherman tool (or comparable item)

Not much weight, easy to carry... and might make the difference between survival and non-survival...

GH-
When I was visiting my folks in NC for Turkey day, I found a Stanley pocket tool that's pretty good - it has a 1/4 inch drive and bits, even came with 2 extra knives (not bad for beat-em-up pocket knives) - best thing - it was on sale for about $20 - (regular price $70) - it was the deal of the year for me. The tool is a little bigger than a leatherman though.

I like Stanley and Craftsman tools. There are some cheap tools out there that look good in the plastic but fail under use. Some of that off shore stuff has real soft steel and could fail at a poor time.

My Leatherman and Swiss Army Knives are still going strong after 30 +/- years. My five D cell mag light is still handy for checking out strange sounds at night. Added in are my two (one in the mail) SureFire Lights.

Pete

With good equipment older than most of the students:D .

Pete-
I've got a couple of knives that could be the student's parents..... Hell I've got boots older than some of the kids.

One of the alluring aspects of Special Forces to me as a kid was the thought of spending time outdoors building snares, shelters and so on. Having spent a large portion of my life in very rural settings, I've had a chance to tinker around in the woods some. I had family in the rural mountains of PA, and the attraction grew stronger when I spent a couple of weeks each summer as an asset for the 11th Grp when they were in the area for their AT.

The Foxfire series of books come to mind as a very good read. Gosh, I remember reading them as a kid through my teens. There's some crazy stuff in them like dowsing, snake handling and square dancing. However, there's a ton of really valuable info to be had. Everything from soap making, hide tanning, moon shining to preserving foods, weaving and "other affairs of plain living." I'm not saying it's going to address what to do in the first week or so of a survival situation, but given the 60 day scope of this exercise…

For this exercise I would like:

1 pocket knife, 550 cord, duct tape combo. Never knew what this was called, but it was on me religiously when I was in the field ever since Sgt Csaba showed it to me at SFQC. The swiss army knife I carried was one of the longer than standard sized ones with a long blade, saw that works, and a can opener I think… it’s in my fishing vest now. My old Case stockman has taken it’s place in my pocket. It had a lanyard hole in the rear that I tied a 24 or so inch piece of 550 cord through. The other end was fastened to a bic lighter by wrapping a dozen or so wraps of green duct tape (trimmed to fit) around it and the lighter. Put the kife in your right pocket, thread the lighter and 550 through your front belt loops, and put the lighter in the other pocket. Just make sure you’ve got enough 550 cord so that each can be easily pulled out of the pocket and used. Damn near impossible to lose any one piece, and you have 4 items taking up a manageable amount of space.


Small fishing kit. Anyone who fly fishes is familiar with tippet spools. I have some that will fit in an empty can of Skoal. The back is hollowed out, so you can put the spool of 8-12lb mono and 30# Fireline in a plastic (not Cope) can with some goodies behind it. Spit shot, a few terrestrial pattern flies, and some bait hooks ranging from size 8 for trout and panfish to 1/0 or 2/0 for bass and cats. I would want the bait hooks with the barbs on the shank. I would plan on fishing for some small stuff at first. If the environment provided a decent size body of water, I would plan on using the gut and white underbelly to fish for larger meals like turtles and catfish. The barbs will help to keep bait that may have been hard to aquire on the hook.

Woodsmans Pal Jr. & a sharpening steel I could fit into the sheath.

A small keychain compass. The ball type floating inside of a clear lexan container. About the diameter of a dime, and can be attached to a button pocket hole with 550 cord core so it cannot be lost. Small and functional.

I wouldn’t mind having some char cloth, and a magnifying glass.

Signal mirror.

Guitar string can be thread into your boot laces if you use 550 cord.

Some other stuff, but work calls. :mad: