Survival gear can (and should) vary by the environments and situations you’ll most likely find yourself in. However, here is a list of the best survival gear that everyone should have in their kit.
Fire
Fire-starting is an important element of survival, especially wilderness survival. Here are a couple of fire-starting options.
- Light My Fire Flint and Ferro Rod Firestarter-this is a great affordable and light-weight firestarter option. While we personally prefer strikers do to their multi-use abilities, strikers need tinder in order to start a fire.
- Storm proof matches can also be a tremendous survival tool. Zippo Typhoon Matches are a great option.
Shelter
Shelter is critical in a survival situation. Here are some packable shelter options.
- Bivy by Atomic Bear
- A Mylar blanket can also be used to make a quick waterproof shelter in a hurry.
Water & Hydration
Water is an incredibly important survival gear consideration. For water, you need to consider two scenarios: short-term water purification (think wilderness survival) and long-term water storage (for example, in the event of a hurricane where you have to shelter in place for an extended period of time).
Water Brick makes a fantastic long-term water storage solution. They can be stacked, and can be used with their other products, such as their long-term food storage brick.
Food
Like water and hydration, food is a survival situation that has to be thought of in multiple phases, including short-term and long-term.
Long-term emergency food stores can be as simple as stockpiling canned goods and other non-perishables. Or some people choose to invest in a prepackaged long-term food solution such as what companies like ReadyWise sell. Other short-term solutions include packaged ramen noodles, Clif bars, canned meats and vegetables, rice, and more. It’s important to plan your food and nutritional needs for you and your family.
Disclaimer
Our survival gear recommendations are basic. Your individual survival gear needs should be tailored to your environment and be based on a risk assessment that’s specific to your area. Also, we do make any claims that these items work as they say they work (though we do try to only recommend gear that we have used and/or has been heavily reviewed). Your safety is your responsibility, so plan accordingly.
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