Hi I'm BudgetBugout and in this Instructable I show you my new and improved Altoids survival kit! Although this kit is tailored to my specific needs and environment I believe that the basics of this kit are applicable to everyone! Feel free to leave comments or suggestions so that we can learn from each other! If you enjoy survival kit videos, be sure to subscribe to me on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/user/BudgetBugout

Also, if you'd like to view the YouTube video of this kit click here.

Thanks and God bless!!!

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The great outdoors is a wonderful place to explore and feel alive! However, those feeling can quickly vanish if you're trapped or lost in the wild. Useful for hiking, camping or everyday carry; this pocket survival kit is a convenient and inexpensive way to provide survival essentials!

Here are all of the items in my Altoids Survival Kit:

1x CRKT Ritter Mk5 fixed blade knife
1x Streamlight Nano flashlight
1x Whistle
8x Water purification tablets
1x Compass
1x Mirror
1x Coffee filter
4x Waterproof matches
1x Mini Bic lighter
4x Strips of Gorilla Tape [1" wide]
1x Razor blade
2x Cotton balls
1x Lint ball
1x Dollar bill
1x Striker for matches
2x Needles
2x Pins
1x Spool of dental floss
2x Fishing hooks
2x Fishing sinkers
1x Crazy Glue
2x Bandaids
1x MRE Beverage bag
2x Alcohol prep pads
1x One foot of tin foil
1x Altoids Tin
1x Tweezers

Step 1: Contents

Here are all the contents laid out!

In the subsequent steps I will show you how I build this kit, the capabilities of this tin and the purpose of each item!

Step 2: Collect

Gather all the contents that you would like to be in your Altoids Survival Kit. Be sure to focus on survival, NOT what you would use everyday or even for camping. If you'd like to see what I EDC [everyday carry], click here to see my EDC video on YouTube.

When it comes to making survival kits, the SAS Survival Handbook is regarded as a primary source of knowledge by most survivalists.

Step 3: Construction

In order to help with the organization of the kit, I highly recommend that you tape certain content to the top and sides of the tin.

Some items that are helpful for construction are 1" gorilla tape [electrical or duct tape work fine too], double-sided tape, and a sharp blade.

On the top of the tin I taped a mirror that I got from a lipstick box from Goodwill and a razor blade. I also taped a few extra strips of Gorilla Tape incase I need to make a make shift bandaid with a cotton ball.

On the sides of the tin I taped a striker pad from a weather proof matches box, needles, pins and hooks.

Step 4: Cutting

Easily the most important item in an outdoor survival situation is a sturdy knife. I'd even go further to say that any survival kit lacking this essential item is incomplete at best.

Here are 10 ways to use a survival knife published by the world-renowned survivalist Dave Canterbury, co-star of the reality TV show "Dual Survival" and owner of The Pathfinder School LLC.

10 Ways to Use a Survival Knife

Survival knives are among the first pieces of equipment that come to mind when most people think of bushcraft. The versatility of a survival knife as tool and weapon makes it one of those elite items no woods-wanderer should be without; many authorities consider it the single-most critical item of survival gear. A versatile and quality survival knife in the hand or on the belt alone serves as a critical confidence booster.

While the usefulness of a survival knife as a hunting or fishing spear or survival weapon is popularly known, this tool is invaluable for a staggering spectrum of situations.

(1) Digging Tool: A well-constructed survival knife can serve well as a shovel for all kinds of tasks such as gathering edible tubers, excavating fire pits, disposing of human waste, and carving out distress signals in snow or dirt.

(2) Weapon: In a situation requiring you to procure your own food, a survival knife can be used to harvest small game or even fish. With a little ingenuity the survival knife can be uses as the ultimate emergency weapon.

(3) First Aid: While a clumsy, unpracticed hand can do as much damage as good with a knife in a medical emergency, the tool is as versatile in first-aid as in basic campsite routines. It’s useful for cutting improvised bandages, for example, or—with a sterilized tip—draining pernicious blisters.

(4) Splitting Wood or Cutting Saplings: If you’re only accustomed to flimsy, cheaply made versions, you may have trouble envisioning a survival knife as a hatchet and axe substitute. However, a large, full-tang model with a flat edge to the blade back can be a formidable wood-splitting or cutting implement. The design allows you to use a piece of wood or mallet to pound the keen edge into a log or sapling.

(5) Hammer: The butt end, or pommel, of the knife handle is its own hammering tool, handy for driving in stakes for shelters or snares.

(6) Gear Adjustments: On an extended foray in the backcountry, you invariably need to make little adjustments to clothing and equipment in the interest of comfort and safety. A knife is the perfect tool for emergency modification of your gear.

(7) Stake: In the absence of other materials, a survival knife can be driven into the ground to serve as a stake—as when anchoring an emergency shelter or a food bag balanced in the tree canopy out of a bear's reach.

(8) Tool-making: Some may think a knife in a wilderness emergency is simply a tool unto itself, but one of its chief purposes in a wilderness emergency is really the manufacture of other, more specialized survival gear. It’s essential for making a fire bow and drill, which is of utmost importance if you’re lacking other means of alighting tinder.

(9) Fire: Speaking of fire-making, a survival knife allows you to flay out ribbons of inner bark from a branch to produce so-called “tinder”—invaluable when making a “birds nest” and igniting a fire in any condition. A survival knife can also be used to strike your ferrocerium rod (ferro rod) when igniting tinder.

(10) Shelter-making: A knife blade serves handily to trim limbs in the event you must build a shelter. It can also be used to notch the limbs before lashing them together.

From lifting simmering stew off the flames or to make your own tools, a survival knife is more than a whittling tool or a fish spear. Make one a permanent addition to your pack, and head into the woods with that much more peace of mind.

Step 5: Combustion

The ability to start a fire in survival is so important that it's necessary to have redundant fire-starting capabilities in any survival kit.

Although there are easier ways to start a fire [9 volt battery and steel wool] and more compact ways to carry a fire starting capability [magnesium fire starter] you'd be hard pressed to convince me of using anything but a mini Bic lighter in a compact survival tin. After seeing first hand how reliable and capable a mini Bic lighter is, I've ensured that it is in each survival kit I own and is on my person everyday when I leave the house [along with a knife of course] - and I don't even smoke!

Having tinder is also an important element in a survival kit, it could make the difference between sustaining a fire or having the wind snatch up your precious embers. I use both dryer lint and cotton balls dipped in petroleum jelly in my Altoids survival kit to give the fire resistance against the elements.

Step 6: Combustion [Continued]

Bonus DIY: How to make weatherproof matches

Matches become useless if they get wet. However, "weatherproof" matches are resistant to water and can be made by simply dipping "strike anywhere" matches into hot wax. See pics below.

Step 7: Cordage

Cordage is another survival item that is difficult to replicate in a survival situation yet invaluable in the wilderness.

Cordage can help build a shelter [essential for survival in extreme weather], snares, medical, clothing repair and fishing line.

Step 8: Container for Water

Water is essential to prolonging one's survival but contaminated water will quickly do the opposite.

In this kit, there are several ways of purifying water and one main way of carrying it. The coffee filter removes large dust and debris, the water purification tablets kills the bacteria and the aluminum foil can be shaped into a cup for boiling.

***Note: If you'd like to make your kit waterproof, seal the outside of it with Gorilla tape or electrical tape. :)

Step 9: Comfort [First-Aid]

The likelihood of cuts and scrapes increase in a survival situation as does the chance of infection which makes first aid an essential item for a survival kit

In addition to first aid, alcohol prep pads can also be used for fire tinder.

Cotton balls can be used with gorilla tape to make a makeshift bandage.

Tweezers can be used to pull out splinters, slivers, stingers and anything else that could get stuck in your skin.

Krazy Glue works in place of stitches for deep wounds.

Step 10: Communication

The one thing better than being able to survive is being rescued!

Weather day or night, these items [mirror, flashlight and whistle] will strengthen your chances of being seen and heard. The mirror is conveniently located on the top of the tin for quick access and the whistle and flashlight can be attached to a makeshift necklace through the use of the dental floss.

Step 11: Compass, Pins & Needles

These final miscellaneous items can help make navigation possible, food a reality and a few things in between!

Find food and your direction with the help of these fishing accessories and trusty button compass. The needles and pins can be used to repair apparel or help with first aid needs. The needles can also serve as backup hooks.

As you can see, the dental floss works well with the hooks, weights and needles. :)