10 Euro Survival Kit (Challenge)

Hi Instructables Community,

first of all my apologies for skipping last weeks release but it's been a hectic two weeks so I hope my subscribers forgive me for that ;)

This time I show you my approach on the 10€($10) Survival Kit Challenge. I saw this for the first time a few weeks ago on the Wranglerstar YouTube channel I decided to give it a shot myself. The rules for this challenge are relatively simple your kit has to enable you to do the following things for $10 (or less):

1. Make a fire
2. Build a shelter
3. It has to be waterproof (Being submerged for 60secs without the contents getting wet)
4. Provide you with two meals

Please let me know in the comments what you think of this kit and what you would do differently.

Difficulty:	Easy
Time:	20 - 30 Minutes
Safety Concerns:	None really
Primary Use:	Build a simple Survival Kit with a limited budget Improvise items & modifications with the resources you are left with

If you like this Instructable please vote, fav, share, subscribe & comment. I have just started my own Blog which you can visit here. You can also check my YouTube, Facebook and Twitter sites for current and upcoming projects.

Take care & stay safe

Cheers Alex

Step 1: The Kit

It took me two trips to two different 1-Euro stores and to be honest I actually bought more items only to sit down at home and decided which ones to use.

The items I decided are the following:

1. Medium sized tin can - This will be the container for the pocket kit
2. 80m parcel string made from organic fibers
3. A bag of 30 tealights
4. 2 Corny cereal bars (each with 224Kcal energy)
5. Pack of 3 small kitchen knives
6. 6m bright yellow duct tape
7. Mylar blanket
8. 4 flint & wheel gas lighters
9. Led flashlight with 3 AAA batteries
10. Pack of 8 large (120 liter) garbage bags

This kit is not designed for long term survival but will help you survive for a few days.

Step 2: Requirement 1: Fire

I decided to use four regular wheel & flint gas lighters simply because they are easy to use, the package deal provides me with contingencies & back up lighters. Even when empty the flint & wheel will produce sparks that can be used to ignite tinder.

I added two of the lighters to the pocket kit in a waterproof container (With one being sealed in a zip loc bag inside the kit). The other two lighters are waterproofed with duct tape (check the video) and secured against loss with a length of string.

I have also decided to add the bag of tealights which work really good along with the lighters to get a fire started. If no fire wood is available they could also be used to boil water (You would have to use multiple candles at a time of course).

The wax can also be used to make fabrics waterproof, to improvise fire starters.

The bag could be used to collect & transport water.

Step 3: Requirement 2: Shelter

The first item I picked for this task was a simple Mylar blanket. These are also called emergency or space blanket and are perfect for the use in survival kits. The can be packed to a very small size and usually come in a resealable ziploc bag. They reflect heat which is why you could either use them as a blanket (as the name implies) or as part of your shelter or to reflect heat from your fire towards you/your shelter. The blanket could also be used for signalling purposes due to its highly reflective and large surface.

The second item is a pack of 8 large garbage bags. These can be used for your shelter to build a roof or walls. You can also improvise a sleeping bag with them as well as waterproof clothing (i.e. a poncho). Last but not least they can be used to pack your gear waterproof which is what I didn't with all left over items after I made the pocket survival kit.

Item number three is duct tape. Six meters of it. Not sure if I should list all the uses for duct tape or even try...Well let's just say that there is hardly any task from shelter building, fixing and repairing of clothes and gear to fire making and signalling that your duct tape won't be a useful tool to use.

Last but not least I added a roll of 80m of parcel string made from organic fibers. Apart from being immensely useful for building your shelter, tools & weapons it can also be used as tinder (if kept dry) to start a fire.

Step 4: Requirement 3: Waterproof

To waterproof the kit I decided to make a small kit with bits from all items that could fit in the pockets of my cargo pants whilst the remaining items would be packed and wrapped in two large plastic garbage bags.

The tin can was waterproofed by sealing it with duct tape. In a survival situation the tin can would also be used as a cooking pot & to boil water.

Step 5: Requirement 4: Two Meals

I went small and light with this requirement. Instead of buying canned meals I just bought two big cereal bars at 0,50€ for one. Each provides me with 224Kcal of energy which is a small meal that should keep me going for a little longer.

Step 6: Bonus: Cutting & Signalling

I also bought a set of three small kitchen knives. These are fairly sharp but will dull pretty quickly. I decided to use one knife as a back-up in the pocket kit whilst the other two would be used for food preparation and other tasks.

Since I had one euro spare I decided to buy a small LED flashlight. This one actually came with three AAA batteries included which could also be used to start a fire. Apart from being a tool for signalling I think it is very comforting to have light available at the press of a button in a survival situation. Be it for navigation or just to a little light in the darkness of a winters night.

Step 7: Improvising & Modifying

I included to examples of how I would modify my lighters and knives with the resources from this kit.

The first one is how I would make the lighter waterproof that I carry in my pocket or jacket. I also added a short length of string to secure it against loss.

With the plastic from the packing and some tape I made a simple sheath for the kitchen knives so I could actually put them in my pocket. Another piece of string also prevents this item against loss.

There are plenty of other things one could make with the contents from this kit. If time permits I will try to make some more and upload them to my blog.

I would also love to see what you would improvise with these item so please post pics in the comments.

Comments

[the_eradicator]

I always add a few of those practical joke candles that don't blow out unless you dip them in water or suffocate the flame in water. The come in very handy on windy days. Good 'Ible

[Alex 2Q]

Hi the_eradicator,

that's a good idea but which item would you drop in exchange for those candles? Remember that you are on a budget with this project.

Cheers Alex

[the_eradicator]

I found mine at a dollar store so it only cost me a dollar and since they weigh less then an ounce they added very little weight to the over all kit. I added 2 of them to my fire kit and never even noticed them.

Hope this helps.

~Erad

[the_eradicator]

I found mine at a dollar store so it only cost me a dollar and since they weigh less then an ounce they added very little weight to the over all kit. I added 2 of them to my fire kit and never even noticed them.

Hope this helps.

~Erad

[cerealkiller441]

Very nice 'ible, it's a great starter kit.

[cerealkiller441]

I would also add some cotton swabs/balls to the kit to aid in fire starting.

[Alex 2Q]

Hi cerealkiller441, thanks for reading and commenting.

Which item would exchange for the cotton balls? Remember that there is a budget constraint for this kit so for everything you add you have to take something else away.

Cheers Alex

[nukefile]

wooden wool would be a nice tinder and you can get it outside^^

[Alex 2Q]

Hi xp24, it surely is a great firestarter. But as above which item would you drop in favor of the wood wool?

Cheers Alex

[NW66]

nice kit but it would be more like 15$ in the US and Canada.

[Alex 2Q]

Hi NW66, at the current exchange rate 10€ would be just $10,84. Not much of a difference. Or did you mean that you won't get the items at the same prize?

Cheer Alex

[NW66]

Yeah some things are a lot more expensive in Canada and the US would be the middle of the scale.

[Alex 2Q]

Thanks for the info mate. I thought that this was down to package since (e.g. the duct tape i bought was on a 6m (18Ft) roll which is much less than what you would usually get).

Cheers Alex