The best thing about cheap kits is you can buy multiples and stash them everywhere. Availability and redundancy is a good thing in a survival situation. A rusty, old tin can is better than nothing, and these kits are better than that.
If you have one of these kits out in the wild, save the metal lid that peels off the sardine can. You could sharpen it into an emergency blade, cut it into fishing lures, hang it as a reflector to mark your camp, make arrowheads, and maybe even use it as a signal mirror.
Bought a coghlans kit a long time ago, and it sat in my glove compartment for about 10 years. Got bored while camping with the wife and opened it up . Amazing what they crammed in there. I eventually ended up Consolidating several kits I had and just kept the items I considered useful.
I often pack very small kit like this in additon to my day pack gear for hiking. It makes me feel good that i have never broke the seal. Makes me feel safer..and that is priceless.
About the best contents of a sardine can survival tin are actual sardines! They're just what you'd want, a great source of rich, oily food conveniently packaged into a sardine can!
I have the whistle creek kit unopened it's a older one because it doesn't have the photo of contents on the bottom of the can . But the list is the same I keep mind in a hunting vest pocket along with a Mylar survival blanket ,A clear plastic E Poncho and a UST survival reflect tent and a box of UCO Stormproof matches along with a small fixed blade knife and a small UST Ferro rod striker combo and I always keep a Military 1 qt Canteen with cup ,stove,and the Coleman potable aqua tabs and some Emergen C 1000 mg Vitamin C powders. Almost forgot some wetfire cubes .
Personally I have always be a fan of the Cobham's kit. It gets belittled by various influencers in the Survival/Bushcraft arena, who naturally want you to buy their own brand kit, at an eye watering price. Without which you will most certainly perish in a most protracted and horrible manner. However, it's a remarkably capable little kit, particularly at its price point. If I to equip a group of people economically (purely as a precaution) with minimal capability for a short duration, it would be my first pick. One of them, A space blanket, emergency poncho, Mora knife, 15' (3m) of 550 cord and possibly a wire saw would enhance their chances vastly. Give a short (4-8 hr) course on the kit's contents and their possible uses.
It was great i love your channel you have great ideas! This is a perfect example of why i have subscibed....i am an ole lady that made the mistake of buying the big everlast kit, but it is way to heavy and does'nt have all the stuff i need....you give me ideas on how I can build a smaller bag that my friend gave me that will have the 10 c's but be light enough for a 61 year old lady to carry if i have to....thanks again eric😊💚
What I liked the most was your avoidance of constantly trashing the companies and the items. I will however. The American company either thinks survival is a joke, or a hustle. I've always liked Coughlan. I like the company more after seeing your video. Thank you Sir, and have a fantastic New Year.
This kits are for exactly what this channel shows so well, strip em for parts and extras, i always have spare ferro rods, mylar blankets, tinders etc for squirreling into ne kits or extras to play with and test
Yep, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this survival kit review! Really look forward to your videos and reviews! Reviewing, and then combining the best components of the kits and then adding components to make a solid survival kit was a great idea! Enjoyed the video Eric. Can’t wait for the next one! Thank you!!
Well done 👍. I have made my own pocket survival kits.. some can fit in the pocket.. some clip on my belt.. one is a waste pack fanny pack... And one is a small single strap sling bag.. I have blood stopper powder in all my first aid / survival kits. I will be adding " SWAT-T tourniquets to all my kits . Inexpensive lightweight and effective.. they take up very little room.. that's my suggestion
One use for the bread ties would be, take the package the can came in, dump everything into it, wire tie it closed, and put it in your pocket. I used a bread tie to temporarily reafix a loose button, replace a small screw, start a fire with a AA battery, and keep a loose knife in my sheath. It's what I had at the time and worked at least for a temporary fix.
My kit uses that small, lockable tin, and I managed to get a survival blanket in it, simply by putting it in last, and pressing the lid onto it. It also has the advantage, of preventing any rattling.
One downside to having a tea candle in the kit, is if you keep the kit in your car, the candle will melt in the heat of the car in the summer and make a mess. I live and FL and found out the hard way.
I like that both kits included tinder for fire. I can't do much with matches alone. There is a small knife called Harnds Lark that would good for small kits like this. Very cheap and small but of a quality and very sharp. You can find on Gearbest I think.
Although I like the SAK, I would consider replaceing it with the CRKT RSK Mk5. It is an actual fixed blade knife, not likely to fail and yet weighs under 2 ozs.
I built my own old style tobacco can kit and it is in the glove box of my SUV. Good as a coat or jacket pocket backup for my bugout/get home kit in the trunk. These go along with my pocket .380 semi auto and my Henry .22 Survival rifle. I also have a waterproof poncho in a side pocket. All that stuff would go with me if I had to leave the SUV on the side of the road. But I like that Coughan brand kit, think I will pick one up at Wally World tomorrow!
Thank you for making kits that are fortified out of existing products how many people in a survival Community or a little elitist and don't understand that not everybody has time and resources to have everything all at once and even little hiking backpack survival kit is still better than having none at and showing people how to properly fortify them is an improvement
Another superb video and presentation. This is one of the best channels which reviews Survival kits and equipment. You deserve much more subscribers. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for reviewing these kits. I’ve always wondered what they were like. I would like to see how one of these survival tool cards is applicable in an emergency scenario. The rest of it seems okay. I would worry about snagging my finger on the fishing hooks and nails just floating around. Would make more sense to maybe tape them to a card? Look forward to the next video. 😊
As it stood, the Coghlans kit looked serviceable for the price. Like you said, if you had nothing else........ The mixing and matching is all part of the ritual fun. Really looking forward to the ESEE review. It will be the channels big budget blockbuster!
I also like to make psk’s. Been doing it as a hobby for many years. It’s always fun to watch these videos and see what’s new out there, or see things I didn’t know were available. 👍🏻👍🏻
I'm actually fairly impressed with the Coghlan's. I'd always dismissed these as pure novelty, but now I can see throwing one in a car or boat if you didn't have the time/money/inclination for making something custom.
I would get rid of any candle in hot weather ,I moved to the south western area. While doing PMCS on my kits after a yr living in the Chihuahuan desert,all of my kits had to be,reengineered because candles will reek havoc on kits wax everywhere.
For that kit I would have secured it with a bandanna or 100% cotton piece of material instead of the elastic bands. Outside of the bandanna having multiple uses there were many small items in the kit and having something to keep the items in/on right there especially in the dark would be useful.
One more point in favour of these tiny kits is they are perfect for people doing popular activities that are wilderness adjacent. A skiing holiday at a ski resort for example. Go skiing with one kf these in your pocket and you can easily forget its there and enjoy your holiday but if you find yourself one of the rare unlucky ones who wanders up the wrong path thinking its the way to the top of the slopes and get lost and end up spending the night, waking up with frost bite unable to move and not rescued for 10 more nights that little can will save your life. (True story btw minus the survival can, he had nothing) and im saying this before seeing him open it. No idea whats inside yet but i guarantee its better than nother and perfect for those wilderness adjacent persuits.
A local supermarket used to have lighters with built in flashlight and a button compa_ that was well under one quarter inch. Two lighters fora buck. Boughta bunch and put them in kits. That's the tiniest compass I've ever seen.
I saw a review once where they broke the pull tab off first thing and no can opener. I got two tins almost like you used years ago, they were for Japanese bento boxes. A tad bigger than an Altoids tin.
They must have changed the contents on the Coghlan's Survival Kit In A Can. I have a few from years ago that haven't been opened, and they contain some items I didn't see in the tin you reviewed: bouillon soup packet, 2 adhesive bandages, 2 antiseptic swabs, 1 tea bag, extra twist tie, 1 chewing gum,1 energy candy, and the 4 matches are listed as waterproof. They probably still are waterproof. Oh, the flat multitool in the sheath is not in the older version. I might have missed some differences, but otherwise they are pretty similar.
Good video. However, why not just start out with the premise of making your own kit outright. That's about what you've done and you wouldn't be limited to starting with cheap junk from the two sardine cans. Thanks for your videos. You've always had great insight to these kits and components.
I've been watching you for a few weeks now and YT just showed me this show tonight , I like the " kit-bashing " you do. However, for this episode like a lot of people, I don't think you get WHY these exist. These are very wimpy survival kits, sure - but what they really are is a POCKET survival kit. This is the one you have in your jacket pocket that just sits there for years and years literally and you forget about it till the day you find yourself out someplace and you DON'T have a proper kit ....... then they're golden. I took the guts of the Coghlan's and tossed it in with a adventure medical kit 3 and it stays in my jacket pocket 24/7. Now the big pisser with that is that little sardine can would be golden to have, espec for a hot drink in the Canadian winter ..... so I will miss the tin big time. I do like the one you made here but I'll never carry it in my pocket and that where the Coghlan's can rocks!!
Surprisingly the Coghlan's kit was far less crappy than I'd have expected! Although I think the sardine-can is a dumb gimmick. It has the advantage of being waterproof until you open it but at the expense of not being able to verify the contents nor will it allow you to inspect and familiarize yourself with the components. And I'm baffled by the random, scattershot approach to the included gear. Cordage, firemaking stuff, safety pins, compass- all great ideas. Nails? A lame 'survival card'? Bread ties? What are you supposed to do with those? Major kudos to Coghlan's for adding the ziplock bag for water! Most mini kits just ignore water or pretend you can use the can to boil enough water to keep you going. SPOILER ALERT: No, you really can't. But the Coghlan's tin does a much more realistic job of addressing the actual priorities of survival. Combining the two kits and adding the space blanket does give you some decent capability but I'd like to see the firemaking beefed up a bit. It's very easy to start a fire under campground conditions when you have 80 degree weather, sunny skied and bone dry $5/bundle firewood. But it's a lot harder when it's cold and wet and maybe you're on the edge of hypothermia. Neat trivia about the term "kitbashing"- I honestly thought you just made it up and liked the sound of it! Very cool bit of info.
That Coghlan's kit really surprised me and not bad at all, especially for the price. I'm thinking it would be a nice little stocking stuffer type thing. I agree with you on the nails and bread ties. I'd rather see some sort of eye screw that you don't need a hammer or a rock to drive in and risk smashing a finger. Plus you can unscrew it and use it again if you're on the move, but a nail is there forever. Also, cordage is always lacking in these kits. For "ME", I have found that having at least 30 feet of 200 pound test braided fishing line which is just over 0.75mm thick, works perfect in my small kits. For "ME", it's thick enough and strong enough to be useful, but still small enough to actually carry a useful amount. I don't use tea light candles anymore either. They just melt too easy and make a mess, and they only burn for 3 or 4 hours max. I use liquid candles now and for the same size as a tea light, they burn well over 8 hours. One of those between my legs and me wrapped in a space blanket, and I can get through a cold night of unexpected "camping". And I have NEVER had one leak on me and make a mess in over 20 years of using them. www.100candles.com/i-6945/8-Hour-Disposable-Tealight-Fuel-Cells-for-Restaurants I bet if you go to Walmart in their garden section, you can buy them for $0.25 each and from 12 to 36 hour liquid candles, since it's the end of summer. I buy them out every year. I'm looking forward to that ESEE kit video you have. Keep up the great work.
Being a wargamer I found the channel by searching kitbash for the other reason me interest on SKs stated with a book how to make a survival kit 8n the 80s if you are interested I can dig out the ISBN and you can review the kit they suggest
@@wjf213 The liquid paraffin candles are greatly superior but I think the wax ones still have a place. They're 1/2 the size, a plus for applications where size matters. For me the 'killer app' for the wax versions is as fire starters. If you can get the candle lit you can bet that the 3-4 hour burn time will be plenty to get your firewood going even if it's a bit wet. Once you have it burning you can harvest the wax for other purposes (eg waxing other tinder, lubricating threads, etc). But overall, yeah- the liquid kind is better. I've carried them for years and while I keep them in ziplocks just to be safe I've never had one leak.
I took the sardine can label off and put it in one of the lil sardine can cardboard boxes. it is at the back of my shelf. is it a perfect kit, no, but it is one that is hidden back in the back of a closet.
As for the first kit. A few matches of doubtful quality and two cubes? Inadequate and likely to make you first emergency go on fire starting an unpleasant failure. Why not like test one of these matches? It is a special feeling having just a handful of thin matches when you really need a fire. Also, the candle shown had no wick, had it? Seemed to be just a hole straight through the candle. As for priorities, it is likely in some situations that shelter and fire is higher priority than screwing with a poor wrench of very doubtful quality, playing with some random thinn short threads and snare wire for barely one single snare. Good to make a new kit, but the review part of the initial kit could be more balanced. Pointing out waste is not being neagtive it minimize the sense of false security.
Need cheap "ranger bands?" Use inner tubes from bicycles, they give the ones they throw in the garbage away free at bike shops. snip into whatever sized 'ranger band' you need!
I know at times I bash on you about things. Just keeping it real. TBH you do a good job reviewing these kits 89.9 % of the time. .1 % of the time you sound crazy. The last 10 % of the time you knock it out of the park.
@@KitbashedSurvival You sell yourself short. You've saved me for wasting a nice pile of money reviewing these kits. Also your upgrades on most of the kits are well thought out. Gives a fellow thoughts about what could be done.
Realistically, what is a survival scenario? 1. Where will you be? 2. Duration? Folks behave as if they are going to be pioneers and really overestimate their skill ability, when in reality 72 hrs is probably the most likely extent of duration. Where would most people be that they could not hike/walk within a day and a half to help or a built up area? Or be located? Why does a survival kit not include a beacon? Or a self charging type flashlight or a dollar store solar light? A life straw? Maybe a decent smoke bomb like kids have on the 4th of July. If you are going to be in a place where you are beyond 72 hrs, would you not have necessary gear already? I'm thinking more of a local survival situation where utilities are interrupted and a person is traveling either on the road or by a commercial carrier, or a non technical camping situation, like at a park. Who is going to suddenly find themselves stuck in the deepest Amazon, Northwest Territories, Outback and relieved that they brought their sardine can? I'll buy a lottery ticket and see which one hits first. There is fun in imagination and the hobby of building a Rambo Kit for He-Man survival. How about building a realistic useful 72 - 96 hr book bag natural disaster survival kit. I have a kid that lives in Houston, TX and has had many times of needing a "survival kit" just due to natural events, flooding and power outage being very common. It seems that generally SOL builds the best off the shelf grab and go kits.
The best thing about cheap kits is you can buy multiples and stash them everywhere. Availability and redundancy is a good thing in a survival situation. A rusty, old tin can is better than nothing, and these kits are better than that.
If you have one of these kits out in the wild, save the metal lid that peels off the sardine can. You could sharpen it into an emergency blade, cut it into fishing lures, hang it as a reflector to mark your camp, make arrowheads, and maybe even use it as a signal mirror.
Great tips man.
Arrowheads lol
I love your positive, open minded approach to reviewing these kits.
Thank you!
Thank you. To me this is fun stuff and there’s no reason to get negative
Bought a coghlans kit a long time ago, and it sat in my glove compartment for about 10 years. Got bored while camping with the wife and opened it up . Amazing what they crammed in there. I eventually ended up Consolidating several kits I had and just kept the items I considered useful.
Nicely done. I’d love to see you take one of those Best Glide large tins and build a kit 100% from scratch just to see what you come up with
This video comes close to that: ua-cam.com/video/4gTaVgKjsgw/v-deo.html
I often pack very small kit like this in additon to my day pack gear for hiking. It makes me feel good that i have never broke the seal. Makes me feel safer..and that is priceless.
Yay! I was just sitting around today wishing we could have a Kitbashed review! Thanks. Looking forward to your review of that $500 Esee kit.
Awesome, thank you!
About the best contents of a sardine can survival tin are actual sardines!
They're just what you'd want, a great source of rich, oily food conveniently packaged into a sardine can!
I have the whistle creek kit unopened it's a older one because it doesn't have the photo of contents on the bottom of the can . But the list is the same I keep mind in a hunting vest pocket along with a Mylar survival blanket ,A clear plastic E Poncho and a UST survival reflect tent and a box of UCO Stormproof matches along with a small fixed blade knife and a small UST Ferro rod striker combo and I always keep a Military 1 qt Canteen with cup ,stove,and the Coleman potable aqua tabs and some Emergen C 1000 mg Vitamin C powders. Almost forgot some wetfire cubes .
Personally I have always be a fan of the Cobham's kit.
It gets belittled by various influencers in the Survival/Bushcraft arena, who naturally want you to buy their own brand kit, at an eye watering price. Without which you will most certainly perish in a most protracted and horrible manner.
However, it's a remarkably capable little kit, particularly at its price point. If I to equip a group of people economically (purely as a precaution) with minimal capability for a short duration, it would be my first pick.
One of them, A space blanket, emergency poncho, Mora knife, 15' (3m) of 550 cord and possibly a wire saw would enhance their chances vastly.
Give a short (4-8 hr) course on the kit's contents and their possible uses.
It was great i love your channel you have great ideas! This is a perfect example of why i have subscibed....i am an ole lady that made the mistake of buying the big everlast kit, but it is way to heavy and does'nt have all the stuff i need....you give me ideas on how I can build a smaller bag that my friend gave me that will have the 10 c's but be light enough for a 61 year old lady to carry if i have to....thanks again eric😊💚
Thank you!
What I liked the most was your avoidance of constantly trashing the companies and the items. I will however. The American company either thinks survival is a joke, or a hustle. I've always liked Coughlan. I like the company more after seeing your video. Thank you Sir, and have a fantastic New Year.
This kits are for exactly what this channel shows so well, strip em for parts and extras, i always have spare ferro rods, mylar blankets, tinders etc for squirreling into ne kits or extras to play with and test
Yep, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this survival kit review! Really look forward to your videos and reviews! Reviewing, and then combining the best components of the kits and then adding components to make a solid survival kit was a great idea! Enjoyed the video Eric. Can’t wait for the next one! Thank you!!
Awesome, thank you!
Well done 👍. I have made my own pocket survival kits.. some can fit in the pocket.. some clip on my belt.. one is a waste pack fanny pack... And one is a small single strap sling bag.. I have blood stopper powder in all my first aid / survival kits. I will be adding " SWAT-T tourniquets to all my kits . Inexpensive lightweight and effective.. they take up very little room.. that's my suggestion
My daughter got me the coglahn a feds years ago I have not had to ope. It but always have it with when I have cargo pockets
Great!
I feel like these sardine can kits are something you throw into a premade backpack kit. Just to augment/add redundancy.
that was very satisfying to watch, i've made so many of these types of survival kits out of every tin can i come across
Don't forget the lid it is a scraper a knife you also got to handle for your fishing string
Oh yeah
You could also polish it and use it as a wind guard/ light reflector with the candle.
Folding it into an arrowhead might work.
One use for the bread ties would be, take the package the can came in, dump everything into it, wire tie it closed, and put it in your pocket.
I used a bread tie to temporarily reafix a loose button, replace a small screw, start a fire with a AA battery, and keep a loose knife in my sheath.
It's what I had at the time and worked at least for a temporary fix.
My kit uses that small, lockable tin, and I managed to get a survival blanket in it, simply by putting it in last, and pressing the lid onto it.
It also has the advantage, of preventing any rattling.
This is what I find my self doing pretty often nice too see being a good aspect with kit creation
PS thanks for telling me what kit bashed means.
One downside to having a tea candle in the kit, is if you keep the kit in your car, the candle will melt in the heat of the car in the summer and make a mess. I live and FL and found out the hard way.
I like that both kits included tinder for fire. I can't do much with matches alone. There is a small knife called Harnds Lark that would good for small kits like this. Very cheap and small but of a quality and very sharp. You can find on Gearbest I think.
Although I like the SAK, I would consider replaceing it with the CRKT RSK Mk5. It is an actual fixed blade knife, not likely to fail and yet weighs under 2 ozs.
I built my own old style tobacco can kit and it is in the glove box of my SUV. Good as a coat or jacket pocket backup for my bugout/get home kit in the trunk. These go along with my pocket .380 semi auto and my Henry .22 Survival rifle. I also have a waterproof poncho in a side pocket. All that stuff would go with me if I had to leave the SUV on the side of the road. But I like that Coughan brand kit, think I will pick one up at Wally World tomorrow!
The world pack water bags are a reason im glad i watch. I never knew they existed til you.
Thank you for making kits that are fortified out of existing products how many people in a survival Community or a little elitist and don't understand that not everybody has time and resources to have everything all at once and even little hiking backpack survival kit is still better than having none at and showing people how to properly fortify them is an improvement
Another superb video and presentation. This is one of the best channels which reviews Survival kits and equipment. You deserve much more subscribers. Keep up the great work.
Love the idea of cannibalizing kits to make a good one.
Thanks!
Thanks for reviewing these kits. I’ve always wondered what they were like.
I would like to see how one of these survival tool cards is applicable in an emergency scenario. The rest of it seems okay. I would worry about snagging my finger on the fishing hooks and nails just floating around. Would make more sense to maybe tape them to a card?
Look forward to the next video. 😊
As it stood, the Coghlans kit looked serviceable for the price. Like you said, if you had nothing else........ The mixing and matching is all part of the ritual fun. Really looking forward to the ESEE review. It will be the channels big budget blockbuster!
Thanks!
These could be made a bit more useful if they provided a lid that would allow you to close it after the pull-tab top has been removed.
That wallet tool is handy and keeps an edge, had mine over 5yrs
I keep the Coghlan's tin in my hunting day pack. Les Stroud reviewed and carried it during one of his adventures. I think it was Borneo.
I'd add 2-3 more teabags and a couple of Knorr bullion cubes, not much as food but definitely a moral booster.
And a dollar store poncho
I also like to make psk’s. Been doing it as a hobby for many years.
It’s always fun to watch these videos and see what’s new out there, or see things I didn’t know were available.
👍🏻👍🏻
Cool, thanks!
Ive watched most of your videos, its good to know what kitbashed means finally.
I'm actually fairly impressed with the Coghlan's. I'd always dismissed these as pure novelty, but now I can see throwing one in a car or boat if you didn't have the time/money/inclination for making something custom.
I'd buy one of each and wrap them together with Velcro straps so I also have Velcro if necessary.
I would get rid of any candle in hot weather ,I moved to the south western area. While doing PMCS on my kits after a yr living in the Chihuahuan desert,all of my kits had to be,reengineered because candles will reek havoc on kits wax everywhere.
Same problem here in Australia!
Just started watching your vids today and a new sub.went ahead and began my own altoids kit today
Thanks!
For that kit I would have secured it with a bandanna or 100% cotton piece of material instead of the elastic bands. Outside of the bandanna having multiple uses there were many small items in the kit and having something to keep the items in/on right there especially in the dark would be useful.
I'm waiting for the video where there's been a mix-up at the factory, and when you open the can, you find it contains sardines. 🤣
One more point in favour of these tiny kits is they are perfect for people doing popular activities that are wilderness adjacent. A skiing holiday at a ski resort for example. Go skiing with one kf these in your pocket and you can easily forget its there and enjoy your holiday but if you find yourself one of the rare unlucky ones who wanders up the wrong path thinking its the way to the top of the slopes and get lost and end up spending the night, waking up with frost bite unable to move and not rescued for 10 more nights that little can will save your life. (True story btw minus the survival can, he had nothing) and im saying this before seeing him open it. No idea whats inside yet but i guarantee its better than nother and perfect for those wilderness adjacent persuits.
Crimony that Dominos sugar pack brings me back to being 6 years old and being at donut shops .
You can do your own Gatorade with sugar and salt, maybe with lipton added too.
I reckon you could gold that lid up and ( carefully ) use it as an eating / cutting tool don't ask me how I know lol.
You sold me on the first kit, not a bad thing to keep in your coat pocket or if you're heading into the wilderness.
Lack of water purification in these tiny kits is always such a glaring weakness.
A local supermarket used to have lighters with built in flashlight and a button compa_ that was well under one quarter inch. Two lighters fora buck. Boughta bunch and put them in kits. That's the tiniest compass I've ever seen.
Right on
There's enough space left, in those cans, to include a mini BIC lighter.
I saw a review once where they broke the pull tab off first thing and no can opener. I got two tins almost like you used years ago, they were for Japanese bento boxes. A tad bigger than an Altoids tin.
Like u said-something is better than nothing... I'd rather have one of those than rubbing 2 sticks together...thank u...
They must have changed the contents on the Coghlan's Survival Kit In A Can. I have a few from years ago that haven't been opened, and they contain some items I didn't see in the tin you reviewed: bouillon soup packet, 2 adhesive bandages, 2 antiseptic swabs, 1 tea bag, extra twist tie, 1 chewing gum,1 energy candy, and the 4 matches are listed as waterproof. They probably still are waterproof. Oh, the flat multitool in the sheath is not in the older version. I might have missed some differences, but otherwise they are pretty similar.
Good video. However, why not just start out with the premise of making your own kit outright. That's about what you've done and you wouldn't be limited to starting with cheap junk from the two sardine cans. Thanks for your videos. You've always had great insight to these kits and components.
Great vid ... I always enjoy them . Im looking forward to the eese review. Keep up rhe good work .
Thanks 👍
Cant wait to see the $500 kit
Yeah me neither. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow. Excited!
Love the videos! Please keep them going!!
Thanks! Will do!
I've been watching you for a few weeks now and YT just showed me this show tonight , I like the " kit-bashing " you do. However, for this episode like a lot of people, I don't think you get WHY these exist. These are very wimpy survival kits, sure - but what they really are is a POCKET survival kit. This is the one you have in your jacket pocket that just sits there for years and years literally and you forget about it till the day you find yourself out someplace and you DON'T have a proper kit ....... then they're golden.
I took the guts of the Coghlan's and tossed it in with a adventure medical kit 3 and it stays in my jacket pocket 24/7. Now the big pisser with that is that little sardine can would be golden to have, espec for a hot drink in the Canadian winter ..... so I will miss the tin big time. I do like the one you made here but I'll never carry it in my pocket and that where the Coghlan's can rocks!!
These would do well kept in an office drawer... assuming you work in an office.
Id like you to pick items from both cans and put them in 1 of the cans . I'm sure a lot of us would like that . On top of making an altoid kit lol
That second kit would really disappoint me if I had tea and no container to make it in lol.
Two is one. One is none
I love your channel thus was a great video. Lots of great info thank you !!!
Thanks for watching!
I'd like the coglands kit for in thel tiny little storage area on my trail bike. If a day ride accidentally turns into an overnighter.
As a regular watcher in another country, it would be nice if you added links where to get some of these things, like the larger box you repack into.
Surprisingly the Coghlan's kit was far less crappy than I'd have expected! Although I think the sardine-can is a dumb gimmick. It has the advantage of being waterproof until you open it but at the expense of not being able to verify the contents nor will it allow you to inspect and familiarize yourself with the components. And I'm baffled by the random, scattershot approach to the included gear. Cordage, firemaking stuff, safety pins, compass- all great ideas. Nails? A lame 'survival card'? Bread ties? What are you supposed to do with those? Major kudos to Coghlan's for adding the ziplock bag for water! Most mini kits just ignore water or pretend you can use the can to boil enough water to keep you going. SPOILER ALERT: No, you really can't. But the Coghlan's tin does a much more realistic job of addressing the actual priorities of survival. Combining the two kits and adding the space blanket does give you some decent capability but I'd like to see the firemaking beefed up a bit. It's very easy to start a fire under campground conditions when you have 80 degree weather, sunny skied and bone dry $5/bundle firewood. But it's a lot harder when it's cold and wet and maybe you're on the edge of hypothermia.
Neat trivia about the term "kitbashing"- I honestly thought you just made it up and liked the sound of it! Very cool bit of info.
Thanks Rob
That Coghlan's kit really surprised me and not bad at all, especially for the price. I'm thinking it would be a nice little stocking stuffer type thing.
I agree with you on the nails and bread ties. I'd rather see some sort of eye screw that you don't need a hammer or a rock to drive in and risk smashing a finger. Plus you can unscrew it and use it again if you're on the move, but a nail is there forever.
Also, cordage is always lacking in these kits. For "ME", I have found that having at least 30 feet of 200 pound test braided fishing line which is just over 0.75mm thick, works perfect in my small kits. For "ME", it's thick enough and strong enough to be useful, but still small enough to actually carry a useful amount.
I don't use tea light candles anymore either. They just melt too easy and make a mess, and they only burn for 3 or 4 hours max. I use liquid candles now and for the same size as a tea light, they burn well over 8 hours. One of those between my legs and me wrapped in a space blanket, and I can get through a cold night of unexpected "camping". And I have NEVER had one leak on me and make a mess in over 20 years of using them.
www.100candles.com/i-6945/8-Hour-Disposable-Tealight-Fuel-Cells-for-Restaurants
I bet if you go to Walmart in their garden section, you can buy them for $0.25 each and from 12 to 36 hour liquid candles, since it's the end of summer. I buy them out every year.
I'm looking forward to that ESEE kit video you have. Keep up the great work.
Being a wargamer I found the channel by searching kitbash for the other reason me interest on SKs stated with a book how to make a survival kit 8n the 80s if you are interested I can dig out the ISBN and you can review the kit they suggest
@@wjf213 The liquid paraffin candles are greatly superior but I think the wax ones still have a place. They're 1/2 the size, a plus for applications where size matters. For me the 'killer app' for the wax versions is as fire starters. If you can get the candle lit you can bet that the 3-4 hour burn time will be plenty to get your firewood going even if it's a bit wet. Once you have it burning you can harvest the wax for other purposes (eg waxing other tinder, lubricating threads, etc). But overall, yeah- the liquid kind is better. I've carried them for years and while I keep them in ziplocks just to be safe I've never had one leak.
The gum could contain xylitol, a sweetener.
It could cause stomach upset, but only if consumed in high amount. Suitable for diabetic though
Thanks
Hey let us see your train setups sometime
My biggest gripe on the whistle creek one is it has a fishing hook but no line
Nice vid Eric.
I took the sardine can label off and put it in one of the lil sardine can cardboard boxes. it is at the back of my shelf. is it a perfect kit, no, but it is one that is hidden back in the back of a closet.
You should start manufacturing your own kits and sell. I really like how you think when you put them together
Thanks, I might do that at some point down the road
Careful boiling as if I am correct they have a thin synthetic liner
I don't know about you but I once cut myself on a sardine lid. That right there is a nice edge.
The one good thing is that it is totally sealed.
Once you crack it open you destroy one of its key elements.
Great vid man
Man I want that ESEE advance kit. At least the bag. LOL
I'm super stoked about it. Can't wait til it gets here.
The second one was real spartan but brand name stuff.
I wish they would provide a cap to close it when you remove the pull tab cover.
Great video!
Thanks!
pro tip, add one of these inside of every kit that can fit one, you will thank yourself (redundancy = living to see another day)
Tortoise gear make a firfly ferro rod which can replace the toothpick in the swiss army nice both sizes micro and normal
Concerning the Whistle Creek kit. I think I would rather have a sardine can packed full of tootsie rolls.
nice i will try to but one my self
Well done
Where can I find the locking tin you used in the end? I tried amazon like you mentioned but no dice?
Nice!
As for the first kit. A few matches of doubtful quality and two cubes? Inadequate and likely to make you first emergency go on fire starting an unpleasant failure. Why not like test one of these matches? It is a special feeling having just a handful of thin matches when you really need a fire.
Also, the candle shown had no wick, had it? Seemed to be just a hole straight through the candle. As for priorities, it is likely in some situations that shelter and fire is higher priority than screwing with a poor wrench of very doubtful quality, playing with some random thinn short threads and snare wire for barely one single snare.
Good to make a new kit, but the review part of the initial kit could be more balanced. Pointing out waste is not being neagtive it minimize the sense of false security.
What do you do with all the kits you make when your done
I keep them
Need cheap "ranger bands?" Use inner tubes from bicycles, they give the ones they throw in the garbage away free at bike shops. snip into whatever sized 'ranger band' you need!
I know at times I bash on you about things. Just keeping it real. TBH you do a good job reviewing these kits 89.9 % of the time. .1 % of the time you sound crazy. The last 10 % of the time you knock it out of the park.
89.9%? I’d have to say it’s more like 89.72%
@@KitbashedSurvival You sell yourself short. You've saved me for wasting a nice pile of money reviewing these kits. Also your upgrades on most of the kits are well thought out. Gives a fellow thoughts about what could be done.
I wish they had a way to buy the tins in two pieces that you could fill yourself.
Would a side cutter work to open the can?
Where did you purchase the fire steel, striker and whistle combo gadget?
Было бы интересно сделать в этой консервной банке отверстие чтобы можно было дуть как свисток. А лучше интегрировать в неё губную гармошку.
Well, I Have A Survival Tin I Bought On Ebay. Tin Got Ruined But, Saved My Kit.
What is the name of the fire starter/whistle you added in the combined kits?
Realistically, what is a survival scenario? 1. Where will you be? 2. Duration?
Folks behave as if they are going to be pioneers and really overestimate their skill ability, when in reality 72 hrs is probably the most likely extent of duration.
Where would most people be that they could not hike/walk within a day and a half to help or a built up area? Or be located?
Why does a survival kit not include a beacon? Or a self charging type flashlight or a dollar store solar light? A life straw? Maybe a decent smoke bomb like kids have on the 4th of July.
If you are going to be in a place where you are beyond 72 hrs, would you not have necessary gear already?
I'm thinking more of a local survival situation where utilities are interrupted and a person is traveling either on the road or by a commercial carrier, or a non technical camping situation, like at a park.
Who is going to suddenly find themselves stuck in the deepest Amazon, Northwest Territories, Outback and relieved that they brought their sardine can? I'll buy a lottery ticket and see which one hits first.
There is fun in imagination and the hobby of building a Rambo Kit for He-Man survival.
How about building a realistic useful 72 - 96 hr book bag natural disaster survival kit.
I have a kid that lives in Houston, TX and has had many times of needing a "survival kit" just due to natural events, flooding and power outage being very common.
It seems that generally SOL builds the best off the shelf grab and go kits.