 |
The author’s possible kit, photograph
by the author.
This is the fourth installment
of the Oelslager Files, articles inspired by the works of the late Dr. Robert
William “Doc” Oelslager. Also, since
everyone around the world is dealing with COVID-19, I thought something lighter
and non-virus would be a good thing. – Author’s note
So,
what’s in your “possible kit”!?
Have
you even ever heard of a possible kit? It’s
possible you might be asking yourself right now, “what’s a possible kit?” And maybe you are thinking, “isn’t that
just another name for a survival kit?”
In
my mind a possible kit isn’t a survival kit, it is more like a toolbox, or
maybe, depending on your level of organization, a junk-drawer, full of a little
bit of everything.
Personally,
whenever I head out into the wilderness, I always bring my possible kit, my
personal first aid kit and my survival kit.
I always have both my personal first aid kit and my survival kit on me,
and I keep my possible kit in my pack. A
possible kit should complement your survival kit and it should be available for
everyday use, while a survival kit is for emergencies only1. Think of it as a kit for “it’s possible it
might happen” or “it’s possible I might need it”
“So,
What’s In Your Possible Kit!?”
My
possible kit only weighs 8 ounces (227 grams) and here is what I keep in it.
 |
| The author’s possible kit, enumerated, photograph by the author. |
1)
A zippered pouch to hold all the
“possibles”.
2)
A LED flashlight, a spare in addition
to the one in my survival kit and first aid kit.
3) 3 spare AAA batteries for my headlamp and
the flashlights in my first aid kit, survival kit and possible kit.
4) A Swiss+Tech®, multi-tool, with needle nose
pliers, a saw, a Philips head screwdriver, can opener and knife.
5) A flat head and a Philips head screwdriver
for repairing eyeglasses.
6) An eye glass repair kit: screws, spacers,
nose pads and a cleaning cloth
7) 16 feet (almost 5 meters) of 15-pound test,
braided nylon line, for use as heavy sewing thread.
8) 2 feet (.6 meters) of 22 gauge (.73 mm)
galvanized steel wire. I have used wire
like this in the past to reattach the sole of a water shoe to its upper. Wire can be used for repairing just about
anything.
9) 2 large eyed, heavy duty sewing needles:
the smaller one is a # 17 carpet needle that is 2 inches (52 mm) long and the
other one is a #14 darning needle that is 3 inches long (78 mm). Both are stuck into a piece of heavy-duty
nylon patch cloth. The large elongated eyes
on the needles make threading them, much simpler.
10) 4 large safety pins stuck into another piece
of heavy-duty nylon patch cloth.
11) A pencil.
12) A pencil sharpener. This is also very useful for making fine
tinder to help you get your fire started.
13) A file to sharpen my axe with, an axe without
something to sharpen it, is just an oddly shaped hammer
14) A whetstone to sharpen my knives.
15) A 5 foot (1.5 meter) long tape measure. I have used this to measure and diagram an
old logging blaze on a stump on the shore of Lake Louisa, Algonquin Provincial
Park (for pictures of the stump and my drawing, see “The Madawaska River Loop:
Whitefish, to Pen, to Harry and Louisa…And Back Again! Part One ©”, HERE)
16) A thermometer, emergency whistle,
magnifying-glass, pocket compass, all in one all-purpose tool.
17) 5 mini-zip ties. When I reattached the sole of the water shoe
to its upper, I also used some small zip ties to complete the repair.
18) 3 heavy-duty rubber bands. These originally came wrapped around celery
stalks from the grocery store, they have literally 1,001 uses.
 |
| An excerpt from the 1969 edition of Survival Training Edition, AF Manual 64-3, page 1-4. Notice how many of the items in this list are in my possible kit, which is why I say that possible kits can and should complement your survival kit2. |
Now
the nice thing about possible kits, is that you can put anything into them,
whatever you think you might need at some point in your travels.
 |
| An excerpt from Scouting magazine, March/April 1982, page Scout 3 Jul 82, also reproduced in R.W. Oelslager’s The Winter Experience, figure 639, page 325 |
The
possible kit shown in Scouting Magazine, March/April 1982, which was
also reproduced in R.W. Oelslager’s The Winter Experience, included aspirins
and band-aids, which are things that I keep in my personal
first aid kit. Since, I always keep
my personal first aid kit in my pocket when I am in the wilderness, I don’t
include first aid supplies in my possible kit.
Additionally, this kit included matches, a razor blade, fishhooks and
tape, which are things that I keep in my survival kit. It also included a dime, which for all of you
who were born into the age of cell phones, was needed to make an emergency
phone call home from a pay phone.
 |
| An excerpt from a Ziploc® advertisement, found in Field & Stream, May 1988, page 124 |
And
you don’t have to be to fancy with the pouch for the possible kit either, many
people simply keep their possible kit in a Ziploc® bag.
So,
what’s in your possible kit!?
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.
Don’t forget to follow me on both The
Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE,
and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free
to leave a comment on either site. I
announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at
bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.
That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Notes
1
In case of emergency, there is a good chance that I will end up separated from
my luggage and my possible kit. And even
though there might be some duplicated items between my possible kit and my
survival kit, as long as I can carry the extra weight, I’m OK with the overlap.
2
A good PDF copy of the 1969, Survival Training Edition, AF Manual 64-3,
is available at https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QafWD_tnrQah_123Vdzf3cUpFscGc1tFZ-mbT-8cLuvT6d1JOFoeQlpZjQbXWlXEO-JRFjM2zPz-X6Onjky9dyQvtAsro4vU1ZyTDJZU2lPkGAIbXdRTWZjN_ADI4wxK69JTKD-WtXPfLP_9sXVUEJgUJUgaNEHZBDz_cCT8MAu1Gh2rvykD-jv0vtmQtE1Lk6RTR3yH4u_3X1lFrKXyAqoFohpKGI1xiMRoW0iOYD3g5JH6DHIjKdb6uFLL07Ijf42tXamK
Sources
Department Of The Air Force, Survival
Training Edition, AF Manual 64-3,
[Air Training Command, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.,
August 15, 1969], p. 1-4
“Possible Kit”, Scouting
Magazine, Vol. 70, No. 2, March/April 1982 [Boy Scouts of America, Irving,
Texas], p. Scout 3 Jul 82, https://books.google.com/books?id=XSsbxPzAVfUC&pg=RA5-PT21&lpg=RA5-PT21&dq=scouting+%22we+ought+to+take+a+minute%22&source=bl&ots=vxOmVqq7Ak&sig=ACfU3U02ibVcmaTtuT10LmaPJSeYRwcNWA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi-s8PJxY3oAhUOTN8KHVNNDQcQ6AEwAHoECAMQAQ#v=onepage&q=scouting%20%22we%20ought%20to%20take%20a%20minute%22&f=false, Accessed March 9, 2020
Ziploc® advertisement, Field
& Stream, May 1988, Vol. XCIII, No. 1, [Times Mirror Magazines, New York,
NY] p. 124
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