Fun with an Altoids tin

AlexSchira

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I remember months and months back, I was trying to tune up the EDC of a younger friend of mine still in high school. Some one hinted at making a survival kit in an Altoids tin. I didn't give it much thought, but just yeserday, that same kid and I found ourselves sitting around the apartment waiting for my girlfriend to bring home dinner. Ironicaly, there was an empty Altoids tin lying around on my desk, and like many members of my species, my apartment is littered with little odds and ends that make people wonder if I'm still waiting for Y2K. I'm not a paranoid, I'm just too lazy to clean up.

By the time the food came, my young prodigy had randomly made a little EDC survival kit in that same extra-small candy tin. He just got that bored. So of course, I went and took pictures of the thing, and actually want to try expanding on the concept with the help of this board's brain trust. Give the kid some credit, not that bad an idea, with decent execution. But for now, let's tear this thing apart and rebuild it from the ground up. I refuse to be outdone by a kid who doesn't even have a drivers license yet, I'm that insecure.

Stuff.jpg


Contents of kit:

Leatherman Micra, recently replaced by P4 Squirt on my keychain
Two hospital-wrapped Tylenol from a friend slash registered nurse
Common sewing thread, bright orange
Two Rubber Bands
Safety Pin
Tin Foil
Couple feet of duct tape, wrapped around a shortened toothpick. (...Why didn't I thiink of that?)

Kit.jpg


Packed neatly and tightly into an Altoids Smalls tin, this thing is about the size of a thin lighter, can sit in the palm of your hand easily. It's an eighth te side of the bigger tins, the lid slides up and down.

.jpg


Doesn't raise an eyebrows, perfectly covert...Just don't take it through a metal detector.

The weakest aspect is probably the flimy thread, and the fact a few more things could probably fit in there without crammming. A sewing needle is a given, maybe a folded dollar bill, maybe find a different way of storing the duct tape. Thoughts, opinions, wisecracks about what I shyould call this thing, all welcome. Thank you in advance, I'll be standing by to modify the pictures if they're too large.
 

powernoodle

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I like it. This (and other) mini-survival kits are neat. Makes me want to re-evaluate the contents of my Maxpedition Jumbo that lives in my SUV.

See the survivalist forum (or whever its called) at bladeforums.com, and also Doug Ritter's website (link) for more ideas on what to stash in your kit.

Edit: see also this Altoid kit .

And this cool one.

peace
 
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Illum

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tebore

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DUDE!!! You're missing the greatest multi-tool ever made. THE PAPERCLIP!

MacGuyver doesn't leave home without it, you shouldn't either. How are you going to defuse and make your own bomb without one?
 

Omega Man

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powernoodle said:
This was the first survival kit my friend made, after reading about them in some magazine. The guy who patented this survival Altiod tin wrote a book, and he bought it and met the guy and got his signature. A year later he finds out about County Comm:rock:
I have a Natural American Spirits cigarettes tin that's full of batteries in my bookbag, and various other little holders/tin of stuff. One is a round tin from the Republic of Tea company (http://www.republicoftea.com/), I have a bunch of birthday-cake sized candles and strike anywhere matches in it, with a strike pad. The tea tins are great!
 

Yager

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i hear all you really need IS a paperclip. you can trade them for just about anything!
 

AlexSchira

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I've added a sewing needle, and a little fire starter kit I cannibalized out of a matchbook. A friend tipped me off that I could just cut out the striker stripe of the matchbook, throw in a match or two, instant makeshift fire kit.

As for making my own, I've obtained one of the full-szied tins and have stocked with so far with the following.
2 Band-aids
Packet of first aid cream
2 Wraped Tylenol
Allergy pill 2 Foam Earplugs
Tin foil
Several matches, match book stripe
Mini Bic
Sewing needle/thread, wrapped around lighter
A few rubber bands wrapped around objects
One Victorinox Spartan, takes up most of the case, only SAK I had on hand.
Rescure 40 Howler Whistle, straight from the Doug Ritter supplier
Duct tape on toothpick
...One paper clip.

Still working on the bigger kit, but the smaller one is stocked to the brim and ready to roll. Hardest part is just getting the wrapped Tylenol to stay straight, but I keep it in the sterile wrapping so I could hand them to some one who needs them, and they won't think it's a drug or poisoned. But if this were purely personal use, an extremely tiny bag for the two pills would save space enough for something else. Doubt there's room for a Photon in the smaller kit, but the larger kit would accomodate one easily if I took out the whiistle or lighter.
 

PhantomZ

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i say leave out the rubber bands because they will get old, crack or get kinda sticky with age. the leatherman is good but bulky (i have a micra on my keychain for over 8 years now). maybe to be able to have more items with still more room left over, maybe try replacing the leatherman with a couple sealed razers, one of those tweezers+toothpick from a swiss knife, those military can opener/pry thing (there was a long list of stuff you can use it for, including scratching as itch), couple waterproof matches. and.... iuno.. cant think of anything right now. maybe i'll add some more ideas later?
 

ugrey

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Add 2 wire twist ties, 2 plastic locking cable wraps, two safety pins, a razor blade, a P38 can opener and sustitute dental floss for the thread. It is much stronger.
 

Manzerick

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The more I think about it...I use to do this with a Tic Tac container when I was very young (maybe 7-8)


Always a button (no clue why?) a dime for a phone call, matches cut down to fit, thread and a needle..

Not real useful but I had the EDC idea as a "YOUTE" :)
 

soapy

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AlexSchira said:
Hardest part is just getting the wrapped Tylenol to stay straight, but I keep it in the sterile wrapping so I could hand them to some one who needs them, and they won't think it's a drug or poisoned.
So if Tylenol isn't a drug, why is it in there? :lolsign:

It's a good idea. I've got a bought one, somewhere. I don't even know where it is, though. My EDC doesn't include a lot of stuff, like bandages and the like, since I'm too urban. A plaster is as far as it goes, and that's part of the SAK Champ I EDC on my belt. Also has a compass, 2 safety pins, two lock picks, a sharpening stone and some matches. I also carry the Zipka+, moulded earplugs and a leatherman, plus a load of junk in my pockets.

Last time I cleared them out, I found a USB thumbdrive, several spent shell casing, tap washers, 10mm coach bolts, tissues and towelette things from KFC (very handy) and some very sticky sweets. Can you guess which of those prompted the clear-out?
 

pathalogical

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ugrey said:
Add 2 wire twist ties, 2 plastic locking cable wraps, two safety pins, a razor blade, a P38 can opener and sustitute dental floss for the thread. It is much stronger.
Speaking of twist ties...has anyone noticed how kids toys are packaged ? They have several pieces of plastic coated wire holding the toy securely in the box. Depending on the size of the toy, the more wire you might get. This definitely should replace the thin-wire-wrapped-in-paper twist ties, that usually pricks your finger like a syringe.
 

IanJ

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I did something conceptually similar, but a bit bigger. I went out and got myself one of those cheap mini-Pelican cases, the 1010, and filled it with first-aid stuff. It's not really complete, but this is what I've got in there so far:

* ibuprofen (brown pills)
* Tylenol (white pills)
* diphenhydramine allergy tablets
* Tums
* 3 2x2" compresses
* 2 knuckle bandages
* 2 fingertip bandages
* 7 large bandages (1x3")
* 4 medium bandages (.75x3")
* 4 neosporin packets
* 2 wet ones wipes

It really needs some tape, some safety pins, and probably other stuff. I carry scissors, flashlight and knife on my belt, so they're not necessary to the kit. If I was making it more general purpose, such as I might hand off to someone else to use, it would include little tweezers (it could use those anyway), small folding scissors, a small knife, and a little flashlight, like an Arc AAA.

There's still space in the box, but if I add much more stuff, opening and closing it will become a real adventure. I made up the kit because I realized I had a bunch of supplies left over from making a motorcycle first aid kit, and it'd be nice to have a little kit with me. So far, I've made use of it exactly once, yesterday, to bandage a hangnail that started bleeding. (I'm such a wuss :p)

kit1.jpg


kit2.jpg
 
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pathalogical

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Alex,
An improvement for your duct tape on a toothpick could be a Classic Bic pen cut to size slightly longer than the width of the tape. If you cap both ends (one end is already capped with a blue thingy) you could keep needle/pins in the hollow portion of the pen, or what ever else may fit in.

An alternate to the Altoids tin could be the math geometry set box readily available at the office supply store. Larger in size, about 7" x 3" x 1" thick would be ideal for knapsacks. I used one to make a guitar repair kit with some small tools in it.
 

HEY HEY ITS HENDO

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Great thread guys!! :) neat idea IanJ .. you`ve prompted me to assemble something similar with first aid kit in ....


AlexSchira said:
my apartment is littered with little odds and ends that make people wonder if I'm still waiting for Y2K. I'm not a paranoid, I'm just too lazy to clean up
Alex, join the club mate!! when my brother called in one time he said "My garage is tidier than this house"...of course i won`t own up to being lazy it`s just that there are a zillion things more interesting to do instead :laughing:
 
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