The Wallet Survival Kit
Recently I did a post on my every day carry. I had just updated a few things. In that post I also mentioned a wallet "survival kit". You're obviously not going to be able to fit everything you need into your wallet but you can definitely carry enough to give you an advantage if you ever get stuck in a situation where you're between you and your preps. I've been messing around with the idea and have come up with a few items that are so small that they're practically unnoticeable.
Everyone knows that the one tool you really need if you ever get caught on your own is a knife. Most of the knives that I've seen that fit into a wallet tend to be very small. They're just a small, maybe 1-2" knife with a full tang and no handle. Such a small knife has limited functionality. So instead of paying a ton of money for what would amount to a novelty I just dug around in my knife drawer and pulled out a gun show special folder. I took it apart and was left with a 3" blade that fit neatly in my wallet.
With a little ingenuity you can make a pretty effective fixed blade out of it. I'll do a post about how I made that with just the items in my wallet later. I also want to see how the handle holds up to some light duty. It's not as good as a quality fixed blade. Hell, it's not even as good as a decent folder but it makes a decent backup in case you were to lose or break your "real" knife. If you didn't have anything else it would certainly be better than nothing.
As you can see from the pic above I also carry about 20 feet of string wrapped around a business card. I need to tape a few needles and fish hooks to the card. The string is a bit too thick to sew with but it's strong enough to be very useful for light duty tie downs and stuff like that. If you needed to build a shelter, tie down some gear or wrap the handle of an improvised fixed blade knife it will do the trick.
As for the rest of the "kit" it's pretty straightforward. I took the diamond sharpener off of one of those Smith's Pocket Pal Multifunction Sharpeners
. It unscrews easily and disappears in your wallet. It makes a handy knife and hook sharpener or you can use it as a file. I also carry a small flint that I removed from a magnesium firestarter. I always like to have a few extra receipts on me in case I need some tinder. Just a few days ago there was a great post over at Bug-Out Survival about some wallet sized firestarters. As soon as I can get my hands on a couple of them I'll be slipping them into my wallet. I also carry about 10-20 feet of duct tape wrapped around a credit card. Besides that it's just the normal stuff...cash, credit cards and an emergency contact card with phone numbers of friends and family.
Do you carry anything unusual survival related stuff in your wallet? Do you have any ideas to improve mine? Let me know what you think.
Everyone knows that the one tool you really need if you ever get caught on your own is a knife. Most of the knives that I've seen that fit into a wallet tend to be very small. They're just a small, maybe 1-2" knife with a full tang and no handle. Such a small knife has limited functionality. So instead of paying a ton of money for what would amount to a novelty I just dug around in my knife drawer and pulled out a gun show special folder. I took it apart and was left with a 3" blade that fit neatly in my wallet.
With a little ingenuity you can make a pretty effective fixed blade out of it. I'll do a post about how I made that with just the items in my wallet later. I also want to see how the handle holds up to some light duty. It's not as good as a quality fixed blade. Hell, it's not even as good as a decent folder but it makes a decent backup in case you were to lose or break your "real" knife. If you didn't have anything else it would certainly be better than nothing.
As you can see from the pic above I also carry about 20 feet of string wrapped around a business card. I need to tape a few needles and fish hooks to the card. The string is a bit too thick to sew with but it's strong enough to be very useful for light duty tie downs and stuff like that. If you needed to build a shelter, tie down some gear or wrap the handle of an improvised fixed blade knife it will do the trick.
As for the rest of the "kit" it's pretty straightforward. I took the diamond sharpener off of one of those Smith's Pocket Pal Multifunction Sharpeners
. It unscrews easily and disappears in your wallet. It makes a handy knife and hook sharpener or you can use it as a file. I also carry a small flint that I removed from a magnesium firestarter. I always like to have a few extra receipts on me in case I need some tinder. Just a few days ago there was a great post over at Bug-Out Survival about some wallet sized firestarters. As soon as I can get my hands on a couple of them I'll be slipping them into my wallet. I also carry about 10-20 feet of duct tape wrapped around a credit card. Besides that it's just the normal stuff...cash, credit cards and an emergency contact card with phone numbers of friends and family. Do you carry anything unusual survival related stuff in your wallet? Do you have any ideas to improve mine? Let me know what you think.
Comments
I like your idea of re-using the cheap knife - there are also wallet-sized multi-tools that are about credit card sized - can get them for around $5 and they have a blade, saw, can/bottle opener, etc.
You could also put in a condom (non-lubricated or spermicidal) or folded up plastic bag to transport water.
You could stash away a couple antiseptic wipes, a small foil-pouch of triple antibiotic, or something like that, too.
I like your site!
Leon
Check out my site at survivalcommonsense.com!
Be prepared!
Leon