Personal pocket kit - PPK

[essdee1972]

TC da, I have one Zippo, period! Collecting zippos as well as other stuff would not only put a strain on the ol' bank account, but also subject me to better half's non-verbal missiles. A brass Zippo hitting one's head is not a joke!!

Brigadier sahib, duct tape is from amazon (delivered at a relative's place in the US, shipping is the killer here). Also available on ebay. But amazon had the "made in US" stuff. Ebay, you just can't be sure!

Brihaji, online wisdom suggests that making a "bespoke" kit is better than buying "off the rack". E.g. all readymade kits contain fishing stuff. Now, the only thing I can do with a fish is cook and eat. So carrying hooks and lines isn't of much use to me. I'd rather carry a pack of those oatmeal cookies with nuts and all. Plus many of the kits are made (as are all things made by any compnay nowadays) with a "cost cutting" agenda. Would you really like to be stuck with a Guangdong-made LED torch which refuses to work for more than 5 minutes?

Having said that, the Coghlan's is one of the most respected brands in outdoors, and any kit made by them is worth a dekko. If available offline, I would certainly like to check it out.

As for online suggestions, most sites which have ideas on EDC / survival / go-bag etc. are the "zombie apocalypse" type of sites. If you leave the zombie and the political part aside (well, most do support RKBA/2nd A), so they are in some way our brothers-in-arms), the suggestions are very good in most cases. You just need to translate the availability and cost from US to India. Just type SHTF and TEOTWAWKI in google and you will have a few hundred thousand hits.

[TC]

TC da, I have one Zippo, period! Collecting zippos as well as other stuff would not only put a strain on the ol' bank account, but also subject me to better half's non-verbal missiles. A brass Zippo hitting one's head is not a joke!!

Completely agree. Well, I have managed to hide seven in my locker Bought six of them. The most precious however is the seventh, a steel one that served in Vietnam for three years with an US Army doctor who gave it me as parting gift in the late 80s. But lets keep zippos aside for another.
thread.

I completely agree with you Essdee on shortcomings of the ready to use packs. Most of the stuff in these packs are cheap Chinese copies of the original Chinese stuff

TC

[fantumfan2003]

Now that the kit is sorted out, the experten should show us newbies use of the items. Ofcourse newbies can figure out how to take a crocin or bruffen and patch up a bandaid, but deffo need instructions on the other stuff.

M.

[airgun_novice]

Essdee where do you get duct tape?

Mango's ? Think I saw something like that there once. Will look up on my next visit. BTW, forgive my ignorance, but what does one do with Vaseline soaked cotton ? ... and more so Vaselin soaked cotton in drinking tubes ???

On my road trips (with or without family), I carry a postman style (but vertical) brown cloth bag that I sling across.

The main compartment has a spare set of clothes (Tee + kerchief + a pair of undies + an old pair of shorts), a normal two AA battery torch, cell phone charger, my medicines and a book plus glasses and sometimes the camera with its charger and batteries. It also carries my MH state Map Book (published by Samarth Prakashan) in case I am driving in MH.

The outer top compartment contains comb, ball-pen, couple of ear buds, the "silver" (aluminium) foil that you get out of Rs. 10 Cadbury bar, diabetes medicine and ibuprofane tablets and small tubes of Vicco Turmeric ointment and Dabur toothpaste and 2-3 tapes of Band Aid.

The side "cell phone" pocket carries a plastic bottle of Parachute oil and sometimes (if the trip is longer) a white thread reel with a needle pushed into the cardboard.

The front lower and bigger pocket carries printouts of directions, handmade notes/ maps etc. plus some petty cash in currency notes. Sometimes the medicines join them here.

The car carries a 500ml bottle each of car engine oil, coolant, transmission oil, plus the tire changing tools. Now I have an emergency compressor which will join them. Inside I have a big Taparia screw driver in the right compartment of the door and a candle and a box of matches in the glove. Now I have added a kripan/ dagger (Made in PRC but purchased outside the Golden Temple in the religious relics shop) to the assembly.

Earlier I used to carry a camp-ax which has been my companion from the US days which also doubles as a hammer. This I did not carry during my most recent Thane-NCR-Thane 3000+ km drive. I didn't miss it.

I seldom eat during my long drives and seldom ate during the 29- (Thane-NCR) and 30- (NCR-Thane) hr drives but still carry a dozen bananas, some non-squishy fruit like orange or apple for a trip that goes over 6-hr drive. A tea or coffee here and there serves me fine. Always carry 2-3 lt water out of which I lt is kept aside separately for "emergencies". More if family accompanies. I often have a couple of plastic bags handy - never had to use them and a Solapuri chaddar folded on the back seat in lieu of blanket since I have a high tolerance for cold. My EDC is a plain old Indian folder with 2.25" blade.

But thanks to lanceman, essdee1972 and brihji's flipkart product link, I shall now get better organized.

regs
A.

[Lanceman]

The coghlans, though a respected brand, is full of stuff that most of us do not need. We are highly unlikely to be stranded in the Arctic to require much of the stuff they pack. Besides, the coghlans comes in a sealed can like those old sardine cans, once opened, I wonder if it can be re-used?
IMHO, best assemble your own,based on your needs. Basic meds, superglue, needle with floss, small SAK or surgical blade, is the core. Build around that.
The golden rule, again IMHO, is that the size should be such that it fits in a pocket while outdoors. Fundamentally, if you don't have it, you can't use it!

[essdee1972]

AGN, whatta kit, man!!

Vaseline soaked cotton, by the way, is a firestarter. It can start with a spark from a magnesium or ferro-cerium rod which Lanceman carries (or even a spark from an empty Zippo lighter). Unlike camphor, which needs half a minute or so of a lighted match being held to it, this lights up immediately. Stuffed in a drinking straw and sealed at both ends with aforementioned Zippo and pressure, it keeps the damned petroleum jelly from spreading itself all over your other stuff. (read the part in "Three Men in a Boat" about paraffin - hilarious!!)

In the car, I have something slightly bigger:

Self Defense (or whatever):
[*]Cold Steel Bushman (under my seat)
[*]2 pepper spray cans (in the "magazine holders" on the doors, I had 4, wife took 2 for her car)
[*]Cold Steel Sjambok (behind the rear seats)
[*]Defunct trekking pole (between gear shift and driver's seat).

Some more meds, including gauze, adhesive crepe bandages, and the 3M micropore in 1/2 & 1 inch (in glove compartment).

In boot:
[*]Roll of duct tape
[*]Approx 80 feet paracord
[*]Both foot pump and electric pump for tyres
[*]One of the emergency "spray" type air tanks
[*]1 L engine oil
[*]Spare old bedsheet with loops sewn on one side (for the times I need to carry a 60 kilo Rottweiler in the back seat, and don't want to pick out dog hairs from the seat the next day!!)
[*]Tarp
[*]Standard OEM toolkit and spare tyre and stuff, plus a set of screwdrivers and wrenches
[*]Car vacuum cleaner (emergencies also consist of a bag of chips or bhelpuri emptied all over the seat/floor!!)

Glove box:
[*]A coupla lighters (the 10-buck Chinese stuff I get from my local ciggie-wallah, one in glocve box and one in the place below the hand brake lever).
[*]Skil multitool (looks like the Leatherman stuff)
[*]A larger torch
[*]A funny tool combining torch, flashing lights, siren, and seatbelt cutters
[*]The Buck X-Tract

Fire extinguisher (under front passenger seat - the Tatas have thoughtfully provided a pull-out tray there).

Need to add:
[*]Other oils for the car
[*]Jumper cables are highly recommended by everyone, but what is the possibility of a driver in India stopping for a stranded motorist, far less allow him to jump start his car using their battery?

Any suggestions are most welcome!!

[brihacharan]

Hi Guys,
> This PPK thread is very interesting indeed...
> Come to think of it - How many of us travel without even giving the slightest of thought in carrying a PPK with us?
> One thing for sure - apart from having it with you & not having the need to use it on short journeys - The confidence it gives you on your travels is "Worth" more than its weight in gold
Briha

[DAN]

Lols I live in the western ghats region and visit places that if something happens u remain stranded for days or till You find help. There is always the danger of the jeep breaking down in the jungle roads and due to stresses of off-roading.
I carry nothing else but a hookbill machete called "lang", a pocket knife and a bottle of water and obviously the clothes which I would have worn.
Seeing how you guys carry all this stuff makes me seriously think that I should prepare for unforeseen contingencies.

[Lanceman]

Do that Dan, but make sure you don't lose sight of the "pocket" part. Moment you start putting in crow bar, tyre lever, pneumatic rock breaker (just joking); it then doesn't fit in your pocket and then you don't have it when you need it. Essdee has a great concept, separate your PPK and car kits, keeps things manageable and, more important, available.

[essdee1972]

Most of the "survival" sites out there have this concept of "layering".

Layer one: pocket carry (pocket knife, tiny torch, etc.), including CCWs (with the necessary legal papers), etc.
Layer two: EDC bag (laptop bag or similar), with a small pouch / tin / box like I have
Layer three: vehicle (of course, the size of kit you can fit in one of those American monster SUVs and in our little Maruti Alto will differ, but at the very least, water, torch, matches, a little food, and spare clothes can be carried. Raincoats for wet places, and extra warm clothes for the North Indian winters.
Layer four: home or office. Including spare food for the times you can't go shopping 'cause the zombies are lurking around, larger weapons (with the required paperwork), lots of water, etc. etc.......

I forgot, I have a pair of Woodland boots in the car. That is for those occasions when I might have to hoof it. Mumbai has already seen one round of pretty devastating floods, when my better half (and a few million people) had to hoof it for about 15 km through floodwaters (I did the wise thing and stayed in office overnight). Woodlands are just better than the formal Oxfords / Brogues I wear to work, plus they take up a lot of room in the shoe rack at home! Any sneaker / hiking boot would do. Preferably avoid sandals / floaters.

I need to get into the habit of filling the car up when the petrol is halfway down. I have this stupid habit of filling up only when I have enough juice to reach my favourite pump!

[harshit89]

Hello,

That absolutely true that the Camping kits which includes the camping or hunting knives, and other camping accessories are very important to be added to your Bug Out Bag.

[Lanceman]

I have since modified my PPK. Removed the fishing hooks etc. have put in a Swiss Army ruler with compass and thermometer. A tiny (5 rupee type) tube of superglue. Using ranger bands I still have my Boker gnome attached to it. Will repost pics when I can get PPK and phone camera to face off!

[mundaire]

Essdee where do you get duct tape?

I picked up a nice big roll of Made in USA duct tape from Nai Sadak in old Delhi. For those not from Delhi, Nai Sadak is the wholesale stationary market here (pens/ pencils/ diaries/ paper/ books/ etc.).

While purchasing the shopkeeper asked if I was an A/C repairman as they were the only ones who (apparently) buy the stuff from him.

Just mentioning this as the above info may prove to be of some use for you to source it in your own city.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[nagarifle]

105mm in front pocket, goes everywhere

[brihacharan]

105mm in front pocket, goes everywhere

> Up, Down, Back, Front & Sideways
Briha