2013/10/20

My belt kit

For about the last four years or so, I've been wearing a Tatonka Travel Waistbelt equipped with some basic (survival) gear.

The general idea came after I had built an Altoids kit, but decided that I didn't really want to carry a tin in my pant pocket (I wear jeans at work most of the time, so no cargo pockets available). Another major influence was a review on Equipped To Survive about the discontinued Belt Pro Survival Kit.

The Tatonka belt itself is really sturdy, and although the buckle is made of plastic, it never failed me. Mine is black, and thus really goes with almost anything. The only occasions I don't wear it are when I have to wear a suit for work, or if I go for a run. For those few suit days I even bought a leather money belt, but there is yet no kit in it.

The zippered compartment of the belt has about 2.5 x 45 cm (1 x 17.7 inches) of space available, so I was able to cram some useful items in there (wrapped in several small zipper bags):

  • a thin ferro rod (ca. 4 cm / 1.6 inches long) with a thin piece of steel as a striker
  • three safety pins
  • needle and ca. 50 cm / 20 inches of black, heavy duty thread
  • a tiny button compass (to find the general direction)
  • white nylon cord (ca. 50 cm / 20 inches)
  • a small fishing kit (four hooks, two split shots, two swivels, and some fishing line)
  • a Tinder Quik cut in several thin pieces
  • two zipper freezer bags (1 liter)
  • ten Katadyn Micropur forte water purification tablets
  • small strip of duct tape 
  • a scalpel blade (#20)
  • cash

More than once I thought about ditching the fishing kit, but then again it doesn't really take up that much space, so what the hell. I tested the freezer bags after the first two years, and they were still intact and didn't leak. The purification tablets had to be taken from their original blister and wrapped in aluminum foil to fit in the belt, so I don't really know if they suffered from that. But I guess if I should ever get in a survival situation and had to choose between dehydration or drinking water that might not have been perfectly purified, I'd go for it.

So far I only had to use the safety pins once, and three or four times I was more than happy to have some extra cash on me.

All in all I really like the idea of having this (extra) stuff on me without noticing it, and I have to admit that I feel kind of naked when I have to leave it at home...


UPDATE (10/28/13):

So I checked out the purification tablets in my belt, and I guess they should remain in their original packaging: back then I had wrapped them in aluminum foil, put that in a small zipper bag and taped that shut. When I opened it the other day, I found that the foil disintegrated and more or less crumbled to dust. Needless to say, the whole bundle went right into the garbage, and now I carry five tablets in their original blister, inside another small zipper bag. I'll keep you posted how they hold up inside the belt.

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