Topic: What's in your bail-out bag (ditch bag, whatever)? — Adventure Canoe

This topic has 9 voices, contains 25 replies, and was last updated by paddleplacid 386 days ago.

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November 25, 2009 at 8:19 pm #33307
canoelover	Bail Out Bag Contents Clothing Fleece pants Fleece sweater Stocking cap (wool) Wind Shirt Socks and Dry Socks Water Shoes Long underwear bottoms (2) Long underwear top Hand towel Shelter Orange bivy bag Mosquito netting Emergency Bag (orange) Candle Lighter Matches Parachute cord Knife Water purification tablets Need to Add Before Heading Out: Headlamp / Flashpght Quick energy food Water bottle Signal Mirror / Compass
November 29, 2009 at 7:37 pm #33308
Dennis	Some fishing line and a couple of hooks don’t take up a lot of room. You could fish or make a snare. At least it gives you something to do while you are waiting to be rescued.
November 29, 2009 at 8:52 pm #33309
canoelover	Good idea adding the fishhooks and line (maybe a few Daredevil spoons). I can’t catch fish, but the illusion of having that ability might be useful. :-) Darren
December 1, 2009 at 8:00 am #33310
Dennis	I was thinking the same thing when suddenly it occurred to me that a banjo would be a good addition for the very same reason.
December 1, 2009 at 10:17 am #33311
crow	Dennis – 2 hours ago » I was thinking the same thing when suddenly it occurred to me that a banjo would be a good addition for the very same reason. And it could double up as a spare paddle…
December 1, 2009 at 5:03 pm #33312
natecanoes	Banjo music and canoing…….hmmm I think their was a movie with those things in it. Deliverance, thats it.
December 1, 2009 at 5:24 pm #33313
James	Bailout bag additions: Sleeveless wetsuit top Compound bow Arrows Huge watch with compass Sorry, you guys started it…
December 1, 2009 at 6:41 pm #33314
Bryan Hansel	When thinking about putting together a ditch bag, I came up with two concerns that a ditch bag must address: It has to be small enough to be on my person in the event that I lose my canoe/kayak and gear. As the Coast Guard says, if it’s not on you, you don’t have it. It must contain everything I need to survive until I’m rescued. When I’m on the water, I’m wearing my lifevest. On my lifevest, I have: A knife. Whistle. Compass (in the pocket). Strobe light. VHF radio. When I’m guiding kayaking or paddling with others, I attach a 50′ towline to my vest. When on big water, I’ll carry 3 hand-held flares in my vest’s pocket. Additional items that I carry on some trips if I think there may be a chance that I’ll lose my boat, which I think is highly unlikely (and that belief makes these discussions somewhat academic for me). These can be carried in pockets or in a hydration pack attached to the back of my lifevest: Fire-making equipment, like waterproof matches. Pocket-sized first aid kit. Includes steri-strips, band-aids, duct tape, and small magnifying lens. Signaling mirror. Map. 30′ cordage. Emergency blanket. Way to carry water. This small kit allows me to accomplish everything I should be doing until rescuers show up: Address first aid needs. Start a fire. Make a shelter. Signal rescuers. The only thing I think I’m missing is a way to purify water–unless I can boil water in a hydration pack. I’ve never tried, but it should work. On remote trips, I just don’t lose my gear or boat.
December 1, 2009 at 10:00 pm #33315
natecanoes	Remember that grabbing your ditch bag in an emergency is like remembering to buckle your seat belt before the car that ran the red light hits you. I’ve capsized and it happens quick. Food I don’t feel is a necessity, and not to offend but even fishing gear I feel is a waste of time. It would be a good way to keep occupied and have some nice fish for dinner, but you can always eat cattails. Water now, I do feel is a necessity, but if help is within a couple days I wouldn’t worry about filtering. I would prefer boiling of course but if I couldn’t I would drink it anyway. My most precious item is my knife. I like fire too, so I carry matches on me. The ditch box is stuff that would make the whole experince far better but it pays to remember you may not even have that stuff. The further out you get, the more important the stuff you bring with becomes. Like Bryan says, you just can’t let it happen. If put into a bad situation where I was separated from my boat in the wilderness, I can’t see myself swimming to shore while it was floating away. I would get it back or die trying. After all, my beer is in there.
December 9, 2009 at 12:33 pm #33316
Bryan Hansel	I ended up blogging about this topic. You should read it here.
May 2, 2011 at 12:16 pm #33317
paddleplacid	Lots of great suggestions in the above posts. I came across self-lighting (sulphur-tipped) chunks of wax-sawdust firestarter. Fire and a stainless steel cup will probably be the most important items in extreme survival. We can do without food for 40 days but warmth and water are critical, and with fire and a tin cup water can be boiled to kill pathogens (and to cook in;) and fire can be used to signal. A small butane lighter is a true gift from God because I find no matter how well-packaged waterproof matches are they usually come up short, either they absorb humidity from the air or their striker- surface does, but the emergency lighter should be waterproofed to prevent rust making it useless. A compass is only so-so important if we are in a to-be-rescued situation as we are told to stay put in that situation, but of course a compass can also prevent a rescue situation if used properly. I always wear a strong knife on my belt. A hat can be critical to warmth and avoiding sunstroke. Bug repellant is essential in bug season. Good space blankets are now much stronger than the old ones and can be used for emergency shelters, and a little guy-line cord goes a long ways in the bush, someone mentioned parachute cord and that’s great stuff and can be used to fish with so fishing line isn’t as important but doesn’t take up much space .. a few fishooks baited with whatever’s found under rocks are preferable to lures in an emergency pack. Actually, almost all of my survival stuff fits into my PFD pockets or in a waterproofed pouch sewn onto the back of my PFD .. I’d love to find a collapsible, flat-packing stainless steel mug.