*Survival in a Sardine Can*
By: Unklebeau
14 October 2009

Well, maybe it is possible, but when I looked and the contents and the price, I figured I could build a better one than that for myself.

The Kit in a sardine can is sealed by a pull tab until you need it. Then all the contents are out in the open with no place to be put except loose in one’s pocket.

My kit in a can uses an Altoids tin can with a lid.

One downside is that the contents are not water proof. But the kit may be opened an item selected and the lid closed up again to hold all the remaining items in one place. In my kit I doubled up on several of the items. I put in a couple tea bags, a couple Band-Aids, and several sheets of paper, plus a couple fishhooks.

I used the pencil to wind on several yards of line for the fishing tackle. Since I want to be efficient, I just chucked the pencil into the cordless drill and wound it on fast.

The Sardine Kit included a razor blade, but that did not seem adequate to me. So I took an old Tiger saw blade and ground it to fit and of proper sharpness. Leave the teeth on the back spine to help scale all those fish you will catch.

When I was at the fast food place, I picked up a couple extra sugar, salt, pepper, and even red pepper flakes. If you use Raman noodles, you can save out the flavor packets and stick that in the kit as well.

Here is the picture and list of contents of my Rubies Kit.

Small compass, saw blade knife, book of matches, two tea bags, two sugars, salt and pepper packets, red pepper flakes, Band-Aids, pencil, paper, fishhook and fish line, four Ibuprofen pain reliever, shiny signal surface on inside of the can. All of my items were scrounged, free, or made by me.

It All Fits!

Admittedly, if one is at the point you’d need this kit one is in deep trouble. But there is a lot of things in it that would help pass a rough patch with a bit more ease. Could you use this to build a shelter, kill a bear, treat a broken limb? Probably not. But a fire, some hot tea or soup, a fishing tackle, and a knife sure might help get you through till morning.
Unklebeau

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