Coleman Survival Kit Review

Overall 5.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

Russ
Marietta, GA

It can be a life saver...no, really, it can be a life saver.

Hiker, outdoorsman, nature lover

Pros

Well stocked, Nice case, Fire

Cons

Price

AUG

2007

When it comes to things like survival kits and first aid kits, I'm kind of a hard-case. I always find something to bit...gripe about, but the Coleman Survival Kit comes about as close as it can to making me happy. I usually put the 'ingredient list' at the end, but I'm going to put it here first and then get into it.

Adhesive bandages
3 Gauze pads
3 Alcohol pads
3 Antiseptic pads
1 moleskin
1 needle
Foldable, stainless-steel scissors
Emergency blanket
Emergency poncho
2 Travel Towels
Signal whistle
Thermometer/compass, ziper pull
2 Glow sticks
Waterproof matches (two boxes)

First the bandages. There's a pretty good assortment here, including a knuckle bandage. The mole skin is also a nice touch. I have an almost pathological need to fiddle with the bandage assortment in pre-packaged varieties, but I haven't had to touch this one.

The needle is a genius idea. I have never had a kit with one, and I haven't had to use it, but now that I've seen it I know that no survival kit is complete without one. And forget the Rambo self-suture project; I can think of a bunch of uses without ever puncturing myself.

Emergency blanket and emergency poncho are pretty standard issue, and that's good enough. The zipper pull compass/thermometer is also in the good enough category. In an emergency you really only need a "which way is town compass". Fancier than that won't be much help for the emergency rig, and might confuse some people.

The signal whistle is a plain old coaches whistle. (I hope that gets the point across.) I would replace this with "The World's Loudest Whistle" (reviewed separately). The glow sticks are a great idea, as they can be used to signal at night,even if you can't get a fire going. The waterproof matches are an important inclusion, as well, even if I do already keep a cigarette lighter in every pack that I might take into the woods.

Summary: This is probably the best pre-assembled survival kit I've seen. the only thing I'd change is to get the aforementioned whistle, then add an extra poncho and blanket, and maybe ten feet of string.