Originally Posted By misplayedhand:
I've made a few.  This is the one I've kept.  The last time I visited it was 2017.  Given the size restriction I'm still fine with the contents.  Everything is pretty self explanatory except for maybe the yellow Kevlar string. 

https://imgpond.novarata.net/uploads/2018/02/Altoids Survival Tin.JPG

https://imgpond.novarata.net/uploads/2018/02/Exploded.JPG

Originally Posted By Burncycle:
The more I think about distributing the contents of what you would typically find in a tin on your person to supplement your EDC,  the more the Wazoo Cache belt starts to make sense as a modern altoids tin: to carry nice to have but rarely accessed emergency items.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sRaqUBvato

First and foremost I think I'd want whirl pak bags and some water purification tablets... but after that the possibilities are endless.  Tinder quik, some band aids, anti-septic and antibiotic packets, a pair of nitrile gloves, mosquito headnet...  and of course plenty of space for backup documents when traveling or a little extra cash, backup car or house key...

I may have to pick one up and experiment with it a bit.

Fishing hook/line:   makes no sense to me. In a survival situation where I am, I am not going to be spending time trying to fish. There's very few natural fish, and most fishable waterways are stocked. So encountering a stream/lake/etc intl the middle of the woods prob isn't gonna have very much as far as fish. Further more, last time I went fishing at a PRIVATE STOCKED lake, with an actual fishing pole and lures, spent 8 hrs and caught nothing. To me it just doesn't seem like a very lucrative use of time/energy.

Originally Posted By Burncycle:
A clever use for those little safety pins that come in a lot of survival kits...

A little speedhook!

Quoted:
As described in the earlier post, my first tin back in the day was a pro force "SAS Survival Tin" and it brought me back to my boy scout days. As a kid in high school I couldn't afford a lot, but I knew I could do better, so it was a fun hobby to slowly replace things in the tin with better, smaller items.   I wanted something that could get me through even if I had nothing else, and while I knew I couldn't stuff a shelter in it, I could at least carry the tools to help make one.  The wire saw? Tossed it -- took up too much space in 3 dimensions coiled up. Replaced it with a pocket saw, which lay flat and wasn't so easy to break.

Man, it was thick enough I had no choice but to carry it in a cargo pocket unless I wanted some sort of belt pouch, and so heavy that it bounced against my knee uncomfortably when walking.  Theory meets reality!  

So it evolved over the years.  Instead of choosing a container and trying to figure out how much I could stuff into it, I instead decided what minimum items I wanted to bring to supplement what I'm likely to have on me (EDC) rather than stand-alone (something Rock touched on), and something easier to carry.  Water ended up being what drove the size of the container -- I wanted 1 liter whirl-pak bags so I didn't have to split water purification tablets, but I didn't want to fold and crease them, I wanted to roll them.  The width of these bags was perfect to fit into the SAS sized tin when rolled up, but it didn't carry well.    Eventually I discovered some gift card tins that were the same width and length as the SAS tin, but shallower -- the same depth as an Altoids tin.    To spread the weight, I divided it up into primary and supplementary kits, the supplementary kit carried a lot of the "nice to have" items.  Each one is lighter and thin enough to fit fine in any pocket.

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So, here are the two kits compared to an altoids tin (both are vacuum sealed for added water resistance, but they also have electrical tape around the perimeter and transversely to help take the pressure off the tape on the edge)

https://i.imgur.com/1QTrxmL.jpg

Contents of the Primary tin.  There are 2x 1 liter whirl-pak bags rolled up with an index card wrapped around to help provide abrasion resistance, along with 12x chlorine dioxide based purification tablets.  My EDC light is a Streamlight Microstream and I did want to include a spare AAA battery -- but if I didn't have the light for some reason I didn't want a useless item in the kit, so the battery carrier is a Fenix E01 flashlight giving 16.5 hrs of regulated output (albiet only 13 lumens). The bobby pin is included so I can clip it onto the brim of my hat if I need to use it as a headlamp hands free.

https://i.imgur.com/Ir953BN.jpg


The cord is "Lash-it" dyneema, ~500 lbs test.  It doesn't stretch nearly as much as Paracord and there's enough for a small ridgeline, bow saw, etc.  I also use two loops of it for the pocket saw handles.  They held up really well.

https://i.imgur.com/D2lN2yN.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/7nMDgNL.jpg


I did want a backup knife. I used to advocate for a fixed blade, but given the size constraints you'd either have to compromise on the handle length or blade length. I figured I could just make the handle in the field, no big deal... but once I actually tried it (with the little RSK shown), it sucked. It took way longer than I thought, wasn't particularly comfortable, and was a pain to do, and that assumed I had the time to do it and didn't hurt myself in the process.  Without an improvised handle, the little knife cramped up my hand when doing a variety of tasks you'd expect of it.  Better than nothing, and of course I can't knock it given it's price point, but in the process the edge really suffered and didn't want to cut paper by the end of the few hours testing.  

I compared it to the SOG Access Card 2.0 as another contender for a PSK tin knife because it's very flat, comfortable in the hand, and the lock style is nice and strong (I'm a bit paranoid about folders folding up on my fingers).   It's not exactly a fair comparison given the price point difference, but it did do better in all respects. It was more comfortable and held it's edge throughout the testing. I did break the tip (not surprising, hardness has it's drawbacks) but I wanted to see it's limits. Satisfied in general I ended up buying another.

https://i.imgur.com/VVP8Udw.png

https://i.imgur.com/hKMHHek.png

The carbide sharpener might prove useful cleaning up a wrecked edge in a pinch, and is an amazing ferro rod striker, so I cut it down and put it in the kit. I took the saw off a multi-tool and threw in a bolt and wing nut, because it took up very little room and gave it another purpose. It's a bit aggressive, but works okay for notching and other light work.

https://i.imgur.com/khqgfor.jpg


The little fishing kit has some bait, some circle hooks for unattended fishing, and some J hooks for hand line fishing.  I included some high strength test fishing line (50 or 65 lbs, something along those lines) for fishing, light lashing, etc.  Also a couple of speedhooks.

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The supplementary kit has some nice to have stuff for booboos and hygiene.  

https://i.imgur.com/7kJQH8N.jpg


The Esbit tab is there as a sort of kindling to compliment the Tinder Quik if conditions call for it.  Black thing to the left is a mosquito headnet vacuum sealed.  I hate bugs, so that and the bug repellent was something I definitely wanted to include. I've _never_ had those bug repellent wipes not leak all over the contents of the tin and stink it up, so I vacuum sealed them separately and carry them on the outside of the tin (which itself is vacuum sealed in it's own little pouch) to keep it all together.  I combined 4-6 electrolyte pouches into two to reduce the volume they took up.  The straws contain gold-bond powder, the thought being I could use the Hoo-Ahh towels for a field bath at the end of the day and then powder up at night so I'm not chafing the next day. The little one has some anti-fungal cream which can be used like Bordeauxs butt paste, combined it'll help stave off swamp ass working in the Southeastern humidity for a few days.

To be fair, this was put together a few days after being inspired by some military / E&E oriented kits, a situation I'm unlikely to ever find myself in!  

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Speaking of EDC, when I'm out on the boat for the department or just enjoying the outdoors on a dayhike I generally have an IFAK in one pocket and an emergency shelter in the other in the form of a Palmer style furnace when the conditions are such that hypothermia is a risk.  This is so if I ever get separated from my main bag, at least I have something.  They're vacuum sealed and curved a bit so they're form-fitting to the leg in the cargo pocket.  In addition, I'll normally keep a little roll-up water bag (like a Platypus or Evernew bag) in the same cargo pocket as the shelter.

https://i.imgur.com/fgVV9AS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/mLzwH2d.jpg


The Palmer Furnace is just an altoids tin sized container (without the hinge holes so I could fill it further) with some beeswax in there. I used beeswax because it burns hot, pretty clean and has a higher melting point so it's less likely to melt all over the contents than something like a tea-candle.  During spring and fall the days are pretty hot, but the nights get chilly.  This particular thing burns about 5 hours in testing.  The poncho is like a reflective and mildly tear resistant type of emergency blanket.  The inflatable pad isn't insulated but does keep you up off the wet ground, and the rubber bands are there to close the poncho arm holes while you're sitting there leaned up against something. We don't get a lot of snow where I'm at in the Southeast, but it does get bitter cold.

https://i.imgur.com/kEwdnRC.jpg

My only test to date was on the back porch during freezing drizzling rain -- the temp was right at 32f.  The interior stayed about mid 80s.  Other than the prospects of sitting in that position for hours, I was surprised at how well it worked.  I was wearing a light softshell (Condor Summit) which is not nearly warm enough for the ambient temp on it's own, along with a watch cap.  The only parts that got a little cold were the bits right up against the poncho (knees, toes primarily) but certainly nothing life threatening,  and while my clothes weren't soaked I do plan on re-testing it under those conditions.  

https://i.imgur.com/koT8yBF.jpg

The rationale came after some calls we had on the river in adverse weather --  we aren't deep in the wilderness, but backup could be more than an hour away so if we ended up going in the water for whatever reason I wanted something I could keep on my person to stave off hypothermia, since I'd likely be separated from my main bag that's on the boat.  Luckily there are very few dead zones that we couldn't get out either with cell or fire radio, but I do have a PLB on my PFD, along with a little vacuum sealed flare that could be used for fire starting in addition to the usual bells and whistles (signal mirror, whistle, strobe, SOL emergency blanket,  etc).

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There are tons of ways to carry a bit of backup emergency gear, of course a tin is only one of them -- it's nice that it helps reduce the risk of crushing and damaging the objects, but there are a lot of other options like a fanny pack, belt pouch, chest pack and so on that would do just as well.  As always, having it with you when you need it is key.

Ankle E/E kit.