Make an Altoids Tin Survival Kit

Learn how to make a pocket survival kit.

The Altoids tin survival kit is a small piece of a larger survival project, and it is by no means all you should carry for survival!!! But you need to have something in your pockets, in the event you are separated from your gear. (See related story.)
In January, 2007, I asked the late Dr. Jim Grenfell of Bend to help develop a survival kit that would fit into a standard Altoids mint tin. This pocket kit would be limited in size to an Altoids tin, and weigh about five ounces. (That’s about what an iPod weighs, or my wallet, depending on which side of payday we’re on!)
An incessant tinker, Grenfell, was also an Air Force combat veteran and graduate of three Air Force wilderness survival schools. I made an Altoid kit, too, and for the next several months, we added and subtracted gear, and tested, researched and refined the final kits.
The result is here.