Shelter: Yes, it's important. Generally, unless the plane burns, it will provide pretty decent shelter, unless, of course, you chose to land in a lake.... .

I carry a space blanket type "tarp", which is generally going to be okay, even if the plane isn't usable. And, that lives in my gear bag in the back of the plane, not on my person.

Someone earlier mentioned they keep a sleeping bag in the plane in winter..... Depending on where you fly, you probably should carry some kind of sleeping bag with you ALL year. I've camped in the mountains (at not really high elevation) in mid July, and slept in a winter sleeping bag, and was very comfortable. And, I'm a warm sleeper.

I totally agree with Hammer reference lifeboat matches....they work when wet, and they burn with a great flame for a long time. I carry at least one tube of them on my person, and two packets of the BIG ones in my gear pack in the baggage.

I also carry a butane lighter on my person....and a Blast Match (look it up--great tool) as well.

MTV

From a real world crash experience, I did not need any of my gear but I will say do not store it in a pelican case. I had a pelican case full of tools and gear and it flew out the window when I crashed. Could have hit me in the head but it didn't thankfully. If you do keep anything in your plane either make sure it is secured, use a net of sort or have a softer cased bag for your emergency equipment.

I would swap the case for a backpack, lighter and easier to carry. Make sure you carry a survival kit for your plane also. Good tie down ropes and anchors. You might have a engine issue and make it to a runway but without a way to tie down the plane you could loose it to weather.

Great thread. I'm in your 'survival kit is what you have on the person' club...everything else is camping gear.

I prefer a survival vest for float flying - Mustang makes an excellent, inflatable multi-pocketed survival vest marketed to fly fishers that works great in an aircraft. Google the "MIV10 Inflatable Fishing Vest". Just enough room for the essentials (primarily a mirror, space blanket, lifeboat matches, bugspray, a little first aid, a high-calorie snack and an Inreach) if you need to swim for it. In the winter, i keep the same basics (dropping the bug spray in favour of a few packs of activated carbon hand warmers) in my parka pockets.

Other recommendations - a Mora fixed blade knife is excellent, but consider an upgrade to the Swedish air force survival knife (F1 made by Fallkniven) - it'll take a beating in real bush use, and keeps an edge for days.

Definitely backpack > hard case for the rest of your kit. I use an 30 litre orange dry bag with pack straps. It's soft, floats, easy to see, and holds everything you reasonably need in a pinch.

Finally, consider what's on your feet. Footwear appropriate for the environment will make all the difference.

Play safe out there!

For survival food….a small bag of dog food kibble provides a lot of nutrition in a small amount. It tastes like dog food so you’d really have to be hungry but it’ll do the trick with a long life.

Amodel wrote:For survival food….a small bag of dog food kibble provides a lot of nutrition in a small amount. It tastes like dog food so you’d really have to be hungry but it’ll do the trick with a long life.

I feel like there are countless human-grade options that also check this box, without being dog food.

I'm pretty confident I could eat a Powerbar from 1999 today and be ok, if I was desperate.

I have heard the recommendation of dog food too. Less likely to steal it and then not have it when you really need it. Not sure I would go there.

A Coast Guard trainer recommends a good waterproof tarp first. People can burn up a lot of energy trying to start a fire in wet conditions and get colder and more wet in the process.

If bugs are really bad you need a bug net not just bug dope.

Sleeping bag temperature ratings are based on use with a pad so consider that.

Finally moons ago Gump suggested a good book so you wouldn’t suffer from boredom and try something stupid. Also miss Hammer’s posts. He knows his stuff.

A jar or two of peanut butter (they're light weight plastic nowadays) should be in every northern bound, wanderlust, traveler's 'kit'... whatever that means.

It's as protein, calorie, and fat dense as it gets, and lasts a year without a fridge. wanna go really crazy? go powdered... it'll last 15

Why in the world would any reasonably intelligent human being pack dogfood for human survival, if he wasn't planning on eating the dog?

I always though they should pack a kill switch in the AI thing when they finally turn it loose... Jesus we're gonna need help if the net goes dark with all the more they're teaching today's kids

take care, Rob

A hard hitting, very reliable sidearm. They are butt ugly and have a god awful feeling trigger but a 10mm Glock with a few spare magazines. They aren’t expensive, practically maintenance free and could be the difference between getting food vs. being food.

Mantoga wrote:A hard hitting, very reliable sidearm. They are butt ugly and have a god awful feeling trigger but a 10mm Glock with a few spare magazines. They aren’t expensive, practically maintenance free and could be the difference between getting food vs. being food.

Not so good for preventing "being food", but I'm thinking that for most of us,
a 22 rifle and/or shotgun (or preferably a combo gun like the savage 24) would be better at "getting food" than a 10mm Glock.
Plus more fun for lightweight plinking around camp.

hotrod180 wrote:

Mantoga wrote:A hard hitting, very reliable sidearm. They are butt ugly and have a god awful feeling trigger but a 10mm Glock with a few spare magazines. They aren’t expensive, practically maintenance free and could be the difference between getting food vs. being food.

Not so good for preventing "being food", but I'm thinking that for most of us,
a 22 rifle and/or shotgun (or preferably a combo gun like the savage 24) would be better at "getting food" than a 10mm Glock.
Plus more fun for lightweight plinking around camp.

I spent 30 years flying the friendly skys of Alaska, including some pretty remote areas, and ALL in bear country. While working, I was required to carry at least a handgun. Most days, I did. If we were working on big animals (bears, moose, sheep, etc) I carried a short barrel Remington 870 (issued to all LE personnel). That shotgun also lived in my assigned plane. All our field crews were also equipped with the shotguns and slug rounds. I also carried bean bag rounds as a deterrent. This equipment was dictated by policy for anyone operating in bear country.

I also conducted the mandatory field firearms training and certification for ALL assigned field employees. Our bear protection policy was absolutely clear: ALL field employees had to carry or be protected by someone trained to protect them, with the 12 guage shotgun OR a high powered rifle (30-06 or louder). The single exception in policy was for the Fisheries folks who (occasionally) conducted electrofishing. Their argument was they couldn't carry a shotgun along with all the electro fishing gear while wading.

So, those guys always showed up with their .44 mag handguns, in a chest holster for requalification. Now, EVERYone who was carrying was required to go through either initial training or requalification every season. Our requalification was really simple: They had to demonstrate to me that they were competent and safe in handling the firearm (loading, unloading, verifying condition, basic handling, etc). Secondly, everyone had to shoot a "Charging Bear Target". The slightly smaller than life size bear target was fixed to a "sled" which had a rope harness, and fifty or sixty feet of rope. Each participant lined up facing the target from fifty feet away, gun at port arms. Another held the rope and at my call of "Charge", they took off at max speed, dragging the "bear" toward the shootist. My requirement was they had to get off three rounds from a locked and loaded condition, and at least ONE slug had to hit something significant on the "bear". No toenail shots counted.

In almost twenty seasons conducting this, I NEVER had anyone qualify with a handgun, and yes, one participant did show up with a Glock 10.

A side note: The FBI at one point transitioned to 10 mm handguns for routine carry (ugh!!}. Within a year or so, they realized that their average scores in their recurrent qualifications dropped significantly. Which is when they started carrying .40 caliber ammunition in those 10s. I heard more recently that they are issued 9mm handguns. There is no question that the average scores are going to be better with a 9 than any of the heavy caliber handguns.

So, would you rather carry a Glock 10 or a S&W .44 and miss with most rounds, all the while abusing yourself regularly to practice wtih those things......or carry a Glock or Sig compact 9, and put four or five rounds in the beast? Me, I'm a .40 cal guy, what I was trained and shot most. Those little 9s are sweet shooters, though.

mtv wrote:In almost twenty seasons conducting this, I NEVER had anyone qualify with a handgun, and yes, one participant did show up with a Glock 10.

Out of curiosity, in your 30 seasons much of it in heavy bear country, how many times did you or anyone you helped qual ever use said firearm(long, short, or anywhere in between) in defense against a bear?
As I'm prepping for my first run up to AK from the 48 in a little plane, I'm restricted to bear spray. I'll probably carry some just in case, but I'll also be carrying hot sauce. Dual purpose, good on food and should I be at risk of being bear food at least I can pour it on myself and be tasty for the bear.

mtv wrote:

hotrod180 wrote:

Mantoga wrote:A hard hitting, very reliable sidearm. They are butt ugly and have a god awful feeling trigger but a 10mm Glock with a few spare magazines. They aren’t expensive, practically maintenance free and could be the difference between getting food vs. being food.

Not so good for preventing "being food", but I'm thinking that for most of us,
a 22 rifle and/or shotgun (or preferably a combo gun like the savage 24) would be better at "getting food" than a 10mm Glock.
Plus more fun for lightweight plinking around camp.

I spent 30 years flying the friendly skys of Alaska, including some pretty remote areas, and ALL in bear country. While working, I was required to carry at least a handgun. Most days, I did. If we were working on big animals (bears, moose, sheep, etc) I carried a short barrel Remington 870 (issued to all LE personnel). That shotgun also lived in my assigned plane. All our field crews were also equipped with the shotguns and slug rounds. I also carried bean bag rounds as a deterrent. This equipment was dictated by policy for anyone operating in bear country.

I also conducted the mandatory field firearms training and certification for ALL assigned field employees. Our bear protection policy was absolutely clear: ALL field employees had to carry or be protected by someone trained to protect them, with the 12 guage shotgun OR a high powered rifle (30-06 or louder). The single exception in policy was for the Fisheries folks who (occasionally) conducted electrofishing. Their argument was they couldn't carry a shotgun along with all the electro fishing gear while wading.

So, those guys always showed up with their .44 mag handguns, in a chest holster for requalification. Now, EVERYone who was carrying was required to go through either initial training or requalification every season. Our requalification was really simple: They had to demonstrate to me that they were competent and safe in handling the firearm (loading, unloading, verifying condition, basic handling, etc). Secondly, everyone had to shoot a "Charging Bear Target". The slightly smaller than life size bear target was fixed to a "sled" which had a rope harness, and fifty or sixty feet of rope. Each participant lined up facing the target from fifty feet away, gun at port arms. Another held the rope and at my call of "Charge", they took off at max speed, dragging the "bear" toward the shootist. My requirement was they had to get off three rounds from a locked and loaded condition, and at least ONE slug had to hit something significant on the "bear". No toenail shots counted.

In almost twenty seasons conducting this, I NEVER had anyone qualify with a handgun, and yes, one participant did show up with a Glock 10.

A side note: The FBI at one point transitioned to 10 mm handguns for routine carry (ugh!!}. Within a year or so, they realized that their average scores in their recurrent qualifications dropped significantly. Which is when they started carrying .40 caliber ammunition in those 10s. I heard more recently that they are issued 9mm handguns. There is no question that the average scores are going to be better with a 9 than any of the heavy caliber handguns.

So, would you rather carry a Glock 10 or a S&W .44 and miss with most rounds, all the while abusing yourself regularly to practice wtih those things......or carry a Glock or Sig compact 9, and put four or five rounds in the beast? Me, I'm a .40 cal guy, what I was trained and shot most. Those little 9s are sweet shooters, though.

You must have had some limp wristed crappy shooters! Or, maybe pilots can't handle recoil. HAHA!

You can't use 40 short and weak ammo in a 10mm, rimless rounds headspace on the case mouth. You might get an occasional to fire but highly unlikely it would cycle or eject. But, the FBI did start using downloaded 10mm.
In bear country I used to carry a 475 Wildey auto pistol. I carried a 44 blackhawk for too many years archery hunting bears, until I decided not to bring the extra weight. In recent years I carry a 454 Casull Freedom Arms. But lately I've been shooting my LAR Grizzly 454 win mag auto a bunch, more power than the average 44 mag load.

I’m going to save the last round for me after I’ve missed the charging bruin with all the others.

DreadPirateWill wrote:

mtv wrote:In almost twenty seasons conducting this, I NEVER had anyone qualify with a handgun, and yes, one participant did show up with a Glock 10.

Out of curiosity, in your 30 seasons much of it in heavy bear country, how many times did you or anyone you helped qual ever use said firearm(long, short, or anywhere in between) in defense against a bear?
As I'm prepping for my first run up to AK from the 48 in a little plane, I'm restricted to bear spray. I'll probably carry some just in case, but I'll also be carrying hot sauce. Dual purpose, good on food and should I be at risk of being bear food at least I can pour it on myself and be tasty for the bear.

I spent eight years in Kodiak and two years on the Alaska Peninsula, both of which host arguably the largest brown bears anywhere. They are also the mellowest bears I ever met. I've had them walk past me within twenty feet and less, and never even look at me. We handled bears some 180 times in capture events, with no issues, good drugs. The State fisheries biologists on Kodiak walked salmon stream surveys in DENSE cover all the time and most never carried a gun.

On the Yukon Flats, in the Interior our crews regularly encountered black bears, a lot and grizzlies somewhat less often. One crew shot a big male who'd become acclimated to their camp and took it over. Not long after that, we started using electric fences at all our camps, and never had a problem in camps again. That is, except for the time a camp left the gate in the fence down during dinner and a young black bear joined them. They shooed him away, and put up the gate.

The Fisheries folks shot and wounded a bear at their camp, after they'd chosen not to put up a fence. Then they called me to come get the bear. I did, and put up an electric fence. Fortunately, it's first customer was the guy who'd wounded the bear. I shot that bear with the 870.

Understand that we often had three to four camps out there at a time, two people per camp, and they were constantly dealing with bears. The crews generally got smart pretty fast, and learned to deal with them. The electric fences let us sleep......a BIG deal.

The beauty of the 12 guage shotgun for bear protection is that there are a few non lethal rounds that are available, and pretty effective on bears. Bean bag rounds hurt like hell, but aren't lethal. I generally carried the extended magazine loaded with slugs, and a bean bag round in a pocket. Meet a bear who needs discouragement, drop the bean bag in the chamber, plug the bear, and next up is lethal, in case.

I had bears bluff charge once or twice, and met lots of them that I shooed off, with a cracker shell or bean bag, only if they acted too friendly.

As bear guns go, and Remington 870 is inexpensive, reliable, it's tough and functions even if filthy, carries lots of rounds, cycles really fast, and with brennecke slugs (sabots), it's deadly. Even with standard slugs, it's a wicked weapon. And, relatively easy to shoot well.

Further, if you're going to travel through Canada, a long gun is the only way to go. I heard of Customs questioning short barreled pump guns, but I've cleared canada customs with one. You do want to declare them, and pay for the permit ahead of time.

If you're hunting big game, then most likely, the rifle you're hunting with will suffice.