The Survival Kit

In the past year or so I've gotten into the idea of survivaling (note: I don't think this is an actual word but I'm going to use it anyway). This is not a new area of interest for me as it touches on self-reliance, planning, and the outdoors. If I'm going to be a solo camper, go on an extended paddle, or spent some years on a sailboat, I'm going to need to know some practical survival techniques. When the towers went down and again bird-flu hit I also developed a ditch bag in case of Armageddon. A ditch bag is a sailing term for a pre-packed bag of essential gear that you can abandon ship with, survive, and be located at sea in your life raft. So far I've been active in assembling the basic, north woods survival kit for camping and paddling. The thing is, when you're planning on being lost, you want to have everything you can possibly think of, which obviously isn't the case in a survival situation, so there are many systems and practices to get in the habit of when going out on regular excursions. I've determined that there are three gradients of variables to consider when going out into nature. They are expected duration, climate, and gear storage. Expected duration of your outing will determine what you bring with you, period. We're helped in the knowledge that if we aren't going very far, if we're in trouble, we're probably closer to help than if we'd gone out farther and longer. Seems like a no-brainer, right. We can bring fewer med supplies, could skip food-gathering tools, and extra fire-making equipment. However, if we go out, even if only planning for a few hours, you should have the basics, which I'll list out below:

3" folding blade
Handkerchief
Space blanket
Poncho or shell
Whistle
Mirror
Compass
Map
Fire starter
Lighter
Tinder
15ft or more 300-500lb. test para-cord
Band-Aids
SteriStrips
Gauze
Ace Bandage
Painkillers
Water tablets
Leather Glove Shells

For me, a lot of these items are combined. My handkerchief would always be around my neck, head, or folded in a pocket, and I have a gizmo that is a whistle, flint, dry storage for matches and tinder (approx. 20 matches, marble sized mound of steel wool, and 5-8 fire wicks), it has a compass on top and the whole thing is on a lanyard that goes around my neck. I'm not too fond of the compass or the flint, so I have a Sparkie fire starter tied to the lanyard as well, and I would throw a compass in with the rest of the kit. I'd also always have my knife on me at all times day or night in my pocket. The rest can be carried in a small bag that probably has some energy bars and a bottle of water. The space blanket and poncho take up nearly no room - if it's colder or gets colder or windy at night, you're going to want the shell. I wouldn't actually bring the mirror, because I have a small one in the whistle and the space blanket is reflective.
The point is to have all of this stuff that wouldn't be in your pockets in a container that's pre-packed in your bag, then you only have to throw your water and snacks in there. But it's also about the storage of those items. What if your bag gets snagged or falls off a cliff, or you fall into a river and loose your pants, but your bag is dry on shore. See the idea? It's just like your asset portfolio, you want that shit diversified across all of your pockets. Like I said with the shell if it's windy, the climate or suspected climate should effect your survival gear. It might include liners for your leather gloves, another micro-fleece layer, another pair of socks. You get the idea.
Next time I'll talk about the day-long kit you should have at which point, you'll want to think about having to get food if you're stuck. You'll want to stock up on additional tools and weapons to ensure you have options.