Create a DIY survival kit

Before you begin

• Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
• Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers.

Planning this activity

• If using knives, take the time to read and understand the Scout knife safety guidance.
• You’ll need enough small tins for everyone to have one ­– about 10cm square is about the right size. People could bring their own from home if they have something they’re happy to repurpose. Otherwise, you should be able to find them fairly cheaply online (or as sweet tins in a shop).
• You’ll need to buy any other items you want to include, for example, whistles, foil blankets, small compasses, and so on. It’s great if people can bring things they already have from home to personalise and adapt their kits. This may also make the activity cheaper for the group.
• Survival tins often contain something to light a fire such as stormproof matches or a ferro rod and striker. It’s up to you whether this is appropriate for your group. They sometimes contain knives (however, if you seal the knife in the survival tin, you won’t be able to use it without opening the tin). You must be aware of the laws around knives.
• Set up at least three bases: one with pencils, paper, and scissors; one with tinfoil and glue; and one with paracord, scissors, a lighter, and a bowl of water. If you have any other equipment to hand out, or other activities to complete, create bases for them too.
• You may want to print out some survival guides, such as information about shelter building, fire lighting, or water purification, for people to put in their kits.

Be prepared

1. Everyone should get their survival tin. They should split into the same number of groups as there are bases.

2. Each group should head to a different base and get stuck into the activity until the person leading the activity gives a signal telling them to move on to the next base. They should keep going until they’ve been to all of the bases.

Pens and pencils

1. Everyone should get some paper and a pencil. They should think about anything important they want to keep in their survival kit.

2. Everyone should write down the important information and put it in their survival kit.

Tinfoil

1. Everyone should cut a piece of tinfoil the same size as the inside of their survival kit’s lid.
2. Everyone should glue the foil inside the lid to create a signalling mirror.
3. Everyone should chat about how they’d use their mirror – who would they signal to? How would they make a message?

Paracord

1. Everyone should cut a length of cord.
2. With adult supervision, everyone should use a lighter to melt the end so their cord doesn’t fray. They should be really careful as the melted cord will be hot (and they should avoid breathing in fumes too).
3. Everyone should dip the end of their cord in the bowl of water to cool it down.
4. If people want to (and there’s time), they could turn their piece of paracord into a woggle or bracelet.

Finish the kits

1. If they want to, everyone could decorate their kits with permanent markers or electrical tape.
2. Everyone should seal the opening of their kit with a few layers of electrical tape. This will keep them watertight so they’re ready to be used in an emergency.