Your personal survival kit should start with a Swiss Army Knife.

Recent events like the Tsunami and hurricane Katrina have made many people re-assess their readiness for sudden and catastrophic disasters. Personal survival kits are being mentioned and discussed all over the Internet.

I would like to ask all of you to consider starting and building a survival kit around a Swiss Army Knife.

Why?

People have carried Swiss army knives around with them for many years and the basis of any emergency kit is that you have it with you when disaster strikes. In any life-threatening situation, tools are often necessary and one of the oldest and most useful tools is the knife. Carried with them since the Stone Age, knives were an essential tool for mankind since his earliest days. With the addition of the basic tool kit included with the Swiss Army knife you are already equipped to deal with many emergencies.  Screwdrivers, can-openers, tweezers, scissors, and even saws are built into many SAK’s, All potentially useful tools. SAK’s have even been used for emergency surgery.

Add a mini flashlight and a lighter, you can carry both of these easily in your pocket. With light, fire and tools you have a good start in many disaster situations. Thousands of people carry these same survival tools every day without even realizing that they are carrying anything extra.

No-one sane would suggest that these are the only items you would ever need. However, add a few extras and whilst they will not cope with all types of disaster these few items will be there with you when you need them, not lying in a back pack, miles away from where they are needed, So get a Swiss army knife, add your own personal survival items that you think you will need and carry them with you at all times.

I can’t say they will save your life, or even someone else’s life, but they just might, and they might also help with some minor disasters that happen on a far more frequent basis.

As I always tell my family, “The best knife is the one that you have with you.”

I think that the knife that you should carry should be the father of all multi tools, and still the best multi tool by far, the Swiss Army Knife.

If you haven’t got one, purchase one now or better still buy two and give the second one to someone you care about.

Take care S.B.