Murph's BOAT (pics)

[Murph]

Contents:

Lighter w/ Duct Tape wrapped
Whistle
2x Saftey Pins
Pinch Light
CRKT "Peck" Knife
27" Shoe Laces
Large Safety Pin
1" Moleskin Patches
4x Band Aids
Length of Fishing Line

I want to put a design/logo on the top and bottom in black, but I can't decide on anything. Suggestions?

[trevor3433]

I want to put a design/logo on the top and bottom in black, but I can't decide on anything. Suggestions?

ZS logo.. and B.O.A.T. in big bright letters.
A knife and hammer crossed, like the U.S. Army S.E.R.E. patch. Pic
A triumphant fist Pic
or a pic of yourself. (so you can say "I'm on a boat!")

[BobtheBreaker]

There still room in that tin buddy!...

BOATs arent full until you have to paracord them shut

[DrunkWookiee]

I like that you painted it.

Fishing line but no hooks?

[Murph]

I picked up some hooks the other day, the just didn't make it in yet. But I figured I could have make-shifted the safety pins into hooks.

I've done some fishing before, and I'd imagine I could put the fishing line to better use than for fishing.

[troll1000]

i would get rid of that lighter and get a fire steel. takes less room and won't run out of fuel. also put a little dryer lint in there somewhere.

[Murph]

i would get rid of that lighter and get a fire steel. takes less room and won't run out of fuel. also put a little dryer lint in there somewhere.

I have all that as part of my main BOB. Making this little guy was for funsies.

[liberty45]

Looks really nice. Got a few good ideas to add to mine...

Some suggestions though...

You can make a survival lighter by putting fishing line, fishing hooks, safety pin, sewing needle under the last few layers of duct tape that you wrap your lighter with. Someone on this board mentioned it and I thought it was a great idea.

I am also in the process of making one of these but plan on using either the thin or mini BIC lighters to save on some space. Also getting the Firesteel Pup to put in the tin.

ADD: Replace the shoelace with paracord!

[Murph]

Looks really nice. Got a few good ideas to add to mine...

Some suggestions though...

You can make a survival lighter by putting fishing line, fishing hooks, safety pin, sewing needle under the last few layers of duct tape that you wrap your lighter with. Someone on this board mentioned it and I thought it was a great idea.

I am also in the process of making one of these but plan on using either the thin or mini BIC lighters to save on some space. Also getting the Firesteel Pup to put in the tin.

ADD: Replace the shoelace with paracord!

Good suggestions! I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

[liberty45]

Looks really nice. Got a few good ideas to add to mine...

Some suggestions though...

You can make a survival lighter by putting fishing line, fishing hooks, safety pin, sewing needle under the last few layers of duct tape that you wrap your lighter with. Someone on this board mentioned it and I thought it was a great idea.

I am also in the process of making one of these but plan on using either the thin or mini BIC lighters to save on some space. Also getting the Firesteel Pup to put in the tin.

ADD: Replace the shoelace with paracord!

Good suggestions! I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Will do. I am just waiting for my order of Firesteel Pup's to arrive when they do I will build it and post pictures!

[BunkerBuster]

Forgive my noobishness, but what the hell is the point of such a small kit? Its not worth carrying day to day, especially if you were ever stopped by a police officer, who would probably lock you up for such a weird combination of items, but it doesn't seem to address any real life day to day issues, unless you're going over a river and through the woods to grandmothers house. But I'm sure you guys will explain what is not obvious to me!

[Murph]

Forgive my noobishness, but what the hell is the point of such a small kit? Its not worth carrying day to day, especially if you were ever stopped by a police officer, who would probably lock you up for such a weird combination of items, but it doesn't seem to address any real life day to day issues, unless you're going over a river and through the woods to grandmothers house. But I'm sure you guys will explain what is not obvious to me!

No problem... I look at making something like this for a couple reasons.

1 - As a challenge to come up with a creative list of contents to cover some basic survival needs
2 - I can toss something like this in the glove box of my car incase I ever need it (never know when something could happen, and you can't go home)
3 - Out hiking it's small and easy to slip into your pocket
4 - Forces you to rely on skills / wits and not gear
5 - They tend to be cheap to make, but extremely useful

I dunno, there's more probably... I'm tried.

[BunkerBuster]

For the sake of argument, since I'm an attorney"

1 - As a challenge to come up with a creative list of contents to cover some basic survival needs

Sounds good so far...

2 - I can toss something like this in the glove box of my car incase I ever need it (never know when something could happen, and you can't go home)

Why not put a full bag in your trunk? A maxpedition fat boy and a rolly poly can provide enough space and use to make a mentos kit feel like it is in a true NEED IT scenario - worthless.

3 - Out hiking it's small and easy to slip into your pocket

Ok, that works, but why not expand it to a camera sized case and include a signal mirror, compass, real knife, flashlight (G2), some batts, chewy bar or two and a fishing kit and fire kit in film canisters?

4 - Forces you to rely on skills / wits and not gear

You definitely have me there....but if you really needed it, would you rather be McGuyver or Survivorman eating bear poop or would you rather have it easy and bite into a granola bar?

5 - They tend to be cheap to make, but extremely useful

Penny wise, pound foolish applies here. I'm a gear whore, so if I know of or hear of a product that may work better than what I own, I buy it, test it and if it's crappy, I toss it into my fiancee's bag.

But seriously, if this is a test of "what can I put into a case this small for a contest, then you're gtg. But if you actually want to rely on this, you should pack a mini bible in there with it.


I just don't want to see someone take a mentallity of "The Jerk." Video attached for those too young for the reference!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnc2ZI_RFAI

Because like the "Jerk" you may find that you have a whole bunch of items that have no practicality, even though they're very general items. I'd rather stuff some food, water and real tools in there, instead of a survial kit you'd find inside the handle of a 1980's survival knife.

Just my 2 cents. FYI - I do like the kit you put together. I also like how you kept a core of items that any real BOB should have. Prety cool!

[BobtheBreaker]

Bunkerbuster, its mostly about number 3.

If I have my internet history correct, the whole BOAT thing evolved from the "Survival Tin, Combat". Allegedly a NATO issued piece of equipment designed to be a pocket sized (think BDU thigh pocket or like small belt pouch) kit that would help lost soldiers survive in austere conditions for some period of time, possibly E&E. In reality it was about small form factor, inexpensive, barely functional piece of kit that could be mass issued to soldiers, with the theoretical capacity to help them survive...while simultaneously inducing pandemic warm fuzzies.

http://www.bcbsurvivalusa.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16135&cat=0&page=1&featured

Back when the BOAT got teeth was when the aforementioned product normally retailed from greedy surplus dealers for like $50 and the BOAT was basically just "I can make it piece meal for cheaper, so :p". Now the manufacturer makes various kinds for the civilian market, prices have halved and now the BOAT methodology has evolved from just blatantly ripping off the 'Survival Tin, Combat' to "Building a better mousetrap" or meta-constructing kits for different environments. As you can tell from the tenor of my first paragraph, the field reports on functionality of the kits varied heavily...peaking as high as "meh" and as low as "*dead*".

[6shooter]

Forgive my noobishness, but what the hell is the point of such a small kit? Its not worth carrying day to day, especially if you were ever stopped by a police officer, who would probably lock you up for such a weird combination of items, but it doesn't seem to address any real life day to day issues, unless you're going over a river and through the woods to grandmothers house. But I'm sure you guys will explain what is not obvious to me!

When I put together my BOAT, I did so with the idea that I could keep it in my pocket while I'm out on a hike or something, and should I become separated from my pack, I'd still be able to signal for help, start a fire, build an emergency shelter, and perhaps find some food via fishing, or perhaps snaring, if necessary. Granted, I did end up spending a decent amount on it(relatively speaking for an Altoid tin kit), I don't mind as I do consider it a legitimate emergency survival kit. Anything bigger and I would rather have it in my pack rather than a pocket, which defeats the purpose, for me at least.

[mega-hertz]

Penny wise, pound foolish applies here. I'm a gear whore, so if I know of or hear of a product that may work better than what I own, I buy it, test it and if it's crappy, I toss it into my fiancee's bag.

But seriously, if this is a test of "what can I put into a case this small for a contest, then you're gtg. But if you actually want to rely on this, you should pack a mini bible in there with it.


I just don't want to see someone take a mentallity of "The Jerk." Video attached for those too young for the reference!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnc2ZI_RFAI

Because like the "Jerk" you may find that you have a whole bunch of items that have no practicality, even though they're very general items. I'd rather stuff some food, water and real tools in there, instead of a survial kit you'd find inside the handle of a 1980's survival knife.

Just my 2 cents. FYI - I do like the kit you put together. I also like how you kept a core of items that any real BOB should have. Prety cool!

geez, sounds like b.o.a.t. is going to be massive

[Rainman]

tagged for future reference

[Veritas]

Dude, just use the bookmark button. Then you won't have wasted all my time. All thirteen seconds of my time.

I was looking forward to more BOAT discussion...it always stays so civil...

[Rainman]

I'm working on some non-altoid versions. Found some uber-cheapo FAKs at Target and decided to cannibalize them for a BOAT-of-sorts. The plastic box was worth the buck and I'm interested in seeing if they hold up a little better. I've used altoid boxes for flies before and had them rust a little too quickly (duh, a metal box taken out to a stream where they're bound to get exposed to h2o...). Anyway, I'll eventually finish the prototype and post some pics. That should atone for my lack of "bookmark-fu" (I hope).

[mtnfolk mike]

nice job Murph... looks like a cool little kit...

[Murph]

I'm working on some non-altoid versions. Found some uber-cheapo FAKs at Target and decided to cannibalize them for a BOAT-of-sorts. The plastic box was worth the buck and I'm interested in seeing if they hold up a little better. I've used altoid boxes for flies before and had them rust a little too quickly (duh, a metal box taken out to a stream where they're bound to get exposed to h2o...). Anyway, I'll eventually finish the prototype and post some pics. That should atone for my lack of "bookmark-fu" (I hope).

If you're talking about the Johnson and Johnson ones that have like 5 band-aids in them and are about the size of an Altoids tin, they suck. I left one out on the floor one evening when I was working on some stuff. Later that evening, *crunch* I'm only like 175, so I was not all that impressed. I'd imagine most plastic boxes would do the same. If you really want to go that route, get a Pelican case, or similar. Plus side is they'd be completely water proof.

[Veritas]

You know, I claim the whole point of putting the BOAT contents into a metal tin is that I could theoretically use it too cook food/boil water, but I have never tried doing it. Has anyone actually tried cooking in an Altoid's tin or similar?

I like the idea of the case serving a purpose as well, but I could be persuaded into switching to a Pelican case or Otterbox.

Altoids Tin:
Pros- cheap, can be heated, lightweight, small.
Cons- not waterproof, not durable, may rust.

Pelican Case:
Pros- durable, waterproof, clear, (floats?)
Cons - expensive (comparatively), bulky

My justification for the BOAT concept is thus: They are small, lightweight, bare-bones kits. They are for self-enlightenment, entertainment, and discussion. Zen, for me, is a well-packed Altoids-style metal tin.

I find the question of "Why would you ever carry a BOAT?" to be included with this line of questioning:
Why just EDC when you could carry a GHB? Why carry a GHB when you could just pack a BOB? Why have a BOB in the backseat when you could have an INCH in the trunk?

To all of which I would answer: Why not?

[bltjr1951]

Forgive my noobishness, but what the hell is the point of such a small kit?

On the other BOAT thread, someone asked the same stuff.

He's banned now.

Don't have to read thread if you don't like contents.

[bltjr1951]

All thirteen seconds of my time.
I was looking forward to more BOAT discussion...it always stays so civil...

I'm on dial up, it was minutes for me.