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Create a DIY Survival Kit
Survival in a Box: Craft your emergency go-to gear!
Learn how to 'Be Prepared' by creating your own DIY survival kit! This hands-on activity encourages Scouts to think critically about essential survival items, personalise their kits, and learn practical skills like crafting a signalling mirror or sealing their kits for waterproofing. It’s a fun and empowering way to build independence and readiness for the unexpected.
Planning this activity
- If using knives, take the time to practise proper knife safety.
- You’ll need enough small tins for everyone to have one – about 10cm square is about the right size. Youth 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.
- 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 matches or flint. It’s up to you whether this is appropriate for your Group.
- Set up all of the equipment for the activity.
- 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.
What you'll need
- Aluminium foil
- Glue sticks
- Scissors
- Small metal tins
- Survival equipment (for example whistles, foil blankets, small torches)
- Electrical tape
- Paracord
- Lighter
Be prepared
- Everyone should get their survival tin. They should split into Patrols.
Pens and pencils
- Everyone should get some paper and a pencil. They should think about anything important they want to keep in their survival kit
- For example, useful contact information, survival tips, or even part of their favourite book to keep them motivated
- Everyone should write down the important information and put it in their survival kit
Tinfoil
- Cut a piece of tinfoil the same size as the inside of their survival kit’s lid
- Glue the foil inside the lid to create a signalling mirror
- Chat about how they’d use their mirror
- Who would they signal to?
- How would they make a message?
Paracord
- Cut a length of cord
- 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)
- Dip the end of their cord in the bowl of water to cool it down.
Finish the kits
- Seal the opening of the survival kit with a few layers of electrical tape. This will keep them watertight so they’re ready to be used in an emergency.
Change the challenge level
People could also think about what they’d need to take to a survival camp – they’ll end up with a bigger kit than the minimalist survival kit they created in this activity.
Reflection
This activity was all about being independent.
- Could people fit everything they wanted into their survival kits?
- How did they decide what was most important? Part of being independent is being able to make your own decisions
- What did people do to make sure everything in their kit was suitable?
It can be easy to get carried away and make survival kits for extreme adventures in the rainforest or desert. In real life, though, the situations people are most likely to end up in would look more like getting separated from their group on a hike or getting lost in a city when their phone runs out of battery.
- What would a survival kit for these situations contain?
- How would people keep themselves safe in these situations?
