Equip your survival kit with fire-starting materials so you will be able to build a fire to keep warm, cook and fend of animals at night. Pack a butane lighter or waterproof matches and dryer lint. These lightweight materials will produce a flame that is hot enough to catch leaves and small branches on fire.
You can survive only about three days without water, according the Boy Scouts of America. Including enough water in your survival kit to make it out of a long emergency isn't realistic. Instead, pack water-purification tablets. You can buy these in bottles of 50 tablets. Each tablet can purify 32 oz. of water, so put a collapsible 32 oz. bottle in your survival kit. Fill the water bottle with water from a fresh water source, or rainwater, and drop a purification tablet in the bottle. After following the manufacturer's directions, you will have a full bottle of drinkable water.
Although food isn't as important as water, you must eat to keep your strength up. Don't eat plants or berries you find outdoors. Some are poisonous and eating them, or their fruit, can make you seriously ill. Place a small amount of fishing line with a hook into your survival kit. You will be able to secure one end of the fishing line to a stick and find various insects to use as bait for fishing.
If you're missing, the local authorities are out searching for you, especially if you informed someone of your expected return date. To help them find you, place a small rescue mirror and whistle into your survival kit. The mirror will alert any aircraft flying above to your location, so the crew can relay your location to local authorities. The whistle will help you alert rescuers who are looking for you on the ground.
Pack a compass and a map of the area you are going to be in. Knowing the direction of the nearest road or town can help you find your way to safety. It also may increase your chances of moving toward rescuers instead of away from them.
