I saw a video about how to create a survival kit out of an Altoids tin. Needed: Exacto blade covered in duct tape, tiny fishing lures, matches, and a garbage bag. Two cotton balls are also necessary if I get lost in the woods, although I don't know why.
To me, survival kits suggest danger. I get that prickly shiver of excitement when I whisper the words survival kit.
This got me thinking about my purse. It's my urban survival kit. But I don't get a shiver when I think of my purse. This makes me sad. So let's inspect the contents of my purse survival kit and then we can improve it with a wish list.
Purse Survival Kit Item Inventory:
Business Card - This is how to win friends and influence people.
Cell Phone - Desperately important when you haven't taken the time to memorize your significant other's phone number, and you are supposed to call them when you get into town. (Not that I've ever done this.)
Money - Carried in case of snacking emergencies. Accepted at all fast food and drug store facilities.
Pen and Scrap Paper - Useful for writing down phone numbers I will immediately not memorize.
Lip Gloss - Chapped lips can be deadly. I am vigilant about protecting my health.
Keys with Nail Clippers Attached - Keys let me into my house, so I don't have to sleep with the slugs that live outside my house. Clippers, because you never know when a nail is going to break half-way off and annoy you by bending and flapping and snagging on your sweater. I hate that.
Calculator - I can't do math in my head and it takes too long to do the math on my cell phone calculator.
Sunglasses - These save my face from being all squinty.
Credit Card - In a moment of shopping ecstasy, this allows me to buy clothes I can't afford.
Now, let's think about what could make my purse survival kit inspire actual interest.
Purse Survival Kit Wish List:
Taser - this would give me that warm and fuzzy invincible feeling.
M & M's - candy coated chocolate makes me shiver, I don't know about you.
Baby Crocodile - don't put your hand in my purse, snap!
X-ray glasses - Not exactly survival gear, but it would make my day more entertaining.
Crocodile-proof, mini-apartment for my parakeets - because every urban girl should carry at least one pet in her purse.
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Stumble It!
You can use cotton wool balls to start fires. It means you have something dry to light in your pocket. Though I don't usually bother with all that, as there's always something dry in a forest if you know where to look. And Polenths know where to look.
Posted by: Polenth | July 17, 2008 at 02:05 AM
Polenth, are you a camping enthusiast?
One of the items in the Altoids survival kit was a garbage bag. Why do you need to have a garbage bag if you are lost in nature? To keep dry? To pick up trash from other lost travelers? To use as a mini tent?
If you can answer the garbage bag question, I will call you my Survivalist Expert in any future post that deals with staying alive.
Posted by: Melody Platz | July 18, 2008 at 02:42 PM
You can do lots of stuff with a plastic bag. A full size one will keep you warm if you sit in it or could be used as a shelter. You could use it to keep delicate supplies dry, such as your firelighting wood. You could sit on it, to stop yourself getting damp. You could make it into a solar still (a way of collecting fresh water). If it's brightly coloured, you could use it to signal for help. The world's your oyster with a plastic bag.
Posted by: Polenth | July 22, 2008 at 08:04 PM
I bow to you. You are now my Survivalist Expert. I will have to be on the look out for funny stuff that involves risking nature so I can call you my Survivalist Expert and post a link to you.
Posted by: Melody Platz | July 22, 2008 at 08:24 PM