Contestants on Alone Australia were permitted to pick 10 items to help them survive the Western Wilds, Tasmania. They all chose different items. But what would you take, if you were in their shoes? In this 5 minute read we’re going to help you make your own choices about what to put in a Bush Survival Kit. Read on for our top 10 bits of gear. Made to suit your circumstances. To survive as long as possible in the wild, in different terrain and conditions.

What to put in a Bush Survival Kit: TL;DR

In a wilderness survival situation, your objective is to last as long as you can – until you’re found or rescued. Or maybe until you find your own way back to civilisation.

To do this, you need to put in your Bush Survival Kit the essential items that you can use, to meet your basic human survival needs.

In order of urgency and immediacy, those survival needs are:

1. Shelter
2. Warmth
3. Water
4. Food
5. Rescue

There are loads of creative and individual ways to meet these needs. So what you take with you depends on your skill sets and the conditions you’re going into.

For example, if you don’t know how to start a fire with a ferro rod, you might take a bic lighter instead.

Our Bush Survival Kit list (below) is designed for the moderately handy, self reliant and outdoorsy type of individual with some basic knowledge of survival and first aid.

It’s also made for the environmental conditions that are within the limits to human survival. We’re not talking subzero arctic climate zones or desert conditions.

More like the kind of conditions you might find in the Australian bush.

Here’s our free downloadable Bush Survival Kit list in pdf.

It’s the ultimate list of everything you should think about putting in your bush survival kit.

One that you whittle down to make your own wilderness survival kit, based on your own situation.

If you want help picking from list, read on. We’ll share exactly the ‘must have’ top 10 items for every wilderness survival kit.

10 things you need to survive in the wilderness (essential items)

For the purpose of this list, were going to assume you have or are wearing the right personal protective gear and clothing for bush survival. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, check out the additional items list further down the page.

These are the top 10 survival items to pack in your bush survival kit.

1. Knife
2. Metal water canteen or ‘billy’
3. Ferro rod kit or fire starter kit
4. Waterproof tarp with paracord
5. Duct tape
6. First aid kit
7. Personal Locator Beacon
8. Waterproof sleeping bag
9. High protein food source
10. Hand saw

These are the most important survival items. They will help meet your most basic human survival needs in the bush, and get you through until you’re found. They’re also the 10 best survival items for Alone. So lets look at why these make the top 10 list and what you’ll need them for.

Survival Knife

We’re not talking kitchen knife here. You’ll need a survival knife. The type with a serrated edge and blade edge. Large enough for the handle to fit comfortably in your hand.

You’ll need a survival knife to cut stuff up. Hopefully food.

But it’ll also come in hand to light a fire. For anything from making wood shavings, to splitting wood (with a makeshift hammer), to getting a spark out of your ferro rod without the need for a striker.

To use your survival knife with a ferro rod instead of flint, make sure it has a strong flat edge along the backbone of the knife.

And you can use a knife to collect material to build your shelter or to administer first aid.

Metal water pot / billy

If you don’t know what a billy is, its a tall pot with a lid and handle over the top that you can use to suspend the billy over an open fire.

You’ll need one of these to boil water or cook food. You want to drink from any water sources before first boiling the water you collect. And a billy will come in handy to cook any food you might catch, trap or gather while you’re doing all that surviving.

Ferro rod kit / fire starter kit

Fire isn’t mentioned directly in this list of survival needs. But its critical to 3 items on that list: warmth, water and food. A ferro rod will give you all the fire you need, until you get to safety or civilization. It can even help attract the attention of search and rescue. And provide a light source at night.

Waterproof tarp with paracord

Some might count this as 2 items but we’re counting it as one. You’ll turn this waterproof tarp into a shelter to stop exposure to the elements – rain, wind or even sun.

It can also give you a sense of safety in the dark of night. The idea is to string it up in a pitched roof style, over a frame of tree limbs. Then tie it down so it doesn’t blow away.

You could make a shelter out of tree branches but a tarp is going to be a lot less hassle. And potentially more waterproof.

Duct tape

This is to patch holes in everything. Your tarp. Your clothes. Even your shoes and your sleeping bag. Because wilderness survival can be rough. Duct tape can also be used first aid if necessary. For make shift slings and splints.

First aid kit

We wouldn’t go out in to the bush without the basics for first aid. In Australia, it’s medication and supplies to deal with cuts, abrasions, infections, bites and stings.

Personal Locator Beacon

A PLB is not something the Alone contestants needed carry in with them. They could tap out at any time with a phone call on the old sat phone.

But it is something we would invest in, for our bush survival kit.

Just recently a man and his son were rescued on a hiking in the Tasmania wilderness when unexpected cold and heavy weather set in. Their PLB saved their lives.

One of these devices will set you back between $300 and $500. But worth every penny in your bush survival kit.

For one, they use space satellites to send and receive signals, so are much more effective than any cell signal or smart phone.

Secondly, they send out S.O.S alerts – in the form of a location signal – on frequencies reserved only for emergencies. So they’re dependable and provide enormous peace of mind.

A PLB is essential to meet the last of those human survival needs we talk about above – rescue!

Down sleeping bag (water resistant)

A down sleeping bag will help you stay warm at night. Make sure you get one with a hood as you lose 7 – 10% of your body heat through your head.

Also, get one with water resistant coating to the external material. Moisture and comfort don’t go together when it comes to sleep.

Protein based food source

Alone Australia participants were allowed to take any 2 of the following food items:

• 2 pounds of
  • beef jerky
  • dried pulses/legumes/lentils mix
  • biltong
  • hard tack military biscuits
  • chocolate
  • pemmican
  • GORP (dried fruits and nuts, like trail mix)
  • flour,
• 2/3 lbs rice / 2/3 lb sugar / 2/3 lb of salt.

That’s if food was on their top 10 list at all.

A few contestants chose to pre-eat their food – take it in as body fat. But there are good reasons why storing body fat is not the same as having a food source with you. You still end up starving to death within a similar timeframe.

Your body can meet the majority of your calorie requirements from stored fat, but total starvation is fatal in 8-12 weeks, regardless of initial body weight.

BBC Science Focus

We haven’t seen a single contestant yet that has opted to take food in with them. This is a mistake in our view.

From the list above, we’d take the pemmican first. Pemmican is like a densely packed jerky and fat mixture packed with oils and protein.

We’d also take the pulses, legumes, lentils.

Combined together these could make a tasty stew.

If we’re talking survival food, calories matter and these two items are high in what’s called ‘calorific density’.

You’re looking at 7500 calories in 2 pounds of pemmican (900g) and another 3200 in 2 pounds of lentils. Enough to keep you going for a few days (dependant on what size and how active you are), while fingers crossed you find other food sources.

If you don’t take it with you, your going to have to know how to find food in the wild – a task that calls for some serious expertise in bush tucker or hunting experience.

BYO the food!

Hand saw or axe

There’s a lot of contention about which is best for bushcraft survival: an axe, or a hand saw.

An axe is versatile. You can chop and split wood with a small axe or hatchet. The back of an axe head can also double as a hammer. But they require more skill to use for these purposes than a saw does. They are also more dangerous. They can bounce and ricochet off surfaces, causing unexpected injury if you don’t know what you’re doing.

A hand saw is invaluable to cut wood to build your shelter and for your fire. Hand saws are great for cross-cutting timber. They make it easy to cut through fibres in the wood. So you can easily make different lengths of timber based on your needs. It’s not as easy to do this with an axe.

Hand saws do not help split wood. To make kindling for the fire ,for example. You could use your survival knife and a makeshift hammer to do that instead. So the combination of survival knife and hand saw might get you through most needs.

For this reason, we’d take the hand saw over the axe. But your preference might be different.

What to put in a Bush Survival Kit (additional items)

Here’s a comprehensive list of additional items you may want to think about for your bush survival kit. Before deciding what to take from this list, have a read of the section below about how to make a wilderness survival kit.

To build a good bush survival kit, you to balance your survival needs, your skill set, the environment you’re going into, and the right size and weight of kit for you to carry.

Water

• Water bottle purifier or water purification tablets

Warmth and shelter

• Lighter/Waterproof matches
• Mylar survival blanket
• Compact, lightweight tent
• Sleeping mat
• Telescoping tarp poles (you won’t need these if you opt for a tent instead of a tarp)
• Hammock (because sleeping off the ground can help retain body heat)
• Bug net / mosquito net
• Wool blanket – light weight
• Compact camp pillow

Food and cooking

• Fold-up steel campfire tripod
• Dried vegetables
• Spices & seasoning
• Meal bars
• Dehydrated/freeze dried meals
• Trail mix
• Muesli bars
• Tinned food
• Stainless steel plate (cook & eat)
• Compact knife / fork / spoon set
• Wild food plants of Australia book

Light

• LED flashlight/torch
• Headlamp
• Chem lights
• Solar light / lantern
• Camping solar charger
• Spare batteries

Communications

• Cellphone / mobile phone
• Personal locator beacon (PLB)
• Flares
• Two-way radio (preset to channel)
• Pad & pencil

Navigation

• Compass
• Map(s) of local area
• Ranger beads
• Trail markers
• Coms & Navigation Kit

Clothing, footwear and protective gear

• Waterproof jacket
• Closed—toed shoes or boots
• Light weight long sleeve shirt
• Change of underwear x 3
• Quick-dry light weight zip-off long pants
• Woollen socks x 3 pairs
• Bandana (head protection, makeshift sling or use in a DIY water purifier)
• Sunglasses
• Insect repellent
• Heavy duty large garbage bags
• Sunscreen
• Hat with mosquito net

Tools

• Whistle
• Small knife sharpener
• P38 can opener
• Compact shovel
• Small sewing kit
• Superglue (can close wounds)
• Zip ties
• 2 bandanas (to strain water or use as a sling)

Storage

• Back pack
• waterproof backpack cover or bivy sack

How do you make a Wilderness Survival Kit?

Building a bush or wilderness survival kit is a critical before heading into the outdoors. Especially if you are going into remote areas where access to emergency services or resources is limited.

Here are 6 steps to follow if you want to make a wilderness survival kit:

1. Think about your survival skill level: Are you handy, self reliant, confident with tools? Are you a wannabe bushcraft master? If so, you can put just about any too in a wilderness survival kit and use it. If not, you’ll need to adjust what is in your kit to your skill level. Don’t get a ferro rod, get a lighter. Get a hand saw not an axe. Take MRE not whole food protein sources. And so on.
2. Consider your environment: Depending on where you are going, you may need additional gear to help you survive in that environment. For example, if you are heading into bear country, bear spray may be a necessary addition to your kit. In the Northern Australia, you’ll need insect repellant and a hat. In cold climates, its additional layers of clothing or a sleeping bag to stay warm.
3. Know the right weight and size for your wilderness survival kit: if you’re packing a wilderness survival kit inside your travel bag or hiking pack, then work out the total weight and size you can carry first. Then assign part of that for your travel kit. Here’s how to get the right size hiking or travel pack if you’re carrying supplies over long distances or difficult terrain.
4. Cover the basics: Your survival kit should include items to help you start a fire, purify water, and shelter yourself from the elements. So pack out top 10 items first.
5. Add any additional items: here’s where you chose what else you need, based on 1, 2 and 3 above. If you’re constrained in how much you can carry, you won’t be adding many additional items at this stage.
6. Choose the right pack: The last step in building a wilderness survival kit is choosing the right backpack. Your kit should be the right size, waterproof, comfortable to wear, and durable enough to withstand rough handling. We’d suggest fitting your pack in store, before buying one.

Remember, the items you pack in your wilderness survival kit will depend on the circumstances of your trip, so be sure to research the area you will be visiting and plan accordingly.

Conclusion

When it comes to making a bush survival kit, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The essentials are shelter, warmth, water, food, and rescue, but beyond that, what you pack depends on your skill level, location, and personal preference. For moderately handy, self-reliant, and outdoorsy individuals with some basic knowledge of survival and first aid, start by packing the top ten items in our list. With these items in your wilderness survival kit, you’ll be able to meet your basic human survival needs and increase your chances of making it through until you’re found or rescued.