Up next in 10
Build A Lightweight 10 C's SURVIVAL KIT & Avoid This Fatal Flaw!
6K views
Feb 3, 2024
10 c's List: https://preparedwanderer.com Cutting - ESEE 4: https://bit.ly/3IpbEAp Combustion - Ferro Rod: https://bit.ly/3Iljmvl Compass - SUUNTO M-9: https://bit.ly/3Os4grV Cordage - #36 Bankline: https://bit.ly/41VbE22 Cover - Onewind poncho: Cloth Said Needle - Exotac Ripspool: https://bit.ly/3ocYGix
View Video Transcript
0:00
In today's video I'm going to show you some of my top picks to build a lightweight
0:06
10C survival kit and I'm also going to show you what I consider the 10C's fatal flaw
0:15
So stick around, it's going to be a cool video
0:24
Alright guys, so right off the bat, thanks for watching. If you like this content, consider subscribing, please check out the affiliate links down below
0:34
Go to the Facebook group, Prepared Wander, and join there. Over 7,000 members and growing every day
0:40
And of course, preparedwander.com for more content. So I want to get right into it
0:46
I've been wanting to make this video for a while and there's been some activity on the
0:50
Facebook group where people have been talking about the 10C's and really good discussion
0:55
about it. And it really got me thinking about it. You know, if you're in this whole game of bushcraft survival, studying this stuff and
1:04
practicing it and just going out and learning it, you're going to be familiar with Dave
1:10
Canterbury and you're going to be familiar with the 10C's. It's the list that he came up with, that he developed, and that he has been teaching at
1:18
his school and on his videos. And I want to say right off the bat, this is not a bashing video of Dave Canterbury
1:27
or the 10C's by any stretch of the imagination. Because I will say one thing about Dave Canterbury, he has done so much for the outdoor community
1:37
as far as getting people out in the woods and making them feel comfortable
1:41
And he is a fantastic teacher. If you've seen any of his lectures or watched his videos, you will know that
1:46
So can't fault the man there. But there are always ways to improve things and it's always a good idea to look at other stuff
1:57
And that's what I want to do today. I'm going to show you some things that I've picked out, that I put in a 10C's kit, what
2:03
I consider 10C's. And then I want to talk about also some of the issues with the 10C's and how they can
2:10
be improved. So before we get into the kit, I'm not going to go in depth on the whole philosophy of
2:15
the 10C's. You can go back and watch Dave's videos, read his books, attend one of his classes, whatever
2:23
There's all that information out there. But the 10C's really are a kind of an easy to remember quick guide to basic survival
2:33
So if you have these 10 items, you can thrive in a survival situation in the woods
2:40
All right, so let's go into the items on the list immediately
2:45
So first thing off the bat, Dave always recommends a cutting tool
2:50
He shows a Mora Garberg quite a bit in a lot of his videos. And of course he has his own knives that he sells on his shop
2:55
But I really prefer the SE4 over most knives. It is the perfect balance of size and durability
3:06
Full tang, high carbon steel, just a fantastic blade, very comfortable in the hand
3:12
But also it is lightweight, but incredibly sturdy. And of course the guarantee on these is incredible with SE
3:20
They will take care of you if you break this or damage it in any way
3:25
Second item on the list is a combustion device. So of course we always recommend ferro rods in the survival kits because they work all
3:33
the time in any condition. But as a backup, of course, a Bic lighter
3:40
Why not? You can always have one. They work in most conditions, but they do fail at some point in cold and altitude
3:49
And then along with the combustion device, I always like to have just as a backup, some
3:55
man-made tenders. You can either buy commercial ones or make your own, but they just help getting a fire
4:00
going so quickly and they don't take up a lot of room. So why not have them
4:06
Next item on the list is cover. Now Dave likes to recommend a Mylar type heavy duty grabber blanket, space blanket
4:16
that is coated on one side and is big enough to make a shelter
4:20
But I prefer a rain poncho. Rain ponchos can be turned into shelters pretty easily
4:26
And if you were in the military, of course you know this because you've done it before
4:32
I really like this one. This is from One Wind. It is a sil nylon rain poncho that is big enough to actually cover myself and turn it
4:42
into a shelter. And of course, the reason we have cover is because we want to thermoregulate ourselves
4:48
We want to stay dry. And if we're dry, we stay warm
4:53
Next item on the list is a container. Now for a lightweight kit, I really like these little mess tins
4:59
You can get these from Trangia or you can get them on Amazon
5:05
This is the one that I've chosen. I've actually cooked in it, boiled water in it
5:10
It works extremely well and the handle is removable. So you can actually put this in the fire and create char material with it if you have to
5:21
Now on Dave's videos, he's always recommending his Pathfinder bottle. I don't have one of those, but I do have this clean canteen 40 ounce single wall bottle
5:34
This one just happens to be painted black, but it can go into a fire. It can boil water
5:39
So multiple uses for that. Next on the list is the cotton bandana
5:45
Cotton bandanas, of course, have multiple uses for first aid, for treating wounds, for
5:50
filtering water, all kinds of different uses. Of course, they can be cut up and turned into char material
5:57
And Dave usually shows a larger chamag style bandana that he uses
6:06
But for me, I prefer just a good old fashioned cotton bandana
6:10
They're inexpensive. I usually have multiples on me, one on me and one in my bag
6:16
Next item is cargo tape. Cargo tape, I would recommend the Gorilla Tape probably over duct tape just because
6:25
it seems to work so much better. I just keep a bunch of it on a card so it's flat and takes up very little space for a
6:31
lightweight kit. But there is another alternative, and this also goes into the next item, which is the
6:39
cloth sail needle. And then this is a multi-purpose item. So you can get rid of several things and carry it all in one kit
6:48
This is from Exotac. This is the Rip Spool. And what's so awesome about this is this has the needle that Dave talks about
7:00
So it has a good quality needle in it, big one, right there
7:04
But also look at all that tape you have. Plus, on top of all that, you have thread already to go
7:13
Just a very nice compact, lightweight option. Then of course, compass is on the list
7:20
And I really like these wrist compasses from Sunto. They work extremely well
7:25
They're very lightweight, they're good quality, and they're easy to operate because you can put them on your wrist and navigate that way
7:32
That way you're not pulling it in and out of your pocket or from around your neck
7:36
You just hold up your wrist, look down, and you can get a direction going pretty quickly
7:42
Another item on the list is the candling device. What he means by that is the candling device is a headlamp
7:50
Always choose a headlamp over a flashlight. For obvious reasons, you're able to operate in camp or on trail hands-free, and that's
7:58
really the key. And I really like this Petzl eLight because it has several brightness settings
8:05
But also it has a strobe feature for signaling, but then it also has red, which is fantastic
8:13
for not killing your night vision, especially when you're navigating at night
8:17
And of course, the last item is cordage. And Bankline is really the way to go because it is so much lighter weight than 550 cord
8:27
It is very strong, and you can carry a lot of it
8:32
Now this is a small hunk. I would carry much more than this in a kit
8:37
But for a lightweight kit that's all going to fit in a container, this is the way to go
8:43
It takes up so much less room than 550 cord. So we've covered all the items on the 10 C's list
8:52
Pretty basic stuff. All makes sense. All good stuff. But there are a few things that I have issue with, and it's because of probably my training
9:04
Where I come from, my background with search and rescue, when I was getting into it before
9:09
the 10 C's, before Dave Canterbury was even around or on the scene, there was this thing
9:15
called the 10 Essentials. And the 10 Essentials, if you're not familiar with that, was developed way back in the 1900s
9:23
early 1900s, by a mountaineering club. And of course, with a mountaineering club, their consideration was keeping people safe
9:31
who were in the mountains. Of course, the weather and the climate is much different than it is here in the eastern
9:37
United States. You needed to have other considerations that you would not necessarily have to worry about
9:43
here as much. So the 10 C's really seem to be adapted from the 10 Essentials
9:51
But the 10 Essentials have a few extra things, or I should say different things, that I find
9:58
much more useful, and I think they're critical. And I think the number one thing that lacks in the 10 C's is first aid
10:07
First aid is such an important item, and it's for obvious reasons
10:11
If you're out in the woods hiking with a group or by yourself, there is real chance of injury
10:20
either from sprains or falls. Of course, when we're out in the woods, we're working with tools such as knives and saws
10:27
and axes, great mechanism for injury there. So not having basic first aid items and training on your list just doesn't make sense to me
10:40
And of course, once again, that comes back to being in search and rescue and how that
10:43
kind of stuff was hammered into us. But even in a small lightweight kit like this Haversack that I'm carrying today, a basic
10:51
first aid kit that has tape and mole skin, some gauze pads, basic bandages, disinfecting
11:04
wipes, things like that is really crucial to treat myself or someone in my group
11:11
Now, of course, you can add a lot more to a first aid kit, but just having a basic kit
11:16
like this is going to help, and I think it's necessary. When the 10 Essentials was developed and a lot of the lists that have come out after
11:25
that that are based on the 10 Essentials, a lot of times they will show or talk about
11:29
a multi-tool style knife like a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife. That is pretty much a standard for hikers and mountaineers, climbers, every camper
11:41
hiker, backpacker I know usually has some type of Swiss Army Knife
11:48
But another consideration for a lightweight kit instead of having that large, full tang
11:56
four-inch blade knife is going with a good quality multi-tool. There's a lot of benefits to a multi-tool
12:09
This is a SOG. It's a fantastic tool, of course, with a knife and a saw on it as well and other tools
12:19
But the pliers can really come in handy, especially when you have to do things like remove fish
12:24
hooks, just a lot of variety of tasks that you can be doing
12:28
So that's kind of a breakdown of some items I would choose for a lightweight kit, and
12:34
some items that I think need to be switched out because with Dave's List, it's very
12:40
heavy on repair items like tape and needles. But for me, I don't use tape that often
12:49
It can be used for some first aid, but it's not something I prefer
12:54
To me, a decent first aid kit with the other nine items is a great switch out and something
13:00
that I always consider. But thanks for watching. I'm going to get out of here
13:04
Leave some comments down below. Let me know what you have in addition to your 10C kit that you put in your bag for hiking
13:11
and camping and bushcrafting. And we will see you next time on the Prepared Wanderer
#Climbing & Mountaineering
#Hiking & Camping
#Home Improvement
#Outdoor Toys & Play Equipment
#Outdoors
#Water Sports Equipment