One of the things I think it's important to think of is that that basic survival/bushcraft skills
are medical skills: They are all about maintaining homeostasis. To that end, I think a “survival kit” (and the skill to use it) is integral to the backcountry medical kit.
There's three ways to approach this that I see:
-The minimalist way; Survival tins, small pouches, wallet/pocket kits. These are all powerful and valuable tools, but they also require a dedication to learning and maintaining skills, and they require more/harder work on the part of the “survivor”.
-The maximalist: Large, heavy, survival “kits”, that dominate whole packs, or at least large sections of them. Many tools and a lot of potential, but heavy, slow and detrimental to carrying other things/executing the mission (and often a compensation for a lack of skill).
-Somewhere in the middle: This is my preference. I prefer a medium light survival kit, in a 1 or 2 liter dry sack, that gives me some more powerful tools (like a shelter component that can serve as casualty packaging as well) that save my time and energy for other tasks, and don't require as much specialization and routine skill maintenance as the “survival tin” type or bushcrafters mini-kits. Not because I don't do the routine maintenance (I teach the shit, so I kind of have to), but a lot of people can't.
I spend a lot of time out in the boonies, for life, pleasure, and work: I hike and explore, I teach in the field, I have property 35 miles from a paved road, and I do work for remote ranches in similar and more extreme removes from civilization. Accordingly, there is always more gear in the vehicle, but my approach for on body and in pack gear is as follows:
On my Person:
There's always the pocket blowout kit (SOFTT Wide, Combat Gauze, Pressure Dressing, tape, gloves), unless using a CLEER MBOK on my belt, with a SOFTT-W in my hip pocket.
A Bic lighter is almost always in my pocket. An Exotac ferro rod, couple of TinderQuik tabs (the best IME), button compass, SAR Eclipse signal mirror, and some kevlar line are always in a pocket in my wallet. Often wear a wrist compass as well. My daily carry folder (BM 810) was largely selected for bushcraft/survival performance.
Often, I will throw a small booboo-kit in my pocket. It lives in my FAK for my pack, but it's easy to open it up, grab the module and stuff it into a pocket. Often alongside a triangular bandage, because triangular bandage.
In my pack:
Survival Kit of varying scale, depending on where I am and what I'm doing. Typically packed in a 2L dry-sack. Right now the contents are: Paracord, signal kit (aviators panel and small mirror in a lined pouch), couple of fusees, backup headlamp, backup water kit (1liter whirlpak bag, and 3 days or so worth of tabs), lensatic compass, an AMK heavy duty survival blanket, and a selection of SnapLights (3 12-hour, and 2 30-minute). Often, there's a small tin with a few more TinderQuik tabs, a SOLKOA FastFire, a bit of fatwood, and some lifeboat matches and striker, that'll go in there as well.
MoraKniv Companion heavy duty (or something sexier if I am feeling frisky. I've got a lot of knives, but keep coming back to a good Mora for working/bushcraft/survival).
Leatherman/GerbilTool/some form of quality multitool.
I carry a Katadyn Vario filter, typically. Not so many streams and creeks, but there's lots of stock ponds and tanks in this part of the world.
A little heavy? Yes. But fuck it, a lot of it makes my life significantly easier if I need it. If weight is a serious concern, I maintain the skill to scale back to a SUMA container size kit, or a tin sized kit, and get by on the little water pouch and a straw type filter. I just prefer not to.
Med Kit: Packed into an Eagle Creek PackIt Quarter-Cube, in Red. Gloves, Duct Tape fold, Triangular Bandages (2x), H&H Compressed Gauze, WoundStop (mini-Israeli/Emergency Bandage) trauma dressing, SWAT-T, CeraLyte rehydration mix, baggie with meds and topicals (loperimide, diphenhydramine [capsules not tablets, makes it easier to make a topic with], tylenol, motrin, aspirin, neomycin ointment, burn ointment, sting ointment), betadyne swabs, and a small FAK module with gauze pads, BZK wipes, assorted band-aids, skin glue, butterflies, and a little more tape. Not in the pic because I'm stupid, but also in the Cube, is an AMK “Blister Medic” pack.
I usually shove a SAM Splint down alongside my hydration bladder in my pack.
During warmer weather, I also typically carry a Pressure Immobilization kit for snakebites: 3 ace wraps, BZK wipe, marker, gauze pad, triangular bandage. (Excuse the potential self promotion. No one else in the US makes a PIT kit, and I'm not gonna order one all the way from Australia.)
Glock 17 mag for size comparison.
Everything is essentially modular; It's easy to move the macro-modules from pack to pack, depending if I'm using a full pack, or something smaller. Same for the micro-modules within each, that can be pulled out to pocket or distribute differently in gear. I've found this to be important when it comes to making backcountry gear readily available no matter what pack I'm using. I try to get students to embrace modular kitting, as well as the guys I regularly hike/explore/work with.
Just my take that I wanted to share.