The ESEE Mess Tin Survival Kit, in my opinion is one of the most comprehensive survival kits I’ve seen in a long time. Each one of the items contained in this kit have been carefully selected, are quality made and serve a specific purpose. With this kit alone I have no doubt that I could ‘survive’ in an austere environment for several days if I had too.
I’m going to break down this kit into a few different categories in order to give you a closer look of the contents and to also see the capabilities this mess tin survival kit provides.
Cutting Tools
Two knives are included inside the mess tin kit. The first is the ever so popular Swiss Army Knife. The tasks that can be done with the Swiss Army are endless and limited by your imagination. Just look at what MacGyver was able to do. The second knife included is the ESEE Candiru neck knife. This little fixed blade knife is capable of big tasks in the right hands.
Fire
3 items are included to assist in getting a sustainable fire started. The first and easiest to use are the storm matches. These matches give you an increased burn time in case you’re trying to get a fire started in less than ideal conditions. Pair the matches with the included fire tabs and you should have a fire going in no time. Also included is a generous sized fire steel for generating hot sparks to get tinder ignited. This is not a small cheap fire steel; ESEE made sure to include a standard sized quality fire steel for you to use.
Water
Two rolled up 1 quart bags to collect water in and a small bottle of water purification tablets. It doesn’t get much easier than this. Remember you can also use the mess tin to boil your water in, so that you can preserve the water purification tablets.
Navigation
Suunto is known in the industry for making quality compasses that are used by many units in the US Military. The Suunto baseplate compass included in this kit is everything you need and nothing you don’t to successfully navigate yourself through the wilderness.
Signalling
You get a few items to signal for help with. The obvious one is the whistle. This will give you a loud audible signal for help if you are lost and/or injured. Along with the whistle you get a signalling mirror to visually signal rescue aircraft or ground SAR teams. You also get some bright orange tape to mark your path with or your camp. The other cool item included are two small strobe lights for signalling in low light and complete darkness.
Cord
You get a small roll of kevlar trip line, a roll of picture wire and a roll of nylon cord. The uses for these is endless. Everything from snares, trip wires, lashing things together, gear repair and the list goes on. Also included is a roll for duct tape. Obviously the uses for duct tape are endless as well.
Rite in the Rain notebook w/pencil
The small write in the rain notebook not only includes paper to write notes on, but it also contains useful survival information as well as map protractors for navigation purposes. This is a very multi functional item with many great uses.
Food Procurement
Included in the kit is a small, yet very practical fishing kit contained in its own smaller tin. Inside the tin you’ll find everything you need to successfully catch different types of fish. Using the included knife and fishing line you could use a stick found on the ground to build a hasty fishing pole.
Mess Tin
The mess tin itself can be used to cook food in and boil water in. You could even use the lid as an improvised pan for cooking on. With the tin emptied out you could also use it to dig a small hole for a fire (to give it a lower visual signature). All in all it seems like a robust tin and should last you a very long time.
I plan on using the individual items in this kit over the next few months and will give my feedback on them as I test and evaluate things.
Featured image courtesy of ESEE
