Survival Kit Made From the ‘Dollar Tree” Store
By Joseph Parish

Survival kits can be fabricated from a sizeable assortment of materials often times consisting of items that may frequently be found within ones home or inexpensively purchased from your local “Dollar Tree” store. It is not essential for one to rush to the local department store in order to purchase bits and pieces for use in those times when you feel threaten with either a natural or a manmade emergency. The simple list which I have created here will be sufficient for those last minute emergency situations. All these items can be purchased at your local “Dollar Tree” store.

Trash bags are commonly found universally in the home. Undersized ones can be grabbed from the home office or the large bags that are used for the weekly garbage pick-up. To use them cut out an area for your head at the bottom of a large bag, then slice several on the sides for your arms. The final unit is great to use as a vest holding in vital body heat in emergencies. They are also useful for providing a waterproof environment for your backpack or sleeping bag.

The local produce bags although not very large in size can be extremely useful when employed as gloves, a pair of plastic socks or a hat to keep your head warm. When in the forest or woods it can be useful to gather food in or to carry berries back to the tent. They are small enough to store easily anywhere. Simply roll them together and tie them neatly with a wire tie wrap used on trashcans.

Now we come to my wife’s favorite emergency item the all-versatile duct tape. This has to be one of the twentieth century’s greatest inventions. It can be used to tape the tops of the plastic gloves or even to mend an occasional hole in your clothing. It is also a very strong tape for holding several items together should the need arise.

We cannot forget the matches or lighters. I like to keep a package or two of the “Dollar store” cigarette lighters in my BOV as well as a few of the refillable clicker lighters. These of course are used for making fires to keep warm, cooking your food or to signal passing aircraft for help.

Q-Tips and Cotton balls are additional items that you can purchase from the “Dollar store” and they are useful as fire starters as well as for cleaning wounds out. They should be a part of every first aid kit.

Another “Dollar store” item is Petroleum lip jelly. These can usually be purchased in packages of three or four to a pack. When put on cotton balls they can serve as fire starters and surprisingly they burn fairly long giving ample time to start a good fire. I also keep several in my first aid kit.

A mirror serves several purposes. It can help you to see and locate something that may have become embedded on your faces as well as a signal mirror for notify others as to where you are.

Safety pins are another “Dollar store” item that can be very useful in your survival kit. They are great for holding clothes together or in the event you have a busted zipper. A few in your first aid kit can act as a means of removing splinters or popping blisters.

Band-aids of assorted sizes can be found in the “Dollar Tree” store, as well as Tylenol. They also stock several additional over the counter drugs that you may perhaps wish to add to your first aid kit supplies.
For an emergency energy boast you might consider stocking some of the “Dollar Tree” candies and mints. They are in small bags and store easily. I would recommend placing them in small metal containers however be cautioned that during the hot summer months they can become a sure mess as they start to melt from the heat.
An item that is not generally considered in a survival kit is tea bags. Fortunately, you can always make “Sun Tea” if you have the bags. Make certain to include some sort of glass or plastic container for making it in. For first aid use, a wet tea bag can be used as a soothing agent for stings and bug bites.

Many of these emergency items can readily be stored in a quart or gallon size Zip lock plastic bag. To speed finding what you are looking for use a water proof marker and list the items which are in the bag on the outside of it.

Drinking straws are useful when you need to drink water from homemade devices such as rock bowls, etc. Tin foil can be used not only to cook your food in but also to hold extra medical pills.

It is important that you always take plenty of water with you as well as a bandanna, a hat and a knife. Always dress appropriately for the season of the year. Remember it does not cost much to stock up on these bare necessities at the “Dollar Tree”.

Copyright @2008 Joseph Parish