When packing, each item has been oriented to make maximum use of the space allowed, and also to allow for other individual item considerations. These considerations include the following:

• Nails point AWAY from the tarp and blanket to avoid puncture of the material. Sharps (needles/fish hooks) are likewise located at the opposite end of the kit from the tarp.
• The lights can be activated by squeezing them. This means that there is a danger they could activate if they are squashed between items in the kit. If that happens, you could be left with a dead light when you really need it! As such, I place them in a small 'cavity' at one end of the kit in order to avoid any pressure on them.
• The mirror with shiny side down is used as a protective cover of sorts, and helps to keep everything in the kit as it's inserted into the pouch. At one point, I tried to duct tape this to the pot, but the pot really is non-stick. The tape stays for a few minutes at best before coming unstuck.

Fill the Lighter! - Note: I would have gladly done this for you, but me adding 5 cents worth of fuel would incur a $25 hazardous materials shipping charge to send it to you pre-filled. See complete instructions below!

Fill the Water Purification Kit! - Note: I would have gladly done this for you, but me adding 5 cents worth of chlorine bleach would incur a $25 hazardous materials shipping charge to send it to you pre-filled. See complete instructions below!

Fill the Watertight Aluminum Container - This can be used to hold anything that you need to keep dry. It's recommended that you use this for any medications that you may need, including allergy meds and other must have items. If you don't require any meds, you can use it for basic over-the-counter items like aspirin, ibuprofen, and cold/flu meds. Benadryl is also something you may want to have in there. Besides being a great remedy for sudden allergic reactions, it can be crushed up and applied topically as a local anesthetic for wounds and burns. toothaches, etc.

DIRECTIONS: Remove (unscrew) the top from the lighter. Slide the lighter portion from the base. At the bottom of the lighter, you'll see two things of note. First is the cotton wadding. This is where you add the fuel. Slowly add the fuel until the wadding is saturated. The other item of note is the small screw at the base. This holds the flint under spring tension against the thumb wheel, which is what creates the spark. The flint will last through a good many fillings, but with each flick of the lighter, you're using up a tiny bit of the flint. Flints (Zippo brand and others) can be purchased in the tobacco section of many stores, and typically you'll get a half dozen or so for about a dollar. I like to keep a couple extra flints in the small space between the cotton wadding and the lighter base.

GEAR TIP: The lighter has an O-ring seal to keep the fuel from evaporating, but it's not foolproof. It can lose fluid over time. I like to wrap electrical tape (or duct tape) about twice around the seam to make sure no fluid leaks out. It's also not a bad idea to check the lighter before heading out!

FILL THE DROPPER: Remove the cap, and then pop the dropper tip out of the top of the bottle (wiggle it side to side if it doesn't want to pop out). Use a very small funnel to fill the bottle with unscented chlorine bleach (ie: Clorox). Here's a tip if you don't have a funnel. Pour a little bleach into a paper cup. Kink the cup's lip to make a small pouring point, and you can carefully pour the bleach into the bottle. Push the dropper tip firmly into the bottle... it should 'snap' into place. You may need to wiggle it side to side, or you can use the cap. Push the tip in as far as you can, and then start screwing the cap on while pushing down. You'll hear the tip snap into place.

WHY BLEACH? This Water Purification Kit is actually one of the most efficient systems on the market. As far as space and weight go, this kit will purify more water than almost anything else I've seen. I've tried pill based systems, emergency filters, filter straws and several other systems, but they don't measure up. It’s a simple question of size, weight and effectiveness. Pill systems give you a bottle with 20 or 30 pills. These will decontaminate 20 or 30 quarts of water (5-7 gallons). My kit can decontaminate about 75 gallons of water ...about 10 times as much as pill based systems! You might ask why other kits use pills. The answer is quite simple. First, they don't want to incur hazmat shipping charges to send the kit. Second, if you can fill and refill it yourself, you won't ever need to buy another kit from them!

NOTES: The bottle is 1 fluid ounce in size, and made of the correct materials to withstand the corrosive effects of the bleach almost indefinitely. The dropper tip is a 'regulated dropper', meaning it dispenses very even drops (drops are actually a standard unit of measure like teaspoons, cups and gallons). Two drops of chlorine bleach will purify a 1 quart or 1 liter canteen, four drops will do a half gallon or 2 liter bottle, and 8 drops will purify a gallon of water. One US ounce equals 600 drops. That equals about 75 gallons of water purification in that tiny one ounce dropper bottle. The average adult should consume about 2 liters of water per day, so this little dropper bottle can provide up to 5 months worth of water purification! When considering everything, it’s hard to beat this system. It’s less than half the size and weight of a filter straw, but it will purify 3-4 times as much water (based on the McNett Emergency straw’s stated capacity of about 20 gallons).

USING THE KIT TO PURIFY WATER (excerpt from the manual included with the kit)

Household Bleaches, whether Clorox or any other brand, have about 5.5% Sodium Hypochlorite, which is a suitable purification additive for water. Many towns and cities use it for water treatment, so never fear... this is really no different than what you get out of the faucet!

Note: Do not use powdered, scented or other non-pure bleaches.

Dosage Guidelines

 - Add 1 DROP per PINT of water

 - Add 2 DROPS per QUART or LITER of water

 - Add 4 DROPS per HALF GALLON or 2 LITERS of water

 - Add 8 DROPS per GALLON of water

Instructions

-          Dose water to be purified according to Dosage guidelines shown above.

-          Cap loosely and shake container, allowing some water to coat threads and leak out. (ensures that the chlorine contacts the mouth of the container)

-          Wait at least 15 minutes, preferably 20.

-          Test according to instructions below.

Testing Treated Water: Properly treated water should have a very slight chlorine odor. If you can't smell chlorine, repeat the dosage and allow the water to stand another 15-20 minutes.

For cloudy, green or really nasty water (ie: swamp water), you can start with a double dosage. As detailed above, after treating and waiting at least 15 minutes, smell the water. If there's a faint odor of chlorine, the water is drinkable. If not, then repeat the treatment. Prior to treating very dirty water, you may want to filter it through a cotton cloth or improvised sand or charcoal filter to pre-clean it. This can prevent you from having to double dose.

Finally, there's a very good way that you CAN use the pot suspended over open flames. Use some snare wire to make a hanger for the pot. First, wrap wire around the rim of the pot and twist tight. Now cut 4 equal wire lengths about 1 foot long, and wrap these around the wire at the 4 corners of the pot. Twist these together at the top, and make a loop about an inch in diameter. You can now use a stick or spit to suspend the pot above the fire!