Tips to Save Space and Money

Don't buy fire starters! Put 10-15 cotton balls in a small ziploc bag and put in a couple tablespoons (or so) of petroleum jelly (Vaseline) in the bag, seal it, and mush everything around until the cotton balls are well saturated with the petroleum jelly. When you need to start a fire, pull out a cotton ball, fluff it up a bit and hit it with a match, lighter, or flint/steel. Burns a surprisingly long time and can even burn in the rain. Piece of cake! More info here.

Sometimes you need some larger bandages. Make sure you have some sterile pads in your first aid kit, but instead of buying expensive wraps, get some vet wraps since they're basically the same thing as what you'll spend lots more on by buying "medical" ones.

Don't want to buy pouches? No problem! Ziploc bags are great for organizing your pack. Pick up some bags and a black Sharpie and you have everything you need to get your pack organized like a pro. Sure, they may not become family heirlooms, but they will certainly last you 72 hours. Get multiple different sizes to accommodate various needs.

Empty pill bottles make really great bottles to store small items such as a sewing kit. As an added bonus, they're almost certain to not accidentally open in your kit.

Mint tins (such as those for Altoids) are also great for storing small items in. For these, however, we recommend putting a rubber band or something else around them to secure them lest you spill the contents everywhere. Another pro tip: keep anything "minty" away from your dry goods unless you want everything to taste like mint!

The best tools are the ones that can be used for multiple things. To save weight and space, try to identify things on your list that can be combined somehow. For example, we have 2 way radios that also can listen to broadcast radio stations. (They even have small flashlights on them, but we don't rely on them for that.)

If you to opt to use a large, single compartment hiking backpack, the super light weight closed cell foam (like Therm-a-Rest) sleeping pads can be formed into a cylinder of sorts and put inside the bag to give it some structure so it's not just slouching. (Just make sure the pad isn't so wide that you can't fit it in your bag!)

Some of you will know this, but feminine hygiene pads (maxi-pads) are amazing at controlling bleeding. They are one of the best things you can get to stop bleeding. Put one directly on a wound, then wrap a bandage around it to hold it on the wound. A great multi-purpose item for your kit.

We have created a page devoted entirely to our fruitful trip to the dollar store! You might be amazed how well you can do padding your starter kit out. Check it out!