The Making Of A Simple Survival Vest

So, there you go. Use your imagination to design your own survival vest. Or, you can go down to “Joe’s Survival Surplus” and purchase a used or new aviators vest. It is pre-made and ready to go. The commercial one will have about the same number of pockets, but it will be made of mesh and all the pockets will have Velcro closures. Also, a commercial one may have line tied to the vest that allows you to secure each survival item. This is ok for some people but I dislike the idea.

The idea of securing your survival equipment was developed by the Air Force to keep equipment attached to the vest secured in the event of a high speed bailout or from being lost due to turbulence during a parachute freefall. Additionally, if the aircrew member had to open his vest, perhaps to get a radio out during a parachute descent or while hanging in a tree, if he dropped it, the gear would not be lost.

I like the idea in some ways. I mean, if you drop your gear it is no further than the end of the cord attaching it to the vest. Plus, the cord can be removed from the vest and put to other uses.

I dislike the idea because after you remove a few items to use them you start to look like a spaghetti pot that has exploded with lines everywhere. This happens because most people, me included, are too lazy to wrap the item up properly once they use it. The piece of gear goes back into a pocket poorly wrapped and with part or all of line hanging out. Then, the lines will get entangled in brush and limbs as the person moves.

The choice is yours to secure your items or not. I don’t plan on making any parachute drops, so I have removed the lines. If you are worried about losing your gear consider it. It is an individual preference and you can try it out if you are interested.

A survival vest is easy and inexpensive to make. All it takes is a vest, some very basic survival gear, and a sewing machine (you can go with just the standard vest pockets if you don’t have a sewing machine). In less than an hour you can have a survival kit you can wear. It is always ready to go and you can put it on as you walk out the door. Within no time, you will even forget you are wearing it. While survival is never easy, it does get easier when you are wearing a survival vest.

Take care and I will see you in the field.

author website: visit | author bio

Pages: 1 2