1:31 p.m. on August 28, 2013 (EDT)
A gun.
Seriously, I don't leave home without one. Uh, come to think of it, I wear one at home too...
In my backpack rides a little yellow nylon ditty bag my wife made for me. It contains all the “what-If” and odds and ends that go into my pack. It weighs less than half a pound. Inside are two zip lock bags, one contains my first aid kit, the other my miscellaneous gear.
As HornRimmedHiker wrote, the less the first aid kit is used the better. It contains aspirin, ibuprofen, benadryl, anti-acid tablets and imodium in addition to the usual band-aids, bandages, moleskin, antiseptic, a bit of tape, and sutures.
I hope never to have to use the Imodium ( Giardia!) or the sutures!
The odds and ends bag contains my backup means of making fire ( and I always carry a Bic in my pocket ) which consists of a book of paper matches and a military surplus trioxane fuel tab. I also have a small compass with sighting mirror, a hank of strong light cord like Triptease ( but I’m not sure if that’s what it actually is ) a small sewing kit, a repair patch or two and glue for fixing Thermarest pads, a small amount of repair tape, a packet or two of eyeglass cleaners and uh, I forget the rest! The contents of the ziplock bags are written on them with magic marker.
I’ve used the thermarest repair stuff only once in many years of carrying those things, but I reckon it’s worth having.
Not sure if this stuff counts as “survival gear” or not. It’s certainly stuff I don’t leave home without, but for “survival” in the wilderness I rely primarily upon my rain gear, proper clothing, shelter, food and water in my backpack. That’s why I carry the silly thing!
Now, if I am somehow separated from my backpack, that’s a different story! In my pockets I always carry ( even now at work ) a sharp folding knife, a Bic lighter and a small flashlight. When backpacking I carry my map in one shirt pocket and a pocket pack of Kleenex in the other shirt pocket ( so I don’t have to go digging for the toilet paper in my wife’s pack ) and of course I usually have my chosen firearm.
But there are exceptions to this. Last weekend my wife and I took three nephews on a two night hike to Fault lake, Idaho. We camped two nights at the lake at an elevation of 6,000 ft., and climbed to nearby passes and in general goofed off above the tree line. Late one afternoon my wife set off to hike around the lake. I goofed off playing in the water for a while, then set off on a swim around the lake in the other direction to meet up with my wife. The only easy way around this end of the lake was to swim around several outcrops jutting into the lake.
Anyway, because I was swimming I had nothing at all with me except the shorts I was wearing. I met up with my wife and we explored the end of the lake together. Going back, we clambered over a rocky hill instead of swimming or going the long way around. I’m fine hiking barefoot, at least for a while and my wife lent me her shirt to fight off the goose bumps I was getting ( wet and cold wind ). But should something unexpected have happened such as running across a bear on the far side of the lake, then I’d have had nothing but my wits to deal with it.