James Mandeville's Survival Website:
Free Article on Making a Personal Survival Kit

Main Equipment Recommended by James Mandeville:

Looking for equipment for your survival kit? The following items have been field tested. Please note that Survival-expert.com and James Mandeville have no commercial interest in either the equipment manufacturers or the retailers suggested below. Theses are personal recommendations and links are included for information only:

• The compass in a Personal Survival Kit should be as good as you can fit into the container and should be treated in most cases as a second compass. If you are making a general purpose Personal Survival Kit it is best to have a global compass (one with a needle balanced for use in both hemispheres). The Silva Voyager 9020 compass is ideal for this; to make the compass smaller, cut it down to around 6.5x5 cm as shown in the photo. Shown in the photo is a cut-down compass with new lanyard holes and the inset shows the original compass.
  
  
• "Escape and Evasion" type compasses are only accurate to +/- 5 degrees and they are made to work in one hemisphere but if space is of the essence, an E&E compass is a good one to choose. The Silva "SERE" Compass 40H luminous is the best miniature compass to pack in your survival kit and is available in models for both the northern and southern hemispheres; pack one of each and make sure you know which is which! Beware of what you are buying when it comes to miniature compasses, many on the market are little better than toys so always buy a top-brand compass, never cut costs on this item. The photo above left shows the Silva 40H E&E compass; see below for more details. Both the luminous and non-luminous versions of this compass have a lanyard loop (this compass is also sold without a lanyard loop, so once more, take care what you are buying). All Silva E&E versions are robust and oil damped.
  
  
• Silva also make a version of the 40 model that fits on a wristwatch strap. If you use this version DO NOT fit it on a strap next to an electric watch as this will make the compass highly inaccurate.
  
  
• Always pack two compasses in your survival kit or one larger and one miniature compass is a good decision. They take up no room at all and you need to have a spare. Keep them apart so they do not affect each other.
  
  
• Do not pack a compass in a tin box that can become magnetised. Keep it away from items such as a survival knife, multi-tool, radio equipment, etc., for the same reason. If packed in a magnetised tin, or kept near a magnetised item, you could permanently damage your compass. Another reason for using a small aluminium mess tin as described earlier for the container. Magnetic screening of items such as knives and Multi-tools is a problem and needs careful consideration when you design your Personal Survival Kit.

James recommends:

SILVA VOYAGER 9020 Global Compass.

(This compass is James's favourite survival compass. Pack one with a Silva 40H as a back up - see below. Cut it down if necessary to fit your container.)

SILVA "SERE" model 40H luminous compass and Silva "SERE" model 40NLH non-luminous compass.
(The 40H compass is a cheap and reliable miniature compass. If you buy over the internet, make sure you buy for the correct hemisphere and the compass housing has a lanyard loop fitted.)

Shown above for comparison, the Silva "SERE" 40 luminous (left) and the Silva "SERE" 40 NL (right).

Specification and supplier:

Tough construction: Impact-resistant plastic  Loop for lanyard: Yes  Oil filled: Yes  Luminous:  Yes  North: Red Arrow point   Size: 8mm   Weight: 2.5grams

Manufacturer: Silva, Silva Sweden AB, Box 998, 191 29 Sollentuna, Sweden.
    www.silva.com
 

Francis Barker Model 1605 NATO Survival Compass:

(Good compass, more expensive than the Silva, but easy to lose. Use glue like Araldite to fix to a cord. This compass is balanced only for use in the Northern Hemisphere.)