Review: Alone in the Wilderness

To assemble a simple yet effective safety kit for solo outings, pick up this trio from American Medical Kits and rest easy knowing you’ve got most survival situations covered. The Pocket Survival Pak Plus ($80) combines all the usual items—whistle, compass, duct tape, firestarter, et al—with a knife, LED micro-light, and water-purification system, making this compact kit a veritable wellspring of backcountry capability. The Escape Bivvy ($50) is basically a space blanket on steroids that will save your frozen fanny if you have to spend an unexpected night out. Small yet perfectly sufficient for most minor first-aid issues, the Ultralight & Watertight .5 ($17) medical kit allows you to treat everything from blisters and burns to lacerations and other open wounds. These three gems combined weigh in at less than two pounds—a paltry load, really, given that without it, you might end up utterly and irretrievably screwed.