This kit is packaged in a flat tall tin can painted in yellow and black. It is 1 1/2 inches thick, 3 1/2 inches wide, and 5 1/4 inches tall (37 x 90 x 135 mm). The tin can has a removable lid that is sealed in place with a wrap of electrical tape (to keep out water). This is it's most interesting feature.
It is made by the Tacoma Mountain Rescue Unit, Box 696, Tacoma Washington 98401. It was sold at REI Co-op. I bought it in about 1989? for $5.95 and let it live in my level 2 survival pack in the trunk of my car for a couple of years.
The contents, listed on the back, are: Matches, Candle, Sugar, Salt, Tea, Bouillon, Wire, Whistle, Signal Mirror, Plastic Tube Tarp, and the statement about the brochure. On the front is a line drawing of their fantasy of how this kit will be used. It shows a hiker sitting in in the open front of a 3/4 Teepee made from the tube tent (wind lines blowing past nearly horizontal), drinking a hot drink from the can, with a big fire in front of them. Right. Where is the cordage to tie the poles of the teepee? Where is the pot lifter to handle the can to get it out of the fire without burning your fingers? Where is the water purifier or canteen to supply the water to drink? Where are the hold down stakes for this teepee? etc. You get the idea.
The 'directions' are generally OK, but all based on the presumption that you are in a forest in a storm (with the occasional vague reference to special things to do in the desert or arctic.) One example: "YOUR CHOICE OF CAMPSITE IS VITAL. Camp near water, wood, and cleared area for signal fires. You'll need 10 armloads of firewood." OK, this is great if you happen to be lost/stuck in a National Park with such ideal camping sites and a wood delivery truck. How about the much more likely "Stuck in a dense thicket of shrubs" or "Stuck in the sand in the desert" or "2 Flat tires in the plains of Nebraska in the snow" or "Just after the Big Quake in East L.A." or ??? Where are your 10 armloads of neatly chopped firewood now? Hmmm?
This pack, when opened, was damn near useless. The wax candle had melted and soaked into almost everything else. The (very flat) cheap plastic whistle was plugged and attempts to unplug it resulted in chipping (if picked at) and warping/melting (when heated). The tube tent was stuck together, but still usable, with a lot of patience while ungluing it. Maybe. THERE IS NO TWINE TO HOLD THE TENT UP. You are supposed to find nice sticks/poles for this. I'd rather have a chunk of twine and a standing tree, fence post or park bench to tie it to. The sugar cube was saturated, as were the matches (though still usable, but now hazardous with excess fuel). The directions were modestly unreadable due to the paper becoming translucent with wax and letting both printed sides show at once. Also, something dark (I think it was maybe tea extract?) had colored a black band of wax down the middle of the paper. Etc.
My major complaint is that this kit, while a nice size for stuffing in a coat pocket, is of little real value. You are supposed to heat water you find in the tin can, over fuel that you find somewhere, to make a cup of tea and bouillon to drink while you sit in a tube tent held up by nice poles that you find. (What the salt is for is beyond me...the directions state 'for fatigue'. Right.)
You would be far better served, in my opinion, by assuring you had the Bare Essentials covered before you started buying any kits cheap.
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