I ♥ my dad.

My Pops just had his 75th Birthday and I really wanted to give him something special. Being that he’s an outdoorsman and avid backpacker/hiker, I figured I would make him a survival kit of sorts—packed full of things he may use on the trail or wherever. After doing some research on Pinterest, I came across a few examples of Gentleman Survival Kits—these are care kits used mainly as gifts for groomsmen/best man etc. They varied in contents and I discovered there was no easy, one-stop-shop for a completed, purchasable kit.

So I decided to make my own.

I found a cool site called Swanky Badger, which offers customized wood cigar boxes with personalized etching. The personalized cigar box was around $29 and the detailed etching along the face of the lid was really well done. It also came with some excelsior packing straw inside as a nice touch. The box itself was perfect for what I wanted to do and it turned out great.

The contents of the kit came from a variety of places. Here is a breakdown of the items:

• Winchester Brass Folding Knife
• Pocket Bible
• Survival Compass
• Levi’s bandana
• Pocket Measuring Tape
• Mini Magnifying Glass
• Keychain Flask
• Bulleit Bourbon 50ml

The knife, bible, compass and bandana came from amazon.com. I bought the tape, mag glass, flask and bourbon at my local World Market. All-in-all I probably spent less than $50 on the gear. So I estimate the kit cost roughly $80 to make. It was fun to put together and I’m seriously considering making more of these. I think it would be cool to have them available with different gear options/applications.
After all, every gentleman deserves a survival kit.