I decided I wanted to create a survival kit. I wanted to connect people with nature, so thought that something that’s intended use is in nature might help to encourage people to go outdoors.

I started doing a bit of research into whats stereotypically in a survival kit and deciding on what I should put in it. I thought about what I could make, things that weren’t too far fetched, but still essential. I eventually whittled it down to 5 things. A knife, A water filter, Rope, A signal mirror and  A water filter.

I then began to look at each of the items individually, trying to decide what materials to make them from and what shape and form they should be.

Signal Mirror

I got the idea to include a signal mirror as part of the kit from a cd. I had a load of old CD’s lying around, and a lot of people stream their music these days and CD’s are becoming obsolete, so I wanted to find a purpose for them. I found their reflective qualities and way of catching the light to be useful and a potential way of signalling someone, so included it in the kit.

I experimented with shape and form, trying to find the best way to catch the light, while also still being comfortable to hold. I found the triangles caught the light best, but weren’t comfortable to hold, so cut out triangle shapes and stuck them to a circle which a created from the cd case.

Water Filter

I was searching up ways on how to filter and purify water when I discovered this really easy method. You get two containers, put your dirty water in one then leave the other empty. you then get a piece of fabric and drape it across the two containers, the water is then transferred from one container to the other. This takes out all the dirt but then the water still has to be boiled .

I then thought about what different materials I could use to create this filter. I experimented with plastic bottles, as they’re a huge issue, but then I thought about how you need to heat the water after its filtered, so would have to transfer it to another container, so then decided to use metals, like cans and tins.

Knife

A knife is an essential part of a survival kit, I decided to try and create one out of found objects. I did this by creating blades out of a spray paint can, then stuck them together. I then cut a handle from cardboard, stuck it to the blade then wrapped the handle.

I experimented with different shapes of knives, and different things to wrap the handle in.

Rope

I wanted to create rope out of found materials. I took some wire and plaited it to make it stronger. This could be used for a multitude of things in a survival situation. This could also be done using lots of other things, such as old string or washing line, just any long string like item. The rope could also be worn like a bracelet.

Fire Starter

I found a way online of creating a fire using a battery and some tin foil. You simply take a battery and a thin strip of tinfoil, put the strip on both ends of the battery and hold it there. It can take a few minutes, but eventually it’ll heat up enough to spark a flame, which you can then use to create a fire. I liked this method as it was simple and used everyday objects which can just be found lying around.

Sketchbook Tour

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