In the first six hours, salvage four groups of gear: water containers and treatment, shelter and warmth, fire-starting equipment, and cutting and prying tools. They address exposure and dehydration, which kill fastest, and they are hard to improvise. Containers come first, not because thirst kills in six hours, but because finding and carrying water without a container is nearly impossible.
Part of Priority Salvage List
The first salvage tier targets what kills fastest, exposure and dehydration, with the gear that is hardest to improvise.
Exposure And Dehydration Set The Order
The first six hours are for the four groups below.
The fastest killers are exposure, dehydration and trauma. Hypothermia and heatstroke can kill in hours, so climate control is survival, not comfort. Gear that deals with them comes first; medical supplies follow in the next tier because they address the next group of dangers, infection and untreated injury.
The Four Groups
- Water and containers. A container is carrying capacity for the rest of your time as a survivor. Bottles, jugs, filters, purification tablets and pots for boiling all count. Boiling is the most reliable purification method, which is why a pot is on the list. The methods themselves are in Water Purification; the next section gives where to look.
- Shelter and warmth. Sleeping bags, tarps, wool blankets, layered clothing and work gloves. See Shelter & Warmth.
- Fire. Lighters, matches, a ferrocerium rod and starters. Carry at least three methods, because a single method fails at the worst time. See Fire-Starting Equipment.
- Cutting and prying tools. Without them you cannot process wood, open containers, butcher game, build shelter or force a door. See Cutting & Prying Tools.
Where To Look
Outdoor and camping stores hold most of the four groups in one place. Beyond them: kitchens, convenience stores and gas stations for lighters and containers, bedrooms and hotels for blankets, construction sites and hardware stores for tarps and crowbars, and fire stations and emergency vehicles for blankets and tools. A site that holds several groups on one floor is worth more than a richer site that holds one.
Common Mistakes
- Picking medical or luxury items first. Infection is the next danger, not the first. Get exposure and water handled, then go back.
- Collecting one method of everything. Redundancy matters most for fire and for water treatment.
- Skipping the check before entering. The sites in this tier are the ones others reach first; see Competition & Risk Assessment.
Safety
The gear is not worth a collapse
Outdoor stores and hardware stores have heavy shelving that can fall on you. Do not climb shelves, and do not pull stock from the bottom of a stack that is leaning. If the roof or walls have shifted, leave.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Tier 2: Medical Supplies — what to take in the next stage
- Combine with: Carry Capacity vs. Value — how much of this one trip can carry