Gerber Bear Grylls Basic Survival Kit

by Gerber

• Eight piece kit
• Lightweight, ripstop nylon bag with waterproof zipper
• Land to air rescue and SOS instructions
• Priorities of survival, pocket guide contains Bear's survival essentials

Product Description

Gerber's Bear Grylls' Basic Survival Kit™ is part of the Gerber / Bear Grylls Survival Series. This collaboration brings together over 70 years of knife and gear expertise with Bear's extensive outdoor survival and adventure experience to create one of a kind knives, tools and gear. Each item in the Survival Series is meticulously designed by Gerber and Bear to offer a multitude of uses in any environment. Small, light and compact, the Basic Survival Kit provides basic gear to help meet challanges in the wild. Its all packed in a lightweight, ripstop nylon bag with waterproof zipper and a copy of Bear Grylls Priorities of Survival pocket guide, loaded with survival basics is included. You'll be glad you're prepared with this pack anywhere kit even if you don't have to use it! Stay prepared, stay alive!.Waterproof Matches.Snare Wire.Emergency Cord.Cotton Ball.Fire Tinder.Sheath dimensions: 4.5" x 5".Overall weight: 4.2 oz..

Product Details

• Shipping Information: View shipping rates and policies
• ASIN: B00CHI56PW
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Basic Survival December 29, 2011

By J. Zilla

Color Name:Orange

I bought this kit the other day and I'll give an evaluation of the contents.

The Knife: It's small. It came pretty sharp. Anyone with common sense won't count on using it for chopping or splitting, but it will cut some line and you could probably use it for eating/cutting meat, among other smaller tasks. I've used it to make small feather sticks and it works out fine for that too. For me, more than one knife is the way to go. Keep this one for the smaller stuff and it's not bad. Seems to be built solid enough.

The Firesteel: I've tested it a couple times, and it works as intended, i.e. it helped me make fire. I carry another one and keep this one as a backup.

The Snare Wire: I don't know if I'd trust this for a snare (especially if I had other options) but it's copper wire. Might find a use for it.

The Cordage: Simple, potentially useful for small tasks like lashing a knife to a stick for spearing, etc. Or lashing for shelter, though you're probably better off with 100' of 550 para for shelter building.

The Whistle: It works as intended... you blow in it, and it makes an ear-piercing sound.

The String: Some kind of waxy string is included. I don't know what it's intended use is, but I assumed it was for hanging the whistle around your neck. Or something.

The Matches: They make fire. You strike them on the included strip and they combust. They're not strike anywhere but if you were careless enough to lose both the firesteel and the strike strip for the matches, you don't deserve a fire...

The Cotton Ball: It's emergency tinder. I've used them and cotton pads before successfully. Keep it dry.

The nylon outer pack: It's nice. It's bright orange so you probably won't lose it unless you try to. Ripstop.... Distress signal info on the back, which could be pretty handy. Sturdy.

The inner plastic zip-lock pouch: good enough, hard to close unless you have the contents packed in just so.

The Bear Grylls survival guide: I'm not really a big fan of Bear Grylls, but I keep the survival guide packed with the rest of the contents. It has some info that might be useful and it will probably burn if I need it to.

Bottom Line: This is NOT the only thing I would carry with me hiking/hunting/exploring. But as a backup it's lightweight, easy to carry, and full of potentially useful stuff. And if this was all I had left, I expect it's certainly better than nothing. I think it's fine for the price. Read more ›

56 of 71 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Cute toy March 8, 2011

By S. Morris-II

Color Name:Orange

Where to start? Well the knife is not well made. I dulled it on the first pice of wood I carved. The "snare wire" is no good. Dental floss is stronger. The water proof matches work, but are not strike anywhere. The strike strip is hard to work with as well. Also the matches are not in a case so on your fist fall or drop they would be no good anymore. The only thing good in the set is the fire starter. It works just fine. If you are looking for a kit to use out there this is not it. But if you are looking for Bear G stuff to collect here it is. Just not a practical kit for the money.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit of a Disappointment April 29, 2011

By Xander

Color Name:Orange|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm going to be honest. I like Bear Grylls, he does a lot of cool stunts for a lot of cool causes, and I like Gerber. I've had a few Gerber knives and each one I've kept until it eventually disappeared after years of use and sharpening. So I guess you could say that I really wanted to like it.

Unfortunately, I didn't like it well at all, let me explain. The pathetic wire was so small I lost it almost immediately, and the string soon disappeared as well. I did get to use a little bit of the rope, but it also was a little on the too-small-to-be-useful side. The knife is solid feeling and comes razor sharp, but it's TINY. So small that it's incredibly awkward to use for anything. All weekend I had Crocodile Dundee in my head saying "you call that a knife?" I didn't use the matches, which I'm sure are just average waterproof matches, and I always use those. I chose instead to give the fire starter a shot. It worked right away (awesome!) but I was surprised when the sparking material rod fell out of the plastic holder twice. I hot glued it when I got home, so no big deal. The whistle is a whistle, it whistles.

All in all, the important survival-kit bits (the firestarter, the knife, the rope, the whistle) were serviceable and, if you had to, you could probably make it quite a while with this kit. So it gets 3 stars for being what it says it is at a fair price with some neat branding. For me, though, the only thing making it into my real survival kit is the firestarter, mostly just because it's cool (and has 'Bear' signed on the striker :) ).

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for emergency use August 28, 2012

By Avion

Color Name:Orange|Amazon Verified Purchase

First my background. Missionary Pilot, been through a formal aircrew survival training course at Emergency Response International ([...]) an excellent 5 star course. Completed a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course with Peak7 Adventures (another 5 stars). I am not a survival expert or even an outdoors person in particular, but we have just enough of my fellow pilots out there need to need use this equipment and training that its really good to have it, and know how to use it (98.6 + WTS = Survival). Personally, as a pilot, I hope all of my investment in emergency training and equipment will be a big waste of money and time, (ie... I will never have to use it).
We have emergency survival and medical kits in the aircraft that I am trained on both in class and in the field (in the woods, over night on a wet/snowy 45 degree event in WA). But, its nice to have just the pocket "essentials" for those other days when you wonder off on that hike, and for whatever unforeseen reason, need to spend an unscheduled overnight in the great pacific NW woods.
I purchased this kit as it seemed to be a good deal for two items, the knife and the metal match, both will complement my real pocket kit nicely, the other stuff, not so much. Let me evaluate each item individually.
The good
Gerber Knife - seems to be a good folding knife, small (about 9cm x 3cm x 1cm) I have not used it with a baton to cut wood yet, but it should do that in a pinch. (watch your fingers!)
Gerber Metal Match - works well, nice thickness, perhaps a little large for a pocket kit, but that's OK as I will use this part of the kit often to start campfires etc...
The bad
Pocket Survival Guide- Chock full of useless and misinformation, does not tell you how to the equipment in the kit.... I did not see if it would burn before I disposed of it.
Dry Cotton Ball- (1!)Intriguing idea, almost. Cotton balls (notice the plural) with Vaseline squished in them are the standard fire starters in our kits (burns hot even in rain for 2-4 min) but a dry cotton ball? It burned for 10 sec dry, not at all wet. Vaseline cotton balls can be started with the metal match using the right technique. THE dry cotton ball needed a match.
The other stuff.
Waterproof Matches -all lit easily and burned for around 6-7 sec. (Have the fire set up properly and ready to light!) Burned under the wet cotton ball and I could not blow it out.
Whistle- seems to be a lower quality copy of the ACR whistle - no attached lanyard.
Emergency Cord#1 -Nearly the size of 550 Para-cord but not the same quality. Have not tested it yet but am dubious of the results.
Emergency Cord#2 - A nice roll of it,about the size of dental floss. I am assuming its kevlar chord, but have not tested it. Should work OK but it is not on a bobbin so it will probably tangle when unrolled.
Snare wire - a very small, thin copper looking wire. I have not been trained to snare small animals, and do not plan on having enough time lost in the woods to do that.
The inner "waterproof" clear plastic bag. (12 cm x 12 cm roughly) Good quality, seals well.
The orange outer bag - leaked at the seams when filled with water.
Bottom line:A good price for the knife and metal match, and perhaps for the questionable emergency cord#2 and short burn matches. Throw the rest away.
1) Buy good equipment
2) Get trained on how to use said equipment
3) Have a PLB with you so you won't need drink questionable fluids or use the animal snare
4) Don't dress for success, dress for egress. (98.6 - keep it that way!)
5) Make good decisions and wise choices. Read more ›