Jump To

• Introduction
• Start Here
• Survival Kit Planning Foundations
• Personal and Larger Survival Kit Systems
• The Lone Wolf System of Threes
• The Lone Wolf Interactive Survival Training System
• The Lone Wolf Survival Kit System
• The Lone Wolf Cutting Tool System
• Major Survival Kits Hubs
• Conclusion

Introduction

The Survival Kits Domain Fundamentals and Overview article gives you a deeper understanding of how survival kits are planned, organized, carried, trained with, inspected, and maintained. It builds on the Main Survival Kits Domain page by explaining the principles that shape survival kit decisions and how the different parts of the Domain fit together.

A survival kit should fit the person who will use it, the role and purpose of the kit, the situation, the environment, and the survival tasks it may need to support. Those considerations affect the type and amount of gear you carry or store, how that gear is organized, and how each kit fits into the larger survival kit system.

Survival kits connect to all 12 Lone Wolf Survival Domains because the tools, gear, and supplies inside them come from those Domains. The deeper skills, techniques, safety practices, and equipment knowledge remain within the appropriate Domain Hubs, while the Survival Kits Domain focuses on how that gear is organized into practical survival kit systems.

Start Here

This section explains how to use the Survival Kits Domain training based on your current level of knowledge and what you need to work on.

If you are new to the Survival Kits Domain, begin with the foundational sections of this article before moving into the deeper System Hubs. Start by:

• understanding the role and purpose of a survival kit
• learning how the four personal survival kit layers work together
• understanding how larger survival kit systems extend beyond what one person can reasonably carry

If you already understand those basics, you can start with the section that matches what you need to work on. Use the Jump To navigation and Hub Navigation to go directly to the doctrine, kit system, training, care and maintenance, or gear decision material that applies to you.

The detailed Training Pathways are located within the appropriate hubs. Those pathways provide a structured way to progress from basic knowledge into practical training with the actual kits, tools, gear, and supplies you use.

Survival Kit Planning Foundations

Survival kit planning begins with a few basic factors that define what the kit is for and how it should be used. These factors help establish the direction of the kit before you begin making detailed gear decisions.

Start with:

• the role and purpose of the kit
• the person who will use it
• the situation the kit is intended for
• the environment where it may be used
• the survival tasks it may need to support
• the amount of weight and bulk that can reasonably be carried or stored
• the way the kit will be carried, stored, and accessed

These considerations shape the overall direction of the kit. An EDC kit has different limits and priorities than a Get Home Bag, while a vehicle kit or home kit can support more gear because it does not have to be carried on the body for long distances.

Organization also begins at this stage. Gear that is difficult to find or reach can slow you down, so access should be considered along with weight, space, and the role of the kit.

Training, inspection, and maintenance are also part of the planning foundation. A survival kit should be evaluated as you use it, and the gear inside it should be inspected, maintained, replaced, or adjusted as needed.

The detailed work of building, organizing, training with, inspecting, and maintaining survival kits belongs within the appropriate Survival Kits Hubs and supporting articles.

Personal and Larger Survival Kit Systems

The Lone Wolf personal survival kit structure is built around four main layers:

• Everyday Carry, or EDC
• Get Home Bag
• Bug Out Bag
• INCH Bag

These four layers work together as one personal survival kit system. Each layer builds on the one before it by adding more carrying capacity and the additional gear needed for a broader role.

An EDC kit forms the base. It contains the tools and gear you carry as part of your normal daily routine.

A Get Home Bag adds more carrying capacity and additional gear to help you travel back to a designated location when normal travel is disrupted.

A Bug Out Bag expands the system further with more gear for leaving an area and supporting a broader range of survival tasks.

An INCH Bag is the largest of the four personal kit layers and is intended to support longer term needs when more gear must be carried.

Larger survival kit systems can extend beyond what one person can reasonably carry. These may include:

• vehicle survival kits
• home survival kits
• family survival kits
• group survival kits
• specialized survival kits

These larger systems provide additional storage, gear, and resources while supporting the same overall planning principles used in the personal kit system. Each should have a clear role and should connect logically with the other kits available to you.

The Lone Wolf System of Threes

Open Article → The Lone Wolf System of Threes

The Lone Wolf System of Threes is the Lone Wolf doctrine that applies across all 12 Survival Domains. Within the Survival Kits Domain, it provides a way to think about important tools through three connected principles:

• Redundancy — having more than one tool available for an important survival task
• Flexibility — having different tools that give you options when conditions or tasks change
• Versatility — choosing tools that can perform more than one useful survival task when appropriate

The doctrine is not about filling every kit with duplicate gear. It is about building stronger tool systems around the survival tasks that matter most.

How you apply The Lone Wolf System of Threes depends on the role of the kit. An EDC kit has tighter limits on weight and space than a Get Home Bag, Bug Out Bag, INCH Bag, vehicle kit, or home kit. The tools you choose should fit those limits while still providing the redundancy, flexibility, and versatility needed for the kit's role.

The dedicated Lone Wolf System of Threes article explains the doctrine in greater depth and shows how it applies across the Lone Wolf Survival Domains.

The Lone Wolf Interactive Survival Training System

Open Article → The Lone Wolf Interactive Survival Training System

The Lone Wolf Interactive Survival Training System is the training structure used across the Lone Wolf Survival Domains. Within the Survival Kits Domain, it connects kit building and training with practical use so you learn how your kit actually performs.

Training with the kit helps you evaluate:

• where your gear is located
• how quickly you can access it
• whether the weight is manageable
• whether the organization makes sense
• whether important gear is missing
• whether unnecessary gear is taking up space or adding weight
• whether you can use the tools and supplies correctly for the survival tasks they are intended to support

Training also gives you a way to improve the kit over time. When you identify a weakness, you can adjust the gear, organization, or carrying method and test the kit again.

The detailed Training Pathways are located within the appropriate hubs, where you can progress from basic familiarity into more focused survival training with the actual kits, tools, gear, and supplies you use.

The Lone Wolf Survival Kit System

Visit Hub → The Lone Wolf Survival Kit System Hub

The Lone Wolf Survival Kit System organizes survival kit planning, kit building, gear selection, training, inspection, maintenance, and the relationship between personal and larger survival kit systems.

The personal survival kit structure is built around four layers:

• Everyday Carry, or EDC
• Get Home Bag
• Bug Out Bag
• INCH Bag

These four layers build on one another, increasing carrying capacity and adding gear for a broader role as you move from EDC through the INCH Bag.

The current Lone Wolf Survival Kit System is organized as a 22 part series divided into four groups:

• System Foundation
• Domain Based Kit Modules
• Kit Tiers and Supporting Kit Systems
• Movement, Security, Training, and Readiness

The series begins with survival kit purpose, capability, layering, modular design, and backpack selection. It then examines how gear from the other Survival Domains fits into survival kits, how personal kit tiers connect with vehicle, home, family, and group kits, and how movement, training, inspection, and maintenance affect the overall system.

The Lone Wolf Survival Kit System Hub is the main navigation point for the full 22 part series.

The Lone Wolf Cutting Tool System

Open Article → The Lone Wolf Cutting Tool System

The Lone Wolf Cutting Tool System applies within the Survival Kits Domain because cutting tools are part of the gear carried across many types of survival kits.

The system starts with three knives under The Lone Wolf System of Threes, then adds other cutting tools when the survival tasks, conditions, terrain, workload, carry method, skills, and maintenance needs justify them.

Depending on the kit and the work it may need to support, that can include:

• knives
• axes or hatchets
• saws
• machetes

The cutting tools carried in an EDC kit will usually be different from those carried in a Get Home Bag, Bug Out Bag, INCH Bag, vehicle kit, or home kit. The role of the kit, available space, weight, and the survival tasks involved all affect which tools make sense.

The deeper doctrine, selection guidance, training, proper technique, safety, and maintenance for cutting tools remain within the Cutting Tools Domain and The Lone Wolf Cutting Tool System.

Major Survival Kits Hubs

The Survival Kits Domain uses several major hubs to organize the deeper training, kit building, maintenance, and gear decision material beneath the Main Domain page and this Fundamentals and Overview article.

These Hubs provide the deeper paths for building, training, maintaining, and selecting gear without turning the Fundamentals and Overview article into a detailed how to guide.

Conclusion

The Survival Kits Domain Fundamentals and Overview explains the foundation behind personal and larger survival kit systems, the Lone Wolf doctrine that applies to them, and the major hubs that carry the deeper training and instruction.

The four personal survival kit layers form the core personal structure:

• Everyday Carry, or EDC
• Get Home Bag
• Bug Out Bag
• INCH Bag

Larger survival kit systems extend beyond what one person can reasonably carry and include vehicle, home, family, group, and specialized kits.

The Lone Wolf doctrine and systems used within the Survival Kits Domain include:

• The Lone Wolf System of Threes
• The Lone Wolf Interactive Survival Training System
• The Lone Wolf Survival Kit System
• The Lone Wolf Cutting Tool System

From this foundation, you can continue into the area that matches what you need to work on next:

• Survival Kits Building Hub
• The Lone Wolf Survival Kit System Hub
• Survival Kits Training Hub
• Survival Kits Care and Maintenance Hub
• Survival Kits Product Gateway Hub