8 Things To Put in Your Survival Kit, According to Bear Grylls

Adventurer and TV host Bear Grylls has made a career out of travelling the world, getting into dangerous predicaments in the wilderness with limited supplies, and not dying. So what, exactly, does he take with him on his trips?

An article on Outdoors.com — a site Grylls helped relaunch in 2022 — provides a glimpse inside his survival kit. Here’s what to know.

What to put in your survival kit, according to Bear Grylls

Unlike a “go bag” for sudden evacuations, or home emergency kits, Grylls’ survival kit is pared down to the barest of essentials. Here’s what it contains, and why he chose each item:

1. A tin: More specifically, a tiny tin — similar in size to ones that hold mints or tobacco — to serve as the kit’s container, and, in a pinch, to heat a little water over a fire.
2. Waterproof matches: Because lighters may not work in extreme conditions.
3. Water purification tablets: Containing iodine, chlorine, or chlorine dioxide, they rid water of pathogens that can make you sick.
4. A tea light: In addition to being a source of light, if the flame flickers inside your shelter, it’s an indication that you’re running low on oxygen.
5. A button compass: It’s the size and weight of a button, costs around $1, and doesn’t need to be charged.
6. A 9-volt battery and steel wool: The steel wool will ignite when it touches both terminals of the battery.
7. A tampon: Can be used as tinder, or on a bloody wound.
8. An unlubricated condom: Can hold up to two litres of water when fully stretched, and be used to keep tinder dry, or as a rubber glove for tending to a wound.

And that’s it. It’s not much, but that’s by design.

“Prioritise portability,” Grylls wrote in his book How to Stay Alive. “There’s no room for any luxuries.”