Product

Gerber Bear Grylls Survival Series Ultimate Kit

Promise

Everything you need to survive in even the toughest spots

Performance

A nifty 16 piece pack of essentials should you find yourself in an extreme survival situation like Mr Survival himself.

Rarely do we expect something not to work, or in this case work when you don’t want it to on its first test run. Fortunately the miniature light being permanently on in the off position was easily resolved with a tiny jewellers screw driver (not provided) and some gentle persuasion of the LED wire that had gone astray.

Obviously not a good start and in contrast to the best piece of kit in the pack, the miniature multi-tool. With 10 tricks up its sleeve it’s a pretty fun little gadget, thought I’m not convinced my life could hang in the balance over a nail file.

The whistle built into the zip lanyard on the pack is handy, so why there is a second whistle inside I’m not entirely sure.

My last gripe would be snaring my dinner, so long as it wasn’t any bigger than a rat, the modest length of copper wire provided could do alright.

Pessimism aside, there are some real practicalities to the pack, a survival blanket being one, waterproof matches, signalling mirror, hand saw and fire starter being several others. Unlike many fire starters, this one is a breeze to get sparks showering your tinder courtesy of with curved teeth on the steel striker.

The sewing and fishing kit is handy, cotton wool, waxed thread and of course the Priorities of Survival Pocket Guide are the sort of extra’s you’d expect.

Verdict

You could make up your own ultimate survival kit, but it wouldn’t be Bear branded now would it. It does evoke that feeling of youth in preparing for the end of the world which in fairness is half the fun of heading out into the wilderness. As survival kits go though this is a fairly useful and fun one in a small and convenient bag.