A bottle of water can be a valuable commodity to a thirsty person, but it’s not just the water that has worth; the bottle itself can serve many purposes. One of the best uses is as a container for a survival kit. Whether you choose a plastic or metal bottle, here are some items to toss inside.

The Gear
The guts of your water bottle survival kit can be complex and diverse, or down to business. Whatever you stock in the kit, it’s a good idea to include a fair bit of redundancy. Back-ups are always a smart idea when your life may depend on such a small assortment of equipment.

1. Folding knife and/or mini multitool
2. Liquid-filled button compass
3. Small LED flashlight or squeeze light with a spare set of batteries
4. Bic lighter, ferrocerium rod, and tinder tabs
5. 40 water purification tablets
6. Signal mirror and whistle
7. A space blanket
8. A Fresnel magnifying lens (back-up fire starter)
9. 50 feet of 550 cord
10. Fishing kit, including: 30 yards of monofilament line, 10 bait keeper hooks of various sizes, and split shot
11. 4 steel safety pins—2 large and 2 small
12. Small first aid kit
13. Several feet of Duct tape (could be wrapped around the bottle itself)
14. A small pouch to hold all of this gear when the bottle is being used to hold liquid

The Bottle
One of the best pieces of gear to hit the outdoor marketplace in recent years is the stainless steel, single-wall water bottle. This rugged vessel is not only crack-proof and crush-resistant, but it can be used to boil your water to make it safe to drink. Important note: If you are using a metal bottle to boil water, the bottle needs to be made of either single-wall stainless steel or some other fire-friendly metal, like titanium, with no paints or coatings. Do not put an insulated bottle or double-wall bottle in the fire. The heat won’t go through properly, and the vessel will probably explode. Skip the aluminum bottles,
too, as the metal and the coatings can leach bad stuff into your water.

If you go the plastic route, choose a wide-mouth bottle for easy removal of the items. Also, make sure the bottle is made of Lexan plastic, which can handle higher temperatures without melting, and add a metal cup that fits over the bottle. This gives you the boiling option in an easy and versatile container.

What’s in your water bottle survival kit? Let us know what you’re packing in the comments.