Too busy today, couldn't make it to Gary's survival 101 seminar at Chalkers. However I'm happily to share some of the stuff I would put in my daypack. In order to have a meaningful approach, we have to understand the purpose of all this preparation for a survival daypack. For general day hikers, a survival daypack will keep you alive until get rescued by SAR within a reasonable time frame.
As usually, the best tool of all is above your neck. A guy could probably enter the wilderness empty handed and not only survival but thrive under harsh circumstances if he/she is very well equipped with native knowledge. All the tools we're putting together in our survival daypack are just make our lives easier, only if we know how to use them and improvise under different situations. So my advice is spend some quality time investing on real outdoor skills and learn about the nature. And more importantly, put your knowledge into test whenever you get the chance so you will be full of confidence when things do happen.
There is a saying: attitude is everything. When it comes to outdoor survival, it's very true... well, I just cut the crap and make this short. Basic things you should have in your mind is remembering rules of 3 (you can survival 3 hours exposure to elements, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food), and use SPEAR approach (Stop, Plan, Execute, Access, and Re-evaluate). In a scenario you get lost in the woods, what should you do? 1. Stop, overcome the panic strike, have a good attitude. 2. Plan your action. If the sun is still high, you may mark your current location and try to find your way back to the last known spot in a systematic way. If it's getting dark, you priority should be finding/building a shelter to get you through the night. 3. Execute your plan. 4. Access the situation, including access your resources and making rations. 5. Re-evaluate according to changing circumstances... Enough said, you can find pretty much everything on the internet but the key is try it out beforehand to find out what works and what doesn't work for you.
Finally, my daypack. I use a Camelbak CHAOS bike pack as my daypack. It's 10L small, streamlined cycling pack with a 2L bladder. Items I usually bring are a blade (H1), a poncho tarp, spare socks, some good ropes and carabiners, 2 garbage bags, some high protein food, camera/cell phone(works as flashlight also), and a survival tin can. In the can, there are a few important must haves: duct tape - work wonders way beyond your imagination(field repairs, fixing twisted ankle, cover blisters...) ; fire steel/tinder; emergency blanket; water treatment pellets. Other things t, write-anywhere pen, flagging tape, ziplock bags... The principle is traveling light and fast with only essentials and multi-use items, and improvise things you need. And with the determination and knowledge you have, there will be no problem for surviving.
The more you into the woods, the more it feels like coming home. The more respect you have for the spirits in the woods, the more provisions they will offer.
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