Lifeline Survival Canteen Review
One of the many reasons I started this site was to review pre-made survival kits that you can buy on line or in a local store. Since this is my first write-up / review of a survival kit with pictures please understand that they will only get better with time :)
Product Name: Lifeline Survival Canteen
Suggested Retail Price: $12.95 USD
Advertised Survival Contents & Quantity:
- 1 Polycarbonate Canteen (unit all items are packaged inside)
- 1 Carabiner (clipped onto canteen’s lid)
- 1 Emergency Blanket (space blanket)
- 1 Emergency Poncho
- 1 Multi-Function Whistle/Compass (not mentioned on the package but it also has a mirror, and storage for matches)
- 1 Mini Pocket Knife (think army swiss knock-off)
- 1 Box of waterproof matches (yes 1 entire box!)
- 1 Flashlight (made in china)
- 2 Batteries (generic brand)
- 10 Adhesive bandages
- 1 Reusable zipper-lock bag
- rope/twine around whistle (not advertised but in there)
Life Line Survival Canteen Contents Picture
The LifeLine Survival Canteen is rather large for a personal survival kit and most of the bulk is due to the poncho and space blanket. The carabiner is a fake, it’s stamped saying “NOT FOR CLIMBING”… so a carabiner in a survival kit, I guess you could tie items to it and hang it from your belt? The survival canteen weighs to much for this and you also risk the possibility of breaking the lid. The canteen itself is polycarbonate so it wont break unless it suffers numerous falls from 20+ft onto solid rock. The canteen is a key ingredient to personal survival because once the contents are empty you can use it to carry around water you might find. Unfortunately there is no food, snack, gum or any item inside the kit that could be used to achieve anything edible. The survival canteen is seriously lacking in the food department.
Both the space blanket and poncho are generic items found in mosts survival kit. While the poncho is useful for keeping you dry and will do the job like any other cheap emergency poncho the space blanket is very thin, loud, and will blow with the wind VERY easily. As you can see from the image above the poncho was very hard to pull out of the canteen as was the space blanket. If it’s raining and cold and you need to get the poncho out you could be in for some trouble with the slipper plastic and freezing fingers.
It was nice to see an entire box of matches in the survival canteen but what had me stumped was why they did not put them inside the whistle. The matches were normal waterproof matches not life boat NATA matches that burn extremely hot. Room for improvement in the fire starting department.
Next on the list of goodies in the survival canteen we have a mini pocket knife / swiss army knife replica.
The scissors, file, and tooth pick are pretty flimsy and useless. The blade itself is ultra thin and could pose as a hazard instead of a benefit in a survival situation. Overall I think it’s nice to have a knife in there but the size makes it almost useless for any serious survival task. It will work decent for cutting clothes (not jeans) and small rope. If you are going to rely on this knife I would hope you have an “Every Day Carry” knife that far exceeds the ability of this blade.
The whistle, compass, mini-mirror and small amount of rope/twine is a decent all in one item. I don’t understand why they don’t mention it on the package contents! You can fit about 1/2 the amount of matches they give you in there (a good spot to keep those real survival matches). The whistle requires some SERIOUS air to get it loud so I suggest saving up some energy to blow on that thing. The mirror in the tail cap is ULTRA small and probably only the best signalers will be able to signal a plane, this may be more useful as a backup fire source than a signal mirror. The compas on the other side has no bubbles and would make a good backup to any primary compass or work in a real survival situation where you NEED to rely on something more than the looks of a tree. On the side of the all in one unit you will also find a place to strike matches and/or scrape to create sparks… another goody that was not mentioned on the package contents.
The flashlight was very light weight and I thought it had a chance of not working at all. To my surprise the cheap flash light worked and was brigther than expected. The light is made out of very thin plastic and if you drop it the bulb or the light itself may crack or crumble into a million pieces. This is NOT a survival flashlight and I would not rely on it working to help you see at night. Also due to the lights size it adds some serious bulk to the survival kit. Replace it with a cheaper Surefire G2 and not only will you gain lumen’s but you will also gain run time, quality, and the piece of mind knowing you can drop it on the ground and even water. It should also be noted the batteries that are provided are generic, light weight and probably will not last long in use or on the shelf.
The bandages, plastic baggy, and heavy duty straw were very nice additions to the survival kit. However, I`m not to sure what the baggy would come in handy for due to the size, maybe carrying a little water or keeping your fishing bait away from your food? The straw provided is heavy duty, not something you would find at a fast food restaurant. I`m surprised more survival kits do not come with straws as they are very useful in water procurement, and possibly a mini-blowgun for hunting!
In conclusion the lifeline survival canteen had the basic things covered for survival which are water proceurement, shelter, and staying warm/fire (However it was missing any tender to aid in the starting of a fire). However it was lacking any food or way to get food and many if not all the items provided were substandard in terms of quality, and ability to be used. Since this is a basic survival kit I believe it should have had some basic medication such as a pain reliever and allergy medication (Advil & Benedryhl) . I would have also liked to have seen a sturdy yet small fixed blade knife, and higher quality rope (paracord maybe), alcohol pads would have been nice for cleaning a wound and could have doubled duty as a fire starter too.
Overall the quality alone forces me to not suggest anyone use this kit or rely on it during a survival situation.
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One Response to “Lifeline Survival Canteen Review”
October 10th, 2008 at 4:59 am
I’m trying to find a source for the bottle (it is also sold as a “Lifeline Flipspout Canteen” without the survival contents); I don’t need any of the survival gear inside (I’ve put together my own kit), but I would like one of the darker colored wide-mouth bottles to fit into my MOLLE 1-quart canteen pouch (along with my GI cup and stove). I can use the bottle to carry things if need be or to increase my water capacity if water sources are scarce (I have a daypack with a hydration system for drinking water, and I also carry a 2qt soft GI canteen I’ve had since the early ’70s–recently replaced the old OD cover with a new woodland camo MOLLE cover). But, like you, I don’t think much of the contents of this kit (or most of the other commercially available pre-packaged kits). I tend to carry more items with me than most people consider necessary, and I’ve selected each item for quality/durability. But the wide-mouth bottle with spout/straw (with maybe some tubing added to lengthen the straw) could be used with a plastic garbage bag to build a solar still for water in the desert. Filled with things I’m going to carry anyway, it wouldn’t add much weight, and it would fit in an existing pouch.