Hopefully by now everyone has a good idea about their first line gear from dressing for success on out. While our first-line kit shouldn't change very much mission to mission outside of weather and seasonal consideration, our second-line and third-line kit can change significantly.

The type of mission, environment/weather, time of year, expected duration and our role for a specific mission can all dictate what comprises our second-line and third-line kit. Our second-line kit is the specific personnel equipment we need to accomplish the mission and our third-line kit is the equipment we need to sustain ourselves and the mission for the duration. In this article we will discuss mostly second-line gear but will touch on third-line gear some in an effort to help you build-up your kits to suit your needs.

Our second-line kit is going to vary from individual to individual and will likely change consistently as you gain experience and training. For our purpose in Kachina Rescue, our second-line kits will include our 24 Hour SAR kits and mission specific tools (like medical gear), so this will be somewhat familiar but this article will hopefully help you refine what is in yours.

The hardest part of building a second-line kit is deciding what to carry it in. There are an unlimited number of options available; your choice should be what something you are comfortable wearing that still carries everything you need. Not every solution fits every person or mission. One of my favorite methods to carry my second-line kit is in a tactical style utility vest combined with a hydration pack of some kind. While a vest distributes the load across your upper torsos, typically allows for easy organization of small items, gives you quick access to the most important gear and can be a one piece package to grab and throw on quickly. A vest can also be cumbersome when over loaded, uncomfortable in hot weather and have limited space for equipment and supplies and may be uncomfortable under a large pack. Vests are well suited for ATV and vehicle borne operations, technical rescue work and short mission in good weather, but for extended on-foot operations, cold/inclement weather operations, and operations where your second line kit will be extensive, a good backpack setup may be a better option. I have setup three basic second-line kits that I can modify and add to for various missions. I call these setups Light, Medium and Heavy. My light kit is now based on a True North Aero Vest with a small CamelBak, the medium kit is a combination of a radio-chest harness, and a Conterra Longbow backpack and the heavy kit is a work in progress that will be based off of a Conterra ALS Xtreme backpack. This is a little excessive for most people, and it will be much cheaper and simpler to look at your second-line kit like you look at layering clothing. Build a modular second-line kit that you can add and subtract components to customize it for each mission. There are hundreds of pack options available, don't limit yourself to rescue or medical specific packs. Many outdoor manufactures make excellent products that will work. For the ALS providers looking to make a small ALS field kit, it will be more difficult but doable with a little patients and creativity.

Before you decide on how you want to carry you second-line kit, you may want to decide what you need to carry in it. What I did for each of my kits is start by laying out the equipment and supplies I think I need to carry. I start lying what equipment I have out category by category, as I go I make a list of what I need. When I am done, I survey what I have laid out and the list I made and add anything I may have missed to my list. Then, I start removing stuff… do I really need 3 flashlights and headlamps in just my second-line? Do I really need that huge fixed blade knife? Or 300' of paracord? Or… you get the point. Strip your kit down to what you REALLY need. Some items may serve dual purposes eliminating and some items may need to be duplicated. Remember the three things that you can never have too much of (within reason of course) is water, batteries and toilet paper!

So, let's break down our kit into categories;

• Basic survival
• Communications
• Navigation
• Sustenance
• Protective equipment
• Access
• Patient care
• Individual first aid
• Personnel essentials

Basic Survival

The Basic Survival category includes items that supplement the rest of your kit if you end up having to spend the night outdoors. Many of the items in this category are already covered in your first-line kit and your personnel survival kit (PSK), however those items should serve as emergency supplies while your second-line gear is what you should live off of for normal operations. My basic survival supplies vary from event to event, but here is an example:

• BIC lighter (full-size)
• Box of strike anywhere matches or REI waterproof matches in a waterproof container.
• Additional fire starting tinder or a second Spark-lite kit
• Heat sheet
• Heat sheet Bivy
• 25'of paracord
• Small repair kit
• Water purification kit
• A few yards of duct or gaffer's tape
• Handful of zip-ties
• Spare mini LED flashlight
• 2 extra-large clear plastic bags

I keep all of these items in a simple stuff sack so all my survival items are together. I may add a spare knife or multi-tool, a mini-headlamp in place of the mini-LED light or add a few other items from time to time. Everybody's kit will vary, but you should strive to keep your basic survival items as streamlined and light as possible.

Communication

The communication category is just what it sounds like, equipment and supplies for communication and signaling.

Radios

The corner stone of communication equipment is our team radios. A team radio and spare battery(s) should always be part of our communications kit when operating in the field. Because distance, terrain, weather and equipment limitations and failures all are factors influencing the effectiveness of radio communications, two-way radios are only a small portion or our communication gear.

Cell Phones

One great backup to our team radios are cell phones, especially with text messaging capabilities. A good portion of Arizona has some type of cellular coverage giving cell phones an advantage over our team radios in some situations. Because text messaging uses the side carrier band of cellular communications, text messages will often get out when voice calls will not even when "all circuits are busy". Like radios, having a spare battery for your cell phone is nice if you have one.

Emergency Signaling

While radio and cellular communications are ideal, it isn't always possible. Because of this we need to make sure that we have good emergency signaling equipment in our kit. Like I have said before, being able to survive when lost is good… getting found is better. Well, not getting lost is best, but you get the point.

Strobes, chem-lights, aerial flares, smoke signals, signal panels, mirrors, whistles, are some of the emergency signaling equipment available to us. Some specific missions and environments could require special signaling gear; there are a few items that we require ever member to carry during field operations. A whistle, signal mirror and chemical light stick (or non-disposable equivalent) are all required for any field operation and should be included in your first-line kit, these items do not need to be duplicated in your second-line kit but these items are important enough to mention again here.

After the three required items, some type of signal panel and strobe are important. I prefer to carry a dedicated signal panel, a military VS-17 or a Rescue Streamer are included in all my kits. Dedicated signal panels are best but any bright orange or yellow piece of kit bigger than a t-shirt can be used as a signal panel. A Heatsheet makes a good last resort signal panel, so do bright orange large stuff sacks. Like the signal panel, I like to carry a dedicated signal strobe, Adventure Lights VIP series have many models that are ideal for our operations (special versions for SAR work can be purchased through Kachina's account), the military issue MS2000 is also well suited for SAR work. However, buying a $100 strobe isn't necessary. There are a number of cheaper solutions available as well as some incredible dual purpose lights including Petzl's line of mini LED headlamps which for under $30 you can get a high quality headlamp that has a strobing feature. As with all of our battery operated kit, we need to make sure we have spare batteries for our strobes, if you intend on using your headlamp as a signal strobe you need to have double the amount of extra batteries for it.

Pyrotechnic Signals

Pyrotechnic signaling devices are cool, no doubt about it. However they are not an important part of our emergency signaling kit for most missions. Signal smoke and aerial flares are useful in some situations, but handheld (non-aerial flares) should not be carried unless there is a specific need. Many of our members, me included, carry a pen-flare kit. Pen-flare kits are useful but should be used with caution so we don't set our AO on fire! If you have pyrotechnic devices for signaling, include them in you kit if you wish but use them with caution. Unless there is a specific need, dumping your pyrotechnics can be a great way to trim weight off of your kit. Non-pyrotechnic signals like the Rescue Laserflare are safer alternatives.

Navigation

Knowing where you are is always a good thing; however land navigation is more difficult than most people think. There are two required items for field operations, map of the AO and a compass. Again, your compass should be carried in your first-line kit as should your map if possible. A GPS along with a map protractor are very useful land navigation tools but everyone needs to be able to navigate without a GPS.

Sustenance

We need to keep ourselves running during missions; food and water are essential parts of our second-line kit.

Water & Hydration

At a bare minimum each member needs to have 3 liters (100 ounces) of water in their second-line kit. Longer missions where there will be limited opportunities for resupply of water more may be required, especially in hotter conditions. While not required, it is recommended that all members have at least one 3L hydration bladder for carrying their water. People tend to drink more when using a hydration bladder then water bottles. Camelbak has the motto "Hydrate or Die" … keep that in mind.

While we should always have a method to treat found water to make it drinkable in our basic survival kit, some missions may require us to carry bigger and more efficient water filtration/treatment equipment.

Food

For many of our missions, a few PowerBars or similar food is all we need to fuel ourselves but each member should have the availability to carry 24 hours worth of food in their second-line kit. Everybody will have different nutrition needs and desires but SAR operations are not the place for low calorie, low salt diets! When it is warm out, low fat is ok, but in the winter a diet with a decent about of fat will help you stay warm. Speaking of keeping warm, having a method to make warm food and drink is essential when the temperature drops. Military issue MREs are a perfect way to have the availability of warm food and drink without spending a lot of money. During the winter, I like to carry a small pressurized gas stove in my kit to make sure that I have the ability to make enough warm drink for me and other members or patients. MSR's Pocket rocket is an inexpensive reliable stove but if you have the money a JetBoil is worth every penny. When it comes to warm fluids, nothing is better than chicken broth for warming with the added benefit if nutrition and electrolytes.

Protective Equipment

Just like any other emergency operation, SAR work requires personnel protective equipment (PPE). While what PPE we will need is mission dependent, a few items are generic and needed for all operations, these are: Rescue helmet, Leather work gloves, Eye Protection and Long Pants with Belt. While often this gear should be worn, it should otherwise be carried where it can be quickly accessed.

While selecting you PPE don't forget your basic PPE, you clothes. Make sure that protection from sun, rain and cold are included in you kit as appropriate.

Access

Patients don't get sick or injured at our convenience, so often gaining access to our patients is more than half the battle. For those trained in technical rescue, you need to be prepared to carry your technical gear and technical rescue PPE in your second-line kit.

Patient Care

While most of our second-line kit is designed to keep us up and running on an operation, and it seems we often forget that our job is to find and if needed access, assess, treat and extricate the subjects of our mission. What patient care equipment you need to carry will vary from mission to mission and increase as your training level increases.

For most SAR missions, our medical gear will be limited to the absolute minimums. We need to make sure to cover the basics and have enough supplies with us to manage a patient while better equipped medical gear is transported to the patient. At a minimum basic airway management, bleeding control and supplies to warm patients should be in your second-line.

Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK)

In addition to your patient care gear, you should have some basic first aid supplies for you and your crew. Band-aids, blister care stuff, over the counter medications and personnel prescriptions are items that should be included in you kits. A simple commercial wilderness first-aid kit is a good place to start; Adventure Medical Kits make a number of inexpensive quality kits. Your IFAK doesn't need to be big, remember that you already have a good amount in you patient care kit.

Personnel essentials

Last but not least are the personnel essentials, toilet paper, sun screen, hand wipes, extra clothing(spare socks, top and bottom), and anything else that you can think of that you can't do without.

Putting it all Together

This is the hard part, often people over pack and carry more than necessary, attached is a check-list for my "Medium Kit" as an example of what you could carry. You need to decide what you need and don't need while covering all the bases and keeping you pack light enough to efficiently carry out the mission from start to end.

Having the right tools is merely half the battle, the training on how to use them is the other half. Attend the training, practice and prepare… having the right tools makes the mission easier but without the proper training all the tools in the world won't help you accomplish any mission. Play with your new toys; learn how to use them now so that when they are needed it is second nature!