what would you include in a "basic" survival kit?

When I took the hunter safety course with my boys, about 18 years ago we all put a survival kit togerher. My two boys and I have used the same kit on several trips to the North Maine Woods to hunt bear and moose. Big country, dense woods, unfamilar territory....makes sense to put it in the day pack. We ALWAYS leave a walk plan with someone...again makes sense. Anyway...here are the contents:

YOU ALONE IN THE MAINE WOODS, The lost hunters guide  - whistle - knife - compass - 25' parachute line - 10 yd fishline - 2 hooks - waterproof matches - 2 wax candles - wax paper - butane lighter - large garbage bag - aluminum foil - empty vacuum pak coffee container - 12' roll electricial tape - life savers - beef jerky - beef boullion cubes - military field compress - 4 gauze pads - 15' roll 2" gauze bandage - 3 band aids.

Just went through the stuff and the jerky is missing.  The kit is in a one gallon ziplock bag, weighs ~1.5-2 pounds. I think I will add a 30 foot length of nylon twine and one of the light weight aluminum/plastic survival wraps. 

Seems like a lot but.....A 1" nylon anchor line looks large putting the mooring system together on the lawn, but looks very small tending off the bow of a $100,000 lobster boat riding out a storm on her mooring. No one ever intends to place themselves in harm's way, but you just never know when it's going to be your turn.

samchap

2 different methods of firestarting

signal mirror

one of those foil emergency blankets

sharpening stone

energy bars (4)

spare ammo (5)

compass

twine

small candle

small tin cup

Tas!?? Why do you ask these question's, and never give the answer??

remember the one monthes back about "how do you tell true north without a compass?

I answered honest.

It became a joke. So, "how do "you" tell true north without a compass??". What do "you" carry for basic survival??

Yer witt's

Spot

tacks -

sorry to take so long to answer! i set this one aside and then got distracted with a few other things!

first off, the best way i found to find north is, of course, the big-dipper method. in the daytime, i found this in my old boy scout book, and i imagine it works pretty well!

as for packing survival gear, there are all sorts of things. a small knife or two, some rope, some extra food, three ways to make a fire, and a signal mirror are all good things. spot said the best one, and that is YOUR WITS!

one thing i really remember is that it takes roughly a month to die of starvation and a week to die of thirst, but you can freeze to death an a matter of hours.