SOL Origin Survival Kit: Worth the Price?

Q. Hey Gear Guy,

I bought the SOL Origin Survival Kit, but my friends told me this was a rip-off. Do you think it was worth it?

— Concerned Kenya, Sunnyvale, California

A. Hi Kenya. Thanks for the question. Nobody likes to feel like they got ripped off, so I understand your concern. I’ve checked out the SOL Origin Survival Kit first-hand, and I have a couple of things to mention.

First off, it’s made by Adventure Medical Kits, which is a highly respected company that makes lots of good products. Secondly, it’s a pretty well-stocked survival kit for the price ($30-$45). Sure, you could build a lighter-weight kit (the plastic case makes it slightly heavy—yet still just 6.25 ounces!) with some higher quality items if you purchased each piece individually and put it together yourself, but that would be much more expensive.

For what it’s worth, I also looked around on the Internet and found it rated with 4 stars out of 5 on Amazon.com and 3.7 stars out of 5 on REI.com.

All in all, for the price and the ease of a ready-to-rock survival kit, I think the SOL is good. Most important of all, the only way to know if the SOL was really worth the price is if it saves your hide when you actually get stuck out in the wilderness. Hopefully you’ll never find out. But remember: A survival kit can’t save you if you don’t remember to carry it with you!