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A simple waterproof tube could be a hunter's or any other outdoor explorer's best friend should they find themselves in a bind.

A simple waterproof tube could be a hunter's or any other outdoor explorer's best friend should they find themselves in a bind.

In the pocket of my hunting vest sits an orange whistle, connected to a tube with a cap that is topped with a compass. Each winter the whistle with its orange-and-white lanyard makes its way into the inside pocket of my coveralls for ice fishing, and each spring it makes the move into my life jacket until autumn arrives once again and it is tucked into the brown Velcro-capped pouch inside my traditional hunting garb.

Despite the plastic molding’s shine suggesting brand-new status, the item has been with me for almost a decade since it was received in a raffle prize at a wildlife club banquet.

With a little shaking and tapping, the compass on top of the unit eventually finds its way to true north, but it gets there slow enough that I’m glad I haven’t actually had to use it to get back home on a hunt. Most of my adventures are on the rolling prairie, where simply cresting a hill provides a 360-degree view in all directions, and the two-tone hue of my red-and-gravel pickup truck is easy to detect on the horizon and the path back is easy to ascertain.

I’ve stumbled my way around the woods in northern Minnesota, but not so far off the trail that the whir of a car on blacktop or gravel didn’t lead me back to where I needed to be. So as direction goes, I’ve been fortunate in those one or two instances where the slightly panicked sensation of “where am I” set in and I was soon out of the woods, both proverbially and literally.

Inside the tube of the cylindrical survival kit is a small wrapping of paper towel, surrounding a variety of matches I assembled, which are held tight to fit with a few twists of a rubber band. Blue and white heads signal a standard fire starter, waxy red ones are waterproof and a slightly off-pink type is also waterproof, but they aren’t the ones that came packed in the small tool when I received it.

In the interest of always having a second source for fire, a small sparking stick on the outside of the main tube can be used for lighting tinder if things get desperate. Luckily, it, along with the matches, has never been used either.

Tightly folded next to the matches-and-towel combination is a twenty-dollar bill, as one never knows when one may need to purchase a Gatorade or a cup of coffee at the end of a long struggle back out of the wilderness, or more likely when that paper towel may not be enough of a fuel source to get a fire going.

There’s a mirror inside the tube cap for signaling overpassing aircraft that may be searching for me one day, and the string could likely be used for any number of in-a-pinch implements such as slings, overhead tarp holders, or applying pressure to a wound with a few tight wraps. Thankfully, I’ve not used either for any of those activities.

In fact, the only thing I’ve used — along with my boys, when they found it in my vest as we were cleaning it out last autumn — was the whistle. That works perfectly — I’d argue better than perfect. It’s more annoying than a false start call at a football game, or a ticky-tack in-the-paint foul in the waning seconds of a basketball game, and with the energy of a six- or eight-year-old, the three-note sportsman’s rescue blast likely could continue for hours in the field.

Here’s hoping my lung capacity can match that of my children, should the need arise.

All in all, it’s the best tool for hunting and fishing that I have, knowing that if I am soaked and cold, I have fire in a stroke or two, a way to signal for help and, ultimately, with just a few taps, a way to figure out where I am.

Here’s hoping the trend continues that I never have to use it, while it still remains that one item I always have with me in the field.

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