My VSSL Outdoors Gear, Camp Supplies Custom Build Review

The VSSL Camp Supplies kit contains camping essentials / survival items packaged inside an extremely rugged aluminum tube the size of a large flashlight.  I'm trying to remember how I initially found out about the nifty VSSL Camp Supplies and I think I must have run across it on a Google search or a search on Youtube for survival kit reviews.  If you haven't seen any of the reviews done by Kitbashed Survival on Youtube, then you should try a few as I think he has a nice down to earth reviewing style.  Anyhow, when I first saw the VSSL Camping Supplies kit I instantly thought it was great implementation of a concept to have all your outdoors essentials in a handy compact package.

Before I continue, since this is a blog that is mostly about Japan, there was another urban survival kit tube created back in 2015 by the Tokyo design company Nendo.  Their kit was a long cylindrical tube of five connectable modules that contained items to get you to an evacuation centre after a disaster such as an earthquake.  The modules contained a crank powered radio / battery that could also charge a phone, a rechargable LED lamp, a rain poncho, drinking water / cup, a whistle, and a small essentials kit for  your personal medicines and a bit of first-aid.  This Minim+Aid kit would just hang in your closet or coat rack and be ready at a moments notice, just like these VSSL kits.  A very different design and much larger than the VSSL kits, but totally tubular designs seem to be universally cool.  I also have a post about Japanese emergency food here.

VSSL sells their standard kits on Amazon if you're looking for them, but it is pretty easy to shop directly from their web site.  Their standard large (7.5" tube) Camp Supplies kit has been reviewed a fair bit with the best reviews on Youtube where you can also see the VSSL trailers for their products.  The Camp Supplies tube is a great place to start if you're thinking of getting one as it has a wide variety of useful gear.  Their products aren't cheap, but it is a good quality product, and I've seen people say they've bought kits on sale too.  VSSL is a Canadian company that has used Kickstarter and their most recent product was the snazzy looking VSSL Java for grinding your coffee beans in the wild.

I decided to do a custom build on my order as I kind of liked the carabiner compass and I thought the slightly smaller 5.7" tube would pack pretty much everything I would need in a slightly more compact size.  My custom build did cost a little more and after having done it, I think I would actually stick with their standard 7.5" Camp Supplies kit for the two extra slots of space as it really isn't much longer, but I do like the carabiner compass and the golden wheat colour of the tube I have.  If you get the regular kit, you can get it in either silver or black.

VSSL Gear Canada Site.   VSSL Gear USA Site.

These cylindrical kits, with the modular tins of gear inside are quite cool and it isn't a surprise that they have won some innovation awards.  The use of the ends of the tube for a flashlight on one end and a good compass on the other end are pretty innovative.  There isn't a lot of wasted space on this kit and both the end pieces and tubes are made of strong aluminum for durability and have gaskets for waterproofing.  The VSSL is also quite light and weighs in at about a pound.

The custom build I ordered had most of the items that the regular kit had minus 2 small tins (cannisters) and a compressed bamboo cloth.  The two small tins I was missing were a trail / adventure tape roll, and a misc. gear tin.  The large tube stores 9 small tins, and the medium tube I got stores 7 small tins.  

What I have in the custom build is itemized below.

1. Flashlight end cap.  This is a 200 lumens LED light with 4 lighting modes: bright, dim, red, SOS blinker.  The batteries are supposed to last 40 hours on dim and it takes a long press to activate so it doesn't accidentally turn on in your pack.  The three LR1 E90 batteries the flashlight uses are a little more difficult to find, but not super rare.
   
2. Oil-filled compass end cap.  This is a large, very visible compass that glows in the dark and is  works from -10°C to +50°C.
3. Mini First-Aid Small Tin.  This is a very basic, cover the scrapes kit that has 6 bandages, 10 wound closure Steri-Strips, 2 antiseptic wipes, and 2 safety pins.  I think a slightly larger first-aid kit would be useful, but this is the bare essentials.
4. Fire Starting Small Tin.  This contains 10 weather proof matches, 1 striker on the underside of the tin lid, and 5 Tinder Quik fire starters.
5. Water Purification Small Tin.  This contains10 Aquatab water purification tablets, a set of aquatab instructions, and a very handy Whirl-Pak stand-up water bag. The water bag is a great touch to this tiny kit.
6. Rope & Razor Blade Small Tin.  This contains a 25' spool of 250lb rope and a single sided razor blade. The rope is thin, marine-grade, and should be handy.
7. Wire Saw Small Tin.  Contains a wire saw with nice canvas strap handles that is used by British Special Forces.  The saw is made from 8 twisted stainless steel wires and is nicely coiled inside the tin.
8. Fishing Tackle Small Tin.  This kit has all the basics and then some with 3 hooks, 3 weights, 3 swivels, 3 rubber worms, 1 swivel spoon, 50' of 20lb test line, and a EVA line winder and bobber.
9. 4-Hour Beeswax Candle Small Tin.  The candle burns for 4 hours.  Good to keep warm, provide light, or for romance.
   

After I received the VSSL tube, I started reviewing all of this gear and I think I would replace the fishing kit with the miscellaneous gear tin that includes a whistle and mirror which is missing from my kit.  VSSL doesn't really advertise this as a survival kit, but a camping essentials kit, even though many of the items work for both cases.  I don't really fish, so other gear for a camping or hiking would be more useful to me.  You can buy refills or extra tins on their website too.

VSSL 5.7" tube custom build.

The VSSL kit customizer on their website is pretty cool and you could tinker around on it for quite awhile as there are dozens of tins available.  They have more first-aid options and there are components that use their large tins (equivalent to two small tins) so there is a fair bit of variety.  In my medium-sized custom build I pretty much have most of the basics and then some, but having a bit more never hurts, especially  when you consider the fairly compact size for the tube.  The tube is only 2 inches in diameter and it is less and a foot in length, so it really isn't that big.  In videos and in photos, the kit looks bigger than it feels in person.

The flashlight has been removed from the bottom and the little tins smoothly slide out.  It is well fitted.

It did this photo up to show the scale for the VSSL 5.7 inch tube with a 2 inch diameter.  It is not that big.  The Swiss army knife is a regular Camper model on the left.  On the right side there is a Leatherman Squirt followed by a well-used Gerber Dime and then a D cell battery.

All seven small tins with the flashlight and compass removed. Each tin is clearly labeled to indicate its contents.

I did add a few things to the tube as some of the tins have extra room.  The underside of the compass lid also has extra room where I fit 2 Tylenol, 2 Advil, and a couple of compressed towels.

The design of this kit is pretty slick and the modular design is a very utilitarian and attractive proposition.  A great deal of gear is packed into these tins.  It is pretty cool to be able to just slide all of the tins out of the tube and the labeling of the tins is clean and concise.  I quite like the design of the kit and it will be handy to take along on outings.  The small size of the tube is both an advantage and disadvantage from what I have seen.  The advantage is that it is compact, fits into your pack easily, and it can be held like a flashlight or just in hand comfortably.  The disadvantage is that it doesn't lend itself to larger items.

My VSSL Custom Build with all of the small tins open.  I also added a small sewing kit along with some wire to the kit to use up a bit of the extra space available in a few of the tins.

While the tins are great, you would have to sacrifice a fair bit of room to fit something like a Leatherman Squirt or a pocket knife in it, or an emergency blanket.  The Squirt for example would be a very tight fight diagonally with three small tins removed.  I wonder if a slightly longer tube (extra-large) could be a nice addition to their lineup along with a longer large tin that was the size of 3 small tins, or a mini-roll like they have on their full first aid kit that could store large items.  Having said this, I have to point out that you can buy tube connectors that allow two tubes to be screwed together, so that you could put a mini-tube under your regular kit to store additional items.  There are many options to play with here.

The VSSL custom kit I ordered makes me pretty happy in the end.  It is a very neat little kit that is rugged and waterproof.  You have the essentials to start a fire, a way to purify water and carry it, and tools to build a shelter. I'm not surprised by the buzz around their products which are both fun and useful. You are going to pay more for the quality of the build and components in this kit, so keep that in mind when shopping for this or something else.

Addendum: I did order a short VSSL 2.75" tube later along with a connector piece to put two tubes together.  Not counting the carabiner at the top, the length of the connected VSSL is just under 11", and you could use the regular non-carabiner compass to keep the length below 12".  This configuration allows you to add some items to the kit to supplement it with a separate compartment.  An empty 2.75" tube will fit a 2.75" long item vertically with the end pieces on.  You could put in a ziplock snack baggy with thinner supplies (e.g. bandaids, antiseptic wipes) or a small mylar blanket that would be rolled up to fit against the inside walls the tube, then stick a Leatherman Squirt or a Gerber Dime in the middle of the roll.  It isn't a huge amount of additional space, but it is configurable.

My custom VSSL is shown above with the extension tube and connector.  The tube is just a hair over 12" long this way from the bottom to the top of the carabiner compass.  A Mora Eldris utility knife is a pretty good companion to tube.

You realize that the VSSL tins are efficiently packed once you try to pack a cylinder yourself.  In addition to the 2.75" tube, I also ordered their large first-aid tin, the miscellaneous gear tin, and a roll of adventure tape.  I really wanted to make great use of the 2.75" cylinder and I tried out a couple of different configurations before settling on one that used the cylinder itself as a tin.  

In my first iteration, I put the large first-aid tin and a roll of adventure tape in the 2.75" cylinder.  I then removed the small medical tin from the main tube and replaced it with a miscellaneous gear tin as I already had the large first-aid tin.  The larger first-aid tin is nice, but it is still geared towards basic cuts / scrapes with more band-aids, medical tape, and butterfly closures. I didn't think I was getting enough utility from the 2.75" tube with this configuration though.

The VSSL 2.75" tube with an emergency blanket, a small roll of duct tape, and a Leatherman Squirt packed in.  I later wrapped the Squirt and tape in a piece of paper to protect the blanket.

I then decided to do something a little more creative.  I put back in the small medical tin in the main tube and swapped some components from the miscellaneous gear tin into other tins so I could get rid of it.  I swapped out the wire saw tin lid with the  miscellaneous gear tin lid which is mirrored on the inside to add a mirror.  I put the emergency whistle into the wire saw tin and put in a piece of paper to protect the mirror from scratches.  The P38 can opener from misc gear tin along with the sewing kit was then placed into the fire starting tin with some additional cotton ball padding and a small loop of wire.  For the 2.75" tube, I emptied it out and managed to pack in a rolled emergency  blanket (71" x 45" - most emergency blankets are now a little larger than this) to add a shelter element to the VSSL.  There was a bit of space left in the center that I then filled with a small roll of bright yellow duct tape for repairs (2" x 16") along with the tiny Leatherman Squirt multi-tool. Also, the connector ring has some dead space in it which I filled with an antiseptic wipe, a 2" x 2" gauze pad, and three additional band-aids.  I really like this configuration and will run with it for now

One last thing.  I did find this other blog post about customizing a totally empty VSSL with no tins.  There were some pretty interesting ideas presented, but I like having the small tins organize stuff for me.

Some Other Gear Posts

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• The Roxon KS2 Pocket Tool compared to Victorinox Huntsman SAK 
• Roxon Flash S803 and Bibury 22 in 1 Pliers Multitools Comparison and Review 
• My Pocket EDC Pouch - Small and Light Essentials For A Pants Pocket 
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• Personal Toiletry Kit for Airline Carry On Luggage for Canada / USA TSA
• My VSSL Outdoors Gear Supplies Custom Build  
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• A Look At The Nisaku NJP4165 6.5" Blade Stainless Steel Hatchet
• Unbranded Chinese Multi-tools Comparison and Comment About Leatherman and Gerber
• Japanese Emergency Rations (Disaster Prevention Goods)
  
• Outdoor Gear / Camping Stores in Tokyo
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