The Survibow, a wilderness survival tool, features a backpack that fits on the handle.

More Info For product and contact information about the SurviBow, go to www.survibow.com.

What’s in the SurviBow? › 36-inch bow saw › 10.5-inch knife › Multi-tool › Razor blade › 50-foot para-cord › 3-foot blow gun with 12 darts › Water purification tablets › Water filtration straw › Flashlight › Matches (5) › Magnesium fire striker › 16D nails (4) › Screw gigs (2) › Laser tweezers › Whistle › Compass › Large safety pins (2) › Fish hooks (3) › Lead sinkers (6) › 150-foot fishing twine › Fishing net › Full-size (36-by-84-inch) thermal sleeping bag › Backpack pouch › 5-foot steel wire

Should Steve Sullivan ever become stranded in the wilderness, he's confident he could survive. As long as he had one vital piece of equipment, he'd be able to hunt, drink clean water, build shelter and stay warm.

The tool he hopes to have with him is a SurviBow, a custom-made bow saw that doubles as a survival kit. It makes sense that he'd have one on him, though, since he created it himself.

The 36-inch bow saw is loaded with 24 survival tools. It looks like a saw wrapped in rope and camouflage tape with a softball-sized package on one end. But lift a lever at the top and the whole thing opens up. The handle of the saw is hollow, and it's loaded with gear: a fishing net, a needle, a compass, a flashlight, and 20 other tools.

Since he made the first one about a year ago, Sullivan has manufactured about two dozen SurviBows his basement, mostly for family and friends.

"I look at it like it's a back-to-square-one possibilities machine," says Sullivan, a locksmith by trade.

Stephen Bell, an outdoor enthusiast and network manager at Lamp Post Group in Chattanooga, owns a SurviBow. Bell met Sullivan because he does locksmith work for Lamp Post Group. Bell, who is also a photographer, traded some photography work with Sullivan for the tool, which he says he'll probably keep in his car.

"It's nice having pretty much everything that you could need out there in one kind of package that you can grab and go," Bell says.

For himself, Sullivan has never actually been lost in the wilderness. He likes to camp with friends and family sometimes, but things have never gone awry.

But he, like so many other Americans, is fascinated by reality TV shows about survival. There are dozens of shows on the air, often featuring people dropped in the middle of the wilderness with little or no gear. There are even niches within that genre with shows like "Naked and Afraid" and "Fat Guys in the Woods."

Sullivan's favorite is "Dual Survival," which features teams of two that must figure out how to stay alive together.

He came up with the concept for the SurviBow about 30 years ago, but says his interest in survival shows may have something to do with him finally building it kit. Mostly, though, he wanted to build it for the challenge. Could he really fit an entire survival kit into a saw?

It's a complex puzzle, but Sullivan's locksmith skill set makes him particularly adept at solving it. He owns A-1 Security Locksmiths on Hixson Pike.

"A lot of the stuff I do is miniaturized," Sullivan says. "I'm always dealing with small parts."

When deciding what to put in the kit, Sullivan thought about which human necessities are the most pressing.

"Your main need is water," Sullivan says, followed by shelter and warmth. "And eventually you'll want something to eat."

There are a couple of tools that might come in handy for hunting: two gigs for killing frogs, fish or other small animals and a blow gun. With the blow gun, Sullivan says you can kill just about anything that flies.

"If you have the mindset to get some game, then you would have the attributes to do so," Sullivan says. "You're going to have to have some patience, and you're going to have to have some cunning."

One thing that has surprised Sullivan is how much women seem to like the SurviBow. But it makes sense. After all, from what he's seen on TV shows, Sullivan says women are the best survivors.

"A lot of the women have an exceptional ability to really get tough," he says. "They really have shown that they're not willing to shy away."

Sullivan is sending his young granddaughter the same message — he made her a SurviBow with hot-pink rope and violet camo.

So far, Sullivan has just made the SurviBows for friends and family. But he'd gladly do one on commission. He's asking $229 for a customized kit, but "everything is negotiable," he says.

For now, though, he's just making them for fun.

"To tell you the truth," he says, "I really don't care if I sell one or not."

Contact staff writer Mary Helen Montgomery at mhmontgomery@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6324.