Fremkit
the Fremen survival pack
A fremkit was a desert survival kit devised by the Fremen for staying alive in the open desert of Arrakis. Packed with navigation, shelter, wormriding, and water tools, it kept Paul and Jessica Atreides alive after they fled Arrakeen.
A fremkit was, in effect, a desert survival kit, a pack devised by the Fremen for staying alive in the open desert of Arrakis. Paul Atreides and his mother Jessica used one after they escaped Arrakeen, and it kept them alive in the desert until Stilgar and his band of Fremen found them. (Dune)
Purpose#
The fremkit was the Fremen answer to survival in the deep desert of Arrakis. When Paul Atreides and Jessica escaped Arrakeen, Dr Yueh had arranged for a fremkit to be hidden in the ornithopter that carried them away. They took it into the desert and lived on it until they met Stilgar's troop. (Dune)
Contents#
The kit Paul and Jessica opened held a paracompass, a compass suited to the conditions of Arrakis; a stilltent, the folding shelter that served as the counterpart of a stillsuit; Maker hooks for wormriding; a thumper, which calls a worm; the Manual of the Friendly Desert, the kit's guidebook; a sandsnork, for breathing when buried in sand; a sand compaction tool; oil-lens binoculars; and water. (Dune)
Paul put several of these to use in the first days. The stilltent kept their moisture in through the heat of the day, and the sandsnork let him breathe when a slide of sand buried the tent's entrance. (Dune)
Frequently asked questions
- What is a fremkit?
- A fremkit was a desert survival kit, a pack devised by the Fremen for staying alive in the open desert of Arrakis.
- What did a fremkit contain?
- The fremkit Paul and Jessica found held, among other things, a paracompass, a stilltent, Maker hooks and a thumper for wormriding, the Manual of the Friendly Desert, a sandsnork, a sand compaction tool, oil-lens binoculars and water.
- How did Paul and Jessica Atreides use a fremkit?
- When Paul Atreides and his mother Jessica escaped Arrakeen, Dr Yueh had arranged for a fremkit to be left in the ornithopter that carried them into the desert. They lived on it until Stilgar's band of Fremen found them.
Gallery
Images via Dune Wiki
Sources
- BookDune, Frank Herbert, Chilton Books, 1965
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Stilltent: the Fremen water-saving tent of Dune
A stilltent is a small sealed tent that catches the moisture its occupants breathe out and turns it back into drinking water. It is the stillsuit's shelter-sized cousin, and in Dune it is where Paul Atreides first sees his future.
Stillsuit
The stillsuit was a full body garment worn in the open desert of Arrakis to reclaim and recycle the wearer's own moisture. Fremen-made suits were the finest, losing only a thimbleful of water a day and allowing survival in the deep desert for weeks.
Arrakis
Arrakis, known as Dune and later as Rakis, was a harsh desert world in the Canopus system and the only natural source of the spice melange. Home to the Fremen and the sandworms, it became the seat of the Atreides empire and the center of the known universe.
Fremen
The Fremen were a culture of humans descended from the Zensunni Wanderers who made the desert planet Arrakis their home. Hardened by water scarcity and generations of persecution, they became the finest fighters in the Known Universe and the foot soldiers of Paul Atreides and his jihad.
Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides was the last Duke of House Atreides and the prophet Muad'Dib of the Fremen. The long-awaited Kwisatz Haderach of the Bene Gesserit, he toppled Emperor Shaddam IV, founded the Atreides Empire, and unleashed a jihad across the Known Universe before walking blind into the desert.
Stilgar
Stilgar is the Fremen Naib of Sietch Tabr who takes in Paul Atreides and Lady Jessica, becomes Paul's governor of Arrakis and his most loyal Fremen, and later helps raise the Atreides twins Leto II and Ghanima.
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Wellington Yueh
Wellington Yueh was the Suk physician of House Atreides and the sleeper agent who delivered Duke Leto Atreides to the Harkonnens. Coerced by the captivity and torture of his Bene Gesserit wife, he broke his Imperial Conditioning, sabotaged the defenses of Arrakeen, and turned the Duke into a living weapon of revenge.
Worm Riding and Maker Hooks: the Fremen Art of the Sandrider
Worm riding was the Fremen art of summoning, capturing, and riding the giant sandworms of Arrakis. Practiced with thumper and maker hooks, it turned the most feared creature of the desert into transport, weapon, and sacrament, and even Paul Atreides could not be truly accepted among the Fremen until he had ridden.
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