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 could keep a traveller alive for weeks, as it did for Paul and Jessica Atreides 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. With proper technique a person could survive for weeks on its contents. Paul Atreides and his mother Jessica used one after they were cast out of Arrakeen, and it kept them alive in the desert until they encountered Stilgar at his sietch.
Purpose#
The fremkit was the Fremen answer to survival in the deep desert of Arrakis. Used correctly, its contents could sustain a traveller for weeks in the open sand. When Paul Atreides and Jessica were cast out of Arrakeen, they carried a fremkit into the desert and lived on it until they reached Stilgar and his sietch.
Contents#
A fremkit held a paracompass, a navigation tool tailored to the astronomical and geographic conditions of Arrakis; a stilltent, the foldable, portable shelter that served as the counterpart of a stillsuit; Maker hooks for wormriding; a thumper, used both for wormriding and as an improvised decoy; the Manual of the Friendly Desert, the kit's guidebook; a sandsnork, also called a sandsnorkel; a sand compaction tool, also known as a sand compactor; oil-lens binoculars as an optional item; and various water and food rations.
The pack was reserved primarily for these survival tools, collected and arranged in a practical, durable travel bag or backpack. Shorter melee weapons such as crysknives and smaller sidearms such as Maula pistols were usually carried separately on a belt or bandolier, in a scabbard or holster, though they could be stowed inside a fremkit if room remained. The Maker hooks were reserved for wormriding but could serve as improvised melee weapons in an emergency.
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. With proper technique a person could survive for weeks on its contents.
- What did a fremkit contain?
- A fremkit held a paracompass, a foldable stilltent, Maker hooks for wormriding, a thumper, the Manual of the Friendly Desert, a sandsnork, a sand compaction tool, oil-lens binoculars as an optional item, and various water and food rations. The Maker hooks could also serve as improvised melee weapons in an emergency.
- How did Paul and Jessica Atreides use a fremkit?
- When Paul Atreides and his mother Jessica were cast out of Arrakeen, they carried a fremkit into the desert and lived on it until they reached Stilgar and his sietch.
- Were weapons carried inside a fremkit?
- The pack was reserved primarily for survival tools arranged in a durable travel bag or backpack. Shorter melee weapons such as crysknives and smaller sidearms such as Maula pistols were usually carried separately on a belt or bandolier, though they could be stowed inside a fremkit if room remained.
Gallery
Images via Dune Wiki
Sources
- WikiFremkit — Dune Wiki entry
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Related entries
Crysknife
The crysknife was a knife made from the tooth of a sandworm, the primary weapon of the Fremen of Arrakis. Milky white and double-edged, it was sacred to its bearers and could not be sheathed once drawn until it had drawn blood.
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 was the Fremen Naib of Sietch Tabr and Siridar-Governor of Arrakis, the close friend and chief advisor of Emperor Paul Muad'Dib, and the guardian who raised the Atreides twins Leto II and Ghanima.
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