So, besides red hair, what lessons can we glean from this?

hiker rescue story.

A bit cliché, but I tried to come up with a list of items I could stuff in a bottle that I would really like to have with me in a wilderness survival setting.

1. wide mouth Nalgene bottle
2. sawyer portable water filter
3. turbo type bic lighter wrapped in 3 feet of duct tape
4. tongue depressor wrapped with 5 feet of electrical tape, 4 feet of duct tape, and 30 feet of 100+ lb test Dacron fishing line.
5. 4 10p nails
6. Micron flashlight
7. 4 packets instant coffee
8. Leatherman Wave
9. Contractor grade garbage bag
10. Cup that fits on the end of the bottle
11. 4 zip fizz plastic vials, one full of ibuprofen, one full of multivitamins, one full of Benadryl caplets, and one full of paraffin/Vaseline cotton balls
12. 6 ounces of pemmican triple wrapped in heavy duty aluminum foil.
13. Fox Micro whistle

All of this will fit in the Nalgene bottle, except the cup that goes on the outside (maintains volume and form factor). Basically it was everything I could think to stuff in the bottle. This list completely discounts any other edc, so it is likely that many of these things would already be on my person anyways. But my intent is to list items I would really want to have with me (besides clothing) to get by for a reasonable amount of time. One item not on the list of course is a gun, which is a high priority for me. But mine would not fit in the bottle anyways.

I have a portable indoor kero heater which I haven't used in years because of all the junk it puts into the air. Because of several recent power failures, I've been thinking about some emergency kero. I know that kero has a shelf life, so I would want to rotate it. I also know that it has a lower boiling temp and is lighter in weight than #2 heating fuel.

My question: Rather than burn off or dump old kero, could I add small quantities (15 - 20 gallons) to my home heating oil tank?

Are there safety or furnace performance issues?

I recently bought a solar/ handcrank flashlight called Secur and it seems pretty good. So far I have only used it during a power outage but it does seem to work well and feels pretty sturdy. Does anyone else have it or any suggestions on other good ones? Would such a flashlight work well in wilderness situations? Thanks.

Here is a large collection of PLB success stories at ACR's website. There are plenty of lessons to be learned or reinforced. Some of the stories reveal mistakes made, and some (IMO) didn't really justify PLB use. But then maybe not all the pertinent info is there, and not everyone is a meticulous narrator. A few include web links to news reports of their ordeals.

As with the AAC's "Accidents in North American Mountaineering" there is value in studying the misfortunes of others.

Disclosure: I have no affiliation with ACR, though I do carry their Res-Q-Link PLB. I happened across this page at their site while getting info on replacing my PLB's battery.