Spent most of my evenings, reading every word on KIFARU's web site, drooling over the Marauder pack (and my keyboard ... ).
Ordering is not done yet, but a sure thing anyway....

Went with the wife and purchased $300 worth of canned food storage at Sam's Club. It is enough for about a 2 weeks for the family.

One 50 more weeks of food to get!!!

Scanned in irreplaceable family photos and stored them on a DVD to be kept in the BOB. On the same disc went important documents and scanned copies of identifications. I first zipped, then password protected the archives and let several family members know about the location of the discs and a password for them.

Bought 5" hemostat, a pair of bandage scissors and a tiny tweezer with very sharp tips for FAK.

Bought a nesting pair of SS 1 qt and 3/4 qt pots to go with my mess kit.

Bought a couple of 2-packs of Sterno to go with my little square stove that folds flat.

Bought a 2-pack of "Howler" whistles - one for car, one for PSK. (I was very surprised at how much lung power it took to get any sound out of it - not a plus if the whistler is injured)

Made some firestarters with cotton balls and Vaseline. Bought "travel size" container of Vaseline, melted the contents on the stove, put in some cotton balls (7) and then packed them back in the same container. Being too big for a PSK, it will go in my BOB.

A little every week, every payday.....it adds up!

Finally upgraded my phone, to a Sony Ericsson P1i. This one has an FM radio, if you have the earphones which act as aerial, and I am currently carrying those.

from the ATT web site:

Will my AT&T PrePaid Phone Card ever expire?

No. AT&T PrePaid Phone Cards purchased on this web site do not expire. Cards purchased directly from a retailer may have an expiration date; please see Card or packaging for expiration policy.

Purchased a (old, but in good shape) Norlund Hudson Bay pattern hatchet for my kit.

Purchased a Becker BK7 knife for my kit.

I used to maintain calling cards from all three major long distance providers (AT&T, Sprint, and MCI). This gave me three different network options for busy phone times (Mother's day and post earthquakes). I always seem to get through with at least one card. They have traditionally maintained separate phone networks(Sprint-fiber, AT&T-copper, MCI-microwave) so I have true diversity in post crisis calling. If you choose some other calling card, try to find out which network they use so you don't have multiple cards using only one network. This is not to mention all the money I have saved by dropping regular long distance services from my home phone (monthly service charges and taxes).

In my experience, all the cards have expiration dates regardless of where purchased. In all cases I have been able to re-charge the calling card by contacting the company and using a credit card for payment. All unused minutes from before the expiration have always been rolled over.

Last year I dumped AT&T for charging me $6 to re-charge the card. The entire re-charge process was fully automated via the phone. There was no option to renegotiate price. It was only after the transaction was fully complete did the recording notify me that I would be charged $6 for the re-charge. Shame on AT&T! This should have been stated up front! Not only is this dishonest, but the lack of a renegotiated price + $6 made this a lousy deal for long distance. More than double what I pay with MCI and Sprint.

Whenever my sprint or MCI card expires I call their re-charge number. At some point in the conversation a live operator will intervene. They always try to talk about the total re-charge fee and not the per minute cost. I ask for a $20 recharge then ask them about the per minute cost. They will usually quote me a price between 5 and 6 cents a minute. I ask them to match their competitors price. In all cases they have met my request immediately and without quibble. I currently pay 2.85 cents per minute on my MCI and Sprint calling card. No recharge or monthly fees.

Hope this helps, TR

I purchased some more emergency rations, the book 'Survival Medicine' and a SAM-splint for my FAK

I'm going to order a cell phone charger tip for my eaton radio...