All great ideas. I'm definitely going to implement as many as I can. I work the pack to work today and it's pretty damn heavy. Not a burden to have under my desk but if I need to tote it around I can really start to feel it...it's just a book bag after all with no support belt. I'm going to have to take measures to reduce weight...either by getting rid of some stuff or transferring items to one of the other bags.

A few notes about your suggestions:

• A 'hunting and fishing' kit is something that's in the works right now. I do carry hooks, snare wire, and line in my pocket kit...though I'm not a hunter and wouldn't even know what to do with something I snared.
• Bug spray isn't an issue right now. It's about to snow any day here.
• I'd like to go all AA but the radio uses AAA and the Miox pen uses 123. Nearly everything else is AA. I'm working on cutting back to the minimum number of extra batteries or including a solar AA/AAA charger and some rechargeable AAs and AAAs (I have plenty already). With the zero budget it will have to be a future consideration along with upgrading the radios to ones that use AA batteries.
• The USB key is a great idea. I'm going to scan in documents and put them on an extra key ASAP. Having extra money, maps, and ID is also a great idea.