First of all, thanks to Doug and everyone associated with equipped.org; while I just signed up, I've learned a great deal from the site and past posts and decided it's time to participate.

Here's some background, then my question: I keep a modular survival kit, made up of a small set of items that go with me much of the time in pockets or a hip pack, then an Eagle Creek Bhatah Sab bag which consists of two parts - a zip-off pack that goes with me when I pilot a plane or backpack or drive outside the local area (and which contains crucial medical, signaling and other items), and the main bag, which I zip together with the smaller bag and which contains long-term backcountry survival and shelter items for when I'm driving into the wilderness or flying (for example) over the Sierras or into British Columbia.

Here's my issue: I'm wondering what should go into a PSK that would be allowed on board a commercial flight while other items are packed away in the baggage hold...obviously blades and many items are out, so what would be allowed? What would be the best possible kit we can all come up with that would be allowed on board?

As an aside, I question the need for snares and fishing equipment these days in any small kit...certainly could do without them for a kit that can travel with me, as I expect water and medical needs are far more important than food within the time period I'm likely to be awaiting rescue in those cases when I'm not traveling with the full kit.

Anyway, I'll look forward to hearing the forum's answers on an airline-friendly PSK while I mull over ideas myself, which I'll also post.

Thanks!

Hi bmisf,
Here is a link to another recent thread which may be of some use to you. Here is an even more recent thread regarding new regulations for American commercial aircraft. Hope these help.
Stay safe,
J.T.

I would agree with you about water, fire and medical needs having paramount importance in a PSK, especially a mini-PSK where space is at a premium, but ... you knew there was a but, didn't you? We cannot always anticipate, let alone dictate, where chance will plonk us down when Mr. Murphy comes calling. I keep 3 wire "snares" in my mini-PSK that goes everywhere I go. They are actually 12-inch steel fishing leaders, so they can do double duty, they take up almost no space, and a foot of pretty tough wire might be a good thing to have sometime. Same with the fishhooks, you never know where you'll end up. The fishing line can be used not only for that, but also for repairs, making things or jury-rigging something to get you through whatever emergency you're dealing with. A little of everything is better than nothing of anything, I think.

Wow - wish I'd searched the forum more thoroughly before asking my question! There's a wealth of information in those past posts - especially your very creative list of items and improvisations, J.T. Exactly what I was looking for - thanks.

It wasn't a bad question, though. Those other posts talked about airline security precautions and what to do, but I'd been thinking of starting a thread like this myself.

There's two ways to look at this:

1. What would I take aboard an airliner (on my person) that's "permitted" under the official guidelines?

2. What could I smuggle past the security guards, and how?

When I flew to Winnipeg a few months back, security went through my Altoids tin PSK quite thoroughly. The following items were confiscated, as I recall:

a. a needle (part of my sewing kit).
b. a Coughlan's wire saw. The security guard wasn't sure what it was, but another security guard recognized it; as soon as the word "saw" was mentioned, I was told I couldn't take it.
c. several waterproofed (dipped in paraffin) strike-anywhere matches.
d. a hexamine solid fuel tablet.

The rest of the PSK was returned to me. It contained:

a. The tin itself.
b. 4 lighter flints krazy-glued to the rim.
c. a whistle.
d. international orange marker ribbon.
e. a citronella tea-light candle.
f. some aspirin tablets.
g. button compass.
h. plastic fresnel lens (credit-card sized)
i. aluminium foil.
j. pencil leads.
k. dental floss.
l. approx. 6 feet of paracord
m. photon LED flashlight

On the return flight, the airline agent at the ticket counter inspected my hand luggage (well, the plastic shopping bag I was carrying) and told me that I wouldn't be able to take my climbing rope through security. I don't know if that was true or not, but I stuffed it in my checked luggage just in case. (I was in a hurry; I'd misread the departure time on my electronic ticket and arrived at the airport 10 minutes before departure time instead of an hour. Luckily, Winnipeg International ain't exactly LaGuardia. <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> )

Next time I fly, I intend to take 4 books of matches, sealed in waterproof containers, one disposable Butane lighter, and a Zippo I inherited from my dad. I'd also like to get some books of wooden matches so I can try waterproofing them with nail varnish.

I've just been out and back from Brussels. I took my standard Urban Kit onto the plane in my coat. I'd removed the knife and scissors from it. This left:
Tobacco tin
6 feet of quality tape to seal tin
Hadson Turboflame Windproof Lighter
Mini Cyba-lite LED flashlight
3 Starlite SL3 6mmx 50mm fishing lure lightsticks (last 12 hours each)
Fox 40 whistle
Mini slotted / cross head screwdriver
Small pair tweezers
Scalpel Blade
Magnifying Lens
12 assorted adhesive plasters
2 Paracetamol / Codeine tablets
2 Piriton Antihistamine tablets
2 Alcohol free cleansing wipes
Sewing kit (2 needles, 4 safety pins, 4 hanks of thread, 2 buttons, 1 press-stud)
Suunto Clipper Mini Compass
Small pencil
10 mini fluorescent Post-It Notes
Cash (£40)
Phonecard

The kit went through the x-ray machine and caused no problems.

Hope this is useful.

You got through with a scalpel blade?

Its only a tiny medical scalpel blade

Thinking about it Pete, the blade is in its original metal foil wrapper that is rectangular. As I said its quite tiny so perhaps the guards took no notice of it because it was 'lost' in the other stuff. Who knows?

hmm, all this sounds great but I want to know if anyone has gone through American airports with the stuff? They seem to be the most strict <img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Not sure that I agree there Paul. We've had strict security at UK airports for decades because of terrorism. I think it all comes down to individual judgements by individual security personnel at the airport. The human factor is always the unknown

Hi Paul,

Back in August of last year, I posted this about my experience traveling internationally with a bunch of gear. It was all carefully chosen to be, and more importantly LOOK, innocuous, but still be effective supplies for a wide range of mundane to extreme problems to emergencies. With layovers and Customs both ways, I think it was a pretty decent test.

Since then, I have flown domestically from Texas to Utah & back.
On the flight out, the xray guy pointed out something to another person, who asked to look through my carry-on. What they wanted to see was the odd cylindrical shape in the xray... my Evac-U8 smoke hood. The Security Officer showed it to the Police Officer, who said, "Hmm... I think I need to keep that"... except that he didn't mean it. He was teasing. What he meant was that he thought it was so neat and cool that he wanted one for himself. He winked at me and the Security Officer agreed with him... he also wanted one.
On the flight back in, the xray guy pointed out something to another person, who asked to look through my carry-on. What they wanted to see was the odd cylindrical shape in the xray... "Oh," I volunteered, "You must mean the smoke hood." "No," they replied, "It's long, thin, and very dense. It shows up quite dark on the xray." "Oh," I replied, mystified. It turns out that it was the carbon filter inside my water bottle/purifier. The guy seemed quite baffled why anyone in their right mind would "need" a carbon filtering water bottle. But that was just his personal reaction. His professional reaction was, "Oh, okay. Fine. No problem."

So, I feel that if we who carry a lot of stuff would consciously adopt the determinedly cheerful attitude that any air traveler should adopt these days and decide to have the patience to understand that occasionally we might need to spend the extra few minutes to let personnel look at our stuff, we should be able to travel with everything we would ever need and more (with improvisational items taking the place of blades, of course).

Granted, two trips is neither conclusive nor exhaustive. My next trip may be the one where the idiot with the chip on his shoulder, the newbie trying to prove himself or the poor guy with the hypercritical boss decides I'm probably a terrorist since I'm obviously "expecting" some sort of crisis. If/when it ever happens, you guys will read about it as quickly as I can get released and reach a browser, I assure you. <img src="images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Stay safe,
J.T.