IF you can find one the Victorinox Alox Lumberjack folder is perfect for use in the PSP. Smaller and lighter than a Alox Farmer, with a main blade, saw and combo can and bottle opener tool.

I normally replace the scalpel blade in my PSP's with a very sharp Victorinox Alox Classic SAK or a Alox Lumberjack SAK. I've seen way too many people cut themselves very badly when try to use a scalpel with cold wet hands.

I usually EDC a Alox Farmer SAK and a nice Bark River fixed blade knife with me in a pocket pouch.

It's important to reiterate that a mini-knife in a mini-kit is part of the last ditch "I've lost everything but this" effort.

I understand Doug's logic with the scalpel blades. IIRC, he states that he's assuming you've got a decent pocket knife or fixed blade knife on your person at all times. The scalpel blade can be lashed onto a stick (there's wire in his kit) if all else fails. My own thinking is that adding something like I have now to each PSP, the little Buck 283, the Gerber LST Ultralight, and a SAK Classic are all better choices than simply a blade (although in my Altoids tin kit, I have a single edge razor as that's all I could fit and what I had on hand). The reason I don't like the Classic or other small non-locking blade for a PSK is the risk of accident with the blade closing. It's not a good time for that to happen. While there's no first aid kit in Doug's kit, there is some duct tape and most of us carry a hankie or kleenix (or a shirt) so a bandaid can be fashioned. I stuck a couple alcohol wipes in each kit for wound cleansing or back up tinder.

From what I've seen to date, the little Gerber LST Ultralight is the most compact of the designs that fit's a PSK well although the slightly thicker Buck 283 has a better, more ergonomic handle. I imagine the blades would be of similar quality. A small knife like this could safely fuzz a stick, sharpen one, and with good knife technique probably do more. The new Ritter PSK fixed blade knife will likely be better still and only slightly more dough. I'll get one to replace the Classic in my last PSP.

One last thing, all of us know better than to think that a little PSK is a great solution to being stuck out on an unplanned overnight, especially in cold, wet, or snowy weather. However, I reject the notion that a small, *well-designed* kit has poor or useless components of low quality. Everything in Doug's kit and my own home-assembled PSK in an Altoids tin are of good quality and will not likely fail you in dire circumstances.

I think the main thing one has to do in a survival situation, depending on weather, is find shelter. Depending on where you are, that may be easy or hard (woodlands are easier than desert) and that's the one thing these kits don't address. However, the firestarting equipment is good as is the signaling equipment in the PSP. The cordage and wire can help with shelter building. The fishing kit is pointless but the additional heavy thread is not. A few other items are nice to have but maybe not as important as others. The fresnel lens could be a godsend to those of us who need reading glasses and don't have bifocals. Can start a fire when the sun's out too.

Most of us put foil in a kit like this but for fashioning a water container or cookpot, it's a poor choice. For a large, reflective signaling device, it might be pretty good as well as a wind break or base for a fire. The inclusion of a condom or, perhaps better, an oven bag for water gathering is doable (I've added an oven bag to each kit. There are no water tabs or any meds because he states he didn't want a kit with things that will expire but I've added 4 water tabs to mine. The knife was just really the last item I though should be in the kit. If we were smart, we'd clip the kit to a Heat Sheet or fold a 45 gallon yard bag over it and secure it with a couple of rubber bands. Then, we could even add shelter to a shirt/pants pocket kit!

CSG - Fair point about slippies, but my PSK is for genuine edc, and where the laws are restrictive, a sak fits that need. I pack a lumberjack, which gives me a good sharp blade and a small woodsaw.

I also (as per other threads) keep a space blanket or plastic poncho with me for shelter because it folds down to the size of my kit and attaches to the tin with rubber bands.

And I agree - a decent waterbag, puritabs and something to make a cookpot (I use a loaftin folded and hammered flat) are essentials.

It all makes a compact package that I can slip in a pocket and isn't dependant on me having anything else with me (I usually do, but that just gives some redundancy)

Another knife to consider is a small folder from AGRussell. They make 3 knives from 2 to 3 inches that are very thin, very sharp, and very lightweight. Their Titanium folders are not throwaway priced but not unreasonable. The 3" and 2.5" are lockbacks, the 2" is a slip joint.

Usual disclaimers regarding COI.

Andy

The good thing about the scalpel blade in the PSP is it will pass most security, is unlikely to be mistaken as a weapon and if you really need it you still have a sharp edge with you.
So don't be too hasty in dismissing it.

Anyway, I don't really count the scalpel blade as a knife at all, yet I have 1 in its foil pack in my wallet.
It is there in case I need something sterile for removing splinters and so on. There are a few other odd items in my wallet too.

Doug's PSP is a very small kit and meant to be that way.
It might not have everything, but it is small enough to be in a pocket and with you.


Odd as it seems anything I would think of adding to Doug's kit is stuff I already carry and use frequently enough that I would not want it in an emergency pouch like the PSP.
I want to just reach into my pocket and have it instead.

Would I want to chop down towering oak trees, defend against a charging grizzly bear or butcher an elephant with a pen knife?
Well hardly!
But if it lets me cut a seat belt, strip wires or open a pantleg so I can stop a wound bleeding it might be just enough.

Edit:
Ahhh, Andy. Those little titanium folding knives are so perfectly what I mean it is amazing.

Gerber used to make and even smaller LST, which I think was called the Micro. It is 2 inches overall with a 1.5 inch blade.

I grabbed a whack of them on a close out sale and they went into and onto every kit and keychain I have. Standard LST contruction and quality. I'm sure there are some still floating around out there...

Inexpensive enough to stash a bunch, big enough and strong enough, that you can cut what you are trying to cut and not yourself.

Jenks

Geez, that makes the Ultralight look like a chopper!

Yup, it's not big, but being a lock back and actually having a handle on it..., makes it sooooo much nicer to use.

My opinion, FWIW

jenks

The Gerber LST Micro was my EDC before I converted to the 'equipped' side and purchased my first Rittergrip.

It rode on my spare key chain (I carry spare car & house keys in the 'other' pocket) and got used A LOT. Its a surprizingly tough little knife, though it certainly didn't keep an edge as well as the Rittergrips.

The only problem I had with it was that the tiny lanyard/keychain hole didn't allow much more to fit through it than nylon string. I added a little loop of nylon string (epoxied the knot) for attaching it to the keychain.


Ken K.
(five Rittergrips later)

the bucklite knife fits the bill here