I EDC a small bit of gear that rides on a ke chain in my left pants pocket: a Fox40 whistle that is filed down a bit, a BSA Hot Spark ferriconium rod and striker, and an Arc Premium AAA LED light.

Last week I reached into that pocket only to find a terrible void - the keychain wasn't there. Argh!!!

I've retraced my steps and looked everywhere I can think of, but nothing. Sigh.

So now I'm having to replace it. Here's what I'm looking at:

--Fox40 Micro whistle - the one that comes in Doug's PSP kit - mostly because it is a more pocket-friendly shape.

--Light My Fire Mini Swedish FireSteel - its bigger than the Hot Spark, but I think I'd rather have a slightly bigger ferriconium rod. Not sure if I'll carry the striker. I'll test to see if a key can do OK ... I kind of doubt it since they tend to be softer metal.

--Now, for the Arc replacement. This is a hard one. I have a Fenix P1D (CR123-powered, max 180 lumens) LED light that is AMAZING - I carry it when outdoors as a backup to my PT EOS headlamp. It is amazingly bright and tough, but a bit large for pocket carry. So, I'm looking at getting a Fenix E01 (AAA-powered, 10 lumens) because its small and low-cost (only $14, but the same brightness as the Arc Premium). I'd rather carry a Fenix LD01 (80 lumens), but right now I don't want to spend the $42 - mabye later if the economy improves. The flashlight got the most use, so it is an important part of the gear.

--Suunto Gem keychain compass. I picked one of these up a while back, but never carried it. I especially like that it has a flat side for orienting maps and that it has a rotating bezel. I wonder how the compass will handle living with the flashlight and striker (cool fact: ferriconium is not magnetic).

--CountyComm.com Peanut lighter - or maybe the smaller Split Pea lighter. These are small cousins of Zippo lighters that look like small stainless steel o-ring sealed capsules that contain a Zippo-style lighter. Its redundant to the FireSteel, but I figure if things go south, I'd much rather be starting a fire with a lighter than a sparker. The reason I'm looking at this instead of a mini BIC lighter is that the Peanut/Split Pea lighters can be attached to the key chain.

--Since I'm going to order from CountyComm.com anywhay, I think I'll try using one of their cable keychains.

So, what do you thing? Remember, this has to fit in a pant's pocket and not look like a kid who just raided the cookie jar.

I carry the E01 and it is small enough to not really be noticed. I also find it plenty bright enough to use for every day tasks that may require a little extra light.

I think your selection is very good.
I reccomend the E01, it´s not a "lighthouse" but 10 lumens is enough for many tasks. You can always get LD01 in the future and have E01 as an emergency backup (E01 is very good when it comes to a long runtime).

I would find a way to somehow include some kind of tinder in your EDC. Maybe add some lightweight Tinder-Quicks or something similar to your wallet or pocket or encase it and attach it to your keychain. There are conditions where FireSteel without tinder is useless. I would rather carry the striker than improvizing with some key etc. Just my suggestion.

By the way, did you have your keychain secured so that it could not fall out from your pocket? If not I would recommend getting some kind of belt attachment system.

The Fenix is a good choice but I also found a Ultrafire 1 AAA led light that fits in my BladeArt Mission Wallet. It appears to be brighter than the Fenix. I carry a spare AAA battery on the keychain. I used the plastic cover for a 75 ohm cable TV connector, a fishing swivel and some shrink wrap.

Cut a slit in the top of the cover just big enough to slip the closed end of the swivel thru the cover, rotate the end of swivel perpendicular to the slit. Friction holds it in fine. Shove the + end of battery inside the cover and seal a piece of shrink wrap around the battery and cover, this keeps everything safe and secure. You will want to shave the lip of the cover a bit.

I use the aircraft cable keyrings from CC. I cut a piece of 550 cord a little longer than the cable, stripped out the inner strands and heat sealed each end. I slid the cable thru the sheath. Makes the cable a little quieter and less abrasive on your fingers and gear. Use orange 550 to make it easier find. I also use electrical tape or shrink wrap on the items to quiet them and reduce the scratching of the paint/finish.

American Science and Surplus sells small pill fobs with a swivel and O rings that should enough tinder.

The CC titanium screw post carabiners are nice too. The peanut lighters seem to not to dry out much because of their O rings.

I find that putting fishing swivels, the kind with snaps, on the keychain items, makes things easier to take things off and keeps things from unscrewing themselves, like the ends of flashlghts.

I have been using one of CountyComm's cable key chains for my keys for about a year now. It has served its purpose well. However just a week ago one of the many many tiny metal wires that make up the cable broke and poked my finger...I simply bent it back down into the main part of the cable.

Overall, I am very satisfied with my County Comm cable keychain despite the minor problem.

Good luck in building a new keychain "toolkit"!

What do you think about a braid of jute attached to the keychain for tinder?

I carry one of those peanut lighters, and have for a couple years now. Its main use is melting cord ends; its attached to my keychain though, and never gets lost (of course, now that I have said this, I cursed myself). I have a photon light on it as well, with a paracord fob. Thats about it.
Another place to check for small ferro rods, without a grip. They have a variety of sizes of them to choose from.

IME a cotton ball partly soaked in wax makes more effective tinder. Break it apart, apply your ferro rod so that the sparks fall on the exposed cotton fibers and you have a small fire burning instantly. Better yet, thanks to the layer of wax it won't burn out too quickly like dry tinder alone but gives you some more time to ignite the kindling.

Do you carry hand sanitizer ? I found that a little on a piece of cotton makes a great fire starter.

If your pants pocket doesn't have a clip to attach your key chain, you can pull out the pocket and sew one on. Mountain Gear pants have this and I'm sure its saved me from losing EDC contents more than once (they also have a zippered sub-pocket on the right in side pocket that works really well).