I had an illuminating experience with my PSK this past week that I thought worth sharing with the group.

Like many backpackers these days, I try to cut weight wherever I can. As I was loading my pack for a trip in the Desolation Wilderness last week, I looked at my PSK (the "modular" one I described in an earlier post ) and thought about leaving it behind - I had most of the basics covered elsewhere, and even at just 2.3 ounces it seemed like it might be redundant weight. On a whim, I tossed it in the pack anyway.

Well, during my trip, a four-day section hike of the PCT from Echo Lake to Barker Pass via Dicks Pass, it turned out that the kit was both a handy resource as well as a comfort. For example:

- My First Need water purifier developed a pinhole leak at at a point on its filter cartridge seam. Tape in the PSK allowed me to effect a temporary repair, and when I finally decided that the filter matrix was compromised, I was able to use the Puritabs in my PSK as a backup.

- Matches I brought to light an alcohol stove proved unreliable (even though they were in a sealed zipper lock bag). Having lifeboat matches and a Sparklite meant that I had no worries.

- When I thought I'd left my minitool behind at a previous night's campsite, knowing I had razor blades and other implements in the PSK made it a non-event (later it turned up in an odd corner of my pack).

- My hiking companion's shoe soles started to delaminate; the glue stick piece in my PSK would have made for a quick and easy repair, though ultimately we didn't use it.

So, while I of course carried primary ways to handle almost everything the kit covers, the fact was that I ended up using a few of the backups, and knowing that everything else was there allowed me to continue my trip without concern. All of this this was enhanced by my modular system that made it easy to get at specific elements and keep the rest together in a neat package...not to mention making it no big deal to open it up in the first place. I'd say that because of this experience I will never again consider going backpacking without my PSK, and that this validated my reasons for packing it the way I did, as opposed to in a sealed tin.

I thought this was an interesting twist on the usual scenario for which we prepare our kits (e.g., a true survival situation) - that is, using the kit for a day-to-day resource - and would love to hear others' thoughts or similar experiences.