So, is imitation really the best form of flattery?

I suppose I am not really impartial. I bought Doug's kit years ago and promptly took it apart with all the items disappearing into my pockets.
So now some of it hides in my wallet, some in my pockets, some of it on my keychain...

I likely could have bought all the items individually but it was cheap enough to buy it all in the one package.
I was a lot easier than trying to track down the items by themselves too.
As I used up the pieces of it (like wire, fish hooks and tape) they were replaced with off the shelf items.

Even though I have changed some of the items I carry over the years from what Doug and AMK put in I think Doug's kit was a great start and that it still is.

Now it is time for me to buy a couple more of Doug's kits because it is time to replace some of the harder items to find (button compass, spark lite, tinder) and I want them available to me in the future.

These other price-point knockoffs simply do not have the right pieces in them.
For example, in this one by Lifeline the compass is too big.
If I want a compass that large I have my old Silva.
I carry a bic instead of matches with sparkers for backup and matches are easy off the shelf items, my fish hooks are Mustad and Gamakatsu taken from my tackle box... the list goes on.

A few other odd thoughts.
I think one of the problems with items like these is there is no way for somebody who has not used them to tell the quality of the items in the package.
Until you have had them apart and played with them how can you tell?
Most people can't.
To the average person one whistle is about the same as another one, compasses are about equal, etc.
And you know the retailers will generally look at their profits and end up selling the price point item.
I have gone through this often with tools and clothes. I find something that works and by the time I need to replace it I am not able to find it anymore.
This is why I intend to purchase a few extra of Doug's kits now while I can still get them.
Even though I do hope his kits remain available I have seen too many good products disappear because of pricepoint competition.

(I really apologize if this post sounds like a plug, because it isn't. I only post on this forum as a very opinionated individual and I don't have any business interests in AMK or Doug's products. If there was a better pocket survival kit out there than Doug's I would be buying it and recommending it instead.)