Mark,

A GREAT topic, even if there is no single answer. There have been lots of good thoughts presented. It came at an interesting time for me, I am rebuilding my day pack for the comming year.
As posted before, the use and location may make a difference, but even though I am planning for geologic work in wilderness Alaska, the majority of things I carry are the same for a day hike in Florida with my grandson (a Scout). The major difference is clothing. The REAL survival stuff ( the things I don't use except in emergencies) is very limited. A PLB, PSK and mini FAK on the person, plus the usual extra items (The list with the Ritter/AMK kit is a good one) are about it.

However, let's think about the things we EDC that are not carried as survival items, but could be very useful. I will use two of the more important as examples: Water - I carry a Guyot and/or Wiggy's SS bottle, not for survival but normal use. Is it redundant? Yes and No. The water in it is certainly not, it is for normal use. Could it be used to carry or boil water in an emergency - of course. The improvisation is not even much. But is it redundant? I would say not. It is the daily use item and I carry plastic bags (breast milk bags) in my PSK as backup.

The same is true of fire, I carry a match safe in my pocket at all times. But it is not survival gear, but my daily use matches (never got into Bic's). These are used as needed, something I never do with survival gear. The matches in my PSK and the sparklite, and the magnifying glass are there for emergencies. Since I carry a handlens for work there is another level of redundancy. Or is it? I don't count it as such, even though it can be used for that.

I consider any of my daily use items as potential survival items, but since I use them, they are subject to being lost, damaged or used up. For that reason I don't consider them redundant. Almost every item in my PSK has a counterpart in my ruck that is for daily use. They should be there for emergencies but I don't count on them to be available.

I am probably stronger on redundancy than most, but it comes from having to open the "open only in emergencies" kit too many times and spending a lot of time alone in the far reaches.



The best,

Jerry