My every day carry (other than my wallet) is usually a Leatherman Supertool on my belt, and a Schrade Tough Chip in my front pocket. I'm usually not far from a PSK, but for those times when I'm not, I wanted to start the habit of always having a small one on me. I've decided to go with a standard Altoids tin (1.76 ounce size) over other containers for several reasons:

Fits in a pocket of just about everything I own.
Easy to replace if lost, worn or damaged.
Inconspicuous if taken out in public.
Won't squish the contents in a jean pocket.

That being said I wanted to ask everyone what they think would be the ideal contents of this tin combined with my other EDC?

Thanks,
Paul

A great start is Doug's kit list

After digesting this and the other lists that Doug has posted along with his gear reviews explaining his selections you might want to do a search on this forum for PSK or Altoids Kit or EDC. Remember to set the date range for the search to all dates / all posts / all forums. If you read all of the threads that come back from that search within this year you will impress me fur sur!.

This is one of the most discussed topics on this forum.

turnsouth,
FWIW, the link Brad posted is to Doug's "Small Personal" kit, which, at 4 3/8" x 3 1/4" x 1 1/16", seems to be packed in a standard tobacco sized tin. This link is to Doug's "Mini Personal" kit, which, at 3 3/4" x 2 5/16" x 15/16", seems to be packed in an Altoids' sized tin. They contain quite a similar selection of contents; with a few exceptions, one just has a bit more in it than the other. (8 sq. ft. of aluminum foil instead of 5 sq. ft. or 46 Potable Aqua tablets instead of 25) So, either link gives you much the same list; just don't get frustrated if you can't squeeze the larger amounts into your smaller tin, 'cause neither can Doug. (or anyone else, for that matter <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />)
Stay safe,
J.T.

Jet,
Thanks for correcting the link. I should have done a bit more checking on the link I posted. I knew it was one of those.

Turnsouth,
Sorry if I misled you.

Jet -- unrelated to this thread, but can you tell me how to create a hyperlink in Windows as you did in the previous post, where clicking on "this link" leads you to a web page?

All day on the computer most days, and still lacking basic skills. Sigh . . . Thanks! Karl

Hi Karl,
Near the top of this webpage, there are some links, beginning with "Main Index" & ending with "User List". One of them is "FAQ". Click on that, and then click on the question, "Can I use html in my posts?" The answer section for that question contains the various proprietary tags for this forum and examples of how to use them. Also, here is a link to a thread about how to deal with long urls (hyperlink addresses), so they don't force the webpage to be wider than the viewers' windows.
If those aren't sufficient, post again for more help.
Stay safe,
J.T.

Thanks for the quick replies. I have been studying/duplicating Doug's kits for some time now. I have used his designs on kits for my home, car, work, and hiking. I've also been reading through past posts on Altoid kits and EDC, but as you say MiniMe, getting through it all will take quite some time.

I guess what I'm interested in is kit for "day to day" survival. So far it seems that most posts are about preparing for the unexpected. I realize that this is a survival forum, and I have benefitted from a lot of good information about preparedness. But what I'm looking for is a PSK that would be used most in a everyday living/surviving.

So my question is:

For those who open their PSK's on a regular (or somewhat regular basis), what do you find yourself (or others) using, most often?


I'm sorry about not being clear in my original post, and thanks to everyone for all the great information.

turnsouth

"I have this nagging fear that everyone is out to make me paranoid"

I think what you are thinking of is what I call my on-body kit. Stuff that is easy to get to daily, used frequently etc. I have made a couple of the traditional sealed PSK's but my vest, pockets, coat, and shoulder bag comprise my easy to get to and use kits.

Many of these sort of kits have been discussed in Urban preparedness threads. Searching for "Urban kit" will most likely bring up a ton of stuff.

Each of us has a slightly different approach based on our own expected scenarios. My daily use kits (Urban kits) are based primarily on natural disaster prep and are heavy into shelter and communication. I just posted my shoulder bag kit in this thread.

Shoulder Bag-Comm kit

My on-body kit blatherings were done long ago but are still about what I do.

Commuter preparedness kit

My on-body and carry kits

Loads of others have posted similar threads. I do not necessarily consider my approach a survival approach as much as a prepared approach. Much of the junk I have around me in kits is as much for everyday enjoyment as it is for survival. Dual use stuff sort of.

What I end up using most often is my Sebenza, HAM radio, flashlite, and money. Since I wear my wool vest everyday I guess it could be included as my most used wearable shelter and kit container.

As Randy said, what you are asking about would be more along the lines of Urban Preparedness Kit, EDC, Mega-keychain, USK, Ready kit. All of these search terms will get you results you are looking for.

I also wear a vest kit very similar to Randy's. (He put me onto Filsons - for which I will be grateful but my wallet hurts every time the catalog comes in).

What I carry is way more than I use.

Most used is my leatherman, mini-bic, toothbrush, pen/ pencil, ASP saphire lite, Swiss-Tech MicroTech+, Pocket sized inspirational book (currently "teachings of the Buddha" Shambhala pocket classics), cell phone, ham radio. In just about that order. I rarely open my PSK though I carry it every day, somewhat more frequently I get into my FAK for a bandaid or tylenol.

If you are looking to minimize what you carry to just that you may reasonably use in every-day life (as opposed to what you might need in an emergency) you will find my lists and probably Randy's list to be overkill - OTOH if things go bad you might wish that one of us were with you so you could hunker down under a tarp or borrow a poncho etc.


My PSK and FAK are listed here

A recent inventory of my EDC including my vest can be found here

http://www.equipped.org/ubbthreads/showt...amp;amp;fpart=1

Another thread with EDC kits.

My List:
EDC
KEYCHAIN
- SAK Signature
- Pulsar 2 LED light
POCKETS
- Kershaw Vapor Folding Knife
- Pepper spray
- Fox 40 Whistle
- Red Bandanna
BELT
- Leatherman Wave
- Cell phone
WAIST PACK
- Surefire G2
- Mini FAK
- Micro PSK
- 4 Antiseptic Moist Towelettes
- Res-Q-Me tool
- 3x5 rite-in-rain note pad & space pen

Urban Survival Kit (carried at all times)
- Small leather pouch
FAK
- 2 antiseptic wipes
- 2 large adhesive bandage
- 1 medium adhesive bandage
- 1 small adhesive bandage
- 2 mini adhesive bandages
- 4 Motrin IB caplets
- 4 Tylenol caplets
- 2 bendryl
- 2 Imodium AD
- 2 Sudafed
ESSENTIALS
- 1 Bic butane mini lighter
- Mini compass
- SAK classic
CONVENIENCES
- 2 business cards
- 1 Altoid breath strips
- Chap Stick
REPAIR
- 2 large paper clips
- 3' duct tape
- 3 safty pins
- 2' galvanized wire
- 4 wire ties
- 1 hot melt glue stick