A forty year lifetime is nothing for good tools and firearms with anything like decent care. I have my father's table saw, vintage 1950. My S&W Model 28 is pushing fifty years - it is a better specimen than some more recent versions of the same revolver.

If you are going to rebuilt "society", don't go by way of agriculture as we know it today... use permaculture. It works!

Notes: This is a draft of a scenario which not only helps to prepare my player-character Jeanette but explains why she has the following gear on her person:

Adventure Medical Kits Mountain Medic
Pocket Survival Pack
RSK Mk1
PICO Lite
Bottled water, 500ml

I wanted my player-character to have EDC items on her plus the medical kit since the kit is related to her role. I have considered the other items you have suggested but either they would not be all that practical, considering where Jeanette is going, or I could not come up with a good scenario for such items to be on her. If anyone has something to add to the scenario or has an idea for a completely different scenario, let me know. I want to set up an extreme example of someone taking it easy and suddenly finding themselves in a survival situation with nothing but the items on them. The inclusion of music and the discussion on Elvis is to help prepare my player-character for a game-specific situation. I was planning on using the RSK Mk3 rather than the Mk1 but after talking with the game master and thinking it through, I realize that my player-character needs something concealable.

Forty years earlier music awards, from when Jeanette and her sisters were child stars, hung on the walls of the Miller household. The twenty-four-year-old EMT was getting ready for a wilderness expedition. Jeanette was listening to Elvis Presley's Gospel music as she was polishing her survival knife. Her medical kit was on the table beside her. She took another drink from her bottle of water which she had with her all morning. She sat the knife down to let it dry and then retrieved her PICO Lite from her cargo pants pocket to change the batteries. After changing the batteries, Jeanette twisted the bezel on and then off to test it. The light was bright. She put the ultra-compact flashlight back in her pocket.

A 1986 Ford Tempo, with a faded gold paint job, parked in front of the house. Arik, then forty-one, exited the car and rang the door bell.

Jeanette looked at her watch. It was a couple of minutes to eleven. She answered the door with the nearly empty bottle of water in her hand. "Arik. You're early."

Arik noticed the subtle sent of sunscreen that Jeanette was wearing. "I hope you don't mind an early lunch."

Jeanette let Arik in. "I'm not hungry yet."

They walked to the dining room. Jeanette folded her survival knife and put it in the pocket along with her PICO Lite. Her pocket survival kit is in another pocket. "The medical kit came in yesterday." She put her water bottle down to strap on the Wilderness EMT kit to show it off. "What do you think?" Jeanette retrieved her bottle of water.

Arik did not think anything of it. He looked at the stereo playing Gospel music.

"Last night I watched Cast Away and got in the mood for Elvis. Though Rock is what he is most known for, what he liked to sing was Gospel."

Arik searched somewhere in the back of his mind. "I recall hearing that, somewhere. With you formally in the music industry, you probably knew people who knew Elvis."

"I did. Unfortunately he died nine years before I was born." Jeanette finished the last of the bottled water and went to the kitchen. She tossed the bottle in the recycle-bin and retrieved another bottle but did not open it. She looked at her watch. It said Eleven O'clock. "I suppose we can go to lunch now." She went to the stereo to turn it off and with the unopened bottle of water still in her hand, Jeanette put on her cap. "Let's go."

"You don't need your medical kit," Arik said, "and where is your purse?"

"Oh." Jeanette was about to set down her water bottle so she could remove her medical kit when she suddenly found herself in another place and in the middle of a situation.

Jeanette Isabelle

thanks for the update. (on the Ninth Edition ETS Survival News Published) I didn't want to hijack that thread again with a response there.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

For those wondering, this is the post he is referring to:


Jeanette Isabelle

The game master has finally resumed the role play. We are now on the morning of Day 2 but my character Jeanette is introduced on Day 3 so I have time to readjust my gear. Which Quark 123^2 are you suggesting?

My main reason for using the PICO Lite is if I am only going to use a quality flashlight once (meaning until the batteries wear out), get a $10 flashlight.

Jeanette Isabelle

chaos is probably referring to Quark 123², S2 Edition:

How long will the game last?

I have the AA version and it's a great light. Numbers are a tad better than the 123²:

If your life depends on a specific tool, don't worry about the cost effectiveness of throwing away an extra $50 . . . In the real world, you can carry extra batteries. I use AA lithiums in that light.

I don't know how long the game will last. Originally we were going to Dallas, pick something up, and return to Charlton [a fictional city in this game]. The game master and I were talking about an additional objective which would take us to Japan.

After going over their flashlights, I decided on the Quark AA². Also, because I decided to include a survival kit inspired by the SKPP-24008 (I'm still designing it for this situation), I can include a four-pack of AA lithium batteries. I believe two sets of spare batteries is the most I can carry, within reason, in a survival kit.

Jeanette Isabelle

Jeanette -- the Quark AA² is a great light for a real-world kit also . . I highly recommend it. Two lithium AA batteries in the light and a four-pack of spares should provide light for a long period. The low output Moonlight is very useful and easy on night adjusted vision.

I EDC a 2-AA Mag Lite. I only use a little at a time but it's there when I do need it so I am changing the batteries maybe three times a year at the most. In this hypothetical situation I imagine I will use a flashlight more frequently.

Jeanette Isabelle