I am building a key-ring (S-Biner) with small high quality components attached. I need components than cost around $7 each, unless I already have them. I need to have Light, Fire, Knife or Multitool, Navigation, Cordage, Signal, and 1 Pill Capsule filled with either Tylenol or Bayer, and 1 filled with either Potable Aqua or Katadyn MicroPur tablets. Any help and suggestions are appreciated! I will also buy generics if they are quality!

http://firesteel.com/products/GobSpark-Ranger-FireSteel.html

http://firesteel.com/products/FireSteel-Tube-Pup.html

The Second one is 15$ tho but its much nicer in that its in a protected tube and smaller then the ranger.

As for light The Egear pico light was 10$ at my local Dicks sporting goods.

Navigation if you look on the firesteel.com website they sell 20mm compasses.

Cordage Id go with a spool of Mason line from your local hardware store usually its 8$ for a 700ft spool.

LIGHT: Countycomm LED button-cell keychain lights are well-made and cheap at $1.20 each. The DR-designed e-gear Pico flashlight, available lots of places for $10 or less, is much more rugged and worth the extra $$$ IMHO.

FIRE: A Mini-BIC disposable lighter costs around $1.00. Glue some gutted paracord to the sides and give it a few wraps of electrical tape to make a loop that will hang on your key-ring.

KNIFE: Victorinox Swiss Army Classic is sold at Radio Shack for $5.99, a heck of a deal. 2.25" blade, scissors, nail file with screwdriver tip, toothpick and tweezers in a small, thin package.

NAVIGATION:Compasses from smallest to largest: Silva Micro (discontinued, but still available on-line for around $6.00); Silva Carabiner ($4.99), Silva Companion ($5.99) and Silva Forecaster ($7.99, with thermometer). BONUS ITEM: Silva Sportsman's Tool, $6.99, combines a compass, thermometer and signal whistle in one.

SIGNAL: Countycomm.com also sells a survival whistle for $1.20, or you can find the Fox 40 rescue whistle for around $5.00

CORDAGE: Videos abound on YouTube showing how to make various paracord lanyards.

PILL VIALS: You can get keychain pill vials from $1.50 and up, depending on size and style.

For light, I recommend the Fenix EO-1, about 12.50. Runs on commonly available AAA batteries. Stick a lithium battery in there and you have a lot of light.

For a knife, hard to go wrong with the little spydie slippies (bug, honeybee). Cheap, sharp, NKP friendy. For a multitool, for cheap and key chain, maybe a sebertech or swisstech?

Cheapest fire option is a bic with a rubber band to stop it going off - wrap it in duct tape and include a loop to attach to keychain (oops just seen MarkM comment)

Photon lights are pretty good

I've used kitestring as a cord - thin nylon braided cord - not as strong as paracord, but you can pack a lot into a small space - even into a capsule to stop other things rattling

I also find that these work really well for keeping a Bic on a keychain.

High quality equipment that only costs $7 seems to be antithetical.

While I like the County Comm SOLEDs, the plastic eyelet that attaches to the split ring has been broken on nearly everyone of these that I've bought. I've probably lost 5 of these completely with the others rendered to drawer lights.

Disclaimer - no affiliations with any companies or products listed or linked to

Light: Rayovac LED from wal-mart (but be careful of the metal ring attaching the light to the clip, mine came apart - for that matter this could be a weak point on any keychain items so check ALL of your items for weak points)
Fire: I would suggest another pill fob with a sparklite and tinder quiks inside
Knife or Multitool: hard to get a good one in the price range you mention but how about the leatherman micra or gerber shortcut, the gerber curve, or a small swiss army knife - close to your requested price point (e-bay has some deals on used and airport-confiscated micras and swiss army knives but be wary of a micra lookalike that is located in and shipped from china that clearly states it is a micra but is obviously NOT a micra)
Navigation: how about one of these: http://cgi.ebay.com/Brunton-Scout-Compas...=item1e614fecca
Cordage: Mason line or maybe jute twine (doubles as extra tinder)
Signal: Fox 40 micro, howler or pearl

[quote=Mark_M]LIGHT: Countycomm LED button-cell keychain lights are well-made and cheap at $1.20 each. The DR-designed e-gear Pico flashlight, available lots of places for $10 or less, is much more rugged and worth the extra $$$ IMHO.

I have had trouble with the plastic loops on the countrycomm lights breaking off. The lights themselves are great. If I used them I would epoxy the metal key ring to the back of the plastic light.

David Enoch

My suggestion is to go to e-bay.

Search for the item you want. Click on Buy it Now option on the left side of the page to only get buy it now items. Search with price lowest to highest. That will give you sources for all of your items at the price you want to pay. Only you can know what you want to put on the key chains.

David Enoch

Light: I use a Fenix E01, which is expensive for your needs at $15. It's bigger and more expensive than the Ritter Pico LED but it takes common AAA batteries, and has outstanding runtime if you use Energizer Lithiums. It's also the closest thing to indestructible. The Pico probably has a better tint (many E01s have a purplish tint to them, which bothers some people).

Fire: I use a CountyComm peanut lighter, again, expensive for your needs at $11.50 (plus CountyComm's high shipping costs). A mini-Bic is an excellent choice; I secure the mini-Bics in my kits with a small cable tie under the button. I'd carry at least one lighter and one firesteel.

Knife or Multitool: Here's where I spend a good chunk of money. I consider a multitool a backup for a knife, not a primary knife in itself. A RitterGrip and a Leatherman Wave are the ones I'm most likely to have. An inexpensive keychain multitool can be had for around $15 and is better than nothing, though.

Navigation: A button compass is very inexpensive. I consider a map pretty important too, but I don't know how you can put one on a keyring.

Cordage: Paracord is bulky for a keyring setup, so you can get yourself a hank of good twine or tether cord if that makes more sense to you.

Signal: A good whistle (I carry a Fox 40 Micro) and a good signal mirror. Countycomm sells a nice small one in a cordura case.

Pill Capsule: Bayer is better for cardiac cases, Tylenol is better for (IMHO) everything else. I carry both but I use Advil the most. Chlorine dioxide tablets is preferred over iodine tablets. You might want to fill another pill capsule with TinderQuik.


Disclosure: I have no affiliation with any company or product mentioned here other than as a customer.

thanks everyone, I noted that i would buy slightly higher dollar stuff if I already had some stuff, and I do. I have a fox 40 howler (from the PSP) and a Peanut lighter, a PICO LED, a Ranger Firesteel and striker, Tinder quik, I have a multi-tool, but not a keychain multi-tool, but I need to know what you think is the best one? and I am gonna use my Victorinox Tinker as the SAK, i dont like the Classics. hopefully I can get some of this stuff soon!

Sybert .. it's a good approach. Might do something like that myself. But I don't think I could get the items I want onto a small biner. More like a large locking carabiner, or what they used to call in the old days a "pearabiner".

Pete #2

I have never heard of a "pearabiner", but so far I have Light: Pico LED, Fire: Ranger FireSteel & Striker, Cord: Braided Nylon cord from PSP, Water: Katadyn MP1 tablets in Peanut Lighter casing (I havent bought a pill container yet.) First Aid: Tylenol/Advil and Bayer, SAK: Vic. Tinker, Signal: Fox 40 Howler, S-Biner, BandAids in wallet, PSP in Cargo pocket, and miscelanious (sp?) survival goodies in my pockets and "man bag!"

Don't worry - a pearabiner is simply a pear shaped carabiner - clever, huh? It is useful in some applications where you need a lot of room in the carabiner.

Pearabiner... i get it now! and Izzy, nice set ups, I need to get some more money for a couple new additions to my kits, hopefully I can post pics soon!

I've stopped using cable keyrings for two reasons: 1, they constantly come unscrewed unless you use a drop of Lock-Tite on the threads; 2, the wire eventually wears-out from constant flexing (I've had two fail this way after about a year of carrying them in my pocket).

For light it's hard to beat this LED 100 Lumen Black Cat. At $8.12 it's a dollar over your limit but it's a great light! It probably doesn't truly make 100 lumens out the front but it's extremely bright, and it takes 1 x AAA battery. It's very durable (made of aluminum). I have three and have carried two of them for about a year with no problems. If you look around on the site they have it in red which would be nice- easier to find if dropped. I just haven't got around to getting one yet.

One caveat: they're in Hong Kong or Taiwan, don't recall which. Shipping is free and I've always got what I ordered (4 or 5 orders now) but it's very slow. Think three or even four weeks! Once it was long enough that by the time it arrived I had no idea what it was...I'd completely forgotten I'd placed the order! Of course, as an old guy I suffer from CRS...

I have been using a twisty one, that you have to bend in a figure of eight to unlock, as a keyring for a few years now, without problems. They don't come unscrewed because they don't use a screw mechanism. I've not had any issues with the wire becoming frayed with these (but I have with the screw-based ones). They are coated with nylon, but I think they are just made with different wire to the screw-based ones.

See for example MrLock (not a recommendation, just the first link I found to illustrate the product).

The twist to release cable key rings are nice, but I've come to distrust their strength. I pulled on one of mine and it popped apart with very little effort. It will still close, but now it come apart with no warning and no effort.

I have the same brand that close with the ball end locking into a (somewhat) keyhole shaped notch on the other end. They have not come apart with a slight pull, but will come apart if lateral pressure is applied to the latching area. Pulled my keys out of my pocket, only to have several keys and pieces of kit hit the floor while a few stayed in my pocket.

Now I just use both types to store spare keys, and never carry them where it might matter. I use the heaviest split rings I can find. The cable type with the screw together barrel clasp may be stronger, but I have no extensive experience with them.

Izzy: These are nice set-ups, with well-chosen components. Nice job!

Here is the red Black Cat flashlight.