My understanding is that the altoids tin PSK was developed primarily for person in flight who would be thrust into a survival situation as the result of a forced landing or crash, perhaps having only the clothes on their back. For that purpose, it is way better than nothing. A bulkier, more adequate survival kit could hinder your egress from the craft, putting you in jeopardy.

On the other hand, if I am planning a wilderness trip of some sort, nearly all of my gear is devoted to some aspect of survival. In this situation, a dedicated altoids style PSK makes much less sense.

I do find an altoids container just about right for holding my backup fire starting materials, which is definitely a redundant item I will carry gladly.

I carry one.

The young and foolish try to pack an all singing, all dancing kit into one.

The older and wiser nub it down to a few useful bit's.

I carry in mine:

2 x Wetfire.
3 x Tinderquick.
4 x Wet n Windy's (lifeboat matches to you) with striker.
6 x Waterproof matches with striker.
1 x Sailmakers needle.
10ft heavy duty tread.
20 ft 30lb spyderwire fishing line.
3 hooks.
Button compass.
6 chlorine dioxide tablets.
6 ft sash cord.

I stash knife, mutitool etc in my pockets.

An excellent idea nuggethoarder - thank you. I have been struggling with the both the Altoid and a separate FAK.

The Micro seems small enough to fit in the cargo pocket, but large enough to store the contents of both without being to bulky.

If you use milspec pants, then all of the Maxpedition organizers I mentioned will fit in a cargo pocket - even the Fatty organizer. Some brands of tactical pants are not milspec and are too small for the Fatty or the E.D.C. organizer but will accept at least the Mini and Micro.

for what it's worth... you can get the following in a 4x6 heavy duty zip top pouch that holds 350ml of liquid...thickness is that of the miniBic and whistle

mini Bic, wrapped with 4' duct tape with button compass taped on
TOPS thin 3 chamber whistle
4 Katadyn ClO2 tabs
2 Tylenol, 2 Advil
3 Steri Strips
2 cloth knuckle bandaids
2x2 Blood stopper gauze
povidone iodine prep pad
6' duct tape on card
small ferro rod
heavy duty needle
20' 15# mono line
1L pouch (from food processor bag)
rescue flash signal mirror
AAA battery (for Fenix E01)

I went to the heavy duty zip top pouch originally to have the water transport capability... has been in a cargo pocket for 6+ months and shows no wear...as the active part of the hurricane sesason gets closer, switched the Vic Farmer out for a Vic Multi tool (wish it were titanium)

I keep the basic tin in my daily pack. But I use others as parts of other kits: fire kit, first aid kit, meds kit, fishing kit, water kit (oven bag & tubing), etc.

Sue

But.. but... but... it's curiously strong! (You knew this one was coming.)

Seriously, a part of the pleasure for me is making the tin empty. I like Altoid tins because they are a good disguise, and they are small. But there is always a trade off, I guess.

Da Bing

It was for a combined psk and a fak. I didn't use it for very long because the size wasn't practical. Back then my items were also a bit larger in volume. Nowadays I use it to store electronics in it especially when on the water.

Today my philosophy is to break the two functions into separate flexible pouches. That makes it easier to put one each into cargo pants pockets.

I use a small, clear waterproof bag, the type with a multi-fold velcro at the top. After a couple of years it has proven durable and has stayed dry.


I think that the idea of an Altoids tin is great - its a good (and often cheap) way to get people and kids engaged and thinking about equipment, how it can be used and what they would do in particular situations. For some people the exercise may stop there, for others they will naturally start to expand...

I guess that most people on the forum would have "survival" built into everything - key ring, wallet, purse, backpack, car, home, work etc ... but I would hazzard a guess many would have started with some kind of a mini-kit - like an Altoids ?

Altoids - Its like those soft drugs that go on to get people hooked on hard core-survival !

That's it: Altoids is a gateway container!