I like the mess tin based kits aswell. Plastic is nice for waterproofing and protecting but doesn't have the ability to cook in.
I have the actual military mess tin and tried to make a kit like "lofty" in the sas survival guide but some of the items are obscure and not avalible to me. When I use my own choices its always overflowing.

I didn't realize it but you are right! I, too, have been building kits since I was a kit. I am pretty sure I still have one of my earliest ones sitting in a drawer in my parents house. It can be very easily dated since at the time, I was very interested in word search. I clipped out one or two from the local newspaper and put it in as tinder and a mind game.

Conway Yee

Izzy, have you found a source for acquiring the AMK mini-mirror on its own? The only places I have seen it are as part of a larger kit, most of which I didn't need.

Thanks mike. According to people I know I've never quite grown up. LOL

Hey Jac. Hope you enjoyed your trip. The problem I have is the more room I have the more I jam into my PSKs until they are almost impossible to repack in the field. I hope to go as small as an aspirin tin. I think every kid should have an adventurous childhood. Thanks for responding.

Wow! Now THAT is a nice many kit! Thankks for sharing Dogs. I myself would have crammed that open space with other items and totally made a mess of things. Thanks for sharing!

Very nice Izzy. Thanks for sharing. I'll check on those kits. I respect that you insist on the best quality. MY BOB has only the very best.

I had the surplus canteen with cup and a knife on a web belt for close hikes. A match safe in my pocket and a spoon and tea ba bag in the cantten carrier.

The us GI mess kit has that useless eating plate. I saw a flat rectangular mess kit somewhere on the net which fit a cargo pocket and gace two cooking pots. I think it might serve you better. The early WWII British Commando survival kit I once saw was nice and advanced for it's time. I have a swiss mess kit in the works. Big and heavy it seems to hold a lot. Hope this helps.

Suprising how we hang onto them isn't it? Thanks for responding Yee.