Here's my question: Have you ever had to use your PSK in a REAL LIFE survival situation? I mean real life, do or die, not digging into it for mattches because your main supply got wet or ran out. Or for your Photon or Pico because your main light died.
I have. A military model made to fit in a cargo pocket, of course I had rebuilt it to fit my tastes. I had to subsist on it's tools and my knife for 8 days in a jungle/tropical enviroment. Not as much fun as it sounds.

My husband once used the snare wire in mine to tie my car exhaust back on in the middle of nowhere. Does that count?

Yes, some of my most trying times on the trail have been at about 85,000 feet. At least the view was nice, eh...

3 of the more memorable occasions:

- Zap straps and rope to improvise a broken backpack buckle. Without the straps and rope, the backpack would of been all but useless to carry and otherwise would of involved a very long trip out with only minimal supplies of warm clothing, food and shelter.

- Snare wire used to make grips for boots on an early spring ice thaw on a mountain trail descent where the sun had melted the ice enough to leave the trail very slick and unsafe with a layer of water on top. The wire was doubled up, twisted together then placed under the sole of the boot and wrapped over the top of the foot to make a crude set of chains so to speak. This method was adaquate enough to allow a long but safer descent off the mountain before dark.

Various first aid kit (3 total) contents after a member of our group took a bad tumble on some rocks and suffered a deep and potentially life threatening laceration that ultimately required almost 2 dozen stitches. Had we been equipped with a PLB at the time, the button would of been pushed without a doubt.

Setting off on a fun weekend of rock climbing that involved a climb of my favorite peak, we encountered a climber injured in a rockfall. We used everything we had in getting him to a hospital; it was a truly eventful evening.

When doing SAR, I was sometimes queried about why I carried so much in my pack. I would respond with accounts of the short operations that used all of my gear - the bivvy stuff, the tech toys, the basic fire making apparatus. Rescues have a habit of expanding rapidly, requiring unexpected and unusual actions.

Never had to use mine, but I have used much of the emergency gear I carry "just in case" in my pack and vehicle.

Nice save, Scoutmaster NightHiker! That'll probably be a lifelong memory for him.

I used the duct tape and nylon cord to lash the sole of DW's boot on so we could make it back to civilization.

You just reminded me of the time we - gasp - ran at out duct - at a Scout camp. A wind storm whipped through and ripped our kitchen shelter tarp. My psk duct tape saved the day. Thank you Doug!

In 1991 I got stuck in a Chicago office high-rise elevator during a power outage. I used my flashlight to find the emergency phone. A security guard 'rescued' us. He had the pleasure of walking up 26 floors to open the door. Not a big deal, but the light made the situation much more manageable.

Alas, I will never have the good fortune to be able to make use of my PSK because I EDC the tools that would be in a PSK (folding knife, flashlight, whistle, et al) rather than put them in an out-of-sight/out-of mind kit. The problem I have with kits is deciding when the time is appropriate to open one up and actually use what's inside. "Is this an emergency?" With EDC user tools that isn't an issue; tools aren't for "survival" or "emergencies", they're users.

That said, BPJ's post about using the snare wire got me thinking about a consumables kit -- wire, string, duct tape -- not for emergencies but for daily use as required and then replace.

...Thinking...

No, I haven't. But ... I have had alternate uses of stuff I had intentionally packed. Things like using fishing wire to replace a screw on my glasses, tape on my tent when the zipper broke, etc. Never used a dedicated "survival" kit.

Lol. No it doesn't. Sorry jac. How was your trip?

Glad you made it back Izzy. Thanks for respondinging.

Very ingenious. But he should have been smarter before going on his 50 miler. Thanks.

Nice use of the wire. I hadn't thought of that. Thanks.

Yes, they do hiker. Thanks.

So have I Mark. And there are still times I end up wishing I had packed more or/and other gear. Thanks

Nice use of duct tape. Thanks.

Nice of the guard. That's a hefty walk. Thanks

Thanks russ.

Thanks Diana.

Was at a birthday party for a friend's young son. And when it was piñata time, they had nothing to hang it up with. So I unravelled the fob on my SAK Farmer and the piñata was hung. On with the party.

The fob had about six feet of cordage in a hangman's knot. Easy to unravel and retie, if you don't mind the "memory" from the knot when you deploy the cord.

i had to share this. Its not an emergency to me but it was to my wife. She had just colored her hair that day and needed a shower cap to do something so the affect wasn't altered. She was bummed until I pulled one out of my EDC kit.

Why a shower cap in my EDC? I take shower caps from hotels (in the tight little package the size of a condom) because they are essentially zero weight vapor barriers that in a pinch will hold in heat on my head if I suddenly get stuck in a rain/cold situation. I have them in all my camelbak and trail running packs, my bike tool kit when I wouldn't have my normal EDC kit on me for workouts.

Not exactly do or die, but last weekend I had to use the bandana out of my PSK to pre-filter spring runoff water from a mountain fed creek that had a lot of sediment etc which could of proven very disruptive to the digestive system if I had just treated the water with purification tablets alone.