Like Rumbaugh, I too have waited a while before posting. More than anything else to gauge what the purpose of the forum would be.

I stumbled upon this site while searching for information about the Maxpedition FatBoy, and decided to browse the postings - using quite a bit more time than I first assumed, and learning quite a bit in the process.

"Man in the Wilderness" seems to be the main problem addressed, correct? Though "Man in the Urban Jungle" is more my concern, the gear seems to overlap (with the exception of fishing hooks).

As a result of reading the postings, I have added a small signaling mirror, and replaced a condom in one kit with the Gerber bag - and found other uses for them too.

In case any one is interested, I have bought the FatBoy, and it is now my main "man purse". Having worn "man purses" for 11 years or so, it actually seems kinda 'butch'. <img src="images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Glad you decided to come out of the woodwork to post, DBAGuy. If you're a kit-obsessed person like me and others here, you'll feel right at home posting here. Although I do a good bit of backpacking, camping, and hiking, I too find myself more in the "Man in the Urban Jungle" scenario than anything else. Here's my version of such a kit: http://www.roblester.com/rob/edc.htm

Good to hear from you, Gear_Freak - and also to have your reply become your 200th post.

We also (I include my wife) like to backpack/camp.

Amusingly enough, I already have checked out your spreadsheet and made notes of some equipment I lacked. (I lurked for quite a while)

Welcome DBAguy. I have ordered the fatboy and am awaiting its arrival. Glad you like it, I thought it may make a decent daily kit bag.

Enjoyed your response to the OD or black question too....nice read of the issues at hand.

Don't discount the fishhooks for urban use. If you find yourself homeless you can fish for duck, pigeon and squirrel easily enough with some bread or popcorn as bait. Make sure to use some strong leader tho. If you use steal leader it cannot be shiny. Box traps are usually easier but more conspicuous in the park. The piece of popcorn attached to the end of a handline can be twitched under a bush and no-one will know it's there until the squirrel starts raising a ruckus - then simply step on the little bugger and pocket dinner until you have the time and privacy to flesh him out. Little beats fat, nicely corn-fed, squirrell but it disturbs the locals to see you harvesting them.

Nice tip, Minime, we used to catch pigeons like that in the school yard when I was a kid.

Troy