I inventoried my basic kit today. I realised I've actually managed to assemble gear few would fault. I once started a thread with the popular " you've lost everything at the entrance to a willderness. You have $100 to assemble a basic kit at the local general store." game. Lets take this even further. I am going into that wilderness tommorow. I haven't benefited from the well thought out, measured and dispassionate knife discussions or firemaking tips at ETS. I am the proud owner of a classic hollowhandled survival knife bought for $10 at a garage sale. It was empty of the 101 quality items. I slipped several paper matchbooks into my pocket at the local biker bar during the serenity prayer. I'm dressed like an extra in Band of Brothers. So, here we are in the dark and scary forest. How do we best utilise marginal or utterly mediocre gear? We've all bought it, struggled and upgraded. But, what if? If you have real expereience tips on actually making do with anything please contribute. DISCLAIMER: ETS discourages seriously depending on this junk unless really desperate <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />