Ooops, I see that I omitted a flashlight! If I only had $100 with no wiggle room I'd probably try to finesse things a bit to buy a flashlight. As much as I'd hate to do it I could probably ditch the Nalgene and buy a bottle of water for $1-$2 and reuse it. That would net enough savings to get a decent light, either an entry level Maglite or an Olight i3e EOS with battery. I'd rather reuse a Powerade Zero or water bottle than rely on a $1 flashlight!

Obviously this is a mockup of what I'd do for $100, not an encyclopedic list of everything I'd want! For an extra $1 I'd love to have some dollar store duct tape as it's actually been very useful IRL. Maybe shave a buck somewhere to make that happen if possible.

Sofirn C01S is another inexpensive AAA to consider. Has two modes 3lm & 100lm. So can conserve battery life.

If already into 18650s... Convoy lights, like the S2+ are options.

$16-$18
http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=80

I will also mention that a couple months ago I bought a sleeping bag for $15 from Woot.com. it's a light summer bag but fairly light. Not what you would want in the winter but it would provide a good margin of safety and comfort down to maybe 40 with your normal clothing on.

I’d prefer to build my own kit with quality items I choose and have already played with.

Their kits are highly customizable.

https://www.vsslgear.com/products

They even sell empty tins, making their kits more personalized; still, I have not been able to make up my mind. Is this a good concept or not?

Jeanette Isabelle

I will stick with the idea they are great for 'grab & go' storage of some key items and would be great for transportation and/or handing out to someone in need.

However, when deployed they become cumbersome and it will be difficult to manage the individual items - thus I still think a bag is better so you won't have to unpack half a tube to get to the element you need just because it is in the middle... with the bag all your gear is individually accessible and for me that's better.

Building a kit around a container is nothing new.

Just think using a billy can, mess tin or lunch box is more practical.

Think used to be a challenge on one of the bushcraft forums, to fit a kit inside a SIGG lunch box and then go spend a night out with it.

Mock up?

Gather 6 same size empty tins/plastics
roll a carry tube out of cardboard (exact diameter match)
and try it out
...
making one or two is low $$$

Conclusion: I'd stick to better known commercial kits - SOL for instance.
Or build your own out of high quality parts. The real key is keeping it small enough so that you'll always carry it.

Is there a Light Saber attachment?