Perhaps the most daunting aspect of preparing kits or gear for any activity is acquiring all this STUFF. It's much like the folks after 9/11 who bought surplus gas masks. For a while it looked like past Christmas toy phenomenons like Cabbage Patch Dolls.There is a very fluid demarcation between the unprepared, the minimalist and Burt Gummer's arsenal. The gear we review and recommend are ( hopefully) the Rolls Royce of their class. They are not however the Holy Grail and paper cups still hold water. Somebody with a $9 Mora, 100' of cotton utility cord and a box of wooden matches is lightyears ahead of the unprepared. Not having paracord is no reason to hang yourself with the cheap stuff: and, if you do isn't the suprising strength embarressing as you black out? <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />. My redundant items are only the most critical, and ironically cheapest to duplicate. I have enough $9 Moras to climb a redwood treee using Mors Kochanski's strength test. Honestly, most of my gear sits in a surplus rucksack. It's my BOB, hiking kit, carkit and housecat's scratching post. I've simply made it part of my 'wardrobe' along with clothing, mouthwash and the other minimal demands of polite California society <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />. Once the simple mindset of preparedness sets in, STUFF manages to be on us in one form or another.