I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and with the areas I travel in, the Eskimo saying of "A knife is life" fits the bill nicely. I would add only firestarting equipment as truly needy for me. I have more than that and my only requirement is that the item for the purpose intended function. An empty soup can for cooking is just as good as a titanium pan.

Of course, I am 58 years old and I know I am great so I don't need to have designer anything to feel content. I hold to the belief that any problems coming my way will be relatively brief in nature and duration.

But then, to each their own.

Bountyhunter

Where are you finding these soup cans? The ones I see these days all have petroleum chemical-based liners and seem sealers that would likely become toxic when placed over the camp fire. I actually keep a soup can in each of my larger kits simply because I figure that if I really need it then I'll take my chances with the toxins but I would certainly rather not have to risk it if I don't need to and I never use them voluntarily when camping for that exact reason. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Brian:

All right, bad choice for an example. What I have now is 3 very cheap stainless steel pans nested into each other, and 2 sierra stainless steel cups with wire handles nested in each other. The 3 pans had handles on them which I sheared off and I have one of those steel pan grippers to pick them up with. By the way the steel (I don't know about the aluminum ones.) pan gripper is so strong in its grip that you could use it for pulling on the skin of large animals you may be skinning or for holding onto a fish while descaling it.

Instead of paying $16.00 to $21.00 for a name brand stainless nested mess kit, I paid $0.49 for each of the pans and each of the cups, and paid $0.25 for the steel pan gripper at Goodwill for a total outlay of $2.70.

Why 3 pans and 2 cups? If I get lost, I plan on having company as I don't want to be miserable by myself. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Bountyhunter <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Hi Brain,

I hear ya, I don't understand Day hikers myself and why they don't equip themselves properly, I think they are in engulfed in the beauty of the area and don't feel they need to prepare. In there mind they believe they are going to only be on the trail for a short time so there is no need equip themselves. Big mistake!! They do not fully appreciate the area they are in and the threats that face them.

They hike around and don't watch the time and they get to far out and it gets to dark and when it gets dark in the mountains it gets cold fast. When it gets dark and cold they get scarred and then they wander around and as you know it is easy to get lost because so many trails intersect with each other.

Then they want a tent but don't have one and do not know how to build a shelter.
They want a fire but do not have the equipment, even if they did there afraid of getting a fine for destroying park property.
Then it continues on from there and snow balls down hill.



Bye the way those soup cans with petroleum chemical-based liners and seem sealers will burn off and you are in a open area anyway, so there is no need to worry about it there has been lots of people who have used them in the past and are fine. However why not use a aluminum or steel pot instead that way you can reuse them and will last for years.

Hi Nic,

You are right there other priorities in life, and you can get buy with less.

I guess what I was pointing out was that I have spent allot of money over the years on the cheap stuff and it was useable, but I was not satisfied. So I kept spending and spending, trying to get the best and have spent a ton on the cheap stuff. I could of saved all that money if I would have bought the good stuff first, that's all.

No, No Norad45,

I am not talking about carrying $400 custom knives.

That is good stuff you are carrying, I was talking about cheap commercial kits.

example:
In the Coghlan's kit would you depend your life on that (come on tell the truth).

whistle
button compass that will get a air bubble quick.
using foil as a signal mirror
there fire cubes


That's the type of marginal stuff that I was talking about.

I spent a long term researching PSK's and EDC and such. I see a lot of people that will buy cheap stuff from walmart, oddlots, etc with the thought that something is better than nothing and I see people with $500 knives and $300 flashlights and such. I realize that not everyone can afford top of the line gear but also I've learned that is is better to have one or two decent quality items than having to dig through the box of 10 $.99 each items to find the one that still works. I choose somewhere in the middle and buy one item at a time so my EDC/PSK gear list always changes and gets better but it doesn't hurt my budget because I haven't had to lay out a lot of $ at one time but spread out over a long period of time its added up to a decent amount. By buying one item at a time I also get time to become familiar with each addition rather than just reading a list of what someone else put in a psk.

When I am out camping, not going especially primitive or anything but just the normal lightweight backpacking that I do on most weekends, I think my number one piece equippment is my little aluminum camp cup that I bought at Walmart for $5. I suppose I could replace the soup can in one of my kits (the large backpack kit in my truck) with one of these but in the other kit, my medium kit (in a Maxpedition M2 waistpack) the soup can fits perfectly and I would hate to have to substitute it. I stuff all my gear in to the can then stick the can in the M2. It's amazing what I have been able to cram in there. Check out this pic...

The Storm Shelter Instant Pcoket Tent goes in the outside pocket on the M2, the paracord goes in the M2 under the can and believe it or not the rest of that is all packed very snuggly inside the soup can! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Yup, you pretty much got what I was saying. I would love to have a top dollar really reliable kit, but I have to work in the confines of reality. I do believe that something is better than nothing and try to buy a little bit more quality than bottom rung. What I do plan to spend beaucoup bucks on though is upgrading my multi-tool. I get a tonne of work done with it but its getting old and worn, and if I have to replace it, i'll replace it with something nice. Maybe a leatherman. Wall-Mart actaully had a good price on the multi-lock lately but the wide pilers kept me from buying, I think I can do better you know?

Personally, I'd rather have a 99 cent baby Bic lighter than Doug's PSP, under the following conditions: The Bic lighter is in my pocket, and the PSP is in the glove compartment of my car back in the airport parking lot. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

You say that you've bought a lot of junk and found that, in the long term, it cost you more money than if you'd bought quality stuff in the first place. Otoh, I once did manage to baton several pieces of kindling off a log using a cheap "lockback" knife that I picked up in a Dollar store, and started a fire with that 99 cent baby Bic; if I knew then what I know now, I'm sure I would have gotten a good campfire going. So I'm a big believer that it's not the tools, it's the carpenter that matters. I would suggest that more lives have been saved by the Bic disposable than by all the Blastmatches, Swedish firesteels and Sparklites ever sold.

Just out of curiosity, what are some examples of "cheap" stuff you've bought, and in what way did it let you down?