I thought I was happy with the last configuration of the tin, but alas...

I got my hands on some nifty new items (micropur tablets, spark light, etc) so it means yet another revision. The entire time, I was trying to figure out how to configure the kit to suit my environment.

I don't live in a desert or arctic climate. If I did, I may include things like sunscreen and hand warmers (respectively). Here, however, in it's urban and heavily wooded primarily. Hot and humid in the summer, freezing in the winter. So what specialty items should I have in this area? I decided that I would ditch the less reliable saws, and center the kit around a more robust saw, as working in a wooded area is a situation that is most likely to present itself. Now, I still have an expansion kit that includes items that won't fit into the tin, like shelter (space blankets, etc), however if for some reason I don't have that on me, and all I have is the tin, I can use this more ruggid saw to construct a simple shelter.

I started with a "pocket chainsaw"; stuffing it flat in the bottom of the tobacco tin and putting a thin piece of cardboard on top to protect it from abrading the rest of the tiems. From there, I began working up....



From the top left going clockwise
-write in the rain paper
-Ink pen (waterproof)
-splinter remover
-disposible sunglasses
-Compressed Sponge
-Leatherman Micra
-Gerber Ridge Knife
-4 gerber milk bags
-tin bottom with saw
-10 Micropur tablets
-10 aquatabs (they fit along side and took up no room, so I figured why not)
-whistle
-signal mirror
-triple antibiotic
-band aids
-butterfly sutures
-scalpel blade (sterile)
-alcohol wipes
-P38
-USAF survival compass
-safety pins
-little LED light
-straight edges
-relight candle
-duct tape
-sewing needles
-curved sewing needles
-small sewing kit
-tinder quik
-sparklight
-micro lenser LED
-mini bic
-matchbox with a mix of NATO wind/waterproof matches, hurricane matches, and wicks of relight candles
-eagle snelled hooks with leaders
-fishing line (not shown)
-small fly
-tin lid
-mini altoids tin
-fresnel lens
-cardboard "floor" (goes between saw and rest of kit)
-ranger band

I also revised my expanion pack but I'll post pics later.

*edit* Just added a WSI Military Match. Not shown in picture

reduncancy is a good thing, but you micra has a small blade on it, you got the gerber folder, 2 shaving blades and a scalpel ? Leaving out a scalpel and a shaving blade wouldn't make a big diffrent wenn i surival situation.... it doesn't make much diffrent if you leave them in, due to the size (the lack of it actually).

you got a lot of quality, fullsized pieces of equipment in it, thats a good thing. Those tiny tools are bitterly hard to use wenn your freezing your six off. But it does come with a weight factor. So make sure it doesn't borther you.

I had a full sized multitool in the kit, and it was a real struggle for me to give it up <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Weight isn't as big a deal to me as with some people, but I see what you're saying about the blades.

The scalpel is mainly for cutting on myself if I need to for any reason. The two straight edge razors are for skinning game or other duties requiring a thin sharp blade like that (splitting water purification tablets, etc). The leatherman micra blade is for scraping ferrocium/magnesium rods (I'm going to include a small one in the future) so I don't dull up the other knives, and the gerber ridge knife is for everything else <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

But yeah, that is an awful lot... as you mentioned they take up so little room that it's hard to resist stuffing another in there, but if I do find something I need to include, I know what I can take out <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the comments!

I go with backup for the sharp items and fire.
Dave

Well done.
Couple of questions for you.

Where'd you get your main tin.
How do you like your compass and did you have trouble finding it.

Thanks,
Hutch4545

The main tin was one of those "pro force" SAS Survival tin knockoffs. I got it at the US Cav store

I really like this compass. It's a dry compass. While it's only useful for general headings, it's well built. http://www.equipped.org/pp/pic1249.htm

You can find them by buying surplus survival kits on ebay and scrounging the compass out of them.

I know that I'm repeating myself but I'd like to point out that there is no plastic tubing like 1 foot of teflon tubing that you apparently can find in electronic supplies houses. Or stretchy surgical tubing. It's not included in the AMK PSP either. Is it because it's a hot desert environment specific item?

And there is no medicines like antihistamine, antibiotic, analgesic, intestinal sedative etc.

Frankie

I carry plastic tubing in my expansion kit. To me, tubing is a luxury and is nice to have, but not a huge priority. I've tried various ways of packing it inside a tin, but it takes up quite a bit of space for it's usefulness. In my book, 550 paracord takes priority over tubing as it has many more uses.... so if I had room in my tin for tubing I'd be carrying 550 cord instead <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Alas, I had no room for either with this setup, so I carry both in my expansion kit.



I carry a seperate first aid kit, although I do try to keep at least some medical supplies in the PSK for the minor booboos (like if I stab myself with a hook or something).

Your kit looks good, lots of quality. The only thing that's missing and does not take up a lot of room is a couple of feet of brass snarewire

I have to agree ... sharps and fire are two classes of items where I’m also big on redundancy. I have a kit of similar size (probably just slightly larger) in a Maxpedition M-2 waistpack and I have a SOG Paratool, BM310 and scalpel in it. I look at it as having a multitool with my primary blades (one 3" serrated and one 3" smooth on the tool), a BM310 is backup blade incase the multitool is lost and finally the scalpel is nice to have since it is sealed and sterile and takes up virtually zero space or weight anyway not to mention it is truely razor sharp due to bevel angle and thickness of blade.

I considered snarewire, but I'm not confidant in my ability to use them properly.

That being said, I can probably squeeze some in there <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Don't think brass wire is just for making snares. Like every
other item in your kit you must be able to improvise with it. Metal wire can also be used to repair stuff; or for exemple to attach a arrowhead to a shaft when you have nothing else handy.

nice kit what is that red tipped thing under the safety pins though?

It's an LED <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Where did you manage to find an LED that small?

Yes... where did you find that tiny little thing. Also, is the light next to the sparklite one of those Coast lights we were discussing recently in another thread? I didnt realize they were that small.

And what's small enough to power it? <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Sue

Yep, that's a Micro Lenser from coast. They're one of the US distributers of Zweibrueder.

The little LED can be found in the fishing section of Grandpas, WalMart, and other similar stores. They are designed to go in the clear fishing bobbers to light them up. You push down on the head a little and it turns on, pull it back out and it turns off. Pretty neat and takes up little room.

Both LED's actually use a very similar battery. The tiny one basically has the LED fuzed directly to the head of the battery, while the Micro Lenser's battery can be replaced. I found some spare batteries at batteries plus, but they weren't cheap (like $4 each). The battery is called BR435 (it's a 3 volt lithium). The micro lenser itself (with battery) cost me around $10.

Needless to say, while I like photons, these two are simply smaller! Well, the micro lenser is a little longer than a photon I think, but it's easier to pack since it's shape isn't so irregular

Wow, that's definitely tiny. Never seen one of those.

It seems like a good idea. How much light does it give off compared to keychain LED lights (Photon, Pulsar)?

Frankie

My PSK includes 6" of plastic straw, folded into 3 parts and flattened. That takes very little room, or weight and provides a former for cordage or tape (which helps keep it folded and compressed). Another approach is to stuff the straw with matches or tinder or whatever, so the inner space is used. Six inches isn't enough to syphon fuel out of a car, but I hope it could help get at some inaccessible water.

A "matchstick flashlight"! Perfect for the person who is always saying they don't have room for a flashlight! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Sue

Here is a review of the Micro Lenser LED:

http://www.pocketlights.com/micro-lenser.asp

The tiny fishing bobber LED has almost no "hotspot", it's almost all a gentle flood, but more than sufficient for most up close LED operations, like finding a keyhole, reading a map, or finding your way through your PSK/backpack at night. It doesn't have much throw, being a gentle flood, so for indoor movement a traditional LED would be better.

It's strange. The Coast in that review projects a square beam profile, while both of my Coasts project a regular round beam profile.

Interestingly enough, I also have a micro lenser from Eddie Bauer (another distributer?) and it does have a square beam profile. I didn't like that...

I've also noticed a difference in quality between the two. The twist endcap on the Eddie Bauer's is very "loose", while my coasts are nice and tight.

Maybe the one with the square beam is an earlier version?

No fishing bobber leds at my Wally world. They are all the mini glow stick chemical light style bobber illuminators. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

that's the right section, there were glowsticks near mine as well. I guess not all the walmarts carry them <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I went to the closest Wal-Mart and I found the tiny LED light. It's the Nite Brite replacement battery from Lindy. That's kewl.

Franky

I finally found them at Academy Sports .. they had both green and red for about $2.50 ea. I keep the red one in handle of my CRK Shadow IV which is basically my PSK for outdoors/wilderness stuff.

Glad to hear you found some <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />