There were a couple toher items in his kit. Bone awl, shaped striking stone (pyrite?) and flint, some cordage, and some items like a couple of chunks of bone that could be anything from his equivelent to carrying out can to raw materials for tools to religious/devination (throwing bones, it's kinda like reading tea leaves) items.

This is probably unduly harsh, but bear in mind that the one thing archeology can tell us is that iceman did not survive with the kit he was carrying.<br><br>Poor guy - he should have waited until he had a frou frou pack, the Victorinix thingee with the cute little compass, and a 22 shell to use for a whistle.

1: any of us can be taken out by hypothermia<br><br>2: any of us with a deep penetrating wound to the upper torse is going to be SOL on just a PSK. If perontinitis (sp) doesn't get you, the leak will.<br><br>I don't see it as a failure of the kit, but just Murphy making a house call. I question any of us being able to survive, without outside support, in that situation. Doesn't mean we won't try, though.

So what do we learn or observe from this look into the past? There truly is "nothing new under the sun" and even an "equipped to survive" individual may succumb to misfortune. The latest GPS is merely a very sophisticated elaboration on Otzi's intimate knowledge of his territory. The humblest of knives we agonize over would all be sought after compared to his flint dagger ( and ironically not as sharp.) we probably will never know what brought Otzi to that lonely place. What we do know is he lived 25-40years , well advanced in that age. So somewhere in Europe a distant descendant is preparing for a bicycle tour through the country. What we wonder is, does he have his Altoids tin pocketed?