'Course you could get a nylon wallet and store:

cash, credit card fresnel lens, 10 m fishing line, 3 hooks,
striking surface, 1 page instructions on water proofpaper,
flint striker/ 10 waterproof matches, 6x micro pur tablets,
needle, 4x band-aids.

TRO

PS I use a bright orange velcro type wallet.

Thanks for the warning about corrosion. I'll keep an eye on it. I'm not sure what kind of metals there are in the bezel, but at least it's a very dry environment.

You better re-read the warning on those MP1 tabs. YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO TOUCH THEM. They have some seriuous warnings written on the inside of the package. Actually I was shocked when I read them.

FWIW,
Adam

It actually just says harmful if tablet is swallowed and irritating to eyes and respiratory system on the instruction sheet I got with the tablets. I bought these here in Helsinki, Finland. What exactly does it say in the warning sheet you got?

It also shouldn't be exposed to air. It will suck the moisture out of the air and lose effectiveness. There's a reason it's stored in a foil pack.

My Katadyn MP-1 tabs also say not to come in contact with skin or expose to air for more than a couple seconds.

Flash memory is used in most small devices, much more EMF-reistant.

The kind of magnetic field put out by a sewing/improvised compass needle is unlikely to effect it. Particularly when you figure the needle will most likely be against the battery, and that is probably throwing a stronger magnetic field around it.

What is more likely is that the field around the battery will screw up the polarity of your compass.

Your biggest danger is that the needle might shift, and short something. Unlikely, but at that point, your phone is probably pooched.

The ones I bought were actually MF-1T or "Micropur Forte".

I searched around Katadyn web site and apparently the plastic bottle container version of the tablets has a shorter shelf life (2-3 years) than the aluminium foil sheet version (5 years)

Micropur fact sheet

As far as I can see, the ingredients of these tablets are just silver ions combined with chlorine dioxide and it's in a pretty stable form. However, chlorine dioxide can cause explosions when mixed with ammonia compounds, so perhaps it's a good idea to remove those tablets from that enclosed air space with those batteries <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Incompatible chemicals

Many thanks for all the additional info and warnings. I would never have thought that there is a safety issue here, but I'm so glad it came up. Perhaps the match in that battery compartment isn't a good idea either. Back to the drawingboard...

I really don't rate matches as emergency fire-starters. Especially if you only have one or two. They blow out, or get wet, and need half-decent tinder in addition.

Given that you have the flint rod and striker, I'd replace the match with some decent tinder. Cotton wool will do (adding vasaline makes it burn longer but could get messy unless you stuff it into a straw and seal the ends - the straw could be useful too). Commercial tinder such as the Tinder-Quik stuff which comes with Spark-Lites is even better. You can probably squeeze it into whatever shaped space is available.

You are right, decent tinder is a better idea. A flint rod and a striker isn't much use without the tinder. I'll start with plain cotton wool and switch to a better solution later. The flashlight makes an excellent water tight container for it though.