I am of two minds. I believe that you should carry and use your PSK items. For the mini-PSK I say carry them in your pockets spread out. It is very possible to set down your pack, pouch, or whatever and then loose it. If they are in your pocket then you will have them. For bigger items you should have them where you keep your water. You might put other things down but you will keep your water close. I use a CamelBack. I might take a fanny pack off during a rest but I tend to keep my CamelBack on because I want to keep drinking water.

My second thought is that there are some items that are so important that if I lost or broke it I want a new item to replace it. I have an extra ferro rod, more Coghlan’s Emergency Tinder, a fixed blade knife, a lighter, a compass, and other things. I have a small version of these things in my pockets but I want the full size heavy duty version in my pack. If I dropped and lost my Boy Scout Hot Spark I am still good because I have a new ferro rod waiting for me in the CamelBack.