From the 17th-early 19th century "trade" awls were a big item with the Native Americans- they were interesting in concept, pointed on each end with two right angles forged right in the middle, they formed sort of a zigzag or lightning-bolt shape. The idea was that they were easy to haft by just pounding one pointed end into a piece of wood, but the right angles kept it from penetrating past a certain point and splitting the wood with constant use. . I have some reproductions of this type- they're too big for a PSK. European-culture leather awls and sailmaker awls were quite different.<br><br>I have several leather awls. Most modern leather awls are intended for use with a seperate haft (the "awl" is the blade itself) that has sort of a chuck to make changing the awl possible and easy. Modern leather awls can be either round or diamond shaped in cross-section, and are well tempered, will take a lot of use and stay sharp. I thought of including an awl in the PSK, but I wouldn't want to use it much without a haft, and that rather puts it beyond very short-term survival. Realistically, I doubt that there would be much leather work involved in short-term survival. Long-term is another matter (as is sailing), they're worth their weight in gold... but I'm not sure about inclusion in a PSK. The use of an awl also sort of implies heavy thread that I'm not carrying... if you have a short-term survival use, I'd be interested.<br>