To answer my own question, I think I would choose a lighter over a knife or anything else. The essay "Fire and Rain" on Doug's site illustrates the reasoning behind this. <br><br>My basic reasoning is that fire is very useful especially in that it is a first-line defense against hypothermia which can kill even faster than dehydration. Primitive firestarting techniques are very difficult under even the best of conditions, and would be completely hopeless (for me at least) when the weather is really bad (cold and raining). I would rather have to improvise a knife than go without a fire.<br><br>