I’ve got to say that I’m surprised at the turn this thread has taken. I’m not going to criticize anyone else’s idea of survival preparations- it’s their life, not mine, and they should be defending it however they see fit- so I’ll just address some points from my own personal point of view.<br><br>Personally, I consider the likelihood of a commercial airliner going down as barely worth consideration. Sure, I wouldn’t mind having a few things on my person that might come in handy, but… it’s incredibly unlikely that this is going to happen on one of the relatively few flights that I take a year. If it does happen, there’s an excellent chance I won’t survive to worry about anything at ground (or sea) level. If it does crash and I do survive, I think there’s little chance that I’m going to be out there long enough to worried about things like firemaking or aluminum foil after that- the movie “Castaway” notwithstanding. And if the commercial airliner does crash, and I survive the crash, and I’m in good enough shape to worry about it afterward, and I find myself stranded on land or sea long enough to worry about what I brought (assuming ANYTHING I brought, on my person or carry-on, also survived), with rescue for some bizarre reason not coming very soon… well, I might be glad for a something or other I have for awhile, but it may not make any difference for long. There are limits.<br><br>Personally, I’m about as likely to check on an airliner with a flotation jacket or inflatable vest, smoke hood, and snorkel as I am to go golfing with a lightning rod on my head- and lightning on a golf course is a much more real threat.<br><br>Now, if anyone really wants to try to get on an airliner with all that, and wads of aluminum foil, aluminized mylar, batteries and steel wool, and lord knows what else, don’t let me stop you. I will watch- from a distance- with great interest. <br><br>My personal objections to the restrictions on airline flights has nothing at all to do with feeling that I might need survival gear if the plane crashes- it has something to do with the differences between what happened with Flight 93 and the other three commandeered planes on 9/11, the unknown number of lives on the ground that were saved, and the number of lives that were lost because passengers and crew were so carefully, and meticulously, and self-righteously made completely helpless.<br><br>That, and I have SOME concern about the high likelihood of being in a strange city, for who knows how long, without my “urban” PSK. Sure, I can probably check a lot more than they’ll let me carry on, but the chances of my transferring stuff from the checked luggage to my person before reaching a hotel room are pretty small, and the chances of the airline losing my luggage are excellent. <br>