Sorry for bumping this back up, but someone asked about it in another thread so I’m including a couple of comments on what was in the final kit and supplemental packages, and what I would have done differently.

There are a couple of things I would like to have done differently if I could do it all over again. The first thing I would have done differently is purchase a bunch of Ritter PSKs, add a few supplement items and saved myself a load of cash. The second thing would have been to really search for a better blade to include in the kit. This could have been easily added had I not wasted a lot of money building the kit from scratch. The third would have been to include instructions. Sure, I could have printed up Doug’s, but I felt so badly about not getting Ritter PSKs that I would have felt like a complete ass for including them. The fourth would have been to add stormproof matches and a waterproof case instead of the bic. In fifth place, I would have added tinderquick.

Don’t get me wrong, if you don’t mind me tooting my own horn for a moment, I’d say that it’s a pretty good kit as far as things go, but I’m a perfectionist at times and I think I could have made it better. LOL

Ultimately the thing weighed 3+ pounds... 3+ POUNDS!!! (based on the calculations made by the USPS scales and not including supplemental items). What the hell was I thinking?!? That takes it out of the realm of Light PSK and firmly plants it in the category of things that can be used to workout with.

Size-wise it is fairly compact... That is until the moment you need to use the bottle to actually hold something other than the kit items... Say something like water perhaps.

I included a couple of airtight bags for items once out of the bottle, and an extra carabiner, lanyards and split key rings for other items. So, the kit isn’t impossible to carry after the bottle comes into play, but it is obvious that a buttpack of some sort sure would have been a nice addition.

Unfortunately the ponchos had to be carried separately from the start. I underestimated how large they were. In kits where I included extra ponchos and survival blankets for additional family members, it’s obvious that the 32oz Nalgene bottle becomes too small a carrier.

The 550 paracord was attached to the carabiner used to clip the bottle to a belt.

It should be noted that I only had 6 Magfires and 1 Magfire pro (I kept one Magfire Pro for myself), so some kits got a magnesium bar firestarters.

Also, I’ve not yet determined how the Stainless Steel Cup will finally be affixed to the Nalgene bottle. I’ve tinkered with a few cords and quick clips, which could be attached to the cup’s first handle, looped up around the neck, and attached to the second handle, but putting such stress on the handles might not be a good idea.

Here’s the final list with the supplements included.

Knife

• ”Decent” Folder (Maxam SkadRed)
• Snap Clip and Lanyard for knife
• Knife Sharpener *

Fire

• MagFire Firestarter (or magnesium bar firestarter)
• Backup Bic Lighter
• 2-hole Pencil Sharpener for Quick Tinder (Yeah, There’s a knife, but a pencil later too)
• Pocket Chainsaw with Nylon Pouch (military style) *

Water

• 1Liter SwissSport Nalgene Lexan Bottle
• Bottle of Potable Aqua

Shelter

• Survival Blanket (+1 for each family member)
• Lightweight Reusable PVC Poncho with Pouch (+1 for each family member)

Food

• Mini Fishing Kit (5 small hooks, 5 small split shot sinkers, 5 small barrel swivels, 50 yards 30lb Spiderwire, Small Bottle for Kit)
• P-38 Can Opener
• Snare Wire
• 16 oz Stainless Steel Cup (Fits over the end of the Nalgene Bottle) *

First Aid

• Tylenol Extra Strength (2 packets of 2 caplets)
• Bayer Aspirin (2 packets of 2 caplets)
• Imodium AD (1 packet of 2 tablets)
• Alcohol Prep Pad (3 individual packets)
• Neosporin (3, 1/32 oz packets)
• Povidone Iodine Wipes (3 individual packets)
• Sting Relief Pads (3 individual packets)
• 4 Heavy Duty 1in. Fabric Bandages
• 2 Heavy Duty Fabric Fingertip Bandages
• 2 Heavy Duty Fabric Knuckle Bandages
• Waterproof bag for first aid items

Signaling

• Classic Fox-40 and Lanyard
• Signal Mirror *

Light

• Mini Maglite 2AA with Holster
• Nite-Ize LED Upgrade Kit for the Mini Maglite
• 2 Extra Lithium AA Batteries

Navigation

• 1/2-inch Button Compass

Extra Equipment

• 20 ft 550 Paracord
• 1 Carabiner 150lb test (clips bottle to belt)
• 1 Carabiner 150lb test (can be used to clip Magfire, Knife, etc to belt)
• Heavy-Duty Airtight Bag (to carry equipment when bottle is being used)
• 6 Safety Pins
• Split Keyring (pins, P-38, Knife key etc attached to it)
• Heavy-Duty Sewing Kit (2 canvas needles and 100ft heavy tapestry thread)
• ”Duck” Tape (10yds wrapped around pen body I cut to size)
• Heavy-Duty Tinfoil (originally for use instead of SS cup)
• 2 Heavy-Duty clear garbage bags *
• Rite in the Rain Paper and Pencil

Asterisk (*) notes items that will be added to the second shipment

As a final note, some of the other work put into the kits I would have preferred not to have done. LOL

This includes:

• Wheeling and dealing to get items in bulk though I have to admit, there are some darn nice folks out there
• Cutting down writing pen bodies to the width of “Duck” Tape and then wrapping the tape around said pen carcasses (carcai?) by hand all the while making sure the tape stayed relatively even
• Buying the 550 Paracord in bulk, cutting it to length, burning the ends so the cord wouldn’t fray and then tying it up
• Spooling Spiderwire from a large spool to plastic thread cards by hand
• Spooling tapestry thread from a large spool to plastic bobbins by hand
• Repackaging a lot of the items such as first aid stuff, fishing stuff, etc
• Packaging the kits to be sent to the far corners of the earth
• Trying to figure out how to print postal labels online in an attempt to save time only to find that I needed to know the package weights
• Finding out what I could legally send to Canada and the UK and then unpackaging it all to remove items
• Filling out customs forms for those packages

Eh... It was a learning experience I guess. And it wasn’t a total and complete pain.

Everyone went nuts over the kits and that did make me feel a lot better about it all. A few asked if they could pay me to put together kits for their extended families, friends, etc. LOL

Look at it this way...you have given out some great kit, created some interest and questions. Now you can provide links to Doug's kit for the pocket coverage and maybe inspired some additional prep that the families can do together.

All looks good to me.

Thanks, Schwert.

Also, when those people asked about kits for extended family, I pointed them to the Ritter PSK and put together a list of other items that they might want to think about picking up as well.

I'm hoping that they will follow through and pick these up.