PC2K<br><br>Hi! Please excuse my ignorance & laziness, but what is the exchange rate for Euros & US dollars? Don't take that as accusation or criticism, I'm just plain curious. <br><br>Thanks,<br><br>John

Peanut,<br><br>I think we guessed wrong. They're gonna be lookin down our sights. :-)<br><br>John

well it cost you round 0.88 $ us to buy 1 euro

<br>Another interesting quesion is: Which item from your lost kit would prevent you from going on the hike if an acceptable sustitute isnt found?<br><br>

The purpose of this exercise is not to discourage anyone from "going on a hike" because a piece of equipment is missing. Indeed, 95% of hikers at best have a water bottle and little else. As Doug writes onsite, being prepared is a hard sell. I started this for the benefit of Zoltan and people like him. He realised the need, but then looked at the considerable cash outlay and ( for many nations) difficulty in simply acquiring the gear at any cost. I don't see us reviewing the load bearing strength of Grandma's clothline. Paracord may be the cordage of choice, but for many clothesline the cordage of reality.

Not bad. But the scenario is a country store and a gas station. I doubt either will carry a P-38. Also, the blase on a kitchen knife will be thin and perhaps too flimsy. I like Peanut's suggestion of a SAK knock-off better. It may be cheap and not last long, but my hope is that it will last long enough, plus it has other tools, such as a can opener.<br><br>I'd also likely add some sort of small bottle for the clorine as a whole gallon is going to slow you down on a hike!

Hmmm... I've got to camp in the same places you go. A cyber-country store? ;-)<br><br>

It is an interesting question. I hadn’t thought about it, but for me, I guess, the answer is that there is no such item.<br><br>I’ve done lots of day hikes from, say, 3-11 horizontal miles in warm weather with nothing more than the normal contents of my pockets (or less, sometimes, as I tend to leave some things in the car) and a water bottle. Maybe that’s imprudent.. but the worst that has happened is that I’ve been drenched by summer thunderstorms, which, if you’re going to keep moving, is no big deal. Sometimes getting wet is more comfortable than rain gear anyway, when it’s warm out.<br><br>Similarly, I once thought I might be in trouble when a the stitching holding a strap in place on a pair of Merrill hiking sandals started to go, and I had no needle, thread, or tape. But… it was summer (or I wouldn’t have been wearing sandals), and I’ve experimented with barefoot hiking since then (barefoot hiking and even backpacking are increasing in popularity... do a google search on "barefoot hiking", you'll be amazed) so what was the big deal? So, it’s slower- there was no real hazard. <br><br>For more challenging hikes (wherever there might be a real hazard) or backpacking, pretty much everything in the PSK is, or should be, a backup to some other piece of equipment. When I was younger I did a great deal of backpacking without a separate PSK, though I might have had backups for some essential gear. If I lost the PSK, I might redistribute some items from pack to pockets, but I can’t see calling the trip off just because I don’t have two of something.<br>

<br>I think you hit the nail on the head with this statement...<br><br>"For more challenging hikes (wherever there might be a real hazard) or backpacking, pretty much everything in the PSK is, or should be, a backup to some other piece of equipment. "<br><br>I never really viewed PSK's in that light, and I think it's a very important point worth keeping in mind. Thanks.<br>

Chris: I think this is one of the more important threads I've seen on this forum.<br><br>As you point out, safety/security is a tough sell. I'm a computer security consultant by profession, and even after September 11, it's difficult convincing companies to pay for something like Security Awareness Training, whose benefits are intangible and invisible. I'm also a Wilderness First Aid instructor. I set up a course at the company where I work; out of over 100 employees, I got 4 people to sign up. (Two of them were a married couple, an employee and his wife; the wife had broken her ankle while out mountain-biking a year or so ago, and had to be carried, in extreme pain, over a mile to the trailhead. Of the other two, one slept in and missed the second day of the prerequisite course and may be having second thoughts about the WFA course this weekend.)<br><br>When I gave a talk on Wilderness Survival and Being Prepared to a group of fellow pilots a few years ago, my PSK took up a large ziplock bag. The reaction from more than one of the pilots was "I don't have room for all that stuff." (To be fair, several of them came up to me afterwards and asked for the ISBN number of the SAS Survival Guide I showed in my talk, or asked where I had bought it.) <br><br>The bottom line, I think, is that most people see a PSK as an expendable item. Showing them a PSK that can be put together from household items and fits in their shirt pocket is far more valuable (to them ;-) than bragging about the latest $800 acquisition for your toy collection. :-)