Bill,<br><br>If the P-38 is unavailable, I'd get whatever other small, reliable, & cheap can opener was available. Conceivably it would be a church key type of opener. While not elegant, puncturing enough holes around the can lid would eventually open the can. <br><br>I'd love to have bought a SAK, but a real one is not possible within the budgetary constraint. I would not get a cheap knockoff. They are frequently designed & manufactured poorly to unservicably, and the steel may be to soft to hold a decent edge. A kitchen utility knife has no moving parts & only 2 parts in total: a metal shaft for blade & tang, & a handle. You can make a good one cheaply. Kitchen utility knives are not bad knives. If used carefully, a kitchen utility knife should suffice. Note that Peanut & you spend $14 for a knockoff, only 1 or 2 item(s). That left only $36 for the rest of the kit. I'm not criticizing his choices for him; they're just not all that I want for me. I'm not spending 28% of my budget on a single tool. <br><br>I think Leatherman tools are expensive for a glorified pair of pliers. I have tried several inexpensive multitools. They turned out to be cheap junk. You do tend to get what you pay for. A good multitool is worthwhile. You just can't get them cheaply. I gave up on that matter. My wife, son, & I now have 4. Youngest son will probably get one too when his hand is big enough to properly & safely operate one.<br><br>[Incidentally, $14 is about what my son's SAK Tinker cost wholesale a few years. Unfortunately, Chris omitted my favorite vendor (where I can buy everything they have wholesale) from the town.]<br><br>BTW, I bought the 1 quart bottle of chlorine bleach. ;-)) <br><br>Two crucial difficulties with the scenario are: 1. $50 is a very harsh & restrictive constraint; 2. The 2 vendors available severely limit alternatives. In the stated situation, that may be all we really would have available. Therefore, it's realistic to consider what we would actuallly do in such a severely limited market. OTH, those outside the USA, have an entire world for a market. They, & we, have vast alternatives. For non-Americans, the parameter was too narrow. Even with an unlimited budget, I doubt we could get a really good kit from the described vendors. However, if we assume one is really a rural general store with extensive offerings, then...<br><br>Anyway, I'm grateful to Chris for posing a scenario. It was a fun & provocative exercise. I hope we get more.<br><br>John