Given:<br>non-home city, lost psk / edc, planned for Recreational hike, available country store and convenience store, $50.00 to spend.<br><br>I would expect that in this scenario I would have my hiking gear and would continue without too much worry since the lost items are redundant. I haven't lost my backpack and it's contents. I might redistribute some items to my pockets / belt from my backpack just to ensure that I would have them if I lost my pack.<br><br>Assembling a sufficient gear set to go on that hike without anything else from $50.00 is another matter. This is more akin to putting together a BOB for $50.00 than a PSK.<br><br>To play along here's the $50.00 BOB I would assemble from the country store / convenience store<br>price <br> <br>kitchen<br>$0.00 1 lb coffee can empty begged from the convenience store<br>if they serve coffee to thier customers there's a reasonable chance they will be discarding a coffee can during the course of the day.<br><br>$0.00 wire coat hanger begged from convenience store / country store<br>whichever store sells clothes to the locals will have these and usually will give them up if you pretend to have locked your keys in your car. The clothing manufacturers supply them with more all the time.<br><br>$1.00 can of canned meat of your choice<br>with the coffee can and the coathanger you can make a decent hobo stove and the can from the canned meat will provide the needed cook pot.<br><br>$2.50 Large Container of instant oatmeal<br>1 lb can feed a man for a few days though it's boring<br> <br>Water<br>$2.00 2 liter bottle of refreshment<br>refreshment, water carriage<br><br>$0.00 Handfull of straws from convenience store<br>tinder, solar still, seep<br><br>$1.50 iodine tablets, quart clorox, pool hypochlorate, powdered laundry chlorine, potassium permanganate etc. Whatever is available<br>water treatment. With this there needs to be some experience with the basic chemistry of whichever is available for these options to be useful and not posionous.<br> <br>Fire<br>$0.00 empty film canister begged from the convenience store / country store<br>if they process film for thier customers then they will be discarding film canisters. This will provide waterproof storage for the matches and tinder.<br><br>$0.00 As many as possible book matches from the convenience store clerk. If they sell tobacco products they will also give away book matches to any customer that asks politely the key is that you be buying something.<br><br>$1.00 Bic lighter<br><br>$1.00 24 birthday candles<br><br>$0.00 Handfull of toothpicks from convenience store<br>tinder<br><br>$0.00 local free news-paper / advertiser paper<br>tinder, ass-wipe, food wrapper<br>$0.00 plastic bag and paper bag from the store clerk <br>luggage, tinder, water carrying<br> <br>General tools<br>$3.00 box of lawn bags 10 bags<br>shelter, poncho, luggage<br><br>$5.00 SAK knockoff<br>blade, saw, scissors, awl, can opener<br><br>$2.00 nylon twine 100 - 300 feet<br>shelter building, fishing, securing luggage (trash bags), extra thread for sewing <br><br>$4.00 fishing tackle assortment<br>Should include 1 lure, 1 to 5 hooks, 1 to 5 sinkers, 1 worm minimum<br><br>$5.00 First Aid kit<br><br>$3.00 15 foot snare wire or picture hanging wire which is very similar but more widely available.<br><br>$3.00 duct tape<br><br>$2.00 Sewing kit<br><br>$6.00 compass<br><br>$4.00 bicycle inner-tube<br>slingshot, ranger-bands for securing shelter and luggage, tinder<br><br>$4.00 small led keychain flashlight<br><br>TOTAL - $46.00 <br><br>I would expect that I could manage a decent setup and survive for however long it took for SAR to find me or manage E & E till I arrived at safe-haven with this and a decent bit of skill. Of course a back-pack fashioned from nylon twine and a lawn sized garbage bag would be somewhat uncomfortable to haul around and cooking on a hobo stove made from a 1 lb coffee can is somewhat of a skill. Living on oatmeal and found wild food is boring but can be made to work. None of this works for long without the skill to use the expedient water treatments or knowledge of local flora / fauna or seasonably appropriate clothing to start with. Most of this might fit in the coffee can and that could be strung on the twine accross the shoulder to balance the 2 liter water on the other shoulder. If the oats come in a tin than that would be better. If you could find the oats as feed at the country store you could procure substantially more though of a somewhat lower quality. This might make it possible to move faster since you wouldn't have to stop to hunt / fish / forage for food. An extra film canister could make collecting tinder easier. This list and set of skills and talents are suitable in the urban environ as well if you find yourself homeless.