Great subject Craig!
I guess I think somewhat differently, we all do here and there. I prefer to carry less but take only tested, reliable items that I know I can count on.
I shall share what works for me, not to say your list won't, you take what you are comfortable with.
Knife, usually two, a solid fixed blade with full tang and a locking blade SAK. No multitool, too heavy for wilderness carry.
Water purification, a MSR mini-waterworks and back up with some Potable Aqua tablets.
Water carry, a Camelbak 100oz and a Nalgene 1L bottle. Never put all my water in one basket!
Condom, NO, they are for entertainment, not survival:)
Space Blanket, nope. The only use I ever found for one was to defeat heat seeking sensors on an AC-130. I had the military one which is green on one side. It was effective in that roll. Although the crew later pointed out if they had lit me up with a few miniguns I would have likely bolted!
Dental Floss, yeah, handy stuff.
Surveyers tape, no. I can always strip up a piece of bright clothing.
Whistle, mandatory. I use an ACR I like the sound and size.
Firestarting, a FireSteel a BIC and some tender quick tabs. I also carry SA matches in an old BSA matchsafe. Goes back to my youth. I do not treat the matches, makes them go bad sooner in my experience.
Magnifiying lens, a credit card size fresnel. Handy for reading in bad light with my old eyes. Can start a fire with patience, sunlight. A last ditch method to me.
Light source, a Black Diamond Xenix IQ. Good battery life, light can be used hands free since it is a headlight. adjustable lighting.
Spare batteries, yes sir.
Drinking tube, well the Camelbak has one built in. I also carry 3ft of silicone tubing, flexible and does not dry out as easily as some plastics.
Water bladder, sometimes take a MSR Dromedary.
Poncho, a nylon decent quality one with the extended pack back, ties for guylines and staking.
2 or 3 30 gallon trash bags. Black because they are heat attracting. Also a TMRU tube shelter. light bright and will cover well.
Wool hat, always.
Cotton bandana, almost never.
50ft 550 cord and 50ft of lighter mil-spec nylon cord. Does loads of things on one light package.
Signal mirror, yes indeed. I use a military plastic one with built in removeable protector. Peels off and sticks back on when not in use.
FAK, Adventure Medical .7 model with a few extra items.
Map and Silva Ranger compass. I prefer 15 minute maps, 4 times the area for one map. Getting harder to find these days!
Snack food, gotta have it.
Snake bite kit, yep it's a military web belt also used to hold up pants.
I have a few other items but this list is long enough already!
Cheers!

Like he would do that to his dear old Dad. Seriously though, you have to be very respectful of your kit's physical limitations. He could have just as easily have broken it off near the hilt. What you really need is a good, small lightweight prybar of some type. Anyone got any suggestions ?

I've just become familiar with Peter Atwood's products. This page has his products. I was thinking the Bug Out Bar might fit what you are looking for. You may find his other tools of interest as well. I don't own any yet, but plan to as budget permits.

A cheaper alternative to a prybaby would be a pocketwrench II.
I carry it in the same pouch as my swisstool spirit.
You can find it here

Keep in mind one thing about 98.6 -- It is an introductory book that also tries to be fugal. It is far easier to convince somebody to spend $20 on survival gear than it is get them to spend $100.

The knife upgrade might be a good idea, but the magnesium firestarter, matches, and iodine are available in every town. You might even be able to pick this stuff up while you get your groceries. Only a few people are lucky enough to live near County Com.

Your recommendations do make some sense, but only to people who know something about the subject. For the masses of people who would just scratch their heads and say "huh?", they are still better off with a Lundun kit than nothing.

Nice review Craig and I agree with many of your assessments. Here are some of my preferences to add.

Prying: For a full and medium size PSK or BOB, I prefer a Leatherman Wave for small prying duties (which can be handled with one of the screwdriver blades). For working with wood, preping for fire and making quarters, I have a small hatchet; perfect for prying wood, splitting, using as a hammer to drive in stakes, and of course cutting and chopping.


Always carry a sharpening device.... I'm old school, still prefer an aluminum oxide disc stone for knives and hatchet. It's very quick to get a sharp blade. If you want a honed blade, let one side of the stone get clogged up with shavings by not wetting the stone, or add a diamond sharpener card.

Agree, who needs matches when you have flint and steel. Yes, those magnesium blocks are a pain, a lot pf prep for a little flash. I would prepare a few added Coghlan’s emergency Tinder by rolling them in magnesium chips (yes, you've converted me) for harsh weather fire starter.

Add Kevlar thread....you can get it on ebay in various sizes and lengths. It's much stronger and tougher than dental floss and you won't have to mess with pulling apart your para cord.

An additional knife? I you are going to carry a sheath knife, try a Glock field knife... OK, I hear many of you moan, "it won't keep an edge". Well they're made to be tough, and not brittle. Chop, split wood, pry, it's a durable blade (that will probably bend before it breaks). Plus you can order a Glock field knife with "root saw " spine. They are a tough, proven military field knife and inexpensive. less tahn $40. My Dad's WWII USM8 field knife is the same design and similar steel.... I abused it as a kid for years and somehow it held up fine.

I keep one in the pouch with my leatherman, on in my bag of tricks, and few spares around. Love it.

If someone needs a right angle, most TrueValues have a couple models of little crowbars. Abechauns (sp) and HomeDespot usually doesn't have them, oddly.

Atwood makes great gear, but for the price... I can get a lot of good gear for the same price.

I invested in Peter's bug out bar [and it is an investment], but it is built like a tank and if I need one, I don't want a flimsy piece of steel that won't do the job. I have confidence in the Atwood bar, even if it is expensive [and it is the right size for my kit].

I built my second, more hardy PSK based off of Cody's list. I have made some changes too, and I uses Craig's list to list those changes. I agree with alot of what Craig says, but here are my changes.

Mora neck knife: I agree with this. I think the Mora is a great knife, but I don’t like anything around my neck.
Freezer bags: Agreed, I have a few of these in my kits and cars.

Tincture of iodine 2%: Yeah this is a pain. I traded mine out for standard iodine pills. I have had two bottle break on me when I dropped them just getting them out of the shopping bag. I am going to stick with the pills.

Condom: No way. The amount of work it takes to fill them and then try to drink out of them is too much effort. Although, if its all you have...

Regular Space blanket: I don’t have one of these in my PSK, but I do in my camelbak.

One roll dental floss: this stuff is great, but I did take it out of the case. There are times when I wish I hadn't. Anyway, Its still great stuff.

Colored surveyor’s tape: Good stuff, I have used this for years when I have been hunting, camping or fishing.

Pea-less brightly colored plastic whistle: Fox 40 is great! Agreed.

Paraffin-coated, strike anywhere kitchen matches in brightly colored match safe: I have a lighter and a mag block, but paraffin coated matches degrade over time, so I stopped using them. I keep regular matches in the match safe, instead of paraffin coated matches.

Disposable butane lighter: Mini bics are good, but they are so small in my large mitts, so I have a large one that I de child proofed and adjusted the flame.

Magnesium-block fire starter with hacksaw blade scraper: Not impressed overall with this, but it is a source of dry tender no matter where you are. It is time consuming, and can be a pain, but it does work. The hacksaw blade makes its easier to get a large pile of shavings or dust and will make a large spark to light the pile.

6 to 8 cotton balls saturated with PJ: These are great. I use them to start fires all the time.

Credit card size magnifying lens: I have started fires with this, but it is very fragile. At my one year kit check, I found that it was cracked down the middle. After that, I keep it only to see small things like splinters in my hand.

AA Flashlight:
I have a photon as my primary but I carry this as a back up. The ability to get batteries and parts for the light at almost any gas stations makes it a clear choice. Extra batteries are key to any flashlight

Extra carbon-steel knife with sheath: I have so many knives on me and in my PSK, that I feel pretty confident that I may not need an extra knife.

Clear plastic drinking tube: This is great to have. I have been in situations, where if I was in survival mode, it would have been great.

Collapsible, 1-2 gallon water container: Great stuff as well. But I will admit, that I don’t carry it.

Two 55 gallon barrel liners: Any kind of plastic liner will allow for transpiration, you just wont be able to see it. I have a couple of them in my truck and one in my camelbak.

Heavy-duty space blanket: Don’t carry this. I have a couple of extra blankets in my trucks.

Wool or synthetic stocking cap: yep, I have a polar fleece cap in my truck or on my person. I do however prefer to have a boonie style hat when it is hot.

Cotton bandana: I love these. I also have a shmegah. I love that thing as well. I would like to get a shmegah that is fluorescent yellow or orange, but in the mean time, I would like to have a larger bandana on blaze orange.

100 feet of 550 parachute cord: Invaluable all the time. I have a huge roll of it in my garage for kits and general tie down. The only problem is that some knots will not stay tied in parachute cord.

3” x 5” glass, sightable signal mirror with duct taped foam pouch: Great piece of gear. I have had one of these for years.

Homemade first aid kit: I have a one that I have built, but most store bought kits are pretty bad. They are more akin to kits for scrapes and cuts, and less applicable to wilderness injuries. I have built my own, but admittedly, since I am a Marine, I have access to some things that other people don't to augment my kit. But, more the point, I dont like store bought kits.

Uncle Peppy’s patented power pack stack: I don’t get this. Cody says that you should not consume caffeine during a survival situation due to its affect on water consumption. So why does he recommend taking things that require more water to metabolize (sp?)?

7.5 topo map and compass: I would add a GPS as well, as a back up.

Two candy or snack bars: I carry more than this

Duct Tape: I have so much of this, I could build a shelter out of the stuff.

Sawer Extractor Kit: I have no opinion on this, but from what I have read, they work pretty well. But then again, I have read an equal number of posts that say the opposite.

Nalgine bottle wrapped in duct tape: I am huge Nalgene fan. I agree with the camelbak, as I have three of these, but filling them in the field is difficult unless you have some falling or moving water. I like the Nalgene, or Nalgene knock offs, because of the wide mouth, Making them easy to fill. The fact that they have the industry standard for water purification systems is another plus as well. I have modified mine as Cody says, making a loop in some 550 cord and taping them with duct tape. I do carry a camelback whenever I am out on the field, but I have some sort of wide mouth bottle close by at all times as well. That ensures I have at least a gallon of water with me at all times. It is awkward at times, but when I am thirsty or hot, I am glad I have so much water.

What have I added?
More pencils and paper for notes or tender.

I also have a couple of small screwdrivers in my camelback to fix photons, gps, etc. These are in addition to those on my Swisstool. And you never know what you ar going to find in the wild.

I have a sharpening kits in my bag as well.

I always carry a few chemlites as well. They do help save on batteries and can be used to signal helicopters or, if you have to, mark a landing zone.

Sunglasses are key for me. I have had eye surgery and my eyes are very light sensitive, so I need sunglasses. I have a few paris stashed all over the place so I am rarely without them.

Wire is a good thing to have as well, it can be used to make repairs on items like boots or gear where a stronger seam is required.

Curved needles, like those in suture kits, are good to have as well for making repairs, or to stitch up deep cuts. I dont know if I could do this to myself or not, but having the ability to do it makes me feel better at least.

Well that’s about it for now. I have to get some yard work done today. This is a great thread!

Garrett

I bought a couple rolls/flats of Gaffer's tape and some clear 60 gallon trash bags. They are fully operational and will send your order quickly! They have some items you can't find anywhere else. Good stuff! Other than the shelters the video is good to. I have watched mine several times. He has some good survival ideas you may not see elsewhere.