Good day!

Here is a picture showing the latest tweaks of my hiking/fishing trip PSK (click thumbnail for larger pic).



The only thing i'm missing, as far as i'm concerned, is a container to boil water. I've made a few aluminium foil bowls with relative success but I wonder how this would really work in a survival situation. I'd like to keep my kit light, it usually rides in my backpack, so i'm trying to avoid bulkier containers such as GI canteens. The BCB tin would be nice but it's not cheap and beyond what i'd like to spend to complete my kit. Something that would fit in the Aloksak would be nice. Maybe an oven bag if I come across one someday.

Comments are appreciated, as always! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

(as I was writing this post, I got called up for a search & rescue mission... oops, gotta repack my PSK right now!)

Image won't resize larger for me when I click.

Do you carry water with you? Perhaps a nesting Ti or SS cup on your water carrier??

Bee, how big is your pack? If you're using a Nalgene bottle, the GSI and Olicamp cups add almost no bulk unless the pocket/pouch/space you are using for your bottle is VERY tight.

Baring that, an emptied coffee can, that you pack some or all of your gear into? Or even a soup can. It doesn't have to be sexy, it just has to work.

BTW, I've got the same problem as duckear with the image.

I would pack that kit in a mess tin or MSR cookpot with lid.
Two problems that I can see:
1) Where is your whistle?
2) If you possibly can, replace the ordinary matches with BCB type long burn matches.

Some Couglans tinder, (best compromise between bulk & burn time) wrapped in clingfilm might be a useful addition.







The image downloaded ok.

Hi ironraven,

My packs are 32 L (Osprey Stratos) and 40 L (Osprey Switch). The Switch doesn't have side bottle pockets and the Stratos ones are designed in a way that, if you put standard Nalgenes in there, you lose some loading capacity *inside* the pack (the bottles kinda push into the pack).

A while ago, I went from carrying Nalgenes over to a Source 3 liter hydration system like this one :



This works perfectly in both of my Osprey packs, I love it! My Switch pack even features a neat insulated hydration tube sleeve. In the end, I always carry 2 or 3 liters of fresh water in my pack and stopped carrying Nalgenes. If I need extra water, I will pack a 2 L Platypus collapsible bottle.

The idea of putting my PSK is a metal container seems to make the most sense in my case. Do you have an idea where I could find a rectangular, box-like soup can? ;-)

Bee here is an idea for a boiling water container that I carry in a wallet. It is a sort of super heavy-duty foil bowl.

Go to any mart or grocery store. They will have foil pans. Sometimes they are called oven liners at others they are called disposable cookie sheets. They are a large foil pan about 3 times as thick as as foil on a roll.

To start cut out a 12 1/2 X 12 1/2 inch square from the bottom.
Next cut out a 1/4 X 1/4 inch square at each corner.
Then fold the quarter inch stripthat is made along each of the 4 sides either once or better yet twice. This forms a rim that makes for a more solid pot. Fold these to the outside of the pan so you don'tform a dirt catching and holding area inside the pan.
Form a fold crease 3 inches in from the edge. Then unfold.
Repeat the same crease on all 4 sides.
This will form a 6 inch square in the middle that will be the bottom of the pot.
Then crease the 3 inch squares formed at each corner. The crease goes from the outer point of the corner to the corner of the battom square. When the sides are folded upright this crease foms a 45 degree flap from the base out ward to the top.
When the sides are in the up position these flaps are folded along the sides and tucked under the rim. This helps hold the pan more ridged.

This gives you a 6 X 6 inch square pan 3 inches deep. This gives a 108 cubic inches of pan. which is almost 2 quarts. Call it a quart and a half usable space since you don't really want to fill it to the brim.

To pack fold 2 opposing sides into the middle. A 6 X 12 package.
Then Fold the other 2 sides into the center. Now its 6 X 6 packet.
Finally fold it in half. Tis gives a 3 X 6 pack or roughly about the size of a dollar bill. Itwill tucks nicely in the bill compartment of a wallet. I have tested some in excess of a dozen times each. Because of the chance of wear and tear causing leaks not only of use but being sat on in the wallet I replace them about once a year. Hey they are cheap. I have yet had any spring leaks.

You do have to be careful moving them. The pressure of being nearly full of liquid can cause them to unfold. This loses the liquid and doesn't do much for the fire either. To clean unfold it completely flat makes it easer to wash.

Nice kit Bee. You didn't label 22. Looks like maybe a fishing kit? Also, I've been looking for HD Orange bags - where did you get that?. I like how everything is individually packed (baggies and glad wrap).

I didn't see any tinder or safety pins, but looks pretty complete for PSK.

My thoughts -- put the matches in a case, add a second blade, and a tube of spf 50 chapstick. As for water boiling, iwent with a big metal camp cup. Low tech

teacher

Excellent PSK, Bee.

I started using Aloksak waterproof bags recently. I quickly became tired of sacrificing quality equipment for smaller items just so I could fit my PSK into one particular type of hardcase or another. I've even started using them in my first aid kit to keep similar use items together and safe from the elements.

Small Trangia mess tin perhaps?

European military mess tins. I like the older ones with the stamped handle, but the newer ones with the wire handle are easier to find now.

There are also the Sigg boxes, but CDT and Sportsmans Guide usually have a better price on the mess tins than I ever seen on the Sigg boxes.

I've heard of the mini-Bic trick b4, but may I ask why you advocate ditching matches altogether? Or is it just the existing type of matches in the kit that are undesirable? Just curious.

Leigh

Bless you fellow convert to Coghlan's emergency Tinder! <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I discovered something today. <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> I rinsed off my ferro rod; because I carry it in my pocket. I wondered if it would work when it was wet; I assumed it would. It would not spark. I just got wet gunk on my scraper. After a few scrapes it would spark, but not at first. So, if you are cold and wet, your ferro rod may not work until it is dried off or scrapped dry.

That IS alarming. First I've heard of this- what brand do you have?

I would wrap the duct-tape around the BIC , instead of the pencil.

BTW: Coghlan's Emergency tinder is great stuff. It's the only tinder I use.

DON'T PANIC! All ferronium rods are vunerable to damp and wet. That is inherent in their nature. That is to say that they oxydise. Small rod's are a lot more vunerable than large ones. Keeping them dry alleviates the problem. If you leave them in a damp pocket, you will, eventually, destroy the rod. As you would a knife. A normal wetting won't affect them, provided they are dried afterwards.

That's why we put ferro-rod's in shrink-tubing.

You mean you didn't have another one standing-by......and another one in the drawer.........shame on you Bee! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

No good solution for the cook can issue really so why not carry a small can of food or soda? Eat or drink the contents then just punch a hole and add a wire handle and you have
a cook kit.<><

A StarFlash! Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh! <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

ironraven,

I have a bunch. The one in question is a ferro rod pulled from a StrikeForce. It is 1/2" in diameter by 2 1/4" long. At first I thought it was just where the black coating is, so I tried again on a shinny part. Same result! Now I need to test my other ferro rods.

Check out yours. Rinse it under the faucet for a few seconds and then try to make sparks. All I got was wet gunk, at first.

Any space or weight taken up by matches would be better used by a good ferro rod and treated cotton-ball tinder. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I keep a few lifeboat matches in my kit for serious emergencies. A couglan's tinder tab that's been pulled apart and a lit match = fire. Dump my tinder on top. One thing that I have found is that putting the match box, or striker and matches in a small ziploc bag, or tin foil works wonders for servicability.

I say always have ferrorod (or sparklite), matches, and tinder because what if some rug rat has to use my kit to start a fire? Far-fetched, I know, but what if? But its still debateable, it depends on who is expected to use the kit and their skill at using what's in it. Just my plugged-nickel's worth.