Hello All,<br>I found this site while searching for info on first aid kits. My reading here has gotten me fascinated with building several PSK's for my various outdoor activities. I've been able to locate most of the gear I need, the only problem being that I can't find the tobacco tins you refer to here. I'm driving the smoke shops crazy, as no one has heard of any such tins, in either size. Can someone please help me. A company name, address, phone # or web address would be a great help.<br>I have found the Altoids tins, but they're a bit small for my planned kit.<br>Thanks, Bob

Bob,<br><br>Any reputable smoke shop should have the tins you need. I used a "Gold Brick" tobacco tin for one of mine. It was large enough to hold everything I wanted, but not so big that it was annoying. Don't get too hung up on a specific sized tin; remember that an unobtainable "perfect" always loses to an available "close/good enough". Keep in mind that smoke shops are going to stock according to brand name, not tin size. You may have to, as I did, go in with a ruler and just annoy the shopkeepers by measuring tins until you find the one you want. <br><br>Good luck,<br><br>Andy

Andy, thanks for the quick reply. I agree with you on the "close/good enough" theory, but I see I didn't make myself completely clear. I can't find a single tobacco tin around here. Maybe it's just the area I'm in, rural, but all tobacco is in pouches here. I'm just going to have to pester the shop owners a bit more, because they all told me they've never carried any tins and wouldn't know where to get them. If tins are so popular in other areas then I find it hard to believe no one knows what I'm talking about around here.

Bob,<br><br>Ah.....I had the same problem. I live in rural eastern Ky (they filmed part of Deliverance around here, from what I understand), and had to travel to a nearby (120 miles away) city to find tobacco tins. The tins are available online, try a Google search. Or failing that, I have one that I no longer need. I've changed my mind about tin-based PSKs, and I really don't need it anymore. PM or e-mail me your snail mail and I'll send it to you. Be interested to know what you have to put in your PSK, btw. You may have come across something I haven't. <br><br>Take care,<br><br>Andy

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The Google search turned up more tins than any person could ever need. I'll either buy online or search in the city.<br>Andy, thanks for the offer but I'll be able to get one. Now if the tin was filled with that Ky. moonshine you were going to send overseas, I'd probably take you up on it.<br>As for my kits contents, I need to make several. One will be a small, very simple kit for my bird and deer hunts here in Upstate NY. It's hard to imagine getting lost, so I figure any survival situation will probably include a medical emergency. Therefore, other than the standard stuff outlined on this site, I'll have some butterfly bandages and extra cord for fashioning splints.<br>My other kit will have to be a bit more extensive. I've solo-hunted much of the West, including Alaska. Lots can go wrong up there. One item I've been debating that I haven't seen mentioned here is a water purifying straw. I believe they're only 4" or so long, and about as big around as a pencil. Seems to me that would be a great addition for my bigger kit. Water is everywhere in Alaska and eliminating the need to store and purify could be a great asset.<br>One good thing, as far as survival in Alaska is concerned, is that the air traffic is fairly heavy in most of the state. Several signalling devices, both mirror and otherwise for cloudy, rainy days will be a must.<br>I'd appreciate any feedback.I'm very experienced in the woods, but very new to the survival state of mind. I feel like maybe I've been lucky all these years not carrying a PSK on some of these trips.<br>Bob

A simple tin to pickup for a smallish PSK is an altoids candy tin. Most drugstores or supermarkets or wally world will supply this tin. It gets you packing at a size that carrys easily. It is a bit difficult to waterproof it but other than that it works rather well.<br><br>

Hey Bob,<br><br>Up here in Canada I had a hard time finding a tobacco tin as well. So I went a different route. <br><br>My wife and I just had our second daughter 8 months ago, and so we are knee deep in diapers etc, blah blah blah. One of the major requirements is cream for diaper rashes. We have always used Penaten Cream. It comes in a round tin. I find most in this forum (but not all!) prefer the square tins, but I have not found any problem whatsoever in carrying a round tin. It is much bigger than an Altoids tin (although you can get very small "travel" Penaten tins as well), yet it still is small enough to easily carry in a jacket or cargo-pants pocket. <br><br>The only problem is that you have no corners to efficiently pack "square" items in. This is easily solved by placing all folded duct tape / tin-foil / "square things" etc, in the centre of the tin and pack respectively smaller items around that until all you have left is dryer lint which can be stuffed in all the left over crannies.<br><br>I imagine if I can find this in Canada, you should be able to easily get it down there in the states. You should be able to find it in the baby supply section of any pharmacy / grocery / department store.<br><br>Iron

Hello everyone,<br>I made it into the city on business today and found a smoke shop with a mind boggling array of tobacco tins. He found it very ammusing that I didn't actually need the tobacco. I gave it to one of his customers.<br>I just wanted to say to everyone that I'm a member of several message boards, from firearms to hunting with bird dogs to scuba diving. This is by far the best board I've found. There seem to be no huge egos here, just good discussion and common sense<br>I hope I can add something in the future.<br>Bob

Thanks Bob! Big Egos? give us all enough hastily worded posts ( my erroneous metric- inch conversion one foggy morning recently) and we are all reaching for a multi tool to extract the fabled foot from mouth ;O)