There is a great focus on the PSK here on this forum. (This is mine). It can seem that one can't be considered equipped without this. This is certainly not true. Many other approaches apply. With some reasonable organization and fore-thought before leaving the house it is possible to go out into the world with the right equipment and not be carrying a PSK. The PSK is focused on improvising survival in a wilderness situation with little or nothing else available. If you know you are going into the wilderness then pack for it. Don't just park you car on the side of the interstate and start walking with only your PSK. I carry my PSK for practice mostly. I live in suburban North east and I don't fly or travel long distance much. As such I am about as likely to be unexpectedly thrust into a true wilderness survival situation as it is likely that the social fabric of society should disentigrate and I find myself in an E & E situation in the middle of my neighborhood. In fact that is probably the only reason I couldn't actually find a nice bed indoors to sleep on during the most irritating natural occurance. I am far inland that the hurricanes don't reach with much effectiveness. There haven't been any sizable quakes in my area for many decades. Wild fires seem remote but even then evacuation would have me in a suburban shelter quickly. <br><br>I hike in the White Mountains quite a bit and adding a PSK to my gear for that is simply another layer of redundancy. I already had a belly pack with esbit stove, mini-mag, SAK, FAK, poncho, space blanket, gorp, monocular, compass, wire-saw, map, trash bag, tp, water purification tablets, notepad and pen, 100' of light nylon cordage, and canteen. If I went for more than a day hike I would simply add the back pack which contains the main shelter materials, tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad; food, MSR whisperlight and fuel, MessKit for 2, extra clothing, deck of cards, and more redundancy, candle lanterns for around camp, larger flashlight, 100' paracord, water filter, hammock (because I like it), Another SAK, Chain-saw in a can, binoculars, ....<br><br>I would not consider that I was lucky that I didn't have a mishap that required a PSK before I started carrying it. I do feel more prepared carrying it but that may be false. Given the alternatives I would much rather go about my normal suburban existance without my PSK than to walk into the white mountains with only my PSK. OTOH, If you are flying general avaition over wilderness areas I would think you an idiot without some kind of survival gear and a PSK on the body beats a backpack in the flaming wrek as it slowly sinks into the lake you crashed into for a soft off-airport landing.<br><br>Just some Monday morning ramblings.....