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.....

I quoted a member of the NSW kayak club some time back. In essence, he said to pre plan,prepare with the best possible gear and finally never,ever take a trip based on having the equipment alone. The best of us can become just lax enough to invite trouble. I have my PSK, so Ill take that ill advised hike and then fall off a cliff in spite of my photon 2 shining it's heart out. No Altoid tin can replace common sense or forthought.

Please do not take it personally but I do think that you rather carry a huge amount of gear. If it is working out for you so far than great. Yes, on the outside I wish for calm and good weather yet inside my sick and twisted mind wishes for hurricanes, storms, rain and strong winds every time I'm out. Somehow I don't remember the good trips where everything went as planned. But I do remember trips where things went awry. Those expeditions stock in my mind the most as being part of the experience. It's easy to get from point A to point B if you have a map and compass. It's even easier when you are prepared to the point that you carry a SPF3000 lotion just in case of a nuclear blast. I myself prefer to go in light. My pack is the same for a week trip as well as for an overnight trip except for an extra change of socks and spare boxer shorts. If it wasn't for my girlfriend I would probably never even thought of using a tent. If you want the experience of roughing it: go minimal. Learn how to pack, double up on essentials but the most important thing in my opinion is to become familiar with survival techniques. Go back and see how they did it before lighters were available or before the invention of muli-tools. Learn how to dry your clothes in an hour or how to start a fire in the wild. I think that skills come way before tools and equipment. I’m not saying that you should go back and start carrying a muzzle loader for bear protection or a knife made out of an obsidian. What I’m saying is that one should learn the basics and than spoil him self with little bit of technology. <br><br>I once had a discussion with my friends on the topic of "what if". Well everyone can be a hero before things do happen but when the stuff goes down not to many people can think with the clear head or their own survival instinct overtakes everything. But the most important questions that I'm being asked when I show different stuff to my friends is what's the point of having the skills if you can not use them everyday? My answer is simple: I never wish to use them, they are there just in case.<br>

Packing light.... Well there is always a trade-off between packing light and being comfortable on the trail and packing enough to get a good night's sleep. Anything longer than a day hike brings up the heavy items. Short of that I probably only take about 5 pounds of gear. Even with the list I published in previous posts it doesn't add up to more than that. The water and gorp add to that somewhat but still under 10 pounds and I could stay out for a couple of nights with that gear if I had to. (got lost, forced evacuation, E&E during social unrest) Having this level of gear available constantly in the car is convenient for when "bad things" happen. The full pack with tent and sleeping gear is being revised as we speak. My tent currently only weighs 2.5 pounds but I will probably trade it for a Hennessy hammock for bulk reasons. Not much difference in weight. The Sleeping bag is about as light as I can get it and still be warm. Always looking at alternatives. The Hennessy option of the bag outside of the hammoc looks interesting but I haven't gotten there yet. The ultralight tarp (sil-tarp knockoff from campmor) is always with me since it is provides shelter options. Using polypro and nylon for some of the extra clothing has reduced bulk but in colder weather there is no replacement for wool IMHO. My summer pack weight including PSK and Belly Bag probably reaches 35 - 40 pounds. With this I feel comfortable setting up a trek from 1 to however many days with very comfortable sleeping and not overly burdened hiking. Full list and exact weights to follow in next post. <br><br>I would be interested in similar lists from any and all. You never know what you will learn. <br><br>BTW, I consider my hiking gear to be the foundation of a decent BOB. I have a list / pile of other gear that hangs out in the garage to complete a BOB depending on the method of evac. If evac is on foot the only thing that gets added is some more water. If evac is by jeep then there is water, blankets, toys, a safe full of documents, fire-arms, porta-poty(5 gallon bucket with seat and chemicals), rations, ,,,

SORRY for reviving an old thread but just a point to add here isn't distribution the name of the game, on varying scales from carrying the elements of my EDC in different pocket to having some kit on me, some in a rucksack, some in a vehicle some in a place of work and some at home.!

Just a thought

Mark