Some thoughts for additional useful but inexpensive gear:

-Bandanna - very nice for absorbing water from dew or small puddles, wiping a brow, or swatting flies - brighter is better. I've tried both cotton & poly fabric and prefer the cotton.

-Disposable butane lighter - lots of lights and easier than Sparklite - though of course keep the sparklite and waterproof matches as backups.

-Duct tape - super multi-purpose - re-roll it onto a pencil or straw to save space

-Zipstrips - a few real long heavy duty ones - lots of uses

-Needle with hole large enough to easily take the strands in the paracord - or floss (another useful thing that doesn't take much space/weight). I'd put it in my first aid kit.

-UTM Grid - from maptools.com - not expensive, but lets you convert the GPS's UTM coordinates to a position on the topo map - VERY handy...almost a required tool if you're bothering to carry a topo map. BYW, do get familiar with your GPS and get into the habit of capturing key waypoints while traveling - so you can get back to whereever when you need to.

-Nylon poncho - I'm guessing your poncho is plastic - if possible (room/weight wise) I'd carry a nylon poncho instead as the plastic ones are so very easily torn to shreds by branches. Campmor.com sells some nice inexpensive ones.

-Mosquitto head net - not required, but I personally HATE mosquitos - I like the one with the spring hoop

Have you ever thought of replacing one of the 1-quart Nalgene bottles with one of the collapsable ones? It would take up much less space and save some weight. I carry a Miox, and in addition to my 1-qt Nalgene I carry a collapsable 4-liter "water tank" which small when rolled up but lets me treat a lot of water.

Nice kit!

I believe the .9 FAK already has a roll of duct-tape in it

You could remove the heatsheet, since you carry a poncho to make a tarp out of.. Or you could keep the heatsheet and then remove the poncho, since you also have a rainjacket...choices, choices..

I've got 4/8 covered...

Bandanna in pocket
lighter in pocket

duct tape in UL .9 as Jim pointed out.

There's a needle in the UL .9 too. I added a coupla things to it, the needle, some floss, and a military trauma bandage. I just wrote AMK UL .9 though - I didn't want to kill everyone with a huge list.

I also have a nylon poncho, actually a surplus GI poncho. I like it, but I'm fond of my rain jacket too so I didn't include both.

Thanks for the suggestions. Maybe one of these days I'll take a look at that UTM or consider a collapsable container, but like I mentioned I'm gonna back down and maintain bare steerageway (go slow and take it easy) with the new gear for a while. I've found that the $5 here and $3 there for small supplies can add up just as fast as a new filter or another big ticket item might.

Matt

Looks good. The next step is to start practicing with the stuff. Tied up the heatsheet to make a shelter, use the filter a few times, and definately try using the pocket chain saw. I've used mine a few times and while it's better than a wire saw it still leaves much to be desired. I found it works best using it like a two-man saw. One person on each side and try to keep the "blade" only slightly curved.

-Blast

And the saw on the multitool is way too small to be really effective. Just watch Michel Blomgren manage to build a shelter with only his Victorinox multitool. Better is a folding saw like the Gerber or Bahco Laplander (there are cheaper alternatives at stores like Homedepot). Mors Kochanski advocates that a survival saw is a swedish flexible bucksaw blade and must be ideally as long as from your nose to your finger tips (about the lenght of an arm) to take advantage of a full stroke of your arm so the lenght should fit yourself (I'm tall so I guess 30 inch would be my lenght) and that you can carry on your belt or roll it and then build a wooden frame. He says that it must be able to cut a "hug-size tree". I wonder what hug-size actually means but I got an idea.



interesting collapsible wooden bucksaws

BTW, is this a "hug-size" tree?



Frankie

Looks like a very complete, well thought out kit. Good job.

Semper Paratus! Shipmate

It all weighs about 16-18lbs with 2qts of water. I could pare it down a little, but I actually like a little bit of weight on my back otherwise it doesn't feel like a hike.

Like mentioned - that stuff is for emergencies, but it's basically what I take with me on a day hike. So it resides in my day pack with is around 1800 cu.

oatmeal - I could boil water in the steel mug (hence it's inclusion), so that might not be a bad inclusion - and I wouldn't have to spend anymore money as I have some on hand.

sunscreen - I've never really had use for sunscreen. I always wear pants (better for beating brush and I've just gotten so used to them w/ my uniforms) and I'm never without a ballcap. I usually wear a just a duofold t shirt, but my forearms never get burned anymore - that's one benefit of being at sea in short sleeved uniforms. But thanks for looking out for me!

Hahaha...

I must face it. You guys win. As it's been pointed out, I'll never be done. I think my rant above was just me running on too little sleep and me being disappointed in myself for going over budget for the month on new gear.

The few replies I've gotten made me think that "yeah, it's a good pack, but it could still use some tweaks." I'm probably going to take a look at a collapsible water container and the Quickclot ACS I saw on another post.

Maybe instead of ending all new aquisition, I could just do a better job of researching and budgeting. We'll see...

Matt

Puddle Pirates are Always Ready!