Why would anyone carry a stove when rocks are so prevalent??

Amen Brother. Been there and done that.<br><br>Mariner.

I disagree I find flint firestarters to be much more reliable than paper matches and you can light more fires with them.

rocks don't tend to have a very good base for mess tins/metal mugs. A lot of the rocks in the UK tend to be porous anyway.

I agree to disagree :o) The flint rod, metal match or whatever you want to call them are the best thing since tender. If all you have is a book of paper matches, even several books in the same place, you might find yourself without fire. I've ruined many, many books of matches from heat condensation while hiking or working. You should carry more than one form of igniter and tender anyways. That way if one fails, you have another. Typically, I carry at least 3 methods of firestarting with me, but not all in the same location. That way if I lose or damage one, I have another to fall back on. Same with signal capabilities, water carry and purification, as well as knives. When I combine my kits I also have more than one type of shelter with me. It pays to back up your most needed items. You just never know what will happen to your primaries when the chips are down.

1/4" x 2" ferrocerium rod. ~ 7000 strikes. ~ $3.00. Is it worth a second thought ? Book matches are rendered useless by the slightest dampness in my experience. The reliability and longevity of the ferrocerium rod is unmatched IMHO.

You type pretty good for a guy who froze to death ;-)

i don't carry a PSK in the conventional sense and haven't done for years but when ever i go into a "wilderness" area i do carry a pouch that is just a little bit bigger than a mess tin pouch, so i guess you could say that this is my PSK, the contents do vary a bit but this is what's in there pretty much constantly. <br>small "billy" can (about 1250ml capacity),<br>1 litre platypus,<br>paracord<br>braided fishing line (i'm not sure what test this is, i'd guess about 100lbs),<br>matches in a waterproof container (these are just normal "strike anywhere" matches),<br>swedish firesteel,<br>opinel folding knife,<br>small sharpening stone (i will get round to upgrading this one day),<br>fishing kit,<br>a couple of candles,<br>tinder (this changes pretty much all the time, usually it's a mixture of chared cotton and stuff that i've picked up on the trail),<br>small first aid kit,<br>water purifying tablets,<br>a few yards of snare wire.<br>i think that's about it, there's bound to be something i've forgotten but that's basically what i carry. i should probably say that i would always combine this kit with a poncho and liner, a british army water bottle and steel mug, and a mora knife knife with another firesteel.<br>IMHO knowledge is much more inportant than kit, our ancesters managed pretty well and they'd never even heard of a PSK, instead they carried with them the knowledge to provide themselves with all the necesseties for life just by using what they could find in their environment, i think we could learn a lot from them. <br><br>take it easy.<br><br>stuart

damm ditchfield, now I can´t post it (sigh)<br>

Milestand,<br>thanx but I think I'll leave it like this (7p's is enough for me) as I got it from the book "Bravo Two Zero".<br>reinhardt