I think that it is great than another individual has gone to the trouble to put together a basic kit. This one has some interesting differences from mine but if it appeals to someone who otherwise wouldn't bother to carry some essentials then it is great that it is out there. Just getting some more people thinking about it is great.

1) I don't bother with anything as bulky as the sampsons kiss in my PSK because my PSK is not my only EDC. I always have a leatherman wave and at-least one other blade on my body. The utility blade in my PSK is backed up by the Xacto which is backed up by the razor blade but they don't come into play until the leatherman has bent itself into uselessness trying to dig a fox-hole for shelter. <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

2) I think that cordage is almost as important as fire. Shelter is very difficult to improvise without it. lightweight fishing line is much less useful than spectra based dental-floss or spiderwire. lightweight fishing line is single purpose whereas 60# spiderwire can be used to lash together shelter, mend clothes, or fish. I feel so strongly about cordage that I carry a spool of 100' basic nylon cordage in addition to my PSK. Turns out that my mini-Altoids FAK and my cordage get nearly daily use while my PSK stays shutup until I need to exchange perishables.

3) Cotton wool is usefull for padding but would be better soaked in some vaseline first or replaced with tinderquick from spark-lite

4) Mixing highly reactive chlorine tabs with medicines doesn't seem like a great idea to me - and the chlorine is redundant with the permanganate in the other vial.

5) Taping the loose items to the lid and bottom seems a decent packing trick but makes deployment difficult - 'specially one-handed.

6) I would add some HD tin-foil inside or 'round the outside or folded up and taped to the top.

7) stamping vital info into the metal of the box seems a good idea but I don't happen to have the printing facility to allow me to do this. I 'spose I could scribe it in with my awl - Hmm....



Aw-heck! it's easy to look at a small assemblage like this one and see deficiences because that's really a small box. If anyone with a different perspective looked at my kit they could probably name a bunch of things that it is missing too.