This weekend scout outing was actually my first real camp outing of the season (even though we stayed in tents). We were to be hiking cross-country during Saturday so I really pressed myself to complete my kit from the odd collection I've been assembling since last fall or so when I first discovered this site. <br><br>I was short on time and few odd-and-ends, but I have almost a complete kit. I didn't have nylon cord nor did I include meds. I also did not put the duct tape, Fox whistle or the Photon II inside the tin. <br><br>Instead, I wrapped the tin with electrical tape. Once around the seam between the lid and the base. Then a staggard wrap around the entire case across the short width. Then I wrapped about 2 feet of duct tape around the tin across the length.<br><br>Next I attached the whistle and the Photon to a lanyard using a split ring. The lanyard is a convention badge leftover that I need to upgrade to a breakaway model. I then wrapped the lanyard across the length, the same direction as the duct tape. A little scotch tape holds that in place while I wrap para cord across it, the same direction as the electrical tape. Finally, I covered the para cord with 5 or 6 ranger bands cut from a bycicle inner tube. <br><br>The lanyard arrangement leaves the whistle and Photo dangling from the side of the entire kit. I slide the kit into my fanny pack or pants pocket with the whistle and photo pointed up. <br><br>I did it this way for two reasons. One, I was having a tough time getting everything packed. I suspect I could have done better if I had more time to toy with it. Second, I like the idea of having the whistle and light easy to reach, without having to unwrap the entire kit. I know that leaves them slightly more exposed, which could lead to damage or loss, but I did it anyway.<br><br>Once I get a breakaway lanyard, I'll unwrap the bundle and add a signal mirror. I bought the feather weight mirro from Barry at Blueline. I initially thought I'd cut it down and add it to the kit. But the kit's full. So I may trim the sides so it's narrower and lay it on top of the duct tape before I wrap the lanyard and para cord. It has a hole that I'll attach it to the split ring with the whistle and photo. <br><br>In an emergency, I'd pull off the ranger bands (tough to do actually) unwrap the paracord, and place the lanyard around my neck. I can then decide if the situation warrents openning up the entire kit or not.<br><br>One think that came across my mind as I assembled the PSK, was that opening the kit is a process on neds to think through as well. Packing it is like working a jigsaw puzzle. In a survival situation you are not likly to open it to retreive one item, then carefully put it all back. So you need to think on what you're going to do with the contents once you've popped it open (pockets, fanny pack, hat, flat rock, etc.) There's lots of little eices that you don't want to lose. this would be especially true at night.

I simply lay the psk on my bandanna (excepting gale force winds) and then open.

I have a confession - I do not have a super compact Altoids tin cleverly packed with everything necessary to cross the continent once my plane has crashed. How can this be? My modes of getting into outdoor trouble involve hiking and biking primarily, with a little kayaking thrown in. In all of these activites, one arrives in an emergency situation gradually, usually through a series of lousy decisions and/or unfortunate events, not the relatively quick transition that occurs when you are flying along peacefully one minute, and mired in the swamp the next.<br><br>As a result my "kit" is adapted differently. It is bulkier, somewhat larger, and more loosely packed because I often access the contents as the need arises. The one headlamp I carry is in there (for situations where I want something a little brighter than the Photon on my keychain) as well as my compass - rarely needed unless the fog descends. Contents vary depending upon the type of excursion and season, but alwasy include a core of the so-called "ten essentials." When you think about it, the entire contents of my pack constitute a "survival kit" of sorts, with items selected/deselected depending upon the anticipated environment. For me the advantage is that I continually use the gear upon which I will depend in a tight situation.<br><br>The ultra compact PSK fills a definite need, particularly for aviation, where one traverses multiple, contrasting environments while flying very short distances and there is a clear need to exit the plane unencumbered with a bulky bag. For the typical hiker/backpacker, those limitations do not apply.<br><br>I promise I will fill my Altoids tim with goodies one of these days. After all, I fly occasionally and I do want to stay on this list. Mea culpa, mea culpa.......

My understanding of the PSK approach is that it's there for when you lose the kit that you would normally use. The tobacco tin idea seems to have been started by the SAS (although I could well be wrong) for those situations when they would have to leave their kit behind in a hurry. In a hiking situation I could imagine a river crossing going wrong and your rucsac getting swept downstream. Maybe in North America a bear steals it, I don't know. So the little tin is a backup to your day to day survival gear, not something you would be dipping into whenever it takes your fancy. Of course in the UK most of the comercial survival kits (BCB, Penrith) are mainly irrelevant for most hillwalkers. What we would need is a whistle, a surival bag and a mobile phone. And some Kendal mint cake of course. Fishing line etc would be of no use on Pen-y-fan or Ben Nevis

<< In a hiking situation I could imagine a river crossing going wrong and your rucsac getting swept downstream. >><br><br>Good example; I agree.<br><br>Some of us curmudgeons (I'm not one, but Hikerdon probably is - JK) probably have many useful things on our persons already. I agree with all of what Hikerdon wrote, as that is much the way I wander around outdoors. Yet... the concept of a back-up in a small PSK is too sensible for me to pass up, so I fiddle a bit with that as well.<br><br>I'm pretty comfortable with what I have with me when I am intentionally outdoors. EDC (every day carry) is an area that I have been giving a bit more attention to lately than in the past. A tailored PSK as a component of my EDC makes a huge amount of sense to me.