I had to laugh when I saw it included the 5-in-1 survival tool. In the early 1980's they were being marketed to Boy Scouts (even sold in the summer camp trading post). My buddy and I who were camp staff picked a couple up and demonstrated to the scouts in our Wilderness Survival class how bad the things were.


  • What they call the 'lip balm' holder used to be called 'the matchcase'. We put matches in it and dunked into a bucket of water. The matches were soaked.
  • The whistle had a plastic pea in it. It popped out when we strongly blew into the whistle, thus rendering it inoperative.
  • The compass would spin around randomly, but it could point one in a general direction (ok, there's North...I think)
  • There used to be a tiny mirror inside the cap, about the size of a dime. I'm certain that would work for signalling someone across the dining hall, not much more.
  • The attached small rope is also known as a 'lanyard' to hang the silly thing around one's neck.
  • There used to be a firesteel rod glued into the side of the case. We used it once, the knife blade caused it to pop off of the case.


I'm not trying to be mean, but we were pretty ticked off at the shameless attempt to sell junk to Boy Scouts in order to make a quick buck. mad Much of the official gear at the time was pieces of cheap imitation junk.

I've always told parents to research their purchases and buy good, quality gear. It often won't break, will perform the job with less work and be safer. The kids will have a much better time and enjoy camping. smile

Summary: As a toy, the 5-in-one would keep the camp staff amused for an afternoon. laugh As survival gear, it would be dangerous for someone to actually have to depend upon it.

Oops, sorry for taking so much time on the soapbox... whistle
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Also known as BrianEagle. I just remembered my old password!