Thank-you. Before I joined the forum nearly two years ago I sent Doug Ritter an E-mail asking him why a knife is the universal tool. I told him I live in a major metropolitan area and my tool of choice is a pair of EMT shears. Rather than answering the question himself, he posed that question to the forum to get their feedback. It was after posing the question that I joined. For almost every possibility posed to me, a pair of EMT shears could do the same job, just differently. There were a few exceptions such as EMT shears cannot be used for fishing. I don't fish. I live in the fourth largest metropolitan area in the United States, I don't fly and I don't go backpacking, camping, hunting or get involved in water sports. I did try out a Victorinox Swiss Army Classic SD for a while. It did not work for me so I gave it away. I still use EMT shears. I have two, in fact, and I even have one in my pocket as I type this message.

Today I did a lot of reading on urban survival, bought a Fox 40 and completely modified my AMK Pocket Medic. One of the things I did to it was add a role of 1/2" medical tape. Except for the tinniest of first aid kits, every kit should have a roll of tape in my humble opinion. I still have my Mag-Lite and plan to hold on to it; I plan to replace it with a Photon Freedom Micro as part of my EDC.

Jeanette Isabelle