While Dollar Stores aren't a good place to shop for things like a good knife, they are a decent source for convenient things. I found some really decent chemical light sticks. I had to leave a 5-gallon bucket of rocks (don't ask) in the dark between my bedroom door and the door I let the dog out of in the middle of the night. I grabbed one of those sticks and put it in front of the bucket; 24 hours later it was still good enough to use as a marker.

Their wooden matches are fine for starting a fire at home, so you can save your Strike-Anywheres for emergencies. Their woven nylon dog leashes are perfectly good to get that stray horse off the road in the fog. Need petroleum jelly? Waxed paper to start a fire? Metal pots for your campfire cooking experiments so you won't be killed by your wife? Half a dozen fake sunflowers to tuck in your hatband?(camouflage) Gel alcohol disinfectant? Candy bars?

Another place to get stuff is online at FreeCycle. There's probably one in your area (http://www.freecycle.org/). A lot of people seem to be continually cleaning house. You might get lucky and see a post by a woman whose boyfriend/husband left her, and she's getting rid of all his stuff. Warning: most of these people are REALLY impatient and want it gone TODAY, if not sooner. Be ready to jump. Then there are the others, the ones who want everything: canoes, entire camping outfits, travel trailers, a horse, etc. I find those posts disgustingly greedy, but a day or two later there is a "Thank you for the canoe, it's great" post.

Sue