You're being sarcastic, aren't you... Having the top 10 plus the "other essentials" in your pack is far superior to any PSK, including Doug Ritters PSK. I've got one, and I love it, but I'd rather see more people bring the appropriate items in their packs than relying on a PSK. Those are backups, not do-all magical talismans.


For the most common "hiking trips" survival scenarios, gathering food is not really high on your list of priorities, so I'm with Hiking Jim when he doesn't include a fishing or snaring kit. Trust me, if you're in trouble you want to go home, not go fishing. That being said, if you've got nothing to do but waiting anyway then you might as well do some fishing while you're at it. Some hooks, wire and line weigh next to nothing and the wire and line can be used for a zillion other purposes. But I would not include gear for fishing, snaring or trapping on any lists of this kind.


Jim, your list makes very much sense to me. Changing to a different location would perhaps mean that some items would gain priority, such as shelter being a very high priority for me in a Scandinavian climate (except in wooded areas in the warmest part of the summer).

One seasonal/locale dependent thing I would like to add to your list is bug avoidance (such as a mosquito hat/net or bug repellent). Trying to sleep while being eaten by mosquitos and bugs is a sure morale killer. My recommendation is a mosquito hat together with clothing that covers your feet and hands.

Another thing: I love Paracord, but any cord is better than no cord at all. Not everyone will be ecstatic about hearing they need to go online to purchase some genuine "mil-spec" because they really need that magic elfish rope or whatever. I would edit that part so it reflects the virtues of bringing some minimum quantity of whatever synthetic cord they're happy with. Personally, I bring a mix of paracord and 2mm nylon generic no-brand cord (plenty strong enough, and packs much smaller). For most emergency bushcraft and shelter building I can think of, I'd rather have 90 feet of 2mm nylon line than 30 feet of paracord. And yes, I know you can split the cord into 7 strands and all that, but this is not something I want to fiddle with when being wet, frozen, hungry and very much in need of shelter NOW.