John McCann here...

First of all, I would like to thank the many members who have had kind words about our site.

JeanetteIsabelle,

All products have varying opinions. I never base a decision on one person's opinion. Doug has his opinions about things, and I certainly respect those, so much so that I have touted his expertise in my new book due out this October. However, we all look at things differently. I have always thought the Brunton Survival Kit didn't deserve the name survival kit either, but then I didn't name it. I have always kept the compass and Fresnel and thrown out the remainder.

I agree with Doug about poor directions provided in the kit. However, I'm also a believer that if you need directions, you probably need some training. If you are sitting out in the wilderness in a survival situation, and you are basing your survival on the directions provided with your survival kit, you are probably in trouble. Having the devices are not nearly as important as knowing how to use them, and before you need them.

In my humble opinion, people should spend more time learning skills. As I said, earlier, I agree with Doug about the directions, but I'm also believe that if you need directions, you probably need some training. As Doug said about wasting time in regard to boiling water, "... a waste of time, resources, and energy a survivor might ill afford." You will never catch me without at least two compasses on me, and when I go into the field I have a professional mirror compass with me. But I still carry the floating compass in my wallet. I have found that something is better than nothing, and if that was all I had (unlikely but possible) it would be better than nothing. If I didn't have enough water to float a small disc, I probably would be in more trouble than trying to navigate. If the compass is being used as your primary you are already unprepared. I also know people who carry a good compass, but don't know how to use it. I'm not sure what is worse, a good compass with no skills, or a bad compass with good skills. There are a lot of variables.

In regard to our selection of products, we do try to offer those products, again in our humble opinion, that are worthy of survival. Our opinion sometimes run different than others. Many sites sell the UST Sparky, one hand fire starter. When we got a few examples from the manufacturer, we broke the first one in about 10 minutes, having it fall apart. We also didn't like the warning in the instructions "CAUTION! Do not spark more than three consecutive times as hot sparks can gather and damage the bar holder." Just didn't sound like a survival tool to us. We are not saying the product is not good, only that we made the decision not to sell it. Many sites do, and many people like it. The same goes with many other products out there. We have had many strong discussions with manufacturers who want us to sell their whole line, and we only want to sell a few products that we have selected. You will note that, besides the Brunton Kit (which has been discontinued by the way), we only sell kits we make or were designed by Doug, even though some of our suppliers make other kits.

The bottom line is we do our best. Our philosophy has never been to buy a ready-made kit, but to make your own. Our site was originated just for that purpose. We only started making kits after some of our customers convinced us to do so. No matter what your choice in kits, we advise everybody to get some training and skills before they are needed.

Respectfully,
John McCann