Sue, I have to agree with you about the problems encountered with a condom in survival situations. Frankly, I don't know who came up with this ridiculous condom thing in the first place. As far as I am concerned, relegate them to their intended purpose and find something else for your
kit.

As for fire making, why agonize over this? With all the multitude of gadgets available for fire making, I can't understand why anyone has a problem with this. Everyone has their favorite goodies. I put together little plastic packages of tinder, lighter, matches, lamp oil, and other items and then suck all the air out of them with a vacuum food sealer. Makes a little bundle that you could stick in your shirt pocket.
Sometimes I collect used bird nests, usually wren or other birds that don't use sticks, dry them on low heat in the oven and then vacuum seal them. Drop a couple of dessicants (also dried out in the oven) in the bag if you have them. You would be surprised how small a package you can produce even using two or three nests. I'll wager a cave man would swap you his right arm and favorite club for any one of the various fire starters available to us. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

On the subject of metal cups. I haven't seen anyone mention the little collapsible cups that used to be around. They accordion into themselves making for a small but convenient cup when you need it. I believe they were aluminum but I can't be sure. I'll do a Google on the collapsible cups and post anything of value that I find.

Hope you find something of value in this post. It is just a collection of suggestions. You make the final determination of what you need. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />