- Joined
- Aug 7, 2003
- Messages
- 3,330
Many people I know pack all manner of practical gear into PSKs, WSKs, bug out bags, abandon ship float packs, and other survival kits. However, some of the things I have seen put into these bags could only qualify as "luxuries." A common one is a combo salt/pepper carrier. Others include tea, cocoa, or instant coffee, justified as "morale builders" or "pick me ups."
Some might consider toilet paper a necessary, others a luxury.
I am not disparaging any of this, a little luxury I carry in everything larger than an Altoids tin is miniature Tabasco bottles. I order them directly in quantity from the company at $0.50 per bottle, so I have them laying about the kitchen and my garage where some of my gear is kept. I wind up throwing them in whenever there is room to spare because I have eaten enough cooking of hikers and hunters to know better about most peoples' skills away from the kitchen, including my own. Competent field and ship's cooks used to be highly valued for a very valid set of reasons.
My rationale, (perhaps limited to myself and my palate), is that to me Tabasco can mask almost any nastiness in food, dehydrated, burned, or foraged. Were I going to down a live snake by biting its head off and then chewing on it, I am swigging some Tabasco as a chaser. Same goes for slugs, grubs, lentil soup, etc. It might even serve as a crude antiseptic, and could definitely be employed in other ways I haven't really thought about.
Do you carry/pack anything that isn't absolutely a universal necessity in any of your dedicated gear packs?
Some might consider toilet paper a necessary, others a luxury.
I am not disparaging any of this, a little luxury I carry in everything larger than an Altoids tin is miniature Tabasco bottles. I order them directly in quantity from the company at $0.50 per bottle, so I have them laying about the kitchen and my garage where some of my gear is kept. I wind up throwing them in whenever there is room to spare because I have eaten enough cooking of hikers and hunters to know better about most peoples' skills away from the kitchen, including my own. Competent field and ship's cooks used to be highly valued for a very valid set of reasons.
My rationale, (perhaps limited to myself and my palate), is that to me Tabasco can mask almost any nastiness in food, dehydrated, burned, or foraged. Were I going to down a live snake by biting its head off and then chewing on it, I am swigging some Tabasco as a chaser. Same goes for slugs, grubs, lentil soup, etc. It might even serve as a crude antiseptic, and could definitely be employed in other ways I haven't really thought about.
Do you carry/pack anything that isn't absolutely a universal necessity in any of your dedicated gear packs?
