One item I have found useful is a large tarantula in a glass jar. These are have a remarkably shelf life, requiring food only every few months or so. Just punch holes in the lid for air, of course. Turning this loose inside a tent will often result in your obtaining a tent, complete with accessories.
Regarding nose bleeds, (epistaxis), almost all of them are anterior bleeds, in an arterial system called Kesselbach's plexus. Simply pinching the nose for a full, by the clock, 5 min. will usually stop it. Just get your fingers as close to your face as possible, so you are compressing as much nose as possible. If you have a posterior bleed, you are not going to be able to do anything about it, as this requires posterior packing, which is very difficult to put in, even for a doctor. Don't worry, however, as we say in the ER, 'ALL bleeding stops eventually.'
Anterior or posterior, putting anything into the nose will not be helpful. Compression is all that is needed.
Regarding corkscrews, I was confused by your question, as all we Native Californians are given one (at least) at birth, and carry one with us at all times. For use opening wine bottles, of course. I do dimly recall that some types of wine may be grown in Europe? Perhaps the relative insignificance of European wine production is the cause of your ignorance regarding the necessity of this most important survival item.
Actually, the corkscrew was on the original Swiss Army Knife, but only on the ones issued to the officers. I have a Swiss friend who has a collection of them going back to the 1930's.
Further, we Californians have been hoist on our own petard. Phylloxera, the root louse which devastated European vineyards in the mid 1800's, is now raging through CA. The California root stock, which was replanted in Europe, as it was Phylloxera resistant, saved the European vineyards (the root stock is simply a nutrient pump; you can graft any sort of bud wood onto the stem (cane) of the plant, and the vine will grow any sort of grape you want; you can even change the grape type of a given plant at will).
The problem is that the root stock which was planted in CA was genetically nearly identical. Enter a root louse to which this root stock is NOT resistant. Result: almost all the CA vineyards will have to be replanted. This time, they are using genetically heterogeneous root stock.
Walt
let's see what else we can or have come up with.
