Thoughts on a psk please.

S

Siggyhk

Joined
Feb 8, 2006
Messages
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Hi there, this is my first post here in the wss area. Seems I may have looked around here a little too much as I've become very interested in the things talked about here, and I'm now beginning to plan an outting for the near future. Anyhow, the first thing I did was put together a small sized survival kit. I took quite a few ideas from the "personal survival pak" but have modified it a bit too. It's contents are:
2 office type trash bags
about 3 feet of hd foil
a thin straw from inside a grill lighter
a diamond sharpening stone (dmt I think)
a inova micro light
a razor blade
lots of 24 ga wire
a mini flint/magnesium stick
a mini whistle
birthday candle
needle and thread
4 micropur tabs
2 band aids -1 big, 1 small
a wound wipe
assorted matches w/strikers
mini fishing kit
4 safety pins
1 cotton ball

I am able to fit this stuff in a 3x4inch ziplock bag. I really wanted to keep it small, so I have no excuse to not have it with me. Right now I am still looking into a small signal mirror and a few large fishing hooks. With that said, any other suggestions would be appreciated. Also, I wonder about this 24 ga wire. It seems pretty strong and flexable to the point I think it could be used to help build a basic shelter. ANyone used this type of wire before? And does anyone know if I can repackage these micropur tablets? By the way, I plane on eventually keeping this kit in the pouch of a rat-7 or similar knife, and I always have a folder too. Some things I chose to leave out are pencil and paper, and a snare as I don't see these things as being overly important. I almost left out the fishing kit too, but thought It was worth the aa battery sized space it takes up. Any real need for the stuff I left out? -Thanks for the help.
 
Here is your list quickly categorized into the seven groups I use.


MEDICAL
2 band aids -1 big, 1 small
a wound wipe

SHELTER
2 office type trash bags

FIRE
a mini flint/magnesium stick
birthday candle
assorted matches w/strikers
1 cotton ball

SIGNALS
a inova micro light
a mini whistle

WATER
a thin straw from inside a grill lighter
4 micropur tabs

FOOD
lots of 24 ga wire
mini fishing kit

TOOLS
about 3 feet of hd foil
a diamond sharpening stone (dmt I think)
a razor blade
needle and thread
4 safety pins

It depends on the scope or purpose of your kit, but I'd say that you could sacrifice some of the wire, maybe the fishing kit too, for some mason's twine to be used in building your shelter.

If the kit is a three-day kit, you might want more of the MP tabs. Say six to give you two quarts of water a day. And if you're using the MP tabs rather than boiling, you could think of replacing the HD foil with some plastic bags -- breast milk or ziplock or fish -- to use to treat the water and to drink from.

Just some thoughts.

Bear
 
I highly recommend much more fire making implements (I have devoted a good deal of time to exploring different ideas) and more water purification.

IMHO, if you have to carry a separate kit, you probably will give up on it after a few months or less. After numerous recent attempts to make the perfect kit, I gave up because I never wanted to carry it.

BTW, I totally agree with Bear's "Seven Categories" concept posted earlier in this thread. I try to cover all of them and store the items in my “Five Locations” of things I carry every day:

1) Wallet
2) Keychain
3) Leatherman Sheath
4) Pants Pockets
5) Belt (I use “money belt” types that have a built in zippered pouch)



Not by any stretch of the imagination am I an expert (or even ‘experienced’). I am a very thorough experimenter though. The often overlooked part is that you have to practice using the stuff first. Wait for really crappy weather and try using it outside in the cold, rain, dark, snow, wind, etc. I’d bet that a more experienced outdoorsman would do better by a knife and a flint than I would with a whole pack of stuff, but I have definitely practiced using all my gear in nasty weather to the point that I am confident that I could make use of it all. After practice and many incarnations of my fire kit, I am extremely confident that I could start a fire even in terrible conditions. I believe that knife and fire are life and death, everything else is gravy.

Have fun, now you're going to be tweaking your kit forever!
 
Photon Freedom is my choice over the Inova, Inova make fine lights except the mini.

More water tabs and forget baby bottle bags, the taps purify 1 litre and the bottle bags is no where close to that.

Loose the straw from a the lighter, it's source is unsafe. use brand new clear tubbing from the hardware or fish store.

Ditch the cotton ball and use wax/cotton ear plugs from the dollar store. Test one to make sure it's cotton.

Unless it's a matter of space, use contracter bags, you may have to buy a full box but you'll get to play around with them.
 
Hey Guys..

Siggy...

Ditch the office garbage bags,, for extra large contractors strength bags..

Increase the WP tabs as suggested,, and increase your firekit..

An untreated cotton ball is worthless wet...Switch to PJ soaked cotton balls, ferro rod and add a lighter..

Not only should you be carrying a simple fire kit,, you should also know how to use it,,, properly...

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
I appreciate all the good advice. I was able to get three more micropur tabs in there, and am going to look for some quality bags depending on how I can make them fit. I also messed around a bit with some wax dipped q-tips last night, and although they seem to light up pretty easily via flint, I intend to get a hold of some PJs too. I mini bic would definately not hurt either. I actually have a photon freedom too, but left it on my keys. I also have a lm squirt on there also, and would hope to have those with me.
Is it a bad idea to put micropur tablets in a glass/plastic vial to save space? I get the feeling I should just leave them packaged as they are.
 
About the MicroPur tablets.

The manufacturer recommends against repackaging them, and I have not read any posts from people who have attempted it. I believe the chemistry of the tabs gets wrecked once the foil is opened.

I have read posts from people who have trimmed the foil down around each tablet. I don't know how far you can trim.

I just fold them so the pills from one layer fit between the pills from the next layer.

Bear
 
I recently added a piece of fatwood to both my wallet sk and my Ritter. I also rolled the included tinder in the Ritter in fatwood shavings. The small bag included was able to fit six tinder tabs and plenty of fatwood shavings.
I used my SAK saw to cut down the fatwood to fit. I got about a two inch length into the Ritter.
Real fatwood smells good, too!
 
I feel that the medical component should be left out of a survival kit, and that a separate dedicated first aid kit should always be carried when in the wilderness. There really isn't much point putting a couple of bandaids and a woundwipe in a PSK when those things will inevitably be part of a well equipped first aid kit.

My PSK comprises the following six groups:

Shelter
Fire
Water
Food
Navigation
Signalling

My medical kit is completely separate to the above.
 
jh205, I'm not entirely sure that I understand your reasoning. Are you just saying that you keep a smaller first aid kit, in addition to your PSK, aside from your main gear? Or that you keep both in your pack along with the rest of your gear?

I only question it because to my mind the reason to keep a PSK is to have a bit of gear that will help you get along in the event that you are separated from your pack and the rest of your 'real' gear (where the more complete first aid kit would reside). If the PSK stays in the pack, I don't see how it could really help you out. That's just having all your eggs in one basket. If you're just saying that you like to keep another separate first aid kit along with your PSK, I understand that more.

This isn't an attempt at a bash or anything, I was just hoping to get a more clear idea of your reasoning.
 
I made a quick mention that this would likely be carried in the pouch of a rat-7 or something like that. And I do always have some type of folder. If it came to it, the razor would have to do the trick, but I hope to avoid that. I also think a seprate first aid kit is a good idea, but I'd like a little bit of everything in this perticular kit too.
 
Gently crush the MP1 to powder while still in the pack to save a little more space. Trim the edges to near the air pocket they will not burst when squeezed.

The gerber milk bags are great keep them. Measure out your newly crushed tabs to the desired amount and fill the milk bags with water, the fraction math is easy. Good to go.

Can the straw, cheap garbage bags, cotton ball, birthday candle(it will melt over everything) and safety pins (uneeded filler). Add a mini bic, proper whistle, mini signal mirror, mini compass, more fabric bandaids, heavy garbage bags, and ibuprophen x6.

Skam
 
jh205 said:
There really isn't much point putting a couple of bandaids and a woundwipe in a PSK when those things will inevitably be part of a well equipped first aid kit.
Click to expand...

FOr this exercise (i think) he is trying to build a mini kit not 2 separate kits.

A separate FA kit is good to have in the main pack but a mini kit should be on you at all times as its not much good to you if you dont have it so a few bandaids are valid. This included strapped to a sheath. It should be in your pocket and be VERY small.

Make a second for your sheath but your pocket kit is just that.

My 3 cents.

Skam
 
SpookyPistolero,

Sorry, should have explained that better. I keep two kits inside my pack - a survival kit with equipment in the six areas I mentioned, and an entirely separate first aid kit. There is no cross polination between either kit.

However, both kits are stored in carriers that can be easily attached to my belt, in case I need to abandon my pack for some reason.
 
One nice thing about the PSK, is that it incorporates not only what's in the main kit, but everything that you carry in your pockets. Large items like the HD industrial grade 55gal drum liner, fit into a pocket, without bulk, so don't think that you have to fit everything into that ziploc.

Double up on the important stuff like fire, edged tools and water purification.

For water carry, my kits have a gallon sized freezer grade ziploc included and I carry a couple quart and gallon sized in my packs. I would suggest a method of pre-filtering the water prior to using the MP1 tabs. It will assist the chemicals in doing the job more efficiently. Especially with very questionable water with high particulate matter. For pre-filtering I carry coffee filters, as well as a silk bandana. An important note on the MP1s is to know the times needed to kill off the different nasties.
 
I'd take a roll of good medical tape over some bandaids any day. But then, I've been taping my wounds for many years, ever since high school football!
 
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