Is a psk really needed in the UK?

[Minotaur]

Personally, I don't carry a specific PSK 24/7 but when I'm out and about the kit I do take fulfills that role. For me the PSK is more of a military thing where you might get caught out "on the run" with nothing else other than PSK. Of course, if you spend a lot of time in wild places you should have certain emergency items about your person, I consider that normal preparation. Any emergency items you do carry should reflect your knowledge level, where/what you are doing. I don't see anything wrong with carrying a PSK if that's how you have prepared yourself for emergencies.

I think the point of a PSK was the minimum a soldier needed to survive and the reason it was in that tin format was you could keep it in a combat trouser pocket so it gave you the option of dumping everything to make a run for it. Lofty's version I think has the same idea it just got more in it and bigger.

I guess it depends where you are and what you do.

If you work in an inner city office in London then the chances of you needing one are significantly less than someone who works the Forests in Scotland.

If owning one makes you happy then go for it. Always better to have one and not need it, than to need it and not have one.

I think this is sort of my point, a psk in London does not work however edc does. Anyone who travels on the tube without water and some back up food for example is not thinking it through.
One of the big revelations for me was carrying a little angle-headed torch. I have used it so much and I always had a torch however the angle head hooked into a pocket is such a clever idea (thanks youtuber who's name I cannot remember for the idea).
Carrying a battery bank and cable is also very useful. I think one of murphy's laws for modern life is that the more important the call, the less battery life you will have.

 

[Trojan]

Yes you do. You never know what is going to happen and I have used a few elements of mine over the years.

It is also fun building them

 

[Herman30]

One of the big revelations for me was carrying a little angle-headed torch.

Yes, for me it was the Fenix WT20R.

 

[Ozmundo]

Most of my PSK/EDC items have been used on Guinea Pigs other people....

Me "Are you sure you wouldn't want a splint on that?"

Some poor sod "But it's just a paper cut"

 

[oldtimer]

Most of my PSK/EDC items have been used on Guinea Pigs other people....

Me "Are you sure you wouldn't want a splint on that?"

Some poor sod "But it's just a paper cut"

Same here. I've lost count of the times someone has needed a safety pin, a plaster, duct tape, needle and thread etc. They always act surprised that I routinely carry such things when they have just demonstrated the wisdom of doing so. I guess some folk lack self-reliance.

 

[Minotaur]

Same here. I've lost count of the times someone has needed a safety pin, a plaster, duct tape, needle and thread etc. They always act surprised that I routinely carry such things when they have just demonstrated the wisdom of doing so. I guess some folk lack self-reliance.

Yeah I so get that. I have the item and they have the reason to carry it.

 

[Laurentius]

Same here. I've lost count of the times someone has needed a safety pin, a plaster, duct tape, needle and thread etc. They always act surprised that I routinely carry such things when they have just demonstrated the wisdom of doing so. I guess some folk lack self-reliance.

Essentially what you want is those items that your mum would have in the bottom of her handbag.

 

[Ozmundo]

So fluff covered Murray mints then?

 

[neoaliphant]

Yeah I so get that. I have the item and they have the reason to carry it.

It came back to bite me once

At work one of the girls in accounts had ripped the top buttons off her blouse
so i had my sewing kit with me in my kit to lend her...

I was not popular with the guys in the workshop that day....

 

[Wildgoose]

I thought you were going to say you offered to sew them back on “in situ”