Is a psk really needed in the UK?
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In these cases I would not lend them anything. Let them stand there empty handed and tell them "who´s laughing now".
I admit to being somewhat disparaging of PSKs, but that has been more about the Altoid tin things where folk include fish hooks and a snare and have grand ideas about feeding themselves from the wild if they get separated from their pack while hiking the Brecon Beacons. I am all for carrying stuff to deal with urban perils and mishaps. I like @Falstaff 's description.
The other issue I have with PSKs is the tendency to carry them like a sacred relic that must never be used except in "an emergency". Since the contents might be useful at other times, what happens is that folk carry duplicates of the PSK content that they grant themselves permission to use at other times, not just emergencies. To me this is rather absurd.
Be self reliant. Carry useful stuff. Don't waste energy worrying about what to call your collection of stuff.
The other issue I have with PSKs is the tendency to carry them like a sacred relic that must never be used except in "an emergency". Since the contents might be useful at other times, what happens is that folk carry duplicates of the PSK content that they grant themselves permission to use at other times, not just emergencies. To me this is rather absurd.
Be self reliant. Carry useful stuff. Don't waste energy worrying about what to call your collection of stuff.
When contemplating whether or not one needs a PSK one should ask what is the first essential to survive in the environment one is in, then what the second most important and so on...
In UK I guess the most important is shelter from weather, to keep you dry and warm. Then hydration, then food, then...thenn....Nothing of this, as I see it, will fit in a tin. A small bag is the minimum.
In UK I guess the most important is shelter from weather, to keep you dry and warm. Then hydration, then food, then...thenn....Nothing of this, as I see it, will fit in a tin. A small bag is the minimum.
I agree, but would put medical first and foremost, otherwise the rest might become academic. This includes personal medications, e.g. diabetes (e.g. glucose tabs, injectables), epi pen for known severe reactions, pills etc. then 1st aid for more serious injuries and oops cuts.
-like neoaliphant, sharps cuts are an occupational hazard, blood is damn slippery when you are trying to hold a tool or something. In itself not life threatening, but can lead to other more serious consequences. (Like a cleaning bill from a client for bleeding all over her house, for once, masking tape wasn't enough.)
Confession, I have a little Walter Mitty E&E/emergencies packet. Vacuum packed and very small. Not intended for use in the UK, but for when travelling abroad in wilder or less stable places, where the locals or authorities might turn unpleasant or you are virtually off grid.
Do I go to such places? Not often but I have in the past and am toying with doing so again. My ex-wife insists I make a will and sort out The Settlement before I go, in case it all ends in tears. She knows me too well....and she is right, (again!)
Do I go to such places? Not often but I have in the past and am toying with doing so again. My ex-wife insists I make a will and sort out The Settlement before I go, in case it all ends in tears. She knows me too well....and she is right, (again!)
exactly, you need to be profrssional, several of my clients have food areas, they normally have onside first aid kits etc but thats not the point, if you have to wait while someone wanders off to find the kit, write it all down in a book, all the while they are thinking "are you charging for this time" , and then it makes you late for next job, several times ive been up a ladder, small FAK out my my ammo pouch, bandaid, back to work...sorted
I think the sealed kit has its place in the military, where you cant trust grunts to keep PSK in order, and tehy have so much otehr gear, they need to know its there when they need it, and military use for E&E is very different to UK, prepared pathfinder, only recent left military i thin, he carried a tin PSK....
i think FAK, as falstaff said, and shelter
ive used a mini poncho loads of times from my belt kit, sometimes just to sit on on wet grass while out shopping with my wife..
But
a mini poncho and mylar will fit in a tin kit... and ive used the mylar i think twice in emergencies, just not on me but on otehr people....
ButBut
a tin is a bit too small, so i use a belt kit or knapsack kit, but its more edc items rather than the bare survive
i havent carried a fishing kit in survival kit since i was 15...you had to follow the law of lofty back in the 80s....
but i have used wire from kit several times...
thinking about it i do have fishing stuff in backpack kit which lives in car, but thats a more hobo reel type kit and have honestly never used it...
my belt kit i wear while working or walking is a green army belt covered in molle pouches, but my stealthier kit is in a knapsack from endicotts, which matches the indi jones hat, theers a lot more comfort items in this like playing cards, pocket slingshot, pocket kite, mini microscope, colins gem books etc
my wife doesnt liek the look of the belt kit, so teh knapsack is perfect for shopping, weddings and funerals and teh like....and when visiting family, i generally add a large bottle of rum, so i dont notice the family existing...
my wife doesnt liek the look of the belt kit, so teh knapsack is perfect for shopping, weddings and funerals and teh like....and when visiting family, i generally add a large bottle of rum, so i dont notice the family existing...
I always have a psk with me.
One that changes every time I camp out and another that is for my urban adventures.
There’s a cross over between the two which are my daily meds, a pocket knife and plasters of some sort. I have had a kidney transplant so I’m always careful about water I drink so a few water pure tablets or a life straw is always a must considering the size and weight of carry.
It’s not so much I call my items a survival kit but it may go back to my cubs/scout days of making sure I have something if an unexpected event should happen to help me or someone else caught out.
One that changes every time I camp out and another that is for my urban adventures.
There’s a cross over between the two which are my daily meds, a pocket knife and plasters of some sort. I have had a kidney transplant so I’m always careful about water I drink so a few water pure tablets or a life straw is always a must considering the size and weight of carry.
It’s not so much I call my items a survival kit but it may go back to my cubs/scout days of making sure I have something if an unexpected event should happen to help me or someone else caught out.
What about a bum bag? She might accept that as a compromise.
Quite, well sort of, fashionable and sufficiently so not to draw particular attention (provided its not too large or bulging). Some of the "Tactical" ones are in black, which is normal in the streets & have quite clever ways to hold stuff without being noticeable. Also usually easy to hide under a coat.
I now recall repairing a set of spectacles where an arm had fallen of due to a lost screw. Brass "snare wire" worked a treat and actually looked quite neat. Otherwise I'd have to have wondered about looking like Jack Duckworth with the frame held together wit sticking plasters.
Thats why theres so much crossover between definitions of possibles bag, EDC and PSK....
Yep, done that too with wire from my PSK, and people knock having wire and fishing kit in PSK
