Is a psk really needed in the UK?

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First aid kit was taken as standard even on lowland walks in populated areas, as a 'might be needed'- plasters particularly. Repairs I deemed not really important on a day hike.


I suppose the point I didn't make with my post is the one made by plenty of others in this thread- it depends. Do you need a survival kit heading out to the supermarket in the UK? No. The more exciting the activity- hillwalking, caving etc- the more likely you are to end up in unforseen circumstances beyond the 'will be needed' and 'might be needed' items.

classic case of diffent things for different people, i have a belt kit and the repair items are used all the time when im working, often away from car, head torch, elatehrman, poncho, ducttape, gluesticks etc.. so very heavy on repair items, .and because carrying sharps always FAK on belt , but this kit is for use in a city mostly......... but when im driving 3 miles to aldi with wife, i only take phone and wallet....
 
I don’t carry a psk, but on my person I have my Swiss Army knife, on my keys I have a little leatherman psk or whatever it’s called! And a small torch, all get used regularly so more than happy to carry them.
In the back of my phone I normally carry some cash.
 
I think the EDC has taken the place of the PSK these days for myself to still carry in addition to my penknife torch and lighter, a little tin of ' useful ' bits and pieces - wire, tape, string, glue along with 20p and 50p pieces for public toilets
 
I think the EDC has taken the place of the PSK these days for myself to still carry in addition to my penknife torch and lighter, a little tin of ' useful ' bits and pieces - wire, tape, string, glue along with 20p and 50p pieces for public toilets

yes, 40 years ago EDC type stuff wasnt mentioned...

but then back then you didnt have any decent tiny flashlights, a SAK was about it
edc type items, pocket prybars, decent tiny torches, have made having a few usefull everyday items easier to carry...
 
First aid kit was taken as standard even on lowland walks in populated areas, as a 'might be needed'- plasters particularly. Repairs I deemed not really important on a day hike.


I suppose the point I didn't make with my post is the one made by plenty of others in this thread- it depends. Do you need a survival kit heading out to the supermarket in the UK? No. The more exciting the activity- hillwalking, caving etc- the more likely you are to end up in unforseen circumstances beyond the 'will be needed' and 'might be needed' items.
Maybe it depends on how far you have to travel to your nearest Tescos!
You may need a get home bag or car kit!?
Everything is relative and based in n your own risk assessment.
Did the people going to work in or near the Twin Towers need a kit?
We take many things for granted. Shops will be open, taps have water and air we breathe will keep us alive!
My mobile phone will always work, there’s always Wi-Fi, I have maps and gps!
♂️
 
I don't think I'll be taking a signalling torch, whistle, compass, purifying tablets on the way to the supermarket, no. Different matter if I'm fellwalking.

It's all about definitions, which causes a lot of the confusion and going round in circles in this thread.

I have items about my person all the time which I constantly use- knife, lighter, torch (I live off grid on a building site). EDC in modern terminology.

I keep some things in the car which might be needed, breakdowns or holdups happen so I have tools, food and water, all of which I have used and am likely to use again. Car kit? In modern terminology.

I carry a survival kit of items I never expect to use when heading to remote, extreme country. I take all steps to avoid getting into danger, but illness, injury or unforecast weather mean some select items to increase your chance of rescue and a bit of shelter are a good plan, even if you never need them in a lifetime. PSK, in modern terminology.

If I'm heading up a mountain, I will take the PSK, but I won't keep it on my person daily, or on a shopping trip.
 
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some of it depends if you are carrying PSK for yourself, or for possibility of otehr people...

i used the mylar from PSK once when cycling in a city because an old lady collapsed on pavement just in front of me....
was the PSK neccesary, no, but helpfull.....

just saw a video on youtube about crashes on icy roads and there was a 120 car pile up where cars and trucks going to fast, huge knock on crashes as everyone skidded, lots of people had to be taken to hospital because of cold for one thing as loads of people didnt have any emergency kit on their car

so you could PSK isnt needed in most cases in UK< but i think car based kits are......
if you carry out an activity, where by a lack of preparedness/inadequate gear means someone else is impacted, whether its mountain rescue/coastguard/ phone call t parents to have to come to bail you out, then thats a failing on you, relying on a phone for an emergency that could be avoided by carrying appropriate gear seems lazy....

i ve experienced loads of trips/activities/evenings out where things were cut short because someone didnt have the right clothing for the weatehr, had an accident, didnt bring right shoes etc.....

so while not PSK related, it is triggering to see people not prepared, and often the same people are quickly to be sarcastic about your own gear.....may have mentioned this before in this or anotehr thread....
 
Good points. It all varies with risk. Long winter car journey, a 2-week canoe camping trip... different will-needs, might-needs and hope-never-needs to daily life. The art is selecting a minimum of appropriate items, and knowing how to use them effectively.

If thought about logically, being reasonably well prepared on any car journey makes sense. The car may break down at any point on the journey. Accidents can happen at any time. Big hold ups on fast roads are commonplace. Breakdown cover requires a working phone to act upon, and requires the breakdown service being able to get to you. All a bit fragile, really! I've never headed out by car without adequate clothing to be comfortable outside at the particular time of year, and have kept food, drinking water and tools handy. More kit in winter. In lowland England it's unlikely to be a matter of life and death, but one of comfort and convenience.

Things do seem to have gone downhill a bit with 'EDC' becoming a hobby in itself, and businesses jumping on the resulting appetite in some for mindless consumerism. There are probably plenty of Londoners now who daren't do their commute on the underground without a tactical pry tool with built in bottle opener, or a wifi insulated mug with built in glass breaker, seatbelt cutter and handy carabiner belt clip. Personally I'd rather not take a titanium folding spoon in a bum bag every time I leave the house and just accept that sometimes I can't impulsively buy muller rice 'on the go' and will have to buy some biscuits instead.

As an aside I'm sure buying and carrying excessive quantities of tat in the hope it might make the user a hero is the exact opposite of bushcraft- enjoying wild spaces with minimalist, minimal impact visits, vs. trashing the planet with yet another keyring torch with an ultimately non-replaceable rechargable lithum battery 'cos this one's 1000 lumens brighter and has an extra UV light for detecting scorpions.
 
Even in lowland england, my motehr used to carry sleepig bag, camping bed and food and stove because she often got trapepd at work if it snowed, as couldnt leave the valley...

Part of it is i woudlnt want to buy a bottle of water, pills or even plasters from a shop if ive already got them at home, i hate the idea of waste

but I am huilty of upgrading flashlights etc when i already have a working one....

some edc colelcting is a honny for some people, ot much difference from any hobby colelcting, the amount people spend on bling for their motorbikes, or footbal season tickets, or even streaming video subsciptions

if soemthing makes a person happy, no harm... some of the edc tools are usefull, but some of the gucci titanium ones are expensive for what they are....especially the ones found on kickstarter


Also bear in mind wheile this is the bushcraft forum, a lot of PSK?EDC items are used by ultralight hikers, climbers, survivalists/preppers who often have different thoughts regards to nature than bushcrafters.
 
Maybe it depends on how far you have to travel to your nearest Tescos!
You may need a get home bag or car kit!?
Everything is relative and based in n your own risk assessment.
Did the people going to work in or near the Twin Towers need a kit?
We take many things for granted. Shops will be open, taps have water and air we breathe will keep us alive!
My mobile phone will always work, there’s always Wi-Fi, I have maps and gps!
♂️
This is why I always ensure I have my heliograph about my person. Unlimited character messaging!
But yes, you are right. Part of the reason I carry small amount of cash.
 
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In the UK, probably not.

Think kit evolved to things rarely used but fix annoyances, whether it be cuts, pain or gear failure, or gear loss.

Things like a spare lighter, spare compass, plasters, pain killers, duct tape.

Think the exceptions might be a whistle, and a strip of water puritabs.

Agreed the uk has very little real wilderness that isn't a few hrs walk from other people. When these places are visited i would like to think they at least carry the basics for a survival situation anyway or lets be honest you reap what you sow.
Just had a thought, winter traveling by vehicle in remote-ish areas (including motorways) a PSK/grabbag is a good idea, high calorie foods, water and a means to heat and something to keep you warm/dry be you staying with the vehicle or up an embankment
 
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Agreed the uk has very little real wilderness that isn't a few hrs walk from other people. When these places are visited i would like to think they at least carry the basics for a survival situation anyway or lets be honest you reap what you sow

I'll throw out the obvious -if you are not injured in the walky-walky department.

If one is in the reasonable remote locations but still with in a few hours walk of some basic civilization all is good.

But possible ( if solo ) leg injury could make that distance somewhat amplified.

Just a thought.
 
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Injuries can make all the difference, my father fell and broke his hip, his doro phone was on the side board, 6 feet from him, turned off of coarse, and my stepmotehr was outside gardening 30 feet away, and she thought he had a long nap, so he was on the floor for 5 hours with broken hip. despite constant lectures about keeping phone on him, even giving them walkie talkies. so even in urban situation any medical emergency amplifies so much.

but it isnt always about life and death survival, sometimes its about self reliance, and not being a burden on emergency services, family, and not having to buy additional things from shops....

when my motehr got snowed in at work, which used to happen every winter, she could have paid for a B&B, what a waste, she could have knocked on the door of the big house ( lord bath), but why do you need to if you have adequate kit with you....

what is proving usefull is the new satellite comms via normal phone....vodafone have just anounced first 5g phone call using satellite from a standard 5g phone....i think this will help a lot as a lot of people cant justify teh cost of an inreach or similar
 
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but it isnt always about life and death survival, sometimes its about self reliance, and not being a burden on emergency services, family, and not having to buy additional things from shops....
Spot on. But that swings things away from a survival kit to save your life, to EDC for comfort/convenience/self reliance/pride.

The original question- Is a PSK needed in the UK- is surely a no, with a few exceptions- you are doing certain more adventurous outdoor activities, live in a very sparsely populated area (e.g. Scottish Highlands) OR society happens to fall apart while you're on the way to work/the shops.
 
Spot on. But that swings things away from a survival kit to save your life, to EDC for comfort/convenience/self reliance/pride.

The original question- Is a PSK needed in the UK- is surely a no, with a few exceptions- you are doing certain more adventurous outdoor activities, live in a very sparsely populated area (e.g. Scottish Highlands) OR society happens to fall apart while you're on the way to work/the shops.

PSK life and death, compact,
EDC convenience and comfort and self reliance
Possibles mixture of the two, easy of access, a less compact/compressed form of PSK but one you dip in to

PSK not needed in UK really

But

for urban PSK, would things like fires, accidents, terrorist attacks, be soemthing that might be more of an issue...would self defense items be needed more as street violence increases....

while i carry a tactical pen, its more because its robust, i wont sit on it and break it and get ink on me, and the glass breaker doesnt hurt, ive beem in enough car crashes to like the odea of belt cutter and glass breaker...
tehnically it could be used for self defense, but the best self defense is running.

but an n95 mask, ive used mine several times from my belt kit when there was debris/dust....when i was younger and lived in Bridgwater there was often sirens for chemical hazards and people had to rush indoors and sometimes ducttape windows etc because of chemical hazards....those factories have closed down now,

no harm in having more urban protective items in an edc....

but to go back to OP question, the main reason for me is that making a lofty style PSK is what got me in to survival and then bushcraft in the first place, in 1982 survival was only military, rambo knives etc, the magazine around was i think survival weaponry and tactics or something like that. bushcraft wasnt a well known term untill Ray mears and tracks series appeared. The first main survival book was SAS handbook and in 1985 me and friends first started "playing" in the woods because of this book, and we all made tins.
So one of the best uses of a PSK in the UK is as a hobby, and to encourage interest in bushcraft and survival. the collecting/maintaining of kits is very therapeutic to people on the spectrum as well...
 
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for urban PSK, would things like fires, accidents, terrorist attacks, be soemthing that might be more of an issue...would self defense items be needed more as street violence increases....

Not unless UK law changes drastically. Self-defence is a term and concept which needs to be used with a lot of caution, it's been much discussed but many people are wary of carrying anything which could be interpreted as a weapon. Hit an attacker with an old-fashioned Maglite when walking the dog, you will have much better chances in court than if you were carrying a torch with a crenelated bezel which can be argued as designed to inflict injury.

Items designed to deal with the consequences of an attack- different matter, and probably sensible in some postcodes.

while i carry a tactical pen, its more because its robust, i wont sit on it and break it and get ink on me, and the glass breaker doesnt hurt, ive beem in enough car crashes to like the odea of belt cutter and glass breaker...

This is where it falls apart for me. How can a pen be 'tactical'? What are the tactis of writing something down? Bizarre terminology aside, I carry a biro, it weighs practically nothing, if I sit on it and break it it doesn't leak and I can still write with the inner part in an emergency (how often do transcription-based emergencies really happen anyway?)

I can't break a window with it, but how many owners of tactical pens with built-in glass breakers are actually practiced and proficient in their use? How many would find that in reality they don't work in an emergeny, or fail to protect their hand properly and end up wth worse injuries than if they had sat tight and waited for the emergency services?

But I completely understand wanting to own something of reliability and quality which will last a lifetime. Unfortunately that quality seems to get forgotten in the EDC hobby as next year's version comes out with an extra built in gadget, and the original slips to the back of a drawer. All very consumption heavy.
 
what is proving usefull is the new satellite comms via normal phone....vodafone have just anounced first 5g phone call using satellite from a standard 5g phone....i think this will help a lot as a lot of people cant justify teh cost of an inreach or similar

Yeah, read yesterday about the video call. Think the test was with 4G LTE so (almost?) all existing smartphones are capable.

Also neither Starlink or AST Spacemobile or any wireless providers have stated whether they'd route emergency calls for phones either on another network, or without a simcard.
 
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