Is a psk really needed in the UK?

[Broch]

I'll hold your coat

 

[bobnewboy]

They already do; magpies regularly pick stuff standing on the back of sheep.

We obviously need more Guinea fowl. They eat anything insect based, and particularly ticks etc.

 

[Van-Wild]

I carry stuff with me everyday.

A small bleeder kit:

TQ
packing gauze
Quikclot
Pressure bandage
Sterile gloves
Cutting shears
Tape
Nasopharyngeal airway
Pneumothorax Decomp needle

A 1ltr water bladder
A pocket knife
A small torch
Some protein bars and peanuts
UL waterproof jacket
Cash
Lighter
Sweat rag
Notepad and a pen

Is this a PSK? kinda but not. Everything but the bleeder kit has been used regularly. The water bladder gets used quite regularly, I just find a tap and fill it if there's not a shop nearby. (I carry a 5ltr water container in my vehicle, so I can fill it from there, for example). The pocket knife gets used a lot. Opening boxes, cutting fruit etc. A small torch has been used for changing headlights on trucks, looking for dropped keys, that kinda thing. Always good to carry snacks. Not just for me, but I have kids so..... UL waterproof jacket for wet weather or wind. Packs down super small. Cash because cash is king. A lighter because the amount of smokers that don't carry a lighter astounds me. In foreign countries I'll also carry a pack of local cigarettes. Offering a cigarette really can be a conversation starter and get you help where you need it. A sweat rag has a multitude of uses. In the UK its mostly used to wipe down seats or tables for my wife and children, or wiping mucky hands, or dogs paws or actual sweat..... and finally a notepad and pen. Because you never know when you're gonna need to scribble down directions for someone!

All this fits in an 8ltr Patagonia Atom sling pack.

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

 

[NikDarkwood]

Not really. I cant think of anything that can't be improvised.
I do carry a verrryyyy small folding knife and tend to wear clothes most of the time. that gives me the option of a first aid kit.
If I see someone whos injured themselves with an axe or something I can fashion a dressing from my underpants and maybe a sock.
But only if I thought they would die without help.

 

[MikeLA]

Personal Survival Kit.

It's the name that's irrelevant IMO. I carry a Personal 'get me out of a fix' kit so, it's a small waterproof container with stuff in it that will help when I've not brought the right gear in the first place - like a cutting blade, a needle and thread, a few plasters ... etc. I certainly wouldn't expect to survive on it.

I still do as well, 1 in the car boot, 1 when I used to do a lot of hillwalking. Small enough not to worry about weight but items were used from time to time.

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

If I see someone whos injured themselves with an axe or something I can fashion a dressing from my underpants and maybe a sock.
But only if I thought they would die without help.

I'd be tempted to just bleed out...

 

[Ystranc]

Carrying a PSK…? Probably not my thing but I do carry certain things depending on where I’m going or what I’m planning to do. I’m not exactly John Wiseman’s greatest fan so the whole survival kit in a tobacco tin thingy passed me by.
I do always have a way of starting a fire and a Swiss Army knife unless I’m going to one of the multitude of places where they’re now banned. If I’m going up into the hills I will also carry a signal mirror, compass, whistle, maps, bivvi etc. but that isn’t really what we’re talking about.
My problem with a PSK is that in any given survival situation a good proportion of the contents of that little tin that you’ve been carrying around religiously for years will prove to be degraded, redundant or substandard.

 

[MikeLA]

Unless you adapt it to yourself eg put the penknife , Firesteel, mirror, whistle, a bit of first aid in the tin as your back up, but carry a separate dedicated first aid kit. Carry a lighter, silva compass etc in your pockets
You don’t necessarily have to have the snares, fish kit and the like in there.
Mines just a light, tiny back up somewhere to carry a needle and thread, Firesteel, my penknife with scissors.

 

[demented dale]

I think its always a good idea to carry a kit. I've got first aid, fire/brewing up, Sleeping bag, Swiss army knife, plus other things either on me or in the van. I have a saying " its better to have something and not need it than to need it and not have it". Life in the UK is just as unpredictable as anywhere else. I remember once driving over the moors from Leeds to Oldham. The conditions were perfect till it suddenly started snowing. Within a few minutes there was a whiteout. Fortunately it was a short stretch and I was ok. It did, however, wake me up to what can and does happen. the Cub scout motto is BE PREPARED. xxxxx

 

[demented dale]

Personal Survival Kit.

It's the name that's irrelevant IMO. I carry a Personal 'get me out of a fix' kit so, it's a small waterproof container with stuff in it that will help when I've not brought the right gear in the first place - like a cutting blade, a needle and thread, a few plasters ... etc. I certainly wouldn't expect to survive on it.

What IMO?

 

[demented dale]

Crimean-Congo Haemmoragic fever (spelling?), seems its spread through contact of bodily fluids a smidge more intimately spread virus I presume, or spread where basic hygeinic practices or access to clean things is harder. I don't see it as a concern for the moment.

As for a PSK... I don't carry a "specific box/bag" with a PSK in it... PSK to me is various items which I like to carry in general and/or back ups of those various things. For example I will more than likely be carrying around a pocket rocket and gas canister, so in the rocket box, I've got a couple of cheap lights as well as a pot of waterproof matches.

To accompany those, I have my FAK - more specifically, my doggo FAK - mine is inside that, but in the aforementioned is some cotton wool - handy for various things as well as fire lighting should I need to... Back in FAK is some pain killers and various small injury things.

Then in my main pack, I'll always be carrying at least 2l of water perhaps 4l (accounting for me, wife and doggo), along those lines, I've got a sawyer filter stashed in the pack too.

The rest is pretty dependent on whats planned, typically will have some sort of top layer, whether its a jumper if it's a clear sunny day, or a raincoat if it's overcast....

Perhaps other bits I carry as standard are a coil of paracord, some sort of sharp and a headtorch....

If I'm really in the dung despite all of that then I guess I'll get creative...or die... either way.


Oh yes... and snacks... I'm rarely short of those on the account that if I don't eat every handful of hours I turn feral...

What's a FAK please?

 

[Wildgoose]

IMO - in my opinion
FAK - first aid kit

 

[Broch]

What IMO?

Sorry, lazy shorthand, IMO = In My Opinion

I could have said IMHO = In my Humble Opinion - but I'm rarely that humble

 

[demented dale]

IMO - in my opinion
FAK - first aid kit

Tar muchly x

 

[Ystranc]

I think its always a good idea to carry a kit. I've got first aid, fire/brewing up, Sleeping bag, Swiss army knife, plus other things either on me or in the van. I have a saying " its better to have something and not need it than to need it and not have it". Life in the UK is just as unpredictable as anywhere else. I remember once driving over the moors from Leeds to Oldham. The conditions were perfect till it suddenly started snowing. Within a few minutes there was a whiteout. Fortunately it was a short stretch and I was ok. It did, however, wake me up to what can and does happen. the Cub scout motto is BE PREPARED. xxxxx

If your personal survival kit (usually a pocket sized tobacco tin) has got a sleeping bag and brew kit we are probably talking about different things. I know that area well though and I must admit you’re wise to carry a sleeping bag and extra winter clothing for six months of the year.

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

I would say a PSK is somewhat redundant in most places...are you going to carry around a tobacco tin with a bunch of trinkets you've never really had the experience in using? Why and where is it stored? If its in your pack, then what makes it specifically more useful than anything and everything else? Will you abandon your pack and keep your tin? ...if you lose your pack your tin is gone anyway...

As I've said, I carry various backups in different areas of my pack to keep me "happy" when things go moderately off-course... if I have to rely on a tobacco tin to survive in any of my hikes/camps, then I've royally goosed myself and likely deserve what's coming to me...

 

[TLM]

When trekking or camping I usually have enough things in my pockets to get by for a while. Kind of kit I suppose, varies from day to day.

 

[neoaliphant]

I have a little tupperware type box that fits in my bag. It has a tiny hexiblock stove and some fuel, a few hot chocolate sachets, a survival blanket and a cheapo plastic poncho. Two energy bars, and a lighter.
I always carried a bottle of water, and a little steel mug.
Have I ever used it? Yes, our local buses regularly broke down, so I was able to brew up a hot drink, have a nibble on something, and keep warm and dry, while we waited recovery, especially useful on a cold winter night. I live in the sticks, so it always seemed to happen in the middle of nowhere, with no phone reception, or any shelter.
It fits in my backpack /handbag, and has been used on a couple of occasions, to the envy of other passengers!

I did something similar sat late at night in a train station....train food prices!

 

[neoaliphant]

i remember making my first tin kit 40 years ago, then when is aw loftys book, made a pouch, i rememebr walking in to stately homes as a 10 year old with rambo knife on hip, nobody batted an eyelid....

use current belt kit with small molle pouches every day, mostly torch, leatherman, etc, mostly repair stuff, torch as a battery bank etc. have used food/shelter type items a bit, specially with weather this week..poncho has been handy...

main thing i always carry, and havent used yet ( although have used previous versions) is my titaner capsule grappling hook....perhaps the most unsual bit of belt kit. but when 7 year old me saw one in a film, had to have one, that was just afetr starwars, so now even sold a couple i still have 4 grappling hooks of different sizes.....but then when people spend £1000 upwards for a small piece of chrome for a motorbike....i cant see a problem....

have fishing kit in car camping kit, but would never carry in psk, or snares, the wire is for repair only.....

 

[TeeDee]

i remember making my first tin kit 40 years ago, then when is aw loftys book, made a pouch, i rememebr walking in to stately homes as a 10 year old with rambo knife on hip, nobody batted an eyelid....

use current belt kit with small molle pouches every day, mostly torch, leatherman, etc, mostly repair stuff, torch as a battery bank etc. have used food/shelter type items a bit, specially with weather this week..poncho has been handy...

main thing i always carry, and havent used yet ( although have used previous versions) is my titaner capsule grappling hook....perhaps the most unsual bit of belt kit. but when 7 year old me saw one in a film, had to have one, that was just afetr starwars, so now even sold a couple i still have 4 grappling hooks of different sizes.....but then when people spend £1000 upwards for a small piece of chrome for a motorbike....i cant see a problem....

have fishing kit in car camping kit, but would never carry in psk, or snares, the wire is for repair only.....

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