Knife, Lighter, Rope
Now, when you talk about knives - with no exception (wilderness, hunting, cooking, eating) - it pays to go for quality. Forget about cheap chinese imports. I made that mistake.
Buy good stuff, possibly swiss pocket knives such as Wenger or Victorinox. Also remember that even small knives are forbidden aboard planes, so if you do not place you kit in a bag that will be stowed... well, you can kiss your tool goodbye.
For the kit I chose (and bought on eBay for $ 11,22) a "Victorinox Classic SD 53208 glow in the dark" knife. It has small scissors, a small blade, file, small screwdriver, tweezers (handy!!!), toothpick (not very useful, for me), nail file... and glows in the dark (kind of).
A possible good alternative would have been one of those models with a built-in LED flashlight and a tiny ballpoint pen. Alternatively, Victorinox makes a much thinner model, the Classic Alox (som 3-4 mm thick, I think) that would save a lot of space in your kit.
I might get one of those Alox later on but buy spare tweezers, as that model has no room for one (yes, they sell Victorinox tweezers as spare parts).
Rope
Well, not really.... I chose a thin, high quality string. Made by a renowned maker of climbing ropes (so they tell me) is very resistant and soft. I cut a bit more than a meter of that. Useful to tie things, to double as an emergency belt and so on.
You might want to add some dental floss. Not for your teeth (well, also) but because is very light, takes no space but is really, really tough stuff. Many survival experts suggest floss, and I fully agree (although I am no expert...)
I kept the string together with a couple of rubber bands (useful). I am also thinking about braiding the string, so that takes less space, provided I find a way I can unbraid it very quickly when in need.
Lighter
a) I'm unfortunately a smoker and b) I forget things. So a lighter is probably one of the elements of my kit I use more often. Apart form that, a lighter can always come in handy. The smallest Bics are still a bit too big for my kit. Got a cheap (but rechargable) gas lighter that is not really bad, but I still looking for something better and more reliable.
Don't go for Zippos: they are nice but gasoline evaporates, your kit will stink and when you need your lighter (after maybe 6 month...) it won't work.
Strike anywhere matches might be a good alternative, make sure to wrap them in a safe way, so not to accidentaly ignite the kit in your pocket (embarassing). I understand that dipping them in melted wax is a safe way of waterproofing them. You might want to give it a try, I'll stick to gas lighters.
Now, when you talk about knives - with no exception (wilderness, hunting, cooking, eating) - it pays to go for quality. Forget about cheap chinese imports. I made that mistake.Buy good stuff, possibly swiss pocket knives such as Wenger or Victorinox. Also remember that even small knives are forbidden aboard planes, so if you do not place you kit in a bag that will be stowed... well, you can kiss your tool goodbye.
For the kit I chose (and bought on eBay for $ 11,22) a "Victorinox Classic SD 53208 glow in the dark" knife. It has small scissors, a small blade, file, small screwdriver, tweezers (handy!!!), toothpick (not very useful, for me), nail file... and glows in the dark (kind of).
A possible good alternative would have been one of those models with a built-in LED flashlight and a tiny ballpoint pen. Alternatively, Victorinox makes a much thinner model, the Classic Alox (som 3-4 mm thick, I think) that would save a lot of space in your kit.
I might get one of those Alox later on but buy spare tweezers, as that model has no room for one (yes, they sell Victorinox tweezers as spare parts).
Rope
Well, not really.... I chose a thin, high quality string. Made by a renowned maker of climbing ropes (so they tell me) is very resistant and soft. I cut a bit more than a meter of that. Useful to tie things, to double as an emergency belt and so on.
You might want to add some dental floss. Not for your teeth (well, also) but because is very light, takes no space but is really, really tough stuff. Many survival experts suggest floss, and I fully agree (although I am no expert...)
I kept the string together with a couple of rubber bands (useful). I am also thinking about braiding the string, so that takes less space, provided I find a way I can unbraid it very quickly when in need.
Lighter
a) I'm unfortunately a smoker and b) I forget things. So a lighter is probably one of the elements of my kit I use more often. Apart form that, a lighter can always come in handy. The smallest Bics are still a bit too big for my kit. Got a cheap (but rechargable) gas lighter that is not really bad, but I still looking for something better and more reliable.
Don't go for Zippos: they are nice but gasoline evaporates, your kit will stink and when you need your lighter (after maybe 6 month...) it won't work.
Strike anywhere matches might be a good alternative, make sure to wrap them in a safe way, so not to accidentaly ignite the kit in your pocket (embarassing). I understand that dipping them in melted wax is a safe way of waterproofing them. You might want to give it a try, I'll stick to gas lighters.
