wrote in message
ps.com...
To All:

excellent post veedub, but I would add a thought or two.

one should learn how to make a fire without matches. in a crashed vehicle
you have all sorts of materials that "should" be able to make the sparks
necessary to get a light. even if your battery croaks a permanent magnet
motor and a filament from a light bulb can torch up some tinder. even if the
battery fails it still might have enough juice to produce light up a flight
chart scraped up for tinder.

or a Fresnel lens, although only good during daylight hours.

regardless of the equipment, one needs the skill. how many of you can make a
fire with only one match? how many of you can make up tinder?

as for the knife, you hit it on the head veedub, chuck one in the plane and
forget it. all my vehicles have pocket knives. usually in the glove
compartment. a survival knife isn't worth it.

anecdote. the first season my dad went deer hunting he bought a 6 inch long
hunting knife, a fairly good one. after getting his first kill he realized
he did not know how to field dress a deer. luckily along came a man who was
more knowledgeable than my dad and offered to dress it for him. the gent
took out a tiny pocket knife and preceded to dress the deer, while my dad
felt a little sheepish with his 6 inch knife on his belt.

still has that 6 inch knife, good for splitting pelvises, but a two inch
blade is a bit better for field dressing.