My minimalist friends can laugh at my Midwestern compulsions, but there've been plenty of times on the march when they've been grateful for my ever-present assortment of useful stuff, affectionately referred to as "The Red Kit."

Depending on the style of trip and group size, I sometimes double up on hot items like pack belt buckles, or Pozi-Drive screws and bit for ski bindings. I figure someday someone will trade me the keys to their sport ute for bailing them out in a pinch.

Laugh at its weight, but the
Red Kit saves butts

Swiss Army knife or sheath knife. A Sharpie marker with duct tape wound 'round the barrel. Odd bits of string: dental floss and waxed linen thread. Rawhide thong. Skein of nylon paracord — what you can't duct tape can be lashed. Mini lighter. Wooden matches. Large silk handkerchief to keep my neck warm and shielded from the sun, hair tidy, lenses clean, nose wiped and severed arteries from bleeding. Several stout rubber bands. A tiny tube full of needles, wrapped with black carpet thread.

Contents of The Red Kit are organized by department into zipper-lock freezer bags — easy to see what you want, even in the dark:

There's the First-Aid Department, with gauze and cloth bandages, an ace bandage, medical tape, CPR mask, smaller band-aids, latex gloves, moleskin, tampons, foil-wrapped alcohol and iodine swabs, Q-tips, tweezers, antihistamine, two epi-pens, ibuprofen, water purification tablets, emergency dental cement and a prescription painkiller that I renew each year but fortunately have never needed.

The next zip-lock contains the Business Department of my Red Kit. Always, always, a couple of large plastic trash can liners. One wrist-sized hose clamp, flattened, and nylon tie-wraps in various sizes for splinting poles or paddles; coiled serrated wire (string on a stick for an instant bow saw); tiny diamond file; a spool of wire, mini bungee cord, black electrical tape, a pack waist-belt buckle and a couple smaller buckles and cordlocks; self-adhesive nylon patch material; alcohol swabs. Glues are double-bagged: I carry Super Glue and a vinyl adhesive plus some quick-setting two-part epoxy. Waterproof wooden matches. Foil-wrapped instant fire starter. Three sets AA batteries paired with strong, reusable adhesive tape. Headlamp bulb. Several packets of fizzy vitamin C powder that perks me up enough to fix what's broken. Charcoal pencil and stiff paper to write my last words on.

Loose in the Red Kit are my trowel, toilet paper (in it's own zipper lock bag), and the marvelously discreet "blue bag" for packing out unmentionables. A waterproof halogen flashlight, polypro glove liners, compass with siting/signal mirror and a plastic eyeball for practical jokes.

Really, all you need are brains and some duct tape, but I have accrued many favors with the contents of this kit. Of course, there is the added entertainment value, which weighs nothing at all.