Best tools for every trip in the woods.

1. In my opinion a good knife is something you should carry EVERY time you go anywhere in the wilderness. I personally prefer a medium sized fixed blade knife with a carbon steel blade such as the mora companion. The benefits of carbon steel are the hardness and edge retention and can be used for striking a spark with a bit of flint. Stainless steel will work fine for use with a ferro rod normally but it is generally not as hard and does not hold an edge as long but you do not have to worry about rust and that is a huge plus. When it comes down to it the choice of what kind of steel is yours and is much less important than just having a good quality knife when you go out. A fire Starter. There are dozens of choices for fire starters and they all have their pros and cons but there are 2 that I personally always carry and 1 that I think it the most obvious thing you can take. I have seen and tested many types of fire starting gimmicks and some are great, they do what they claim and work well but most are one time use or very few time use or way more difficult than needed, if you were to find yourself in a survival situation that lasted very long you need something you can count on for awhile that is easy. My personal favorite fire tool is simply a bic lighter, they are simple super light easy to use and last for quite awhile, they are simply the best tool for fire you can carry. with all that said you should still carry a back up just in case and for that I carry a ferro rod because they are still simple to use and last a long time but they take at least a minimal bit of knowledge and skill. A basic first aid kit. Now I know some people will disagree with this item but, when you are out in the wilderness without access to medical help or an easy way to keep a small cut clean you would be amazed at how fast an infection can set in. Many of these kits also have items that will help with other tasks such as fire making with alcohol pads and cotton. A way to purify water. Trust me on this one I have been out hundreds of times without it and been fine but, it only took ONE time for me to fully support this item. As I was out I decided to get a drink from the small creek I was on and never gave it a second thought, that is until a couple days later. I spent about 2 weeks sicker than I had ever been in my life and lost 15 pounds from the effects of giardiasis. So absolutely carry something to clean the water or boil it. This last one may seem a bit off to some people as well but they are super handy and helpful. An emergency blanket. Yes I am talking about those little silver plastic ones that seem like a total waste of money and I thought so too. At least I thought they wouldn't be THAT useful but, I always kept one in my pack just because I figured, why not? Well I was out camping during the summer, just sleeping in my hammock and fishing and having a great time. As i was fishing one day a severe thunderstorm moved in and I didn't bring anything to keep dry excerpt that blanket, so i packed everything up and put the blanket on top to keep it dry but I didn't think about just how cold that rain would be even in 80+ degree weather. I ended up wrapping myself in that blanket trying to keep warm and even in the pouring rain I kept pretty warm.