I see, so this is more of an EDC bag of handy tools? Gotcha. Yeah, sharp's was a list that he and I worked up for what a wilderness EDC bag would look like. As for the yard keeper, you're right that its not a chopper. I think sharp was referring to the FBM you mentioned when he talked about choppers. The SAK makes more sense now that we're talking about a mostly urban bag. That being said, some of the things that Sharp recommended still apply.
For example, the headlamp would be much more useful for say, changing a tire or working on an engine, than a flashlight would. I would say keep the big surefire if you think you need it, but replace the smaller light with a headlamp. I've been using a petzl tikka plus on one set of batteries for 10 months now, so they last a LONG time.
I don't know how good REI's whistles are, but I know from experience that the FOX 40's are some of the best and work when wet (it looks like your does too, which is good)
Those bandana's are pretty cute as well, I might need to one of those. I think TAD gear sells them
I haven't used the wetfire tinder before, but I can personally recommend a nice hunk of fatwood as effective tinder that works wet/dry and takes up little room. I seem to remember seeing Ponderosa pines, how some type of coniferous tree, in your pics. Those trees are ideal for fatwood harvesting.
As for you "two is one" strategy, I can understand. However, it can be dangerous to carry that logic too far. Redundancy is safer, but if you pack starts getting heavy you're going to be less likely to carry it with you. Even if you have ten of everything, all of it’s useless if the pack stays in your truck.
If you haven't read David Allaway's book "Desert Survival Skills" that i quoted from ealier, I really recommend it. It talks specifically about the Chihuahuan Desert, but also about general survival and assembling kits, so many of the strategies apply universally. Plus it recommends Busse knives, which is always a plus.
Last point: who did you kydex work? The sheath looks like Jeff's (rainwalker's) work, or maybe you do kydex yourself? Anyway, looks good.
