This seems like such a simplistic thing to start a thread about, but I have not seen anyone else realy addressing this point so here goes......
In refernce to your gear, never put all your eggs in one basket . ( hense the title of this thread )
I learned long ago, it's best to have redundency in your basic gear, and to plan several layers of gear.
What I mean by that is, for instance, I wear one compass on my wrist, I have one compass in my hunting vest pocket, I have a third compass in my back pack, and a fourth in my " AWOL" gear ( AWOL stands for another way of life, and applies to several foot lockers full of everything I might need for a permanent trip into the boonies)
I have found it also helpful to do the same redundency and spead out my fire making gear, as well as my water purification or aquisition gear.
I have a " BOB" behind the seat of my truck, for the no warning Bug out situation.
I have my hunting vest fully stocked hanging on a coat hook beside my back door, for the few minutes to bug out situation.
I have my back pack in a closet leading to the back door, for the 5 minutes to 10 minutes bug out.
Finaly I have several footlockers in the garage next to where I park my truck, in the event I have a little more advanced warning to evac.
During field operations I have been in the position of having to abandon some of my gear in extreme situations. I have also lost portions of my gear due to accident or adversity.
For these reasons I believe in spreading my gear out a bit, and having duplicates for everything.
Filed for what it's worth under one old grunts experience.
Any thoughts ?