When switching files using the minibuffer (C-x C-f), I often use M-Backspace to delete words in the path. Emacs automatically places what I delete into the kill ring. This c
See a discussion of this topic at help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org: http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-gnu-emacs/2011-10/msg00277.html
help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org
The discussion boils down to this short solution:
(add-hook 'minibuffer-setup-hook' (lambda () (make-local-variable 'kill-ring)))