Gear for office survival

C

cardimon

Joined
Sep 20, 2000
Messages
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The contemporary office can be just as hazardous as a walk through the woods. If the fire alarm sounds, and everyone hurries outside, what if you are barred from re-entering right away?

Are your car keys on your person, or still inside the building in your coat pocket? I carry spare keys in my wallet, so if I'm "trapped" outside for any reason, I can still drive home and get inside my house.

For those of us who work in offices, I was wondering, depending on what you wear, what gear do you take with you, and where do you stash it?

What do you keep in your jeans/trouser pockets, what do you carry on your belt, what do you keep in your jacket/blazer, and what do you keep in your office bag?
 
Probably not what you wanted to hear, but I would say "cell phone and a credit card."

From there, in the US, you can get nearly anything else in short order!
 
My son said the fire alarm rang at their high school (another false alarm.) It was 20 degrees out. His jacket was in his locker. They made him and the other kids all evacuate the building and prohibited re-entry until the fire department came and gave the all-clear. He says he knows what it's like to get hypothermia. It was a good lesson really, but the solution would be to take his jacket with him from class to class and I doubt he'll do that.

But in cold weather, what do you do with your coat at the office? It's often put somewhere, and then you walk around and you could be far away from your coat should a fire alarm sound, a bomb threat ensue, etc.

So I would say the primary things to keep with you are:

warm coat
flashlight
wallet with cash
cell phone
knife that is capable of hard use (prying and rescue)
 
My EDC is pretty much the same everywhere in my urban jungle. Car keys with attached whistle and screwtop pill vial. Spydie Endura clipped in left front. Pocket watch on chain in 5th pocket. Bic lighter. Yellow handle Case stockman. Wallet. Cell phone. Sunglasses. SAK Champ with Mag Solitaire in belt pouch. Pen of the day (uniball vision elite). Assorted cash and change.
No earthquakes here.
At my daughter's school they must leave jackets and sweaters in the lockers until dismissal. Purty stupid IMHO.
 
How about scouting out a near-by building where you could take shelter/use the "facilities"/order a pizza?

We got ejected from our building in NE Ohio Winter. Bomb scare. We rode around in the Loop Bus for an hour for $.25. Sang silly songs. The driver probably went home and told her husband, "Boy did I have a strange day!"
 
An acquitance of mine was in the South Tower when it was hit. She said she knew immediately something was wrong by the swaying of the building, and the spray of papers fluttering outside her window.

A lot of interesting things went through her head: should she grab her coffee? Sweater? Laptop?

After spending a vital second staring, she simply just left everything she had and got out, spending a lot of time in darkness on the crowded stairwells.

But that did make me think: her best survival option was to abandon everything else she had, which could have been costly. She did take her cell phone, although it did no good with the flooded network.
 
I'm sometimes "over-geared", but I'm the one everyone comes to when something happens around our office. I'm also an EMT, so I like to be ready in case another employee or customer bottoms out in the office (which has happened). That said, here's my current list:

Always on me:
Left Front Pocket:
- Keychain with keys, LM Squirt P4, Vic Manager, Photon II, spy capsule with ibuprophren, whistle, uncle Bill's silver grippers. I'll be adding this http://www.idealcreations.net/ls09.htm to my keychain on Wednesday when it arrives.
- Vic Swiss Champ (without the pliers)

Right Front Pocket:
- Mission wallet with Benchmade 556, fisher bullet pen, Peak AAA 3 LED, Latshaw Pocket Wrench, Magnifying lense, LM Micra, mini super knife, wire, bandaids

Right Rear Pocket:
- Wallet - no other gear in there

Left Rear Pocket:
- LM Crunch

Shirt Pocket:
- Notepad, extra pen
- Palm Pilot

Belt:
- EMT/FF pager (if there's a big call, I'm going!)
- Cell Phone
- Pouch with latex gloves, CPR mask, 2x2 guaze

Breifcase:
- Altoids survival tin (put together with info from these forums)
- Vic Cybertool 41
- medium sized first aid kit
- Vic SwissCard Lite
- Monocular
- 50' paracord

Jacket:
- Vic Locksmith
- Mag Light AA (I will be replacing this with something - haven't decided what yet)
- First aid kit
- Either a Vic SwissTool RS, LM Wave or LM Supertool

I also have two more Mini Mag lites at my desk and a 4D in my truck

I wanted to set up the stuff that's always with me so I would have basic first aid and extrication stuff with me all the time. The rest of it is in easy reach of my desk, so if I was heading out because of an emergency/disaster I would grab it.

We've have power outages and not even close to enough emergency lighting, so that's why I keep so many flashlights around (and if someone walked off with a Mag Light it wouldn't kill me).

Besides distaster preparedness, I'm also called on for fixing small things around the building (because I'm "packin"). We even had someone get stuck in the women's bathroom because the door knob broke off, so I get called for that.

I like to keep the Crunch on me all the time to serve as an extra pair of fingers. It has helped out on many occasions.
 
I spend little time in an office, but when in any large building, I like having a photon light on my key ring. You never know when the lights may go out and you could be in an interior room looking for your stuff and the door.
 
Watchful said:
Probably not what you wanted to hear, but I would say "cell phone and a credit card."

From there, in the US, you can get nearly anything else in short order!
Click to expand...

Got those bases covered!

Basically, I'm simply curious as to what others who work in office environments carry on their persons and so forth. Maybe I'll learn something.
 
I would highly recommend a little light on the key chain. I got locked in the basement once and it was so absolutely black I could not find my way through the filing cabinets and shelving to the door. I was completely disoriented. Luckily, somebody heard me yell and let me out. We then hardwired a safety light downstairs.
 
I agree that in an office environment some type of light is one of the most necessary and commonly used "survival" items.
 
My Office Kit is pretty minimal, mostly 'cause my 4x4 Pickup always has a complete compliment of gear in it. So in a worst case scenario, all I have to do is walk outside and get in my truck. And since this exercise assumes that we're outside..... :)

But - on my person at all times in the office:
1) Keychain with Arc AAA Attached
2) EDC Folder of the week; Dozier Folding Hunter, Small Sebenza, or Benchmade 806 D2 (depends on where I'm heading and what I'm expecting.)
3) THE Wallet with Credit Card(s), cash, ID, Fresnel Lens, Handcuff Key and some other goodies.
4) Cell Phone
4) My mind and attitude.

In my briefcase in my office:
Mini-mag Flashlight
Pepper Spray, 16" ASP & Other Unmentionables
Band-Aids, Pain Meds, etc.


In my truck:
Everything else I need for a long 3 days in the Boonies.
 
- Mission wallet with Benchmade 556, fisher bullet pen, Peak AAA 3 LED, Latshaw Pocket Wrench, Magnifying lense, LM Micra, mini super knife, wire, bandaids
Click to expand...
Binford,
Do you get all that in the Mission Wallet? If so, cool. What is the largest size folder that will go in the knife pocket easily, without sticking out the end. TIA
 
Shann said:
I would highly recommend a little light on the key chain. I got locked in the basement once and it was so absolutely black I could not find my way through the filing cabinets and shelving to the door. I was completely disoriented. Luckily, somebody heard me yell and let me out. We then hardwired a safety light downstairs.
Click to expand...

Being 43 and myopic, oh boy do I have flashlights. In contrast to everyone else, however, I do not carry mine on my keychain. That simply does not work for me.

I carry my ARC AAA and Photon Freedom Micro Covert White on my EDC neck lanyard, my SureFire E1e and Inova X5 on my belt, and my PrincetonTec Eclipse 2 LED in my pocket.

I'm pretty well covered on flashlights, but I'm always open to improvement. :)
 
Binford said:
Belt:
- EMT/FF pager (if there's a big call, I'm going!)
Click to expand...

How often do you get "big calls?" You must work in a fairly relaxed environment. And it must help that you pitch in with extra tasks in the office. I was thinking that I have not known many bosses who would have viewed frequent call-outs kindly, unless the one who was getting called out was especially useful around the office.
 
I work in a kitchen!! lol

No really I carry my sog multi, sak tinker and a M16-14. I also have some cash in pocket. No wallet or ID because I am paranoid!! Over the summer I have my own pool company plus I do work for other pool stores so I am outside.
 
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