Urban Survival Kit - Suggestions???

C

Caliban_22

Joined
Mar 21, 2002
Messages
18
Hi all. I need some advice on what I should include in an Urban Kit.
Something along the line of bare essentials. I spend a lot of time in down town Miami, and the surrounding industrial area. At present I carry the following:

Inova X-5
SAK (w/saw, 2 blades, can openers, reamer, corkscrew.)
Small First Aid Kit
Spy capsule w/Painkillers.


What area specific items could I add?
 
depends on how big you want the kit to be, I carry my urban kit in a daypack. Here are a few of the items in it.

fixed blade buck (hunter model)
Leatherman
SAK w/ saw
2 emergency blankets
2 lightsticks
1 maglite w/ extra batteries
1 poncho
2 MRE packs
1 stainless steel cup
nalgene water bottle
25.00 in cash
1 hour phone card
50' paracord
2 bandanas
leather gloves
safety goggles
first aid kit
personal hygene kit
small book of crossword puzzles (kinda silly but it would help me pass time if needed too)
complete change of clothes

I also have a bigger kit in my truck, but its more of a wilderness type kit. I keep the above bag in the small car I drive to work.
 
I live in Manhattan, a few miles north of "Ground Zero" - heard the first plane fly over. We all learned lots since then. One thing true here - and probably to an extent in Miami - is that our FD/PD/EMS responce is truly great. Given that, what I carry as my personal "kit" is what I believe I will need in the first few minutes of any emergency.

Flashlite: Photon II or similar - on keyring
Whistle: Fox-40 - on keyring
and: Leather Work Gloves & Dust Mask - wrapped in large bandanna
SAK or Multitool, depending on what I have to wear that day

And that's it!

Other than a few bandaids and an antiseptic wipe, I don't carry any first aid stuff - if I am seriously injured, nothing I can carry is ligtly to make a differance - minor injuries can be taken care of later. The bandaids get used regularly for daily non-emergencies.

I also usually have a small bottle of water - for drinking, but also to wet the bandana in for dust/smoke conditions and as an eyeflush.

I have seen recomendations various larger sized "personal" kits - fine if you can carry them every day, all day. This stuff is with me pretty much all the time. No, not every minute of every day, but it is all small enough and convenient enough so that is most lightly to be with me if I ever need it.

I think it is a fair, if unfortunate assumption that if everyone in the towers of the WTC that day carried some version of these basic items, many, many lives could have been saved.







.
 
I agree with Maury here. I live near Chicago and find that some of the larger kits on other forum are not realistic for everyday carry and use. Granted, the bigger it is the more well rounded it will probably be but for us urban dwellers it's not likely that we will be carrying around a 90 lb ruck sack or driving for that matter since most take public transportation. I'm really partial to the altoid kits since they are nice and compact and can be carried discretely in practically all environments. So this is what I have:

Altoids kit containing:
-Moleskin
-5 waterproofed strike anywhere matches
-sewing kit: 2 needles, black and white thread, 2 buttons
-5 ft. duct tape
-4 safety pins
-Meds: asprin, claridin, immodium
-signal mirror
-2x3" gauze pad
-1 knuckle bandage
-4 strip bandages
-2 alcohol wipes
-1 iodine swab
-1 anti-septic swab
-led bulb/batteries (saves space)
-button compass
-2 anti-bacterial wipes

Cash is in the wallet, good watch on the wrist, SAK in the rear pocket next to the wallet and a chicago map and a leaatherman in a softsided brief case. Only additions that I should add would be 2 bandannas, maybe a milspec field dressing.

So far no life threatening events, thank God, but my 'little kit' has served me well locally and abroad and it's small enough that I always have it.
 
Originally posted by Mustang
I agree with Maury here. I live near Chicago and find that some of the larger kits on other forum are not realistic for everyday carry and use. ...snip...
Click to expand...

It depends - I posted the link to my Urban kit above, and I carry it every day in Manhattan via the Subway. I think it's at the extreme end of what is "do able" - I used to carry about 1/2 that. If you look at the site, you'll see I start with a Mini kit, and then have my "go bag" - the ONLY reason I carry so much stuff is that I can get called out to ARES/RED Cross functions with little or no notice (the Problem with being the Queens NY ARES Emergency Coordinator). If I'm leaving from home, I can bring about 3x that gear, but it sure isn't every day carry.

The joke is, the "kit" I have listed only covers my "non work" stuff - There is also a set of CDs, some books and often, if the weather is bad, more clothes

Average day, the pack is 35 lbs, and goes as high as 50! (RARE - 40-45 more common)

I stash it once I get to the office, and carry the mini kit, plus "pocket stuff", and raid the kit as needed. If I'm going to be away from the office for more than about 30 minutes, or far away from my offfice I take the whole thing
 
I think Charles is being realistic for a New Yorker. Lets face facts, WTC hit twice, the biggest FBI office in the country; every time there is a security alert, New York is mentioned. I would probably need to have a Kit with wheels if I lived there.
 
I am working on my own kit. I am planning a small kit to carry with me and a larger one for the vehicle.

Small kit:
bandana
flashlight
knife
multitool
parachute cord
cloth tape
eye goggles (the swim type)
whistle

Large kit:
ax or hatchet
prybar
gun
water
small 2 way radios
rope
gloves
whistle

I am still at the planning stage. I've noticed that not many posts in this thread include a prybar or whistle but I think it would be very useful in a situtation where a building is destroyed somehow. 2 way radios have proven useful hunting and fleamarketing and would also be handy in a disaster situation.

I think of two situations where good planning is needed. A disaster sitution, either natural or manmade, and a riot situation. SHTF situations aren't considered really in my item selection as I think I will have time to get home and really gear up for the worst.
 
I've also decided on (and highly recommend) platypuss water bottles instead of water bladders. I've used them hiking and love them! They are tough and collapsable and have a drinking nozzel on them. I don't like bladders, I've had funky flakes form from keeping them filled with water, I believe it was plastic laminate or something. The platypus is MUCH tougher. I believe they make something with a hose for bladder enthusiests.

So far I can put everything in a camelback mule with bladder removed. Since I always carry a knife I will just keep leatherman wave in pack. Even small prybar fits!

For lighting I've decided on headlamp and keyring led light. I have a princeton tec and have on order a petzel duo 5 led. Weather camping, hiking, or hunting I've found headlamps to be far superiour to handheld flashlights. Frees up hands.
 
I'll second gitarmac's prybar!I carry a small flat 7 inch one in my bunker pocket.That little sucker has amazed me!!No your not going to pry up manhole covers or rip doors off their hinges,but I'll slide latches back on doors,pry up stuck windows or a least open up enough space to stick in something larger.Beats the hell out of any folder for prying.

If I carried a backpack around I'd carry a larger one for sure.Anything from a car crash, to a building fire,earthquake,bombing whatever,i'll take a 12-14 inch prybar over almost any fixed blade and my 5 dollar 7 inch bar over almost any folder.

In the concrete/steel jungle take a tool that will handle concrete and steel.:)
 
Originally posted by Lone Hunter
I'll second gitarmac's prybar!I carry a small flat 7 inch one in my bunker pocket....snip...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I can see one in your duty gear (based upon your "Bunker pocket") - The problem is for "every day carry" - Too big and heavy. Ditto the 7" knife.

Picture your NOT on duty, just "going to the store" - what are you willing to carry - ON you, not in the car or truck?
 
A 7 inch bar is too big??? Its shorter and weighs less than a bottle of water,most people are able to manage the size and weight of that ok. Its lighter than a lot of my folders and yes I have been giving it a lot of thought of carrying it daily in my fannypack.

I live in a suburb with deer in my yard,and work in a much smaller city(rochester)so I carry what I feel meets my lifestyle, and I'm still thinking of carring this small bar daily.If I spent a fair amount of time in a larger city and carried a briefcase or backpack I would carry daily a larger bar for sure no question about it, I feel its about the best tool to have if your worried about forcing egress,collapse etc.I have forced entry into buildings more times than I could ever hope to count I have never used a knife or multi-tool for this,the man spends a lot of time downtown and I'm telling him what gets the job done,if a few ounces is to much for him to carry,well its up to him.

You carry around 35-50 lbs of stuff yourself, my small bar weighs about as much as a med sized screwdriver,I don't think that would over load him.

When I go to the store,phone,folder,surefire,Glock(which weighs much much more than a small bar btw)
 
Well here it is, my finished urban survival kit. I found that designing it for a specific need made for a more effecive kit. For me, that need would be getting to safty in the event of a disaster. Since I work in a hospital I feel like that would be a target but who knows. It all fits discreetly in a camelback mule.

platypuss water bottle (collapsable and tough)
pry bar (a small gorrilla bar)
headlamp, photon micro light, and krill light stick.
some paracord
telescopic magnetic pickup stick
spare reading glasses (fold up cheap kind, old eyes)
swim goggles
leatherman wave
cloth tape, skinny duct tape, pink surveyers ribbon
bic lighter wrapped with strong twine/string
gloves (latex and heavier ones, rubbery and grippy)
bandana
whistle
small compass
a couple guaze squares and alcohol squares
safty pins
ear plugs
pen and paper
esbit fuel tabs and small candles.

I don't really think fire making material needs to be in an urban survival kit but the candles and esbit don't take up much room so what the heck, maybe it will come in handy at an oyster roast!I left out things I would have on me anyway like my cell phone and ID. I took the waist belt off the camelback since it just got in the way. I'll have plenty of light if trapped,some water, and some stuff to try to get out of a building.
 
If you have room, a light helmet like a Pro-tec climbing helmet. I bring mine along lots of places, offers some protection from flying/falling debris.
 
Here's my altoids kit. I just want to see if it shows up here....
fc8a27c1.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top