What Has Worked - Or Not Worked _ For You?

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maury

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Sep 24, 2000
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As a New Yorker, living in Lower Manhattan, who heard the first plane fly over my apartment house on the morning of 9-11, I became painfully aware of the need to be prepared for the unthinkable. Since that morning, I have tried to carry the basic items I hope I will never need to use with me at all times. Over the years I have added and removed things, based on what has become available as well as what I have learned and what is just plain practical for a middle aged guy to carry in his pocket, his briefcase or the family vacation bag.

So, here's my question: What items have any of you actually used in a real survival situation? Has anyone had to cut through a seat belt or smash a car window? Have you had to build a fire or use fire to signal? Have you found yourself depending on your SAK or a length of paracord to save a life?

On the other side, knowing what doesn't work can be most valuable. So, has a piece of gear you thought to be reliable ever failed?

I would really hope to hear from anyone who has a “real life” bit of advice for me.

Thanks!!
 
Good questions Maury. I too am a NY'er and I walked into Manhattan on 9.11 to fetch my daughter (& 3 others) from HS.

A couple of things that I noticed then, and during the blackout were that cellphones were useless and comfey shoes a must.
I was amazed during both instances by the number of people on the long walk home limping, or worse walking barefoot, because of stylish but not functional footwear.
During the black out there were huge #'s of people without flashlights in the subways. Even a MagLight solitair is a comfort in the true darkness of a tunnel.

My rotary dial, hard wired phone in my house worked through both events.

My own day bag (murse?) is a Maxpedition Fatboy with a headlamp, dust mask, Swisstool Spirit, Gerber sharpening steel (clever disguise for a prybar;) ) bandana, cordage, lightweight poncho, construction trash bag, notebook and pen.

Oh, then there was the day a kid's sneaker laces got stuck in the bottom of a down escalator and I cut them out, so the crowd behind him didn't pile up on the kid.
Not a 'real life survival situation' but a scarey moment for the kid.

Again, good question.
 
Ebbtide:

A note on footwear: I recall a shoe store owner right near the WTC standing in front of his shop and handing out his stock of sneakers and flat soled shoes to women who had lost or discarded their "stylish" heels as they escaped that morning's terror.

Footwear: A "must" consideration.
 
Had to build a fire and but quick when dumb arse buddy tipped his canoe over on a winter paddle down a river, in January, 5 minutes before dark,and 5 above F. I always carry fire,ALWAYS. Probably not an issue in the city. My buddy was lucky that I had brought a change of dry clothes of the natural fiber variety. We had to walk out but all was well. No failures. No chest beating intended, but if I have fire and a knife I'm just fine. I must admit though after the attack I carried my bow and arrows in my car at all times too for about six months. I wasn't sure that there would be more attacks and I wanted to be able to get to my kids in a worst case senario. Woulda fought my way if need be.;)
 
Also a New Yorker, On the 58 Th Floor [Governor’s Office] in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Had to use a MiniMag to light up the Stairwell’s for the people to get down and Bandana to filter out the smoke. Used a Screwdriver to pry open office door’s searching for anyone hiding in their office. We live in a City of Cave’s .Flashlight and a prying tool or someway to pick the lock latch is needed alway's.
 
Which brings me to a question that a resident LEO might want to address.
Flashlight
Mask/Bandana
Gloves (forgot them in my original post, leather unlined work gloves)
Prybar (you've seen it in the quiz post)
Knife


Are those items burgurlary tools or city survival tools?

Discretion of the officer?

I ask because of the silly bag search policy...
 
maury,
mostly we learn how to approach a problem or situation, as someone once said, it is not the first mistake that kills you, it is the compounding of the second and third mistakes that kill you.

most of survival training is how not to get into a survival situation in the first place. an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.

if you recognize what is happening early then you take steps to avoid those second and third mistakes that are fatal.

many people even some experience woodsman dont realize that they are in trouble.

a few months ago i posted a story about a hunter that dies from hypothermia.
first he left his hunting partner-- mistake1.
then he did not have a map or compass--mistake 2.
then when it got dark he did not make himself a camp and wait out the night--mistake 3.
since he had no way to warm himself he developed hypothermia,which caused him to walk away from his truck instead of toward it mistake 4.
since he had not made a camp and had walked for miles he was exhausted and burned up his ready supply of energy producing glucose, now with no sugar to burn and his body losing heat,he became irrational, he was not able to start a fire/build a shelter/ walk out. in effect he was incapable of saving himself. even if he had recognized his problem he did not have the energy to correct it himself. he had never thought that he could get lost have to spend the night out, would need some common items to save himself, hence he did not bring anything with him. this guy died because he did not have a bic lighter and a space blanket with him, total cost about 10 bucks.

when the SAR team found him, they were unable to correct his body temperature, and after some time he was evacuated by chopper to a hospital where he died.

by our endless discussion of different scenarios on this forum, we are subconsciously programing our thought patterns to react in a certain way. as the saying goes"you will not rise to the occasion, you will sink to your level of training". when you are driving a car, if you see a car cross the center line you swerve befor you think about it, because you have already programed yourself to avoid an oncoming car.

i have a bunch of stories from my hunting experiences but all ended well because of the preprograming.

i hope this helps you understand why we are here . never rely on gear, gear gets lost, broken, forgotten, borrowed, we rely on knowledge.

alex
 
Ebbtide said:
Which brings me to a question that a resident LEO might want to address.
Flashlight
Mask/Bandana
Gloves (forgot them in my original post, leather unlined work gloves)
Prybar (you've seen it in the quiz post)
Knife


Are those items burgurlary tools or city survival tools?

Discretion of the officer?

I ask because of the silly bag search policy...
Click to expand...

The answer is both thus it depends on what you are doing with them. I can only speak authoritatively on FL law, but in order to get a charge of "Possession of Burglary Tools" you must basically catch the individual commiting a Burglary or Theft (not necessarily using them). If you are stopped for any particular reason and in possession of these items you may be questioned about them obviously, but the best course of action is to state exactly what they are intended for, a worst case scenario incident like 9/11. The items themselves are perfectly legal and so is carrying them together with you. The real tricky issue is carrying the knife however as laws regarding weapons are so varied throughout the country. And or course anywhere that a knife is outright prohibited such as a government building or airliner. This you may wish to check on in your own area.
 
Excellent and thank you both.
My knife is always within the NYC rules.
I'm too old to look for trouble. :D

So I'm off to make leather end covers for my prybar, it's way lighter than the Gerber sharpening steel ;)
 
Ebbtide you should also take a short section of a hacksaw blade ,say about 3-4 inche's put on your key chain use it as you see fit[sheeple freindly string/box cutter,latch opener,screwdriver use your imagination:D ]
 
I live in a suburb of Washington D.C., and after 9-11 I thought about what I carry alot more. But I kept it simple.

Fashlight, 2. I carry a Photon 2 on my keychain and my mag solitare has been replaced by a CMG Infinity. The long run time is what I like, if I have to find way out of a metro tunnel or building.

Extra bandannas. I now carry two bandannas or even three sometimes. They can be moistened and tied over mouth and nose for filter, couple slits cut into and tied over eyes to keep some of the dust out of eyes. Emergency bandage.

Swiss army knife. Lots of uses. Saw blade is nice to cut off a hiking staff out of something. A big stick is a comfort.

New Balance athletic shoes. Light weight, can go lots of miles if I have to, and has good traction on bad surfaces. Since my wife and I are retired, we dress casual and always wear our New Balance for general shoes since we walk alot anyway. In bad weather we have our Danners.

A rain pancho. You just nevr know.

A bottle of water. Used to rinse out eyes, wounds. Not to mention carry drinking water.

Very large Craftsman screw driver. Used as light pry bar.

Spare pair of thick socks.

gloves.

Space blacket.

All the above fits in a small light daypack that goes with us anytime we go downtown.
 
Im now carrying a Maxpedition Devildog as a shoulder bag (tucked the belt away inside the padded butt section)
I also ALWAYS carry fire. SAK Explorer with Swedish Firesteel & spy capsule of vaseline/cotton.
The bag carries litre of water in lexan bottle (wound irrigation/eyewash & drink), Dust mask, leather gloves, SAS tin, FAK, Flashlight (photon ALWAYS on my keys with another firestarter rod) & the bag will also carry my everyday gear, lunch, car stereo faceplate etc)
At the very least, certainly in an urban/underground (subway, carpark, restaurant) scenario, I think its essential to carry dust mask & flashlight AND a F***ing loud whistle!
 
Alco141-

Some excellent points, particularly about mental preparation. I know threads here tend to go in some esoteric directions: which model of which piece of gear, how many, what color, etc. - not that that kind of information is bad, but in the end it is indeed training and mind set that will make the difference. We learned that, tragically, on 9-11.

Actually my point in posting the original question was to get feedback on what the least amount of grear people feel necessary to have on hand – as in: the absolute best survival knife is the one in my pocket when I need it! I also would still like to hear from anyone who has had a piece of equipment fail, or at least not perform as expected in a critical situation. I think that can be equally valuable info.

Ebbtide-

As far as I know the law about possession of burglar tools in NYC is pretty much as explained in the post from FL.: it is the situation that will determine if what you are carrying is a crime. We do have some statutes about lock picks, but other than that, there are no specific “burglar” tools. It is the same as your SAK being perfectly legal until you attack someone with it. Then it becomes a “dangerous instrument” and adds another charge to the crime.
 
Well, this hasn't scared anyone yet :D
canoemarbles.gif

I think I will be looking for a whistle though.

(And a note for the NYC'ers
EMS is closing their uptown branch on the 20 IIRC.
The downtown store will still be there.
It figures, I just got a new job within walking distance of the uptown store.
:grumpy: )
 
Dam Ebb, I have a extra Jet Scream Whistle I could have sent up with Scope mounts.

Take a look at that one -- flatter profile than a coach's type whistle.

Good post here.

Jim
 
Geeze Jim, maybe it'd be easier if you'd adopt me :D

Thanx, I'm sure I'll find one locally :thumbup:
 
Not at all an emergency, but I did have a situation today that was facilitated by a piece of emergency survival equipment I was carrying.

I was out hiking with my closest friend, her husband, and their 2 year old daughter, today. We were in 2200 acres of redwoods, oaken woods, and meadows, hiking off-trail while foraging edible fungi. I was walking fairly near to my closest friend (and her daughter, who was asleep on her back) when we realized that we had gotten separated from her husband. He could've been just about anywhere. We would've hiked back to the car, and waited for him to show up, which would've put a crimp on the day, but instead...

I had my friend and her daaughter stand a couple hundred feet away, so that the noise wouldn't be too much, then I made a series of blasts with my emergency whistle (carefully avoiding making any series of three closely spaced toots, so as not to make an ememrgency signal). By the sound of the whistle, he found us.

The emergency whistle was rather effective for a good distance in thick redwood forest. They are well worth carrying as a signal device.


Mike
 
the Japanese have a word, 'zanshen', which might be loosely translated as combat awareness. A teacher once broadened the definition for me, he said "zanshen is avoiding a fight in the first place, if you see a dodgy looking pub, then don't go in. If you do, then be prepared to kill to get out again".
i'd emphasise the "not going in" part, but I have to agree with all of the previous threads that emphasise your 'state of mind', your 'pre-training' etc. Through experience, disposition and training, a person can remain relatively calm compared to those around him, and in so doin be able to fight effectively, to provide medical care, to navigate clearly despite fatigu,a nd to know when to call a halt and prepare for the oncoming night. This is all 'zanshen', this all 'mindset'.
 
Maury,

I'll speak specifically on smashing car windows. I've done this several times, with wildly different results. Once, I taped lightly on a driver's side front window with a mag lite and it shattered. Oops ! Drunk driver inside was a little upset. If I recall correctly, the car was a Jeep Grand Cherokee and it was very cold outside.

Another time, on a hot day, in a Walmart parking lot , I had a baby locked inside a car while Mom was shopping. Car was not running and baby was in distress. I deployed my ASP, wound up and took a swing, angling it so glass wouln't hit baby. ASP bounced right off. Embarrasing, and cost the baby a few seconds. Three hits later I was in. The car was a Lexus sedan.

I think, generally, that if you are trapped in a car or a revolving door or anywhere where your mobility is restrained by modern glass, that you will require a specialized glass breaker to move at speed through the barrier.I have one on the end of my handcuff key, but a spark plug tip works wonders, and I keep one handy in my personal vehicles in the ashtray, along with a seatbelt cutting hook.

City survival scenarios are always interesting because of the extreme varibility of enviroments and the increased chance of human predation, increasing the need for a purpose driven weapon in exactly the most un-weapon friendly enviroments.

Take Care,
Jeff
 
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