Yet another Urban Survival

Instead of a bandanna, consider a Recon Wrap or Buff, which is a tube slipped over your head or face and holds itself in place. I've found my Recon Wrap filters out smoke very well.
 
Fraser said:
Can you even get out of the train car in an emergency? The doors or windows may have to be pried open.
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I cannot get into this problem any further at this moment.
If the train has derailed and crashed, the door will not properly open anyway.

I'll have to see how the train is constructed and find out the best way to escape from the train.

gadgetgeek said:
glow sticks would have a huge psychological value to the other passengers in your section of the train, which in turn would help you to focus. a point source of light is personal, but a lantern feels more communal, if that makes any sense. I'd have trouble riding a train like that without a bunch of probably unnecessary gear. with a little knowledge, those biners and webbing could be invaluable.
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From my experience of caving, I'm not a big fan of glow sticks but as you said,
pointy light source has it's own limitation that the train running underground should
better be equipped with this kind of lantern type light source.
The train has a hand-held flashlight at the both ends of the car as an emergency equipment.

CWL said:
In addition to your train kit, have you considered keeping an emergency bag at your workplace?
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The office is located fifteenth floor of a newly build skyscraper.
This is yet another headache to me :(
But I think it's too much a trouble to handle within a single thread.
Sometimes I consider bringing a climbing rope I don't use regularly.

Snow said:
Off topic, but what are the laws regarding knife carry in Japan? I was under the impression they were very strict and a fixed blade such as yours was a no-no.
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The situation is exactly what you said, Snow.
It's not allowed to carry.

Maybe I should pack gears into a nice package. I'll find nice box someday.
Anyway, it's not allowed to protect myself in Japan because of the stupid laws.
Thus protecting myself and family has far more priority than stupid laws.

MidniteSuperMod, I've never heard of ReconWrap.
This is a cool product! I'm learning so many thing on this BF!
Thanks!

Thanks again for all of you for giving useful responses.
 
I thought it was you who posted this situation before, glad to see you have started studying the situation enough to realize that not all imaginable bad scenarios would be catastrophic in nature. That it could be bad but survivable by someone with a few preps. Glad to see you are making preps.

Snow said:
Off topic, but what are the laws regarding knife carry in Japan? I was under the impression they were very strict and a fixed blade such as yours was a no-no.
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I think if you look around you will notice that in certain instances there are several here who tend to subscribe to the philosophy that it is "better to be tried by twelve than carried by six". If you're not a criminal, and not committing criminal activities...seldom will you actually be treated like one...though yes it does happen.
 
Just an added thought.....one of those small dynamo flashlights that require no batteries, and a small fine toothed metal cutting reciprocating saw blade might be useful also.
 
mistwalker said:
Just an added thought.....one of those small dynamo flashlights that require no batteries, and a small fine toothed metal cutting reciprocating saw blade might be useful also.
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Well said, mistwalker.
metal cutting saw is useful for various choirs, and most of all, it's light and small.
For the dynamo light, at first I thought 'I want no dynamo light. They are too bulky and heavy... '.
But I changed my mind and searched for small one....
The result was quite surprising to me.
Thanks again for your great advices!

candlelight001 said:
What's the carabiner/sling for?
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I have no particular idea.:D
But I know they are so useful in various ways and I'm quite familiar with them.
 
One thing you might want to consider....and this is going to sound odd coming from a fixed blade knife sort of guy, but I try to be pragmatic and match my tools to the environment I am in at the time. It has already been mentioned that adding a mini pry bar to the kit would be a good idea and I agree...however you may want to consider just replacing that small fixed blade with something like one of these; The Boker Cop Tool, or the C.R.K.T. MAK-1 (both of which are labeled as tools), or something similar. First off it would likely do more good in this particular environment, and secondly it could be argued by a good counselor that it is a tool and not a weapon and thereby perhaps lower any possible punishment should you be caught carrying it.


(note: I am not suggesting buying from any particular place...I do little online shopping and the links are given for information purposes only)




Boker Cop tool,

BokerCoptool.jpg



a link to specs

http://www.cutleryshoppe.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=8366



C.R.K.T. MAK-1

CRKTMAK-1.jpg



link to specs

http://www.cgwgun.com/Knives-EDC/CRKT-Knives-MAK1-Rescue-Chisel__CRM2050.aspx

and a video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh1x-9uKYCc
 
I lived in the Tokyo area for 12 years, everytime I went on the train I thought about earthquakes. You have to appreciate how packed these trains are too. You might end up with over a hundred bodies on you before you can move out. The windows are sealed as the carrige is airconditioned all year. I think the doors will yield to pressure in an emergency.

Light is definately the priority if only to calm other people, so low output LED's with 100's hours runtime is probably the best solution. Maybe a small first aid kit, some good over the counter pain killers in case you get hit with something during a sudden stop or crash.

Fluid is a must, so a bottle of water, its hard to carry as it weighs so much, but what can you do.

You cant make a fire so thats something you will have to deal with.

A whistle to make noise with in the even of people looking for you.

A piece of chalk to mark where you have been/ leave message to say who you are and you are alive (your family would probably like this) in case there are lots of ways out.
 
Might a person want a small spring loaded center punch for a window breaker. I know a few EMT's that carry these to "open" some windows if they have to get into a car to a victim. or some other glass breaker.

I carry an el cheapo small LED flashlight most all of the time because even if you aren't in a tunnel of underground it is nighttime half of the time anyway.
 
omniviking said:
Might a person want a small spring loaded center punch for a window breaker. I know a few EMT's that carry these to "open" some windows if they have to get into a car to a victim. or some other glass breaker.

I carry an el cheapo small LED flashlight most all of the time because even if you aren't in a tunnel of underground it is nighttime half of the time anyway.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure the windows are perspex.
 
Fujita, would it be possible for you to post any pics of the normal situation on the train? Maybe some shots of what you can see looking out the widows as the train slows for the stopping points?
 
I would add a battery powered charger for your cell phone, maybe with spare batteries. I'm sure getting hold of someone to get rescued would be one of the first things to do when the train is stopped or as you assess the situation.

EDIT: Not sure if cell phones work in underwater tunnels :)
 
Another thought. You know where the stops are where people get on and off....but, wouldn't there be a chance, since the tunnel is so long, that there might be utility rooms or areas spaced in between the stops where there is emergency access, or possibly "in-house" communications lines? Stands to reason that maintenance crews wouldn't be able to use wireless transmissions for communication with the outside world. Would there be a way to locate such places?
 
mistwalker said:
Boker Cop tool,

BokerCoptool.jpg
Click to expand...
You know, I never really warmed up to the idea of these belt-cutting rescue tools for anyone but perhaps a fireman or EMT, but as I look at this one, it might not be a bad thing to carry in a car bag or and EDC bag to supplment a folder or multi-tool. I can imagine a number of uses for them in different emergencies urban emergencies (cutting, prying, breaking). I may just add one to my own USK. ;)

(Damn, another toy to buy! Subscribing to this forum continues to prove a costly endevor!)
 
mdauben said:
You know, I never really warmed up to the idea of these belt-cutting rescue tools for anyone but perhaps a fireman or EMT, but as I look at this one, it might not be a bad thing to carry in a car bag or and EDC bag to supplment a folder or multi-tool. I can imagine a number of uses for them in different emergencies urban emergencies (cutting, prying, breaking). I may just add one to my own USK. ;)

(Damn, another toy to buy! Subscribing to this forum continues to prove a costly endevor!)
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I don't see much use for them as a woods tool no...but as my life has become more and more urbanized....I have warmed up to them quite a bit.

and yes...reading too much here can get costly.
 
mistwalker said:
Fujita, would it be possible for you to post any pics of the normal situation on the train? Maybe some shots of what you can see looking out the widows as the train slows for the stopping points?
Click to expand...

The train I ride everyday is not full at all.
I can always have a seat.
This is almost only positive thing with my situation.
There are several vertical shafts for escape within the tunnel,
whose position is scribed deeply into my memory.

Besides that, everything is too bad to be considered seriously.
I've stopped thinking about it for these several months until I got that headlamp.

But Tokyo is not the only city with this kind of conundrum.
I think there was a serious metro accident in D.C. several weeks ago.
I'd be glad to see other member's preparation for tunnel accident.
 
fujita yuji said:
The train I ride everyday is not full at all.
I can always have a seat.
This is almost only positive thing with my situation.
There are several vertical shafts for escape within the tunnel,
whose position is scribed deeply into my memory.

Besides that, everything is too bad to be considered seriously.
I've stopped thinking about it for these several months until I got that headlamp.

But Tokyo is not the only city with this kind of conundrum.
I think there was a serious metro accident in D.C. several weeks ago.
I'd be glad to see other member's preparation for tunnel accident.
Click to expand...

As I stated before, if you have no choice but to ride this thing...then you have no choice but to face it for what it is and accept it, and prepare for at least some eventualities for you own peace of mind. There are several things that could happen short of catastrophe. A natural weather occurrence (or a man made incident) could happen and cause a power failure. It is mechanical and therefore subject to mechanical failures (too numerous to name) that could leave the train stuck for some time before crews could fix it. Are there multiple trains and switch tracks? If so then there could be other problems less than catastrophic there as well.

The thing is Fujita to prepare for what you can deal with and don't just succumb to despair. Less than tragic occurrences happen everyday...they just seldom make the news due too their lack of excitement for the general public....they can still be quite exciting for those who experience them.

We'll see if we can't get more of the metro folks involved in this thread.
 
I ride the subway every day.
Pass under the East River both ways.
The biggest thing to have is light.
Underground dark is like no other dark.
All of those that scoffed at my flashlight changed their tune after being caught underground during the last black out.

I think the biggest danger is the rest of your fellow commuters.
People in groups make stupid easier than on their own.
If you've ever been in a crowd where one person freaks, you know how contagious it can be.
That's where the light comes in.
The glow sticks are a great idea.
Passing them around could pacify the crowd.

Other things in my "911" bag are work gloves, a dust mask, multi tool (Swiss Spirit), asst'd cordage, bandana, very basic FAK, and a disposable rain poncho.
There was a short prybar in there for a while, but I've been leaving it home.
There is a fine line between perceived emergency items and B&E gear.
;)

Oh, and one other thing, brought home to my coworkers during the blackout, comfortable shoes.
You may be hoofing it.
I'm lucky, it's only a 3 mile walk :)
 
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