It seems that most of the personal survival packs are geared toward wilderness survival conditions. They are heavy on things such as fish hooks, snare wires, signalling mirrors, and other items useful or necessary for surviving with little or no support a sudden emergency situation in the wild.

I work in an urban area and need a small pack containing items that will help me endure urban emergencies. I am not talking about a bug-out bag or a get-home bag (I have a separate get home bag in my office). I'm not talking about preparing for survival after catastrophic disasters. This is simply a bag that will help me deal with urban events such as massive (but short term) power outages, hazmat emergencies, mass transit stoppages in inconvenient places such as tunnels, or other events that may occur when I am out on the streets, in a cab, on the subway, or at a meeting away from my get-home bag. The idea is to get me through the event until a) the event is over and/or b) I can get to my get-home bag.

This is more a preparedness pack than a hard-core personal survival bag. During the day I always have it with me, either on my belt (under a jacket) or in my canvas briefcase/shoulder pouch. I would appreciate some comments, but I am kinda committed to the pouch size I now have and don't want to upgrade to a bigger pack. Going to a bigger pack would seem to defeat the purpose of the pack, so I've already decided to avoid things like saw blades and fishing lures that will not prove very useful on a midtown corner. It is a small belt pack, so if anything new goes in, something has to come out.

On my key chain I carry a Photon micro-light II and an REI whistle.

On my belt I carry my cell phone in a phone pouch that also has room for a Fisher Space Pen Stowaway and several sheets of Rite-in-the-Rain paper.

Maxpedition M-1 Waistpack.

Knife (Leatherman e/303)
Flashlight (Photon/Proton)
N95 particle mask
Cliff Bar
$20.00 (4x$5.00)
First aid items in a plastic sandwich bag:
2 anti-bacterial wipes
2 motrin
2 gauze pads (2"x2")
2 adhesive bandages (1.5"x3")
Duct tape
I'd like to squeeze in one of those individual pouches of water that Datrex markets, but I haven't tried it yet.