A Personal Survival Kit (PSK) is a great idea. But a Dad Survival Kit (DSK) may be more important sometimes!

All in all, I'm known for being prepared and all that (I ALWAYS have a flashlight, leatherman Wave and Ligher on my person), and typically travel with (what I thought was) a pretty robust PSK on my person and an even more robust kit in the Jeep.

But the other day, I was out with my son (he's three) and was just laughing at myself for carrying my little survival kit and how few of all the things we had with us to "survive" helped with my son coming down with a severe bout of diarreah while we were in a large shopping center.

Due to his frequent need to stop, It took us a LONG time to get out of this huge shopping center, we were at one end when he got sick - the jeep was at the other, about 3/4 of a mile away. The trip was punctuated with extended stops in various public restrooms just trying to get back to the Jeep to get home again.

In addition to a space all-weather blanket, matches, a leatherman wave tool and a small first aid kit and other "classic" PSK items I had with me, in a small shoulder pack, I sure wish I had brought a DSK. My dad survival kit would have added to the PSK:

- spare underwear for my son - more than one pair would have been nice
- spare pants for my son
- spare socks for my son (yes, it went all the way down his leg to his socks. Ugh.)
- some sort of soft wipes for him (for obvious reasons)
- chewable or liquid anti-diarreah meds. I did have some immodium-type meds in my kit, however, we found out that little guy could not swallow the tablet and ended up barfing all over the place t - they taste pretty horrid!
- a few kitchen-size trash bags for him to stand on while I did cleanup in the various public restrooms with wet floors. This is all the more embarassing because a trashbag is ALWAYS in the various PSK lists I read about and I didn't have ANY with me. Duh!

It also could have been handy to have
- A small towel or washcloth I could clean out in a sink
- Anti-bacterial soap in bar form

Moms reading this must be getting a good laugh, because any properly equipped diaper bag would have covered all of this and more.

I'm sure that other dads have been in this or similar situations, however, this experience did bring up a few real shortcomings in my PSK and 72 Hour/Evacuations that need to be addressed:

- If you travel with kids, you'll need kids meds in your first aid kit. Not only was our attempt at dosing probobly innacurate (YOU try to break a tiny immodium pill into quarters) but the meds themselves turned out to be useless because he barfed them up. If it was a longer-term situation, this could have been a problem. For example, if you have pottasium Iodate in your kit, look now at the dosing for kids and consider how you'll get that into them quickly if needed.

- Kids need more clothes than adults - way more. This is especially important for any 72hr + kits you have.

Well, I though you all might get a kick out of what happened to an "equipped" dad. I was flustered and stinky by the time we finally made it home!

Hi martinfocazio,

Welcome to Equipped!

Sounds like you had your hands full. Having been down similar paths (3 kids), I can well relate to the feeling of frustration that you likely experienced.

It is truly amazing how much stuff you start lugging with you when you are blessed with kids. Stroller / diaper bag / car seat / food & other necessity items, as you've learned, the list keeps going.

Hmmm.... Personal Survival Kit / Dad Survival Kit / Personal Emergency Kit / Baby Kit, they never seem to have everything you need, and they seem to keep growing and changing, the only constants seem to be change and the fact that they are all personalized for their users. Up till now, I've not seen a DSK listed in the forums. This is an area that has not really been addressed, however it does reflect on (IMO) a valid concern for some of our members.

On the bright side, you were indoors in a relatively protected environment, and not out in the rain / cold / fill in the blank.

Regards,
Comanche7

That's very true.
When I venture out with my kids 5,3,1 I'm never without my backpack with diapers, 2 sets of clothes + undies for each of them diapers, wipes, water, snacks etc. - Basically your well equipped diaper bag !

<img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

These posts are always humorous- to those removed from the situation by time,space or responsibility <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> There are two serious lessons here if we look. #1 survival ,regardless of scenario is not about men, the physically able or trained. It must include consideration and gear useable by children and the infirm. #2 I believe the #1 killer of children worldwide is this very malady, brought on by poor hygiene and nutrition in the all to numerous impoverished nations <img src="images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Good topic. Gotta say it.....BEEN THERE, DONE THAT!

I learned after my first child (she's now 4) that you have to plan on taking lots of stuff with you everywhere. In addition to the normal diaper bag for our second child (5 months), we normally take a backpack with clothes, snacks and toys for our older child. The backpack also has first aid kit to which we've added a few items to handle "emergencies" such as what you described. A small pack of moist towlettes also rests in the bottom of the pack next to a pack of kleenex.

In each of our vehicle...we've packed a 1 gallon zip-loc baggie with: 4 diapers (appropriate size), small pack of wipes, diaper rash cream, 1 small bottle and two sleeves of powdered formula. We also keep moist towlettes in each of our vehicles for cleanups. This is just in case we're caught out without the diaper bag or supplies are short. <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />