I would no more depend on the company I worked for to keep me alive than I would go into the desert stark naked in 120-degree heat. Depend on someone else's (lack of) common sense? Not me. How many times have you been in a campground near a group who brought canned goods but no can opener?

And if you can't take some of your own stuff to depend on without standing out, your survival instincts are probably sub-par, anyway.

The bottom line: if he's too dumb to take some gear that he keeps on/near him, and he dies, well..... he dies. Send flowers to the widow. Too bad, so sad.

Sue

I suppose a lot of folks go hiking with less than my EDC. DR's PSK is a good start for this trip. The Mission Wallet I EDC has both a Vic Spartan, a Peak 1xAAA, a Leatherman Squirt E4, an old drivers license for ID and cash.

Your friend may not want to be seen as overly concerned that he's not in civilization any longer, so small pocket carry only would be a much easier sell. Anything that needs to go on a belt or in a pack of any size would be a non-starter.

Your friend should have a knife and a flashlight. The Vic Spartan would be nice because it's so useful for so many things during the day and is very common. I've started using a 1xAA Fenix L1D and first impression is that it's a great light for such a small size. If they lose power, he can use the light to look thru the vast assortment of stuff the company supposedly has on hand.

( I would no more depend on the company I worked for to keep me alive than I would go into the desert stark naked in 120-degree heat. Depend on someone else's (lack of) common sense? Not me. )


I agree with you Susan

( Your friend may not want to be seen as overly concerned that he's not in civilization any longer, so small pocket carry only would be a much easier sell. Anything that needs to go on a belt or in a pack of any size would be a non-starter. )

Well, Russ, from what I heard from another engineer who went there, no one there cares if you wet your pants and go around with them wet. It's WORK-WORK-WORK type environment.

My friend is just like most people in the society, who don't think anything serious will happen. I have already givenm him a small LED flashlight and he didnt even take it with him. He could have put it in his bag with his clothes and toothpaste, but he didn't.

Oh, well.

That's why I have not told anyone what I am hiding in my office. The minute we lose power or something, everyone will be asking for the flashlight or light stick.

I can tell by the number of people using my cell phone charger.

There are some folks who understand that things don't always go as planned and some folks who would prefer to trust in providence (or the planning of their company which has taken care of everything). The company may have done a great job in taking care of everything, until something goes wrong or somebody screws up -- it's good to have a Plan B.

If your friend doesn't have or want a Plan B, don't even mention it again. Let him continue to trust in providence; it may serve him well -- it may also serve him up rare. He's not your problem.

I just returned from a religious service 30 minutes away via freeway.In that combined hour I had to take evasive action 3 times because of inattentive, aggressive or plain incompetent drivers. I almost tagged a street vendor racing his icecream pushcart against a red light.He swore at me in Mixtec. I swore back in Mixtec and he freaked out and tried to shake my hand and give me a coconut icecreme bar. I took the icecreme, didn't shake hands and he looked mad in my mirror. I had to explain to THREE competing relgious cults I had a ferocious animal behind my front door and was going to open it NOW.Said ferocious animal made a copious territorial scent marking on my BOB.

I turned on my Computer to check the site and read 'hundreds of unsafe miles.'

Please, give me some map coordinates.

What will be interesting if he survives is how his attitude changes once he gets back.

We may be seeing a new member around the campfire.

Odds are nothing will happen, not this time, not the next five or ten times. As much as I hate to say it, even the most routine preps we do are for very isolated incidents. You know how many times I've used my first aid gear in the last five years, once. I had a friend accidentally stab herself in the leg. Even that only required gauze and tape and a trip to the ER. Let alone more exotic preparations like CBRN events, which you would have to be extraordinarily unlucky to face in your entire life. Part of the reason that survival prep isn't very common, is that survival situations that break down the normal order of our lives aren't very common.

If I was this businessman, I'd have my normal pocket debris and appropriate clothing on me, and I'd have my waist pack kit, contingency clothing in my luggage, and all my clothes in my bag would be in large ziplock bags to make them, water, bug and dirt resistant. Odds are no-one would notice, but if it was a serious issue of embarrassment, the contents of my waist pack kit can easily be transferred to an extra shaving kit.

Side note, for business travel, shaving kits are the equivalent of camping stuff sacks. Put your survival kit in one, your laptop cables and bits in another. Anything small that needs to be organized can go in a different kit. A little colored cord can identify which is which.

My first priority would be clothing. Thermal regulation is job one. If I have to step out of that vehicle en route, how will I fare? At the very least, I'd want a jacket with something like GoreTex shell on the outside and fleece lining. In the side pockets, I'd have a wind-blocking fleece hat and gloves. I might roll up some light weight rain/wind proof pants and put 'em in my brief case. This time of year, most of this should be pretty unobtrusive unless it's 84F and sunny out.

My second would be map(s). Merely knowing where you are can get you out of a jam. Not knowing can get you into one. Trust me on that last one.

Of course I'd want my normal EDC stuff:
knife
multi-tool
whistle (on lanyard)
compass (also on lanyard)
mini-squeeze light (also on lanyard)
ignition source (lighter, sparker, or whatever)
cordage (braided into a key fob)
P-38 can opener (on key chain)
bandana
cell phone
pen
paper
wallet
chapstick
sunglasses

I carry things like the above everyday, and no one comments except perhaps if I actually use my knife or multi-tool.

In my bags, a fanny pack or extra shaving kit as mentioned above (excellent suggestion by the way) with some gear would be good. I think that's been covered well by posts of others.

If Chisel's friend can't be convinced to carry a small flashlight, what's the point of lists of stuff that we carry. He's convinced his company has all bases covered, life is good.

He is not us. . .

Exactly. And I'm not going to rag on him about it too much. I had a physics professor in college who talked about species survival (he had trouble staying on topic). He said species, especially a species like humans that communicates, needs individuals that explore over mountains, try the latest gadget, take risks; and a species needs individuals who stay in the cave, keep using what works, and generally are more risk adverse. Variations like that are important even when they result in the individual being less likely to survive.