The "shower kit" raises some real questions about the size limits of your "container" and the meaning of "carry".

If your car kit is inaccessible, thats a pretty bad situation. If I were wearing dress attire and was miles from home, loss of my car kit (extra shoes, etc) would be a major PITA. As Susan mentioned, if the roadways are impassable, walking might be the only way home. And then there's the fires from broken gas lines, etc, etc. After an instant disaster like a major earthquake, improvisation would be the word of the day.

Another suggestion for good dress-looking shoes that are extremely comfy: Blundstones. I have had a pair for over a year now, and love them. Mine are laceless (I cannot stand lace up shoes, a silly pet peeve, I know!), and look like dress shoes, but arecomfy like docs. They look quite smart, actually!
I have enough stuff in my jeep for an indefinite time away, minus food and water. Living in new england, water isnt really an issue; besides, I alsways have my water bottle with me. But, for EDC, I carry very little, barring two knives, and my keychain. However, it really isnt practical for me to carry gear with me. The worst we have to deal with is snow or ice storms, which, incidentally, my sisters family was without power for almost 2 weeks. My nephew cooked for his two younger siblings for the fist few days, on a soda can stove I helped him make. And, he had plenty of other gear to keep warm, until they got to a shelter. Needless to say, I was proud of him!! But, these types of storms are rare; and usually it is a sit & wait scenario.

Living in the NY Metro area, here's my EDC: A Spdyerco Delica, Leatherman Xe-6, Mcfeely Pocket Wrench, orange bandana, 2nd. orange bandana- hot ironed placed in a Gerber Breast Milk Bag with some flat rolled Gorilla tape secured to the bag, wallet with flat maganifier- 4 quarters- $400 in cash (a mix of bills)- credit cards- ID, Medic Alert necklace with: name- tel. no.-Blood Type - etc., keychain with 2 Photons- pill capsule- P-38- Bison whistle- BSA fire starter rod- Utili-Key- compass, and a box of small wood matches. I also try to have a larger GHB kit in a briefcase or small backpack, but that's for a different post.

Forgot to list my Blackberry.

I carry leather shells, wool liners, and two pairs of nitriles EDC. *laughs* Putting my fingers on stuff sharp/rough/dirty/cold/hot/slippery/icky is just part of normal planning.

It's not "if the roads are impassible", they WILL be impassible. That's an absolute guarantee. I lived in the Bay Area for six years and rode out a few 'inconsequential' shakes. I left on September 14, 1989 and a month later the Loma Prieta quake hit and, generally speaking, it was a minor quake, 6.9 and only 15 seconds long.

You can also count on the signposts being down, twisted or nonexistent, so if you have to go somewhere (like home) you'd best have a compass on your person, in addition to the maps, because the areas you know so well probably won't be all that recognizable.

Living off the land in that particular scenario will be impossible, no matter how you meant it, with so many unprepared people so close. Any store that is still accessible will be empty of useful items by the time you get there. You will be lucky to survive a foot trip, and the more you look like a homeless person, the better. The Brooks Brothers suit, Italian shoes, good haircut and laptop case will scream 'PREY!"

The Anchorage earthquake (1964) had a moment magnitude of 9.2 and registered 8.4 on the Richter scale. There were vertical land displacements of up to 38 feet, and tsunamis up to 70 feet high.

Can you imagine if anything similar hit the Bay area? There would probably be major quake liquification of all the areas that are built on fill (like Foster City), and maybe much of the shoreline, too. SF is 52'above sea level, San Mateo, 43', Burlingame, 25', E. Palo Alto, 24', Oakland, 42', Alameda, 30', San Leandro, 49', Hayward, 32'. Add a tidal wave to that...

I never loitered on the Golden Gate or the Bay/Oakland bridges, either.

Just the idea gives me the shudders.

Sue

I have little to offer to the many good replies but this; MAKE FRIENDS!
I've been 3 decades out of San Francisco.I still keep in touch with a chinese kid i did a rather off the record favour for in bootcamp.
The people in Herman's deli on Geary remember me, as does the owner of Cable Car Clothiers and City Lights Bookstore.
The ladies on lake Mac Arthrur have probably all passed, but the black jazz club still sends me fliers for concerts.
When the Mafia Don I met at a deli passed away I sent a condolence card- and a thankyou note from his bodyguard!
You're in a unique, multicultural city within small geographical boundaries, the ones our grandparents grew up in back east.
So make friends there. In a disaster a known face is worth more than all the bartering bricks of .22s money can buy.

Sounds like a good way to get shot for looting.

Can't travel!
Can't sit still!
So what are you going to do?
Are you going to just lie down and die?

REMEMBER!
Attitude is everything!

If you are still standing after the quake you are in good shape.
Other people are already dying because medical services can't get to them.

The stuff in the car is just stuff.
Nothing magical.

It might be nice stuff, but it is still just stuff, and it can likely be replaced with or substituted by other stuff.

What is in your head matters much more.
Having the survivor's attitude matters much more.
Being able to take an inventory of your situation and figure out a rational plan of action is of far greater value than a few trinkets in a bag.

Have you got a phone? Maybe you are still lucky.
I bet you might like to phone somebody and let them know you are OK and where you are, and where you are heading to.
A roadmap from that shelf full of them inside the gas station might be a nice thing to have too.

But be careful and don't risk injury by going into unstable areas.
Even if on foot you should be able to do ten miles a day fairly easy, if there are no really bad patches you might be able to do 30 miles a day.
If pressed that means you can travel between one hundred and three hundred miles in ten days if you really, really need to.
But if you break a leg now you are stuck where you are.

Yes your shoes might be a problem to walk in, but if there is a lot of broken glass you will need something to protect your feet. You can find boots or wrap your feet with rags if you really can not walk in those shoes.
But it is better to have a few blisters than a foot full of broken glass.

Water? Yes, grab a few bottles now.
Water is much more important than food.
Maybe you should grab some coffee filters and a small jug of bleach.
It only takes a few drops of bleach in a water bottle to sterilize it if you filter the crud out of it first.
Even if the water is not really clean you are better to get sick from it than to die of dehydration.


Food? Yeah it is good, but you are not going to start starving to death for ten days.

However, if you are standing in the cold rain you could start to die of hypothermia in a few hours.
Staying warm and dry matters more than food or water right at this moment.
So you should figure out a solution to that problem right away before your body temperature drops and you become unable to think clearly.