*** shelter ***
4x8 tarp - coghlan's all purpose thermal blanket
emergency bivy - american medical
survival blanket - american medical large heat sheet
mosquito head net
100' parachute cord
sleeping pad (with stuff sack)

*** food/water ***
food bars (3x datrex bars)
2 ltr's water
water filter - aquamira frontier
water purification tabs - potable aqua
3x drink mix

metal cup - gsi 18oz (fits bottom of water bottle)
water bottle - nalgene 1 litre

3x drink mix
4x tea bags
3x bouillon cubes
spoon - alphalight 7075-t6
fork - lexan
esbit stove with 3x tablets
3' aluminum foil

Here's my $0.02 worth.

Remove shampoo, use bar soap period. I hate it when they leak all over.

Add swimmer's goggles for eye protection. They're small and lightweight. You have N95's but you may need some dust protection.

Double your number of garbage bags. If you need to go swimming it would be better to double bag your gear. You never know when the other two could come in handy for a multitude of things.

Consider adding a couple of aspirin tablets. With the stress of such an event you never know when you might need them to survive a heart attack. I'm over 50 too and I always carry a couple, just in case.

Overall I like your thinking. As a parallel, I am putting together something similar. But I have one advantage in that I have a car that will serve as a rescue ark. My office bag will be strictly used for getting out of the building and to my car.

Had not considered the leakage factor on the shampoo. Have been reconsidering the whole personal hygiene kit, but just using bar soap would be an obvious choice.

Hadn't thought about swim goggles. I added some work goggles to my "use and leave at the office" equipment, but hadn't really thought about uses outside the office. I like the swim goggles better than the work goggles. Less space, less weight, better fit. Maybe more likely to fog up, but maybe not.

You'd go for four of the large (50 gal) garbage bags? I know they have a multitude of uses, but they are heavy. At least the ones I have. My two 50 gal, two 30 gal, 6 zip ties and few wire-ties weigh in at a pound already. Did you have other uses in mind?

I also had not thought about pure aspirin as a heart-attack preventer. Would you just use if you felt you having a heart-attack or take a tablet every four hours as a preventative? I had planned on taking some ibuprofen before I started out to help with muscle soreness. Wonder if aspirin would accomplish the same thing and serve a dual-purpose in helping the heart. Ibuprofen and Tylenol are the only things I have tried for preventive muscle pain. Maybe I'll give aspirin a try next time and see if it seems to work as well.

Glad to hear you will have access to your car. That gives you a lot of options. Thanks for $.02 worth. (Hmmm. Wonder with inflation, how long it will be $20 worth.)

A few comments on your first aid supplies. While I’m a fan of the Adventure Medical Kits and have several of them including the larger fundamentals kit that I keep in my SUV. I’ve beefed all of my kits up with additional blood stopping padding and non stick pads of various sizes, as if you have to change the dressing you are definitely going to want the non-stick next to the wound for comfort and even more importantly so you don’t get the bleeding started again. I’d also add at least one of the Sam Splints and a roll of coban, vet wrap or an ace type bandage to keep it in place, along with a small bottle of Betadine. I prefer the vet wrap or coban as they are much easier to tailor to the exact need than the ace types. With all of my kits, with the exception of what I carry in my pocket, I’ve put the AMK of whatever size into dry stuff sacs of various sizes so the kit and the additional supplies are all together-- not scattered around my vehicle or pack.

I too live in W Washington but in one of the smaller towns south of Seattle and also have a couple of dogs. When I leave the house for anything and don’t take the dogs, I always make sure to leave at least two water sources for them with one secured to the wall. Only one bowl (even a large one) can be spilled. If possible try to find a neighbor that will check on your dog in an emergency situation.

Since I’m retired I keep my get home supplies with packs in my SUV. What I would actually take to get home if roads were not passable, would depend on how far I had to hike and the weather conditions. Glad you started this thread as it’s something all of us in earthquake country need to be thinking of.

One other point re pry bars, I also keep one hidden away outside my house to get in if the doors are jammed. As well as a couple inside the house with one close to the bed. And don’t forget sturdy shoes and leather gloves next to the bed as well. I had some broken glass (picture frames) after the Nisqually quake.

Most bar soaps aren't very suitable for hair.

There is a natural Seed brand bar shampoo. A friend found some in NYC and liked it, but she forgot where she got it.

Get a bar of Dr. Bronner's natural soap from a health food store or co-op and try it as a shampoo at home. If it works, put a new one in your kit.

Don't use aspirin as a preventative, it thins the blood and hinders coagulating. An earthquake is not the time to have clotting issues. (I mean this differently from taking your doctor's advice about an aspirin regime against heart and stroke problems.)

Some extra stuff is not a big issue. You should be stopping along the way to rest periodically, a good time to lighten the load if you need to. You can base your decisions on what IS, rather than trying to foretell WHAT MIGHT BE. Leave your discards in plain sight -- someone else may have a use for them.

You will probably end up using some of your gear for reasons totally unforeseen before the disaster. Or the disaster you planned for is not the disaster that has happened. A big quake won't have the same issues as Mt. Rainier blowing her top. Be prepared to jump in different directions.

Sue