This is probably a discussion that deserves its own thread, but you make a good point. I'm pretty much basing everything on being able to get to my GHB. While in transit to/from work I have a basic survival stuff in my pack (water, knife, flashlight, matches, etc.). However, once I am at the office my backpack stays at my desk. On my keychain I have both a knife and a light (along with four keys, a car remote, an alarm remote, and a wrist lanyard). Your list of PSK items sounds like a small fanny-pack of stuff. How do people carry that much stuff on a daily basis in an office environment? Sounds like people either have bulging pockets, small fanny packs, or heavily loaded belts. Not sure if I am willing to go that route. The dress code at my office is typically jeans and a t-shirt. Personally I wear Ex-Officio Amphi's and a polo shirt. The Ex-Officio's have some cargo room, but not sure I ready to have my pants bulging in all directions. Might give people the wrong idea.

The thread has already started - "Schwert's on body kit" or very similar title. It is truly one of the better posts on ETS, dealing, oddly enough, with the get home problem in the Seattle area. I am sure glad I live in nice calm Southern California and don't have to worry my pretty little head about nasty things like earthquakes like you guys in PNW.

I'm female so there are security reasons other than getting lost or a building collapse that I always want a whistle with me. I actually wear it on a breakaway lanyard around my neck with the Photon Rex light. I picked that light as it's rechargeable and I actually use the thing frequently, which saves on the button batts. The Photon Rex and the Photon Freedom both have signaling capabilities. You can't beat the whistle that Doug designed and is sold with his kits and separately through Adventure Medical Kits. I have that whistle on my key ring, lanyard and in my PSK.

http://www.adventuremedicalkits.com/product.php?product=142&catname=Essentials&prodname=Rescue%20Howler™%20Whistle,%20Bonus%20Two%20Pack

From watching the news coverage after the Haiti disaster, it sure seemed to me that if a person had a whistle and maybe a signaling light that could have possibly made a difference. I'm retired so it's a little easier to decide what to wear and how much to carry. However, if it's not with you --it's not going to help you either. There are some great threads here on PSK's as well as reviews on the main page of the website.

I found the "Schwert's on body kit." thread in the "Around the campfire" forum. Unfortunately it doesn't show up when I use the basic search function for some reason.

Wow. That guy is prepared! Very interesting that his setup was based on Seattle as well. Excellent information in there.

The link the original article in Outdoors Magazine seemed to be broken, but I found PDF copies of the articles at the following URL:

http://www.canadianwildernesssurvival.com/PDF%20Articles%20Index.html

The articles are called:

Urban-Preparation-Kit-Part-I-On
Urban-Preparation-Kit-Part-II

Thanks for the reference!

I've been thinking about this thread for some time, and while the earthquake scenario is probably not too valid for Florida, there are quite a few that might require breaching some form of man made barrier.... chain link fence, or chained gates come to mind. I have included a small piece of hacksaw blade in my on person kit, but haven't really tried to cut a chain link fence with my Victorinox multi tool. In doing a little research I came across a WWII item from the British MI 9 (tasked with producing escape/evasion equipment) called oddly enough "escape tool". It consists of a regular blade, 3 hacksaw blades, a lock breaking blade, and a heavy duty wire cutter. Does anyone know if a similar tool is still available?... regards Les

sorry... make that "escape knife"

Why not just carry some HD wire cutters? Alone, they have no special significance; with a knife attached, perhaps an LEO would have a different attitude.

Sue

Susan... I have a pair of heavy duty fence pliers/cutters in my regular car tools, but was thinking more of a multitool for people in earthquake area... something like a wonder bar pry tool, with a squared notch in the nail pulling jaw to break chain link and barbed wire, with a couple of large industrial saw blades like a "sawzall" one for wood, one for metal that could swing out to a stop and have everything in one package. Florida is a right to carry state and I do, and if I were charged with tresspass I think the ride in the cruiser would be to a place of safety..I did a 30 year stint with 9th graders, some of them turned into pretty good lawyers. regards Les

I confess I have not thoroughly read each post in this thread so I do not know for sure if my idea had not been previously mentioned. I gather one main concern is the way to get over a waterway between the office and home. There have been several suggestions for structures that might withstand a quake and the problems in swimming. I believe you have room to store a backpack - why not store an inflatable raft - they are not that big or heavy. Even if you re-arrange with a marina to take you across, in event of a disaster they may not (or may not be able to) live up to what they agreed.

An inflatable raft may not be too heavy compared to a real boat, but the lightest I found was about 20 lbs. That would about double the weight I am carrying. For just getting across a canal, that seems like too much weight. Somebody else mentioned an inflatable kayak. However their idea was not to simply cross the water, but use it to paddle most of the way home. That has more potential merit, but would require a lot more research and a lot of training on my part.

One thing I did find while doing some research about your post. I found an inflatable raft that is intended more as a pool toy than anything really useful. It weighs only 2.2 lbs and is designed to inflate by mouth. That is a much more practical weight. However, that would probably be a very thin-skinned raft and would probably develop holes really easily if there is debris in the water. That might still be better than swimming though. Hmmm.