I started carrying a small kit back in college when I became an EMT. I would have hated to be the guy with the know-how to help someone, but be unable to do so because I didn't have a bandage or pocket mask.

However, this fell by the wayside after graduating, and I worked for seven years in Manhattan, as oblivious and unprepared as the next guy.

Then one day some guys decided to drive airplanes into a building I happened to be in at the time. My world changed.

I realized that help would not always be on the way. I realized that I was vulnerable. I realized there was something I could do about it.

I now try to have gear to either shelter-in-place or make my way home in relative comfort, wherever I may be. It's still a work in progress, and I've spent money on many useful things, and many more that seemed useful at the time, but proved to be not so useful with use.

My most extravagant purchase was LASIK for my eyes. I lost my glasses while evacuating on 9/11/01 (actually, while diving under a car for cover) and I never wanted to experience having my most important sense degraded when I needed it most, ever again.

I also became an EMT again, and volunteering with my local squad has been incredibly rewarding.