Greetings, all.

I'm putting together office PSKs for my family as Christmas presents. They aren't as enthusiastic as I am about preparedness, so I'm trying to select items that would be useful to them, stuff that they would be comfortable with, and things that wouldn't freak them out. Also, I think omitting sharps would be a good idea so my family could pass through metal detectors and bag searches in Washington DC without trouble.

The theme is "Quick Escape" and would be housed in a small, discreet bag they could keep in briefcases, purses, or desks.
Items selected so far:
Mini maglite
lighter
dust mask or smoke hood (maybe both)
FAK (probably the Pocket Medic from AMK)
needles and thread
bandanna
Aqua blox
energy bar
whistle

Please, I would be ever so grateful for your thoughts or suggestions. Thanks!

I assume the bandanna would be signal orange, and the FAK has basic items like pain reliever

Couple of ideas
-Bottled water or emergency water pouches (maybe too big, if not don't worry)
-Space Blanket
-Maybe add a cell phone hand crank recharger and/or signal booster. In a "trapped in rubble" type emergency (earthquake, attack), being able to talk and not run out of batteries is a good thing.
-Waterless clensing wipes (for face) and waterless hand sanitizer would be good too.
-An ASP palm defender (or some other pepper spray) and some decontamination wipes would also be nice for everyone in the office to have.

Just some ideas. It really depends on your situation and expected threats. A business person who travels often might find some things useful that wouldn't help, say, an officer worker. For instance, a 110/220v converter. On the other hand, an office worker might face anything from getting trapped in rubble to getting confronted in the parking lot by some undesirables. A business person

Any sort of multi-tool, even the little mini ones, would also be useful, although as you mentioned, it might get you hassled at some place with a metal detector

If it is helpful, I found a nice on-line source for orange bandanas:

http://www.wholesaleforeveryone.com/page/WFE/CTGY/bansolid

I purchased both 22"x22" and 27"x27" bandannas. The 22" size is available in both imported (cheaper) "Orange Crush" and American-made versions. Unfortunately the American-made version is poly-cotten instead of 100% cotton. The 27" version is imported 100% cotton. I accidently bought the poly-cotton 22". The color of the poly-cotton is much bolder, but I should have gotton the 100% cotton version.

Yeah my first idea would be to add Leatherman S4 but I looked at mine and it has a blade so that's out of the question. You may want to look into other lights to substitue Maglight. LED light like photons are smaller and lighter. I found that attaching a light to the zipper of the bag with a quick release option makes it so much more useful and ready than digging for it later on in the night.

I was about to make the same suggestion. Not fast enough !
Your light is immediately available (usually the timer goes off when you are in the middle of the stairway, with big shopping bags in each hand...) <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />
Another good point of that configuration is you have less risk to accidentaly power the LED light on inside the bag (being crushed between things)

While many people will not agree with the idea of constantly keeping a PSK on their person, such tiny LED lights are often well accepted.

I have to second Matt's suggestion on a different light. LED lights are the way to go, and perhaps some of the CountyComm cheapie lights would be good to attach to zippers, etc.
Mag lights make better batons than lights, there are any number of better flashlights on the market.

>>Mag lights make better batons than lights, there are any number of better flashlights on the market. <<

Depends on your criteria, I guess.

Mags are not high-tech by any means, or energy-efficient, and they weigh a ton... but they sort of remind me of the old EV-664 directional microphones. After a while, they were far from the best mics out there, but in a pinch you could drive nails with them, they'd be fine... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I carry Photons, Mags live in a drawer.

The MiniMag was my knee jerk also... but the cost on Photons can add up. I suggest you also tale a look at the Dorcy AAA LED (about $6 at Wally World or a buck more elsewhere) Here's a link that shows some pics, including a side-by-side with a MM: http://tinyurl.com/3zemj

Now that the 1.5 v Lithium AAA is out, load the Dorcy with those. Replacement can be any chemistry AAA cell.

Also check your local American Red Cross for ready-made FAKs - if you supplement /replace a few items these tend to be great bargains in a ready-made FAK in my experience.

Eye protection? Swimmers goggles are a pretty good compromise for non-eyeglasses wearers

A pair of large or medium deerskin unlined gloves?

An N95 dust mask with valve works nicer than the ones without valves.

Add an emergency space blanket? Less than $2 each in volumes as low as 4 packs

HTH,

Tom

I have given these to friends and family, and they all have had positive things to say.
Plus, you can't beat the price!

what about bandaids, a prepaid phone card, a small radio like countycomm sells.
maybe a few packs of OTC things like tylenol etc
a small first aid booklet, incase of injury.
a small compass since its a quick escape kit
maybe a small bit of paracord incase anything (like a bag strap) breaks in the rush to move, its not that big and has tons of uses.