Absolutely. To be totally honest, none of this made any sense to me before 9/11. The EMS issues, though, convinced me utterly. That's when I started looking around for reputable sources of information-- wihch I found here.

The thing is, there are lots of contingencies that citizens simply can't prepare for. HOWEVER, there are plenty that we can prepare for, and in the event of a meteorological disaster like a hurricane, or a terrorist attack, the strain on relief efforts will be gigantic. Preparedness helps me, because I'm secure against more threats. Preparedness helps my neighbor, because I'm not using limited disaster-response resources to do it. And when there's no disaster, having much of this stuff handy is useful.

The Edie Bauer idea is pretty cool There is plenty you could add, but it's a nice start. I'd been thinking of storing some food and water purification supplies for my BOB into a nalgene bottle for some time now. This validates the concept. I worried about where I'd store everything while I was using the bottle, but that's what pockets are for. Or, in my case, the rest of the BOB.