I definitely agree, cities that are threatened by earthquakes, tornados, bushfires, et al require a completely different level of preparedness.

Why even carry a survival kit everyday?

The reason for carrying pocket gear is three fold.

First is time.
Sure I can start a fire by rubbing 2 Boy Scouts together. Standard primitive skills training. Scenario I just fell through the ice. I'm soaking wet and my cloths are freezing stiff. The seconds or minutes between using a match or lighter versus constructing a bow drill and getting the fire going. That little bit of time could mean the difference. So gear buys you the time it takes to make the tool to make the tool you need.

Second is quality.
Sure I can make a cutting implement from the things I could find around me. But a steel knife blade works a lot better and lasts longer.

Third is confidence.
If TSHTF tell me you will not feel more self assured just knowing that the gear is available. That alone may make the problem smaller. At least in your mind and therefore easier to over come. Remember panic can kill you quicker than just about anything else. Just the time of breaking open a kit puts your mind in survival mode thinking. It keys your thinking from the situation back to your training.

By this do I mean forget learning primitive skills HE Double hockey sticks NO!!!

The skills are a great back up if your gear is lost, damaged or inadequate. Also if things last longer than expected they can improve your lot in the situation. Is gear the end all be all. No. You can only carry so much. How you use it, the skills to use it and the ability to make what you need from what is available is how you survive.

To City dwellers that think Pocket survival kits are only for country people. I can give you at least 2 easily foreseeable scenarios for daily carry pocket kits. If you are in a city office 1 A major storm or earthquake comes about without warning. 2 A race riot. Remember Rodney King?

In either case your car is destroyed so no equipment other than what you have on you is available. Yes you have had the fore thought to stash a kit in your office. To bad you where at lunch down the street when the problem started and can’t get back. All power lines are down so no electricity. This means no lights, no heat, and no phones. Cell phones don't work if there's no power to run the system or the system is just completely overloaded. And water main has broken and no pressure because the power to the pumping stations is out so you have no guaranteed clean water. Do to the problems even if you could reach them the authorities have more problems than just worry about you. Wouldn't be nice to be able to take care of yourself at least until they can get around to you be it several hours or days.

To start off with how do you get out of the office or the restaurant you were in with no lights? Reach into your pocket and pull out your flashlight of choice [Photon Microlight, Sapphire light, Mag Lite, Infinity ETC.] and find your way out. You are now one step ahead of the riot mobs or the displaced mobs from the storm or earthquake.

How do you get home? Answer: Walk. Taxicabs, busses and trains are probably not working at this time. Hopefully the shoes that you are wearing look dressy for your work but are comfortable for walking. Now what you need on your walk home. How long is this going to take. Remember you may have detour around areas that were affected by the original problem or other people that may be unfriendly to you. Which may cause it to take up to several days. Since the water supply has been damaged or contaminated you might need to purify some water to get a healthy drink. if you drink contaminated water you can now have a major case of diarrhea. This can cause serious dehydration to your system. So yes you can die thirst in the middle of a city.

On your long trek home wouldn't it be nice to start a fire at least for comfort and warmth. You could also cook the pond fish or park squirrel you caught with the supplies in your kit. Remember that daytime and nighttime temperatures can vary 30 to 40 degrees with a 10 or 20-degree wind chill factor. To make matters worse is now raining you are soaked. So that nice 70 degree day you started out with is now the equivalent of ten degrees. Have you ever heard of hypothermia.

The large plastic bags can serve as shelter or a poncho. It will block the rain and wind They also help hold in your body heat. Smaller bags can carry the water you purified.

The first aid portion of a kit can clean that cut you managed to acquire somewhere in your wanderings. It could develop into a life threatening infection in a short time. Remember if we are talking a major disaster. What medical services that are available are going to be more concerned with far more seriously injured people. Take care of such problems early before it becomes bad enough that the pros to be interested with it.

Most components of in a kit can be used in many ways. Fishing line can also be used as thread to repair damage clothing. The fishing hooks can be straightened for a makeshift needle
Snare wire can be used for so many things it would take too long to list.
Multi-tools and pocketknives, how many things may need cut, bent, screwed, filed, or open that can of beans you just found.
If you look around and use a little improvisation many of the things that would only be used in the wild can be useful in the city also.

True after a disaster you could probably pick up many odds and ends on your trip. With luck it might even be a fairly complete kit. But these things are something you can’t count on. A daily pocket carry kit gives you a minimum start on the essentials.

This is not meant to insult those that live in the city. It’s just that due to their normal work environment [Offices] and normal dress mode find kit carrying somewhat more awkward. Because of this start to think do I really need to carry equipment on me. The answer to that as you can see is a resounding YES.

Now I admit that most of the people that post on any survival type board tend to live in more rural settings and see a greater need for carrying a little more equipment on our person. Also probably most of us have been in situations were without what we carried have been serious instead of an inconvenient happening. And by the same token have thought it would've been nice to have, fill in the blank, and added a few more things to our kits.

Also being a gadget person I like my toys and to have them with me.

Haven't I read this before? De ja vu perhaps? Anyway, speaking as someone who is pretty minimalistic with what he EDCs and who lives in a suburban area and works in an urban area, I find this to be an excellent reminder. I couldn't agree more with everything said. It makes me rethink my EDC. Im always learning new stuff around here and sometimes (like now) relearning stuff I knew but have forgotten.

Thanks for the reminder! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I seriously doubt that I will have to wander around the city for days, suffering from hypothermia, eating squirrels and drinking water from the local pond because of riots (we have them every year on the first of May BTW). Like I said, I would be differently equipped if we had earthquakes or tornados around here, but I don't see a sitiuation where a classic PSK will make a difference in the midst of Berlin. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I see EDC as what I would have on me if I was sitting on the loo at work and the lights went out. Stuff in my jacket pocket or waist pack don't count as they would be left at my desk. Light is my highest priority for EDC; my office lavatories have no external windows, and I don't want to have to decide between waiting for the lights to come back on and wiping myself in the dark. (Was that too much information?)

Although a light and "Rambler" SAK get used several times a week, my EDC also includes a few things for emergencies. Whistle, compass, safety pins, para-chord and fire. (I am very weak on fire - I just don't see it as important in my everyday, urban life). I would use them casually, but in practice I rarely need to. Hopefully they would be useful if I got involved in a 9/11 situation. That's unlikely for my every day life - I work 2 miles from my home, and neither building is a tower block - but I just went to the office party, which was in a posh hotel, and I figured my EDC was all I was willing to carry.

I am coming to believe that with a good EDC I don't really need a PSK in addition. At least if "PSK" means it must be on my person and not in a pack. I have a waist-pack which I usually take if I am straying outside my normal range - I am not sure whether it counts. It mostly contains bulkier and heavier versions of what is already in my EDC. Leatherman Juice instead of SAK, Zipka+ instead of keyring torch, decent compass instead of a button one, etc. It does have a few extras such as a small first aid kit, and sometimes some water. It also has my loose change and an umbrella - if I go out without it I usually end up regretting it.

I am working on a bug-out bag, but it is rather academic here in the UK. We don't have earthquakes or tornados or hurricanes or street riots, and my home is not subject to flooding. I am interested in various kinds of "comfort" kit or camping kits, which are usually based around having the where-withal to prepare a hot drink. A comfort kit is something small enough to carry even if I don't plan to use it, but too big to fit in a pocket. A camping kit is probably what you call a "hiking pack", is bigger and more luxurious - eg a proper mug instead of a tin can. I feel that being able to boil water is important, for comfort, purification and first aid, and that necessarily means a pack which is too big to fit in a pocket. Especially if I am carrying the water too, and the fuel. (Everything around here is owned, and I am not about to set fire to private property.) It takes less room if the bulky items (space bag etc) are stored separately in the pack, so the "kit" concept doesn't really apply.

That's my answer. It was a good question. I try to keep asking myself, what is this kit really for? What scenarios are really likely for me? What would actually help if that happened? What am I taking for granted that wouldn't be true? The answers for the UK are probably very different to the USA.