Jim,<br><br>As stated it all depends on what your lifestyle is like. If you are a "white collar" office worker, there is only so much you can pack around in your pockets, and you might want to think about what would go into a brief case without taking up too much space. If your blue collar you can get away with a lot more, and maybe a back pack. Considering the heavy urban environment, I would suggest for a PSK something a bit more "urban." A "mega key chain" would probably be a good idea. Small decent survival whistle is a universal idea. You can use it to call for help in the city or in the woods. You probably won't need any fire starting or shelter kinds of things, but a good phone card or an extra 20 in case you get mugged (sterotypical thing for a west coaster to say about New Yorkers) might not be a bad idea. <br><br>If you have any reason to believe that you will be traveling off into the woods, some of the more rugged items might be smart. <br><br>Sometimes, a good "backup" plan might be better than tons of expensive equipment. Don't get me wrong, the equipment is fun to play with and can save your life, but on a limited budget, a generalized plan might be worth more to your overall well being than all the "oh poo" gear. <br><br>Think about what you can do to escape your location in the event of a major baddy. Think along the lines of "hey I have a friend in upstate NY, maybe he and I can make arrangements to be eachothers backup." That way if you have to bail from your location, you have a place to go, and vice versa. Cheap stuff you can do is plan for outages. That way you can alway "bug in." Water is cheap, and necessary. You can fill some jugs full of water and stash them in the hall closet for that day when the city falls apart. You can keep some candles around. Blankets. A first aid kit. <br><br>What I'm trying to say is, don't over extend yourself for the eventuality of the extreme bad day that may or may not happen. Concentrate on getting through the right now, and as your resources improve, start concetrating on the maybe. If you overextend yourself planning for an unlikely eventuality, you might not be able to deal with something more mundane, like paying for repairs to your car which you need every day to drive your kids to school.