Hello,

My name is Dan.

I have been a long time reader of the forum and decided I was over due to post.
I am in the process of modifying / adding to my EDC, BOB, FAK, and USK.
As a first step, I would like to see what you guys think of my (soon to be) USK.
While I have spent a fair amount of time in the wilderness, I am currently living in New York City, and as such, I have attempted to tailer my kits to this unique envirnment. I have listed below the items I either own or plan on purchasing for a Urban Survival Kit that I will carry every day. I have asterked the items I plan on purchasing.This is strikly a urban kit, and will not be used for the wilderness.

Ideally this USK would allow me to deal with a wide range of problems. If there was a large incident, I would want to be able to easily egress the area while being (somewhat) protected. Afterward I would want basic medical supplies to help myself and then I would want to have enough resources to get home or survive for a short while in place.

For a terrorist attack involving a bomb or a large fire; I would be able to use the gloves, goggles, bandana and / or EVACU8 to survive a smoke, fire and debris filled envirnment.The glass punch, pliers, hammer, and pry bar would allow me to exit most areas.The various lights would allow me to see what I was doing.These would especially come into play during a (another?) blackout.If there was biological or chemical incident or a large scale flu outbreak the N95's would help me get to my apartment were my provisions would hold me till the worst wore off (I know a N95 will not protect me from many agents, but its better than nothing.I realize a full respirator would be a dramatic improvement, but it is just too large for me to carry every day.Maybe I will get one for the apt.). For a nuclear or radiological attack the Pottasium iodite would be ingested ASAP. The radio will need to be a good one, so that I know what is going on and can react accordinly.(Matt has been kind enough to give me a few suggestion on this topic.) Once I have a plan, the quarters and calling card will allow me to communicate using the pay phone as the cell system will most likely be down. Then I can use my large and detailed map of the city to egress back to my apt or another locale if necessary.The subway map will of course also help in this respect; as will the extra metro card. The FAK is pretty small but the moal foam and skin will ensure that I can keep walking if I develop a hot spot or blister.My hope is that it will contain enough basic supplies to stop most bleeding. I have provided for water with the nalgene and food is covered with the two powerbars.

Having lived in an aparment building with 50 floors, (I was on the 18th) I have given some thought to a micro repel line or emergency chute.I personally think the chance of another plane attack to be very low and as such have decided to focus on more probable scenarios.If I am in a large building, fire is my primary concern (although I have had my aptarment building evacuated and quarintened due to a hazmat spill...that was fun!).Most of the buildings in the city have multiple stair cases, so as long as I have a mask and light and know where I am going I should be ok.

I have not included any items for personal defense other than the two knives and maybe a quick flash from my surefire.New York does not allow for Mace or knives longer that 4".And of course guns are a no-no in the city.Just in case anyone was wondering.

I will breifly list my EDC so you guys have a fuller picture. Typically I carry:

Swiss Army watch
Wallet
Cell phone
Small whisle (on keychain)
Bottle opener (on keychain)
CMG infinity LED light (on keychain)
Keychain with mini biner
I need a good pocket knife and will be buying one shortly (RSK1 ?).

The following contents are or will be placed in a soft carry case. Maybe later I will get a maxpedition proteus or a spec ops pack rat.This container then goes into my shoulder bag.It won't all fit, so the larger items will reside in the shoulder bag.(shoulder bag may soon be replaced with a maxpedition MPB)

I should also note that in the colder months I always carry extra clothing (hat,gloves,long underware) with me.In the summer months, more water.

The list:

Swiss Champ with nylon shealth attached to the inside of the carry case with nylon line and quick release

Needle nose pliers (bec the champ's pliers suck.I see a leatherman in my future)

Exacto Knife with spare blades

Hammer (small wooden handle, not very strong but lightweight)

*Pry bar (small to medium in size)

*Glass punch

*N95's or N100's with locker

*Bandana

*Evacu8

*Goggles

*Leather gloves

*SureFire E2E (spare lamb, batts, batt case)

Photon light attached to the inside of carry case with nylon line and quick release

Chem light (and holder)

*spare batt for CMG infinty

Map of the NYC subway system

Map of NYC

Compass (silva type 7, I have a ranger but don't want to risk huring it in day to day)

*AM / FM radio (with batts, if money allows maybe one that is also a scanner)

Whistle (Storm)

Para cord (50'' )

Duct Tape (flat)

Mini bungie cords (2 red)

Cable ties (15 large)

Brass wire

Emgergency Space bag

Sharpies (one regular and one large)

Note pad (in plastic map case)

Pen (bic)

Waterproof Matches in hard orange case with striker attached

Candle

*Eye glass repair kit

*Spare glasses in hard case

*Biner (I like the locking kind)

*Cash (at least $150, maybe 50 in ones and the rest in 10's)

Quarters in a film canister

*Metro card (subway and buss card to all those non-New Yorkers among us)

*Calling card (need to do research, I think someone posted about this b4)

*Contact Numbers and other important info

*Spare house keys

Power bars [2]

32 oz Nalgene with water

Gookinaid

*Gerber milk bags [2]

*MP1 tabs

*Pottasium Iodite

*Door Stop Wedge (got the idea from another forum, enables one to check an escape route while still retaining ability to back trace your steps through a door)

Bug spray

Sunblock lotion

Altoids Tin:
-mini bic
-twisty ties
-second photon light with clothing clip
-small roll of dental floss
-saftey pins
-sewing kit (small hotel style)
-couple of paper clips
-couple of rubber bands

FAK (this fits inside the soft case. I should note that this is a EDC FAK and not my "home FAK", which is of course much larger and more thorough)
-bandaids (regular)
-bandaids (extra large)
-rolled gauze
-2x2
-4x4
-moal foam
-moal skin
-imodium
-advil
-tylenol
-neosporin
-gloves (non latex)
-CPR mask*
-eye wash*
-emt shears
-antacid
-benadril
-tweezers
-medical tape

Items I have thought about but have not added to my list (yet <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ).

-Small binoculars
-Poncho
-Hack saw blade
-Electrical tape
-Wetwipes
-Ranger Band
-Water filter
-Sewing kit (larger)
-Rite in rain paper and pen
-Brunton Helios lighter - hard to justify an expensive lighter in the city, but might get it anyway, bec its cool.
-MRE (one meal)
-Israeli Trama bandage
-Quick clot
-Spare ATM card?



I would love to hear any suggestion you guys have.Please tell me if you think I'm missing something or if you have a better idea for an item.

Thanks

Dan

Looks pretty well thought out and complete!

Dan,

My best advice to you is to get the hell out of NY City as fast as you can. Find a job somewhere else. I have a sister-in-law in NY City. She is wedded to the place. Doom on her!

It seems you have done what I consider the most important thing...evaluate your likely scenarios and then pick the tools and skills that will help. I would probably add a poncho or large contractor trash bag but otherwise the list is looking good.

You can see my take on urban prep kits in these two articles.


http://outdoors-magazine.com/s_article.php?id_article=171

http://outdoors-magazine.com/s_article.php?id_article=172

This is an awesome kit, but I do see some improvements you could make. First, I carry two Leathermans because I sometimes find a nut and bolt that needs both ends held. The leatherman has a can opener and a bottle opener so you wouldn't need to carry another one. I have a PST and a PSTII with scissors to complement my Micra. I love my Leatherman Micra. I picked up a Stanley Wonderbar and it is cool and light weight. I carry three bandanas,and I have one N95's per person, (four total). Chem lights suck but I carry one for each kid to carry in case we get seperated. I have four mini bungees and the cable ties. I have four sharpies, red, blue, black, silver in case I need to draw a diagram with different colors. As far as the matches are concerned I would put a striker or two inside but make sure they are facing away from the matches.
In the Altoids tin I would replace the paperclips with safety pins. Replace the twistie ties with small zip ties or just some wire from a picture frame. I would stuff cotton balls in there as well as a BSA Hotspark and a striker for firestarting. Redundancy is important as far as I am concerned. Get some golf pencils also. I would throw in two big garbage bags and a pack of pocket kleenex tissues. That is all I have for right now. My Cockatoo is begging for love and wants to type now so I need to sign off now.

hmmmm I carry one too:
http://brunerdog.tripod.com/peru35mm/pages/me2.htm

Remember, BAAAAAAAAA means No.

Dan,
you do have a nice and extensive kit and it seems that you got many angles covered. But until you put it together and start carrying it there is no way of knowing how it is going to function. Many guys here started with heavy loads and by honing their skills realized that some items in their kits can be left behind.

Just few suggestions:

Good pocket knife (Sebenza, Buck, Ritter Knife are all good choices...) Get a knife that doesn't look too military and is not that expensive. Maybe even go for one of the swiss army one hand opener locking blades they have out there. But Ritter Knife seems like a good balance and good value for the buck. Why not expensive even thou you may want to own a nice knife? Things get lost in the city, there is always that one dumb cop that can take liking to your knife or you may need to secure your blade with a guard and not get back what you stored.

Carrying extra items seems to be one of the bigger problems for all of us since we don't really want to attract attention. The most common practice I have seen are modular kits with items sorted by frequency of use or priority all put into one case that can be slipped in and out of the main pack. I prefer personally my Acteryx sports pack or my Alice pack (small one). Latter has a militay look but it is not too hardcore looking like BlackHawk or Maxpedition (sp).

Extra clothing is good but in the winter time fleece and maybe some rain gear should be sufficient. I carry a rain jacket no matter what but I ditched my rain pants. I would throw an extra fleece sometime but more than often it's other people who wear it. I carry the nissan thermos with some earl grey tea if I know I will be outside in the winter for a long time (such as trying to hit on girls in the park while walking my dog)

Needle nose pliers (bec the champ's pliers suck.I see a leatherman in my future) - Yup buy once and buy good. I was a Gerber fan and I switched to Leatherman @ 2000. Never looked back.

Exacto Knife with spare blades - WHY?

Hammer (small wooden handle, not very strong but lightweight) - WHY?

*Pry bar (small to medium in size) - WHY?

Those three items if found on you will clasiffy you as possible bulglar

*Glass punch

*N95's or N100's with locker

*Bandana

*Evacu8

*Goggles

*Leather gloves You may want to get the fire resistant leather gloves from GALLS and kill two birds with one stone

*SureFire E2E (spare lamb, batts, batt case) - don't forget extra food for the lamb, is there an LED lamp assembly for that light? You may want to get it due to longer battery life and bulb life.

Photon light attached to the inside of carry case with nylon line and quick release

Chem light (and holder) - Chem sticks have a tendency to activate themselves if carried in bags. Ditch the holder. You got duct tape and paracord.

*spare batt for CMG infinty

Map of the NYC subway system

Map of NYC

Compass (silva type 7, I have a ranger but don't want to risk huring it in day to day)

*AM / FM radio (with batts, if money allows maybe one that is also a scanner)

Whistle (Storm)

Para cord (50'' )

Duct Tape (flat)

Mini bungie cords (2 red)

Cable ties (15 large)

Brass wire

Emgergency Space bag

Sharpies (one regular and one large)

Note pad (in plastic map case) -

Pen (bic)

Waterproof Matches in hard orange case with striker attached

Candle

*Eye glass repair kit

*Spare glasses in hard case

*Biner (I like the locking kind)

*Cash (at least $150, maybe 50 in ones and the rest in 10's)

Quarters in a film canister

*Metro card (subway and buss card to all those non-New Yorkers among us)

*Calling card (need to do research, I think someone posted about this b4)

*Contact Numbers and other important info Put ICE (in case of emergency) in your cellphoen for emergency workers...

*Spare house keys

Power bars [2]

32 oz Nalgene with water

Gookinaid

*Gerber milk bags [2]

*MP1 tabs

*Pottasium Iodite

*Door Stop Wedge (got the idea from another forum, enables one to check an escape route while still retaining ability to back trace your steps through a door) - Good idea but you only have one. Fire teams when securing their escape routes have many of these at hand. If you really want one there is a special fire man tool (http://www.thefirestore.com/store/product.cfm?pID=740)

Bug spray

Sunblock lotion

Altoids Tin:
-mini bic
-twisty ties
-second photon light with clothing clip
-small roll of dental floss
-saftey pins
-sewing kit (small hotel style)
-couple of paper clips
-couple of rubber bands

FAK (this fits inside the soft case. I should note that this is a EDC FAK and not my "home FAK", which is of course much larger and more thorough)
-bandaids (regular)
-bandaids (extra large)
-rolled gauze
-2x2
-4x4
-moal foam
-moal skin
-imodium
-advil
-tylenol
-neosporin
-gloves (non latex)
-CPR mask* Are you CPR certified?
-eye wash*
-emt shears Get a rescue knife from Spyderco with window punch and whistle, about $50 but you will save on space and quality is much better than shears)
-antacid
-benadril
-tweezers
-medical tape

Items I have thought about but have not added to my list (yet ).

-Small binoculars
-Poncho
-Hack saw blade
-Electrical tape
-Wetwipes
-Ranger Band
-Water filter
-Sewing kit (larger)
-Rite in rain paper and pen
-Brunton Helios lighter - hard to justify an expensive lighter in the city, but might get it anyway, bec its cool. It is cool but as a person who loved his windmil I recently went back to Zippo. Routine maintanace forces me to make sure that my ligther is operational all the time
-MRE (one meal) Also get a heater. Carrying a spare meal is always a great idea.
-Israeli Trama bandage
-Quick clot
-Spare ATM card?

I hope that you do understand that you are talking a lot of gear here. (Who am I to even say that). But you have items there that are heavy and really questionable if you are ever stopped. I have no idea Dan what you do for a living, how old are you or how you look like but the sad reality is that every one is profiling out there. You have all that stuff on you and you fall under a category that somebody doesnt like you will have some explanations to do. Are you doing something illegal? Absolutely not but it's a waste of your time which I'm sure is pretty valuable to you. Also in case of NBC attack if FDNY executes their full decon plan you are loosing everyting you carry. Also heavy pack slows you down. Also even if you can justify the possibility of carrying all gear probably the key will be organization. You have a lot of smaller misc items there that if thrown in without a plan will disapear and be impossible to find when needed.

Quite a list ! As far as pry bars go I think thats a fine idea, and heres why. I use them all the time on the job as a firefighter in an upstate NY city. A small little Stanly bar has let me into many a highrise door, when checking out the "oder of smoke" type calls. Saves us from smashing them down. Those little bars can move the door enough to let me use a screwdriver (even those on multi-tools ) to slip the latch back. Some times the bar alone does the trick. It would seem that it would help you get out past or back into those same doors.

A good multi-tool and small bar make my short list for urban kits. In fact in my left bunker pocket are door wedge,multi-tool and a Stanly bar! Right pocket things to cut me free. wire cutters and folder. Speaking of wire cutters, do you know how many MILES of wires (cable,phone computer,and those foil over wire heat runs) run above your head in buildings?

Guess what happens in a good fire? They can drop down! Fireman have been killed this way, now granted with airpacks and such we have more chance of things getting hung up on us. Just a thought I would think about a multi-tool with a GOOD wire cutter.

Just reread your whole post. If you just want to go from work to home or home to where else, I would lighten up the load. Heres what I carry. Multi-tool,folder or two, Surefire light, photon, cell, 2 4x4s and one small gauze,bandana. If a storm is brewing etc. I throw in a small bar. I agree with spare cash also and i always have an extra layer of cothes.

For going from point A to B, I would toss the cable ties,bug spray sun screen most of the first aid stuff, candles, biners, cord but thats me. Btw I see many homeless folks live outdoors in our city, with winter temps reaching -10 with little more than a few coats and some cardboard. Carry the masks, filters, gloves and googles along with some tools to get you into of of the buildings and deby .Just my 2 cents.

I cut the hook end off a small pry bar, making a flat bar. I then notched the bar about 1/8" back from the cut end, making a great tool for popping locks. Wall-mart has cheap tools for car lock opening. I cut one off and carried it in my turnout gear for years. Great for building doors. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> A small shove knife is real handy.
I think I'm getting this
auto or interior door opener set