Hi Stefan,<br><br>When the going gets tough, the tough get creative. Here are some suggestions based on my own post WTC preparations.<br><br>You can do a web search for "Citizens' Preparedness Guide" and download a PDF file of it. In that document, they say you can carry a walking cane or umbrella (following an inspection), nail clippers with no attached metal nail file, safety razors (including disposable razors), syringes (with documented proof of medical need), tweezers and eyelash curlers on board airplanes. Obviously, I don't think all of the airlines are aware we can do this yet. You could always order a paper copy of this document from whatever appropriate source and point out this list to the Security Personel as you try to convince them not to confiscate your stuff. <br><br>I think it may be more helpful to think in terms of "things to take with you" and "things to wear" rather than a one single self-contained "kit". The stuff I carry won't all fit in a little "kit". Also, if all your stuff is together in one "kit", it looks more odd than a person who just happens to carry a lot of crap with them when they travel. Also, some moron can't just say, "I'm sorry, this kit looks dangerous to me" and confiscate your entire gear selection in one blow. If it's distributed about your person, they have to take a separate action for each and every item.<br><br>Doug says he travels with a Priority Mail envelope or box with ample postage for use in case he needs to get out of line, mail some denied item(s) home to himself and get back in line. Sounds wise to me.<br><br>I would strongly recommend avoiding titanium charge cards w/ sharp edges, key blades or anything else that isn't 100% legal. I would suggest there is much that can be done creatively within the rules. Trying to slip or sneak something past the guards is only going to cause you problems, sooner or later.<br><br>Wear natural fiber clothing instead of melting burnables -- er, that is ... synthetics. I'm partial to silk for hot weather and wool for cold ... especially for underwear and socks.<br>Remember to plan for all possible weather conditions since you may be diverted and have to land at alternate locales, and not merely your origin or destination. Layers are good. You can always wear a t-shirt with a collared shirt over it, and take off the outer shirt if it's too hot. You should carry some sort of coat or jacket ... or, at least, a windbreaker ... any time you travel. Remember, your first shelter is your clothing. Make it good. Depending on your preferences, you can pocket away a sun hat in your windbreaker or wool watch cap in your coat... or both.<br>Leather gloves are sturdy hand-protectors, and also carry easily in your jacket pocket.<br><br>Be sure you are preparing for the expected emergencies, not just the unexpected ones:<br>You may lose your checked baggage. I have. Many people have. Being in a strange place without your gear is an urban survival situation. Carry a shirt, pair of socks & pair of underwear in your carry on bag. Also carry any toiletries you don't want to buy when you get there.<br>Travellers are targets for thieves, for they tend to carry money. Carry your cash/cards/checks in two locations each. I use my regular wallet and also a hidden "travel wallet", which is a thin flat fanny pack that goes under my clothing.<br>Nothing wrong with carrying some food bars and water in your carry-on bag. In lieu of water purifiers and iodine tablets, how about one of those new filtering/purifying water bottles? I wouldn't rely solely on it for camping, but for air travel it makes sense.<br><br>For general gear, there are things you can take which won't bother anyone and which will be very useful:<br>Drier lint becomes invisible in a pocket. <br>Duct tape can be rolled off a large main roll onto anything (or nothing -- try it) to make a small pocket sized roll of whatever length you wish.<br>Lacing your shoes with two laces each and/or wearing some sort of woven belt can provide you with emergency cordage.<br>There are wristwatches which are also emergency radio beacons, if you want to spend the money on them. Any commercial airliner that goes down is not going to do so unnoticed, so this is not really necessary.<br>Sunglasses are good.<br>You can put a Photon, Fox 40, shrink-wrapped magnesium/flint rod, signal mirror, ball chain, split rings, etc. on your keychain.<br>You can carry one box of NON "Strike Anywhere" type matches on your person. Make them good ones. Lifeboat matches may be the best, but Coughlan's "Windproof/Waterproof" (not the merely "Waterproof" ones) look just like normal matches and will attract less attention than that little white bottle the Lifeboats come in.<br>Carry a paperback book for tinder and as a neato storage medium for your fresnel lens magnifying glass bookmark.<br>A cell phone is always good. Get a waterproof bag designed to protect them from immersion when kayaking or such.<br>A roll of quarters is innocuous and can be used to create a "loaded fist" for fighting... or even to make a phone call. <br>A notebook or pad of waterproof paper makes perfect sense.<br>A disposable Cricket or Bic lighter is utterly normal, but put it in your jacket pocket if you're carrying matches in your pants or you'll look like a pyro.<br>A small battery operated FM radio might be nice to have<br>Jackets can have zipper pull compasses and thermometers attached to them.<br><br>For convenience, I put all my normal pocket stuff & personal jewelry -- except the matches -- in a small "travel bag" that can be carried as a shoulder bag (man's "purse") or fanny pack. It's so small it does not count as an item of "baggage". I throw it on the xray with my jacket & carry-on and don't wear any metal. (My belt, with its metal buckle, is actually in my carry-on bag at that point. I put it on later.) <br><br>If there is an emergency in the air, there are some things you can do:<br>Smoking is illegal on U.S. flights now since a fire broke out in a lavatory on one flight and the smoke killed many of the passengers. The oxygen masks won't fall down for you to use if there's smoke -- only if there's a depressurization. Carry a smoke hood. I find the Brookdale "EVAC-U8" to be the "safest/friendliest" looking, but Doug says the Essex PB&R "PLUS 10" is the best.<br>If the problem is Air Rage or Hijackers, our illustrious government has decreed that the skies will be safer if we all have absolutely no way to defend ourselves, so ... improvise. You may not be able to carry a sword cane, but you may be able to convince them to let you carry on a cane. As the boomers age, this will be ever more commonplace. Any piece of glass or ceramic can be broken to provide a sharp edge. Carry a mirror. Or a bottle of wine you buy in the duty-free area after you pass Security. (Duct or electrical tape can create a safer handle on shards.) Since you should be carrying leather gloves in the pockets of your windbreaker, jacket or coat, you could make them kevlar, spectra or other slash-guard type gloves to provide you with more protection in case you need to fight someone with a knife or other sharp implement. A pen or pencil can become a stabbing implement. An airline blanket can become a net when held up and a bracer when wrapped around your forearm.<br>Anyone can have a medical situation. A first aid kit makes sense to carry in your carry-on bag.<br><br>If you find yourself in an off-site landing, there are two possiblities: water and land.<br><br>For water, you want to get into the raft, if you can. Doug says some Mentholatum or Vicks Vapor Rub in your nose (from your first aid kit) may help you not to throw up when everyone else in the raft starts throwing up. Sea Bands or a "Reliefband" (also from your first aid kit) can also help you with motion sickness.<br>If you don't want to take your chances with a floating seat cushion instead of a real life preserver, you could carry or wear a Float Coat in lieu of a more conventional windbreaker, jacket or coat. You could buy your own inflatable life vest, but they'd probably make you take the CO2 cartridge out. Still, blowing up your own vest would be superior to clinging to a seat cushion. I don't know for sure if the Eagle Enterprises "Survival Vest" can be manually inflated, but, if it can, that would work well and also provide another layer of clothing.<br>Hypothermia will be the number one concern in the water. First aid kits often have aluminized mylar emergency blankets for treating shock victims. An aluminized mylar bag instead could be used as a thermal protective aid to trap water around you. The water in the bag would warm from your body temperature but be trapped around you to form an insulating barrier between you and the colder water outside the bag.<br>A couple of reuseable gel heat packs in the first aid kit would also help in the water if you stuck them under your armpits and held them tight to drive the heat into your torso ... especially at first, before the trapped water in the bag warms up any.<br>This is another good time for that wool watch cap.<br><br>For land, your first aid kit should have some petroleum jelly based antibiotic and DEET based insect repellent to put on your cotton balls, cotton rolls, triangular bandages, tampons & sanitary napkins, etc. to create tinder. Oh, and how about some wooden tongue depressers held together with a couple of heavy duty rubber bands cut from bicycle inner tubes.<br>And, of course, there's that aluminized mylar bag from the first aid kit, which can be used as is or cut on two sides to form a double-wide heat reflector and/or rain/wind tarp.<br><br>Aside from more "normal" medical supplies, a first aid kit can also carry multi-use items:<br>Duct, cloth or electrical tape can be substituted for medical tape... or can supplement it.<br>A 44hr NuWick candle to provide light or heat to a shock victim ... or anyone else. The Security folks made me take the matches out of mine & carry them in my pocket. I also twisted the tin "tweezers" into a coil, so it didn't look like such a destructive deadly instrument. It'll still be there when I need it.<br>Sunblock & lip balm are always good.<br>A Krill lamp would also provide emergency light if you needed to tend to anyone in the dark or at night. You could also have some 30min & 5min high and ultra-high intensity Cyalumes in there with string to swing them around for signalling search aircraft or ships. You could carry these anywhere, but they'd receive the least notice in the first aid kit.<br><br>This is all still new to me. I've done many of these already and will do more as time goes by. You can use this as a springboard and see what ideas you can come up with yourself to supplement these. Be sure to share any good ones.