Hello everyone. This is my first post, although I've already read much of the site and forum messages, so hopefully I won't commit too many faux pas.

I've always been something of a survival nut since I was a teenager (41 now), collecting an item here, an item there... I finally gave myself permission to spend money on a kit after the Kim family tragedy. If it could happen to them... (More shocking then usual as I used to watch James on TechTV several times a week before TechTV collapsed.) As long as I don't go overboard or certifiable I have the wife's permission too. Even convinced her to carry a few items in her commuting car.

This is my second draft of EDC, BOB, around-the-car kit (following). The first draft was ugly beyond words -- I imagined that I had to be prepared for anything and then suddenly I was looking for a bigger bag than the huge duffel I was storing in my SUV. I've been editing and compacting since then.

EDC:

CRKT Kit Carson M16-13ZM Desert Camo folding/locking knife.
HDS Basic 42 LED flashlight (single 123A battery, 42 lumens, GREAT!)
Gerber Clutch tool.
Sony-Ericcson T616 cell phone.
Wallet, keys, Motorola SkyTel alpha pager.

Scattered in various places in my SUV:

Sony DSC-P1 Cybershot camera, spare battery, 128MB memory stick. (This saved my bacon after a serious accident when the pictures proved the other driver was over the line...)
Another CRKT M16 folding knife.
Another Gerber Clutch tool.
Orange Windmill lighter.
Small bottle of Purell.
Streamlight LED headlight.
Pair of leather work gloves.
Roll of duct tape.
Roll of electrical tape.
A strong braided tow-rope in plastic bag.
(4) liter bottles of water.
300W Tripp-Lite inverter.
(2) packs of (2) N95 face masks.
15" prybar.
Set of heavy duty battery jumper cables.
Ikea blue 8'x10' tarp, plus most of another one I've had to cut pieces from.
The truck came with a pretty comprehensive FAK, but I added a small bottle of Aleve, a tube of Neosporin, Immodium, Benedryl and Dramamine tablets and one of my son's asthma inhalers. I also put a lightstick in with it just "because".
A handful of zip ties and several trashbags and Zip-loc bags, in another Zip-loc bag.
(2) rolls of paper towels.

In an old school backpack, compressed with a bungie cord wrapped around it:

Doan magnesium/flint firestarter.
Old plastic whistle on chain.
Old Boy-Scout lensatic compass.
2 packs of (2) hand warmers.
"U-Dig-It" tool in sheath.
A small bottle of KI tablets. (Probably should put these in the FAK.)
AMK Emergency Bivvy meant to replace a mylar Emergency Blanket, but I left both in there.
Another asthma inhaler. When he needs it, he *really* needs it.
Inova X5 flashlight in belt sheath, with six spare 123A batteries. (Overkill?)
Katadyn Exstream XR water purifier liter bottle, with 4-5 Cyalume white lightsticks inside to prevent them from being inadvertantly flexed.
About 20 waterproof matches and striker in an old o-ringed plastic beach necklace bottle..
A folding/locking 8" saw I picked up at Home Depot.
1 25 oz bottle of Ben's 100Max insect repellent in a Zio-loc bag.
(2) North Face Polartec Classic 200 beanie hats
(2) new pair of large outdoors wool socks.
A Zip-loc bag with Splenda packets, teabags, a handful of Crystal Light "On The Go" lemonade liter water-bottle packets, a motel-sized bar of soap. (2) tiny bottles of Tabasco and some pepper.
50' of 550 paracord.
Another bunch of zip-ties.
A red flashing emergency strobe light. (See http://www.bestglide.com/MPI_Strobe_Info.html )
(5) MREs, just the main food packet, assorted.
Garmin eTrex Vista GPS with lithium batteries.
DuraPro hand crank LED light and AM/FM radio.

What I know I don't have but should get:

Water purifier pills in watertight bottle.
Signal mirror.
Tinder for firestarting.
ACE bandage.
Sunglasses. (I have thick prescription glasses so I would need something like goggles that could go over regular glasses.)
A very small FAK to EDC.
Pen and paper.
A small camp stove and a small pot/stainless steel cup/mess kit for heating water and MREs?

Now on to the questions:

1. Are the Columbia River AutoLAWKS knives good enough, or should I save money towards Doug Ritter's Mark 1 knives? And is it just me, or is everyone experiencing security-guard freak-outs when they learn I'm carrying a pocket knife?

2. How many spare batteries is too many?

3. There's myself, and what I should carry for saving myself. And then there is the wife, the two young boys and possibly the mother-in-law. How much stuff is enough, and how do you plan for the possibility of having to protect an extended group in a BOB? For instance with my first attempt at setting the kit up, I had put (15) MRE main-meal envelopes in the duffel bag. That might be overkill... Is one emergency bivvy enough, or should I have two, or enough for everyone?

4. I'm directly east of and in the suburbs of Washington, DC. Hence the KI tablets and the face masks. Anything else I should have (besides a helicopter and pilot to whisk me out of here...)

5. Anybody ever have a BOB stored in the back of their car or truck stolen by thieves who thought they'd get something better? What do you do to protect your kit?

6. My SUV is diesel-powered, so I have a yellow five-gallon CARB diesel gas can in my garage, to throw in the truck if we have to bug-out. I've already read the various forum posts on storing extra gas to take with us if there's the chance of being caught in a traffic jam. I'm looking at roof-top basket racks to hold it. How would you lash it down to a roof rack basket if it didn't have welded gas can brackets on it already?

6. Should I wrap the magnesium/flint firestarter in something plastic to prevent inadvertant scratches from rubbing against othermetal in the bag or pocket from causing a problem?

7. Considering I live outside of DC in central Maryland, some of this is ridiculous, right? No Oregon mountain BLM roads around here and we rarely leave a suburban environment. Or is that the point -- it's when you do something unusual that something happens? Or is it better not to try to explain to unenlightend people and just let them think I'm nutty?

8. Any chance we'll see GPS-equipped PLB's come down to the $100 level in the near future? I remember when GPS units were much more expensive, but they've come way-down in price too.

9. Does anyone pack a snake-bite kit anymore, or is that old-school? Also, the QuikClot products and an epinephrine injector sounds useful, although expensive. How do you buy these things without a doctor's prescription?

Thanks in advance for the advice. I've been geeking out on reading your posts for the last several weeks. -Gary

Welcome! I don't have the time right now to really read your list, or comment on it, but I have no doubt that in no time at all you will have more comments than you can handle...

I can't comment on to much of that myself (as I feel I'm not qualified to). But I do know you can get Quickclot and ACTCEL through BrigadeQuartermaster (actiongear.com) over the counter.

I would recommend ACTCEL over Quickclot unless we are talking about massive tramatic wounds like gun shots. Then QuickClot and a pressure dressing are the way to go.

Checking out actiongear.com now, thanks.

I've been your typical computer desk jockey most of my life, but I'm thinking my boys and I should go camping this spring, just so we can try out some of these things... Fun! And then (sadly) becoming prime candidates for *needing* them...

If we do this I -will- be renting a PLB. -Gary

Only have a chance to do a fast look over during lunch, but I saw one big thing- KI tablets. They are only useful as a pre-exposure treatment, and it takes several days to have the full effect. And you can only take them for a relatively short period of time, if you took them every day you'd be in bad shape in a month of so. Long story short, unless you KNOW when the nuke is going to go off, they aren't worth squat other than psychologically. And if you know, I know people who would like to talk to you before hand.

QuikClot is good if used properly, but it isn't idiot proof. Something like Bleed-X is a better choice, as there is not exothermal reaction. Using QuickClot inappropriately is a good way to add 1st and possibly even 2nd degree burns to the wound, while Bleed-X and the shrimp stuff doesn't have that risk. Go back throught the past week of postings, and you'll see threads about both products.

If you have that many people, you are probably better off with a tent.

Skip the splenda- calories=survival. Use sugar. You might want to put the soap in another bag, or your tea will taste like soap.

In the nice to have, a charcoal or resin based water filter or a reverse osmosis rig.

I didn't see rain gear, or work gloves.

No problem and have fun this spring.

Just remember to use your head. Most survival situations are self inflicted, a little brain power goes a long way to keeping you out of trouble in the first place.

You might also want to look in outdoor schools like NOLS, or check the net for outdoors clubs in your area. The fastest, safest, way to ride the learning curve is to have somebody teach/help you. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Regarding the KI tablets--let's not be so hasty to judge without asking what they're for. For a Three Mile Island type incident, then that's a legitimate use for them. (I think there's a nuclear power plant in that vicinity, isn't there?) However, for a nuke or dirty bomb, then you're right, Ironraven, they won't help.

Welcome, Digimark! You must've put a lot of time and effort into that first post. Boy, where to begin...

Actually, I'm curious about your pager. (Regular folk still use pagers?) Is that a two-way pager? I used to carry a regular one-way pager long after all of my friends got cell phones, so I have a fondness for them. But I gave mine up a number of years ago.

Welcome aboard!

Some thoughts: I'd EDC another inhaler (or two). Cheap insurance.
From a utility standpoint, add a sanitary napkin to your FAK -- cheap and stops blood loss. I'd echo adding rain/ cold jackets.*

All that being said, you're more likely to' bug in' in most emergencies, are you preparing for that?

Teacher

(* fleece for eveyone.)

Regarding the six CR123a's and whether that's overkill. Well, for one thing, six CR123a's take up very little space in a vehicle kit, so that's not good a reason to pare them down. If solely for use with the X5, then that's a good long time and I can see you might think it's overkill. But here's another angle. Your B42 can only run on its highest setting for what? Like 20 minutes? If you need bright light for more than 20 minutes, then your only option is to keep putting fresh cells into the B42, so from that perspective, six extra cells isn't overkill.

I don't see any mention of extra batteries for your headlight.