>>Does anyone here work in a city such as NYC or Washington, D.C., where our beloved gear may draw unwanted attention? If so, how you work around it? What compromises do you make?<<

I do, from time to time- though the last 6 months have been suburban, that may be changing again.

I change my set-up to suit my commute. I use a shoulder pouch/soft briefcase for the subway, and rely more on the vehicle when I'm driving. I've had to deal with metal detectors on one gig, and that certainly limits things a lot more... though probably not as much as they intended.

Urban requirements are different- no fishhooks or snares, less need for firestarting or water containers. A lot of equipment (Photon 3, tiny REI aluminum whistle, Hot Spark firestarter, P38 can opener) that would attract unwanted attention in a tin box attracts none at all on a keyring. A firestarter in a tin box is an "incindiary device", a cheap lighter in a pocket is ignored. Appearances matter.

Since the gig with the metal detectors ended, mostly the restrictions I've been dealing with are what's visible- so, a lot of things stay in jacket or pants pockets, or desk drawers.

Was there something specific you were wondering about?