>>Of course, I'm baffled by the mere notion of "commuter survival" in general, I'm afraid. Unless you're routinely driving down back-country roads that normally see one car every other month, I don't see how you could realistically get into a survival type situation without doing something incredibly stupid, like taking a short cut through the ravine.<<<br><br>I understand what you’re saying- as long as the infrastructure stays intact, all you genearlly need for a “commuter survival kit” is a credit card. But the infrastructure doesn’t always stay intact.<br><br>I guess the first time I became aware of the vulnerability of the infrastructure was during what they’re now calling the Great Northeast Blackout of 1965, when all of the Northeast and parts of Canada were blacked out for several hours. The whole event was relatively benign, with people pulling together and the worst stories coming from being trapped in elevators, etc. (New York was not nearly as lucky during a repeat performance in 1977), but it acted as a wake-up call to me that I couldn’t really rely on everything in civilization operating smoothly.<br><br>Of course, there have been LOTS of blackouts since… and earthquakes, and tornadoes, and hurricanes, and chemical spills…<br><br>I was in DC in the aftermath of the assassination of Dr. King, when there were tanks in the streets. I was in Maryland for hurricane Agnes. I was in San Francisco when the Rodney King riots happened there, and ended up face-to-face with the rioters at one point. I was in San Francisco again when Oakland caught fire, and the whole city was shrouded in smoke. I experienced one small tremor in California, and one larger one in Connecticut of all places. My parents were caught without power in Connecticut in the ice storm of 1973, and had to live in one room and cook in the fireplace for a week. A few years back an ice storm here caused local power outages in this area that shut down some of the stations in the suburbs, and turned my commute home into a multi-hour ordeal in sub-freezing weather that ended up with having to walk to an artery and flag down a cab to get back to my own vehicle.<br><br>And that’s not even touching the subject of terrorism, which has to be foremost in a lot of people's minds now.<br><br>Pretty much anything that can happen, can happen while you’re at work, or in transit- and any of us that commute are going to be at least a little more exposed, at least a little further away from most of our resources, a little harder to get hold of, a little more vulnerable.<br><br>My current commute is something over 30 miles by best driving route, but I go most of the way by subway to avoid traffic. That leaves me almost 30 miles from my vehicle, with most of a major urban area and a river in between. If going in toward the city is not advisable for whatever reason, the next bridge across that river is considerably further out- making the trip something more than 50 miles. Just for the sake of discussion, if I had to do it on foot, we’re talking days to get home- if nothing and no one is blocking my way back… presuming I don’t want to swim the river.<br><br>There have been several threads here about “urban” survival kits, and the focus is indeed much different than it is for rural/wilderness areas (fewer people see the need for snares and fishhooks, among other things).<br><br>So, if the discussion is not applicable to your lifestyle, or you just don’t feel the need, count yourself lucky. Me, I’ll continue to carry some minimal gear during my commute. <br>