A few years ago, I assembled and gave to my sister in Portland, Oregon, a survival kit for her car. It was focused on winter survival on the mountain (Hood). She assures me that she does keep it in her car. The New Yorker article this week on the Cascade Subduction Zone has motivated me to stock a daypack for her that she would keep in her office or in her car.

I'll list the contents, so far, in the next post. Meanwhile, I'm searching Amazon for a small pry-bar and gas/water shutoff tool.

Any recommendations on those tools?



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Kit planning, so far. She works at a hospital (administrative) so the first-aid component of the bag is oriented to her being elsewhere when the quake hits -- perhaps in a store or forced to abandon the car because of road/bridge damage.

Befitting my little sister, this kit is largely hand-me-downs... :-) She's not clueless on preparedness as she has been involved on the periphery of workplace emergency planning and even has a ham radio operator license. However, she does not worry about herself as much as I worry about her. So big sis (me) wants the comfort of knowing that she has some emergency resources. Odds are we won't be connecting on the phone for days, or longer if the "Really Big One" strikes.

Opinions welcome.


** will be organized via freezer bags with notes on bag labels


NEWS & NAVIGATION
Portland map
button compass
AM-FM radio + extra AA batteries

FIRST-AID
Adventure Medical “Wound-Care” kit
assorted large bandages, non-stick pads, gauze, tape
sanitary napkins (4)
eyedrops/wash
meds (ibuprofen, aspirin, benadryl)

LIGHT
Petzl e-lite headlamp
Fenix E-20 (uses one AA battery) + extra battery

WATER
32 oz Nalgene canteen
Rothco canteen carrying pouch
Micropur tablets

FOOD
energy bars (2)
mixed nuts
hard candies

FIRE
BIC lighter (wrapped in hot pink duct tape)
REI Stormproof matches
mini-firesteel, scraper & cotton balls & Vaseline lip/skin balm (petroleum jelly)
tea-light candle

TOOLS
fixed blade knife (Morakniv)
mini pry-bar
gas & water shut-off
seatbelt cutter
mini-Leatherman
first-aid scissors

WARMTH
chemical hand-warmers (4)
AMK Heatsheet
garbage bags (2) -- makeshift poncho

MISC
Kleenex packets (2)
Storm whistle
N-95 mask
bandannas (2)
hiking pole
550 paracord
work gloves
moleskine notebook + pen + Sharpie
cash ($20 in ones)

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This is well thought-out. Your priorities to me appear to be light, and easy to move with, while still providing serious utility. There are a few things I'd like you to consider adding.

• Phone charger, hopefully for her smartphone that has local topo maps on it
• First aid materials for feet (I recently became a big fan of the Foot Care Module from Rescue Essentials, no affiliation)
• Spare pair of well broken-in boots
• A full-size Leatherman
• Rain poncho or jacket
• A warm fleece
• Signal mirror
• Spare glasses if she wears them
• Dry clothes to wear, most especially socks
• More cash
• Spare sunglasses

I carry a lot more, but my kit is meant to be comprehensive and live in my car, it's not designed for hoofing it longer distances without leaving a bunch behind.

All great recs, Chaos, thanks for your feedback!

I'm going to build out a bigger list of things she should add. I'll go ahead and add the foot care kit. I'm seeing the kit you reference on Amazon but it does not include free Prime shipping. So I'll compare that to the AMK kit and get one or the other.

My sister is pretty petite and not currently athletic (thin and not very strong) so pack weight is a major consideration.

Thanks, again.


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Dagny, UR a good big sister! As to your tool inquiry, there are many options. Cheapest reliable lightweight tool for the job may be the On-Duty 6 in 1 Tool. About $23US, from Fire Supply and other vendors. Best such tool IMO is the Channel Lock 6 In 1 Model 88, 9" , HD , plier, cutter, pry bar , water/ gas shutoff and spanner wrench. About $45US , on line, various suppliers. I'd also suggest a 4 way Silcock wrench/tool to access all types of water bids. About $3-4, on line. Also a small package of antibacterial wipes for wound & personal hygiene . Finally a gimmicky Stansport shovel, axe & saw, lightweight tool. About $25US on line . Good luck.

Dagny's sister is in Portland OR, I have a feeling that finding water to purify won't be an issue. Rather than carrying a Silcock wrench, a small water filter may be more useful for long term water treatment. I have an MSR MiniWorks; it "screws onto an MSR Dromedary® Bag or Nalgene® water bottle". There's lots of water in Portland, it's just a matter of making it drinkable.

That said, since your (petite) sister will not be carrying a bag with lots of gear, size this kit to assist in getting to the larger kit in her car or as a GHB. Think of it as a walking kit with a destination -- car/home. The bigger kits reside where you use them.

What is the elevation of her home? At what elevation in Portland would one be "safe" from a serious tsunami?

Thank you, Acropolis, and thanks, Russ.

I will look at all those tools tomorrow. Talked to my sister tonight and she's begun storing water in Aquatainers (7 gal. each) and is looking at rain barrels. That New Yorker article made quite an impression.

Portland is not at risk of a tsunami. It's about 80 air miles from the coast and 100 miles away via the Columbia River. My sister's house is at a couple hundred feet elevation. Her house is ten years old and the frame is bolted to the foundation, water heater is strapped to the wall, etc. She needs to secure all the taller furniture and artwork to the walls. There's reason to hope her house will remain habitable but in the worst scenario she's likely to lose utilities, possibly all of them.

To my surprise, I was reading today that The Dalles, a town 80 miles further east (about 200 miles from the coast) has been told they they'd likely lose electricity.

Portland may lose electricity for a couple of months. That's unprecedented in the U.S. and difficult to fathom.

https://goo.gl/maps/YunIX

In a big quake, liquefaction will be a problem for Portland, landslides will be rampant, most of the bridges linking the westside and downtown to the eastside are expected to be impassable or destroyed. And most of the buildings - private and public sector - were built during the 1950s-70s. Oregon didn't have even a rudimentary building code until 1974. The building codes were not significantly strengthened until the mid-1990s as policymakers were made aware of the CSZ threat.

Unfortunately, the hospital my sister works in may be among the casualties. Two-thirds of the hospitals in the CSZ are expected to be nonfunctional in the worst-case scenario. The good news is she'll be surrounded by doctors and nurses. The bad news is that it's a really big building and it's not new.

Hollywood should do a disaster flick about the CSZ scenario. There would be no need to embellish for dramatic effect.


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Dagny,

Nice kit for your sister. Like you I grew up in the Willamette Valley near Portland. When I was a Geology undergrad in the early '70s, Plate Tectonics was still a relatively new concept, but it was recognized that OR, WA, N CA, and S BC were located over a subduction zone. I still recall one of my professors commenting that while most subduction zones were seismically active, the PNW didn't seem to be. He said "We don't really know if this is because it somehow slips without earthquakes, or perhaps our record of quakes just doesn't go back far enough....?" or words to that effect. It took a couple of decades and the development of the tools of paleoseismology to determine that yes indeed, Cascadia does have very big quakes, they are just widely spaced in time.

I recently went through the same exercise as you, building a kit for my daughter, who lives near Tacoma. I think you did a good job designing a kit that has enough stuff to be useful, but is still light enough for a small person to carry. A couple of suggested additions:

I would include a lightweight compact outer shell garment. I opted to include a Red Ledge Thunderlight jacket, in High Vis Orange. It is reasonably priced, and folds up to a very small compact package. Get it big to go over other clothing. Presuming that your sister wears regular business apparel, it would be good to have a shell type garment to provide some protection from inclement weather. Bright orange will make her more visible for potential rescuers.

She should also include a pair of shoes she can walk in. Even an old pair of running shoes will be helpful if she needs to travel on foot to a place of refuge.

Another thing I would include is a pair of leather work gloves. If she needs to make her way on foot through rubble and wreckage, ordinary work gloves will provide some protection for her hands.

Some extra batteries for her lights would also be a good idea.

Thanks much, Aksar, for all your suggestions. Very wise counsel on the jacket/shell. I have some extra Marmot Precips that are lightweight, wind-proof, highly water resistant and have a hood. I will bequeath one of those to her go-bag. Found some popular modest-price work gloves on Amazon that I'll add, too.

Really appreciate have other, knowledgeable eyes on this kit prep.

The Oregonian newspaper's website had its biggest "chat" group ever last week that was led by some of the leading geologists on the CSZ. They say odds are the southern portion of the CSZ (northern California, southern Oregon) will rupture before the northern does and before a full rupture occurs.

Of course, Mother Nature can scoff at odds....

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northw...s_advise_n.html


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The link to Friday's entire Oregonlive chat with the CSZ geologists:

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northw...su_earthqu.html


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