"Family-Friendly" Office PSK

Greetings, all.

I'm putting together office PSKs for my family as Christmas presents. They aren't as enthusiastic as I am about preparedness, so I'm trying to select items that would be useful to them, stuff that they would be comfortable with, and things that wouldn't freak them out. Also, I think omitting sharps would be a good idea so my family could pass through metal detectors and bag searches in Washington DC without trouble.

The theme is "Quick Escape" and would be housed in a small, discreet bag they could keep in briefcases, purses, or desks.
Items selected so far:
Mini maglite
lighter
dust mask or smoke hood (maybe both)
FAK (probably the Pocket Medic from AMK)
needles and thread
bandanna
Aqua blox
energy bar
whistle

Please, I would be ever so grateful for your thoughts or suggestions. Thanks!

I assume the bandanna would be signal orange, and the FAK has basic items like pain reliever

Couple of ideas
-Bottled water or emergency water pouches (maybe too big, if not don't worry)
-Space Blanket
-Maybe add a cell phone hand crank recharger and/or signal booster. In a "trapped in rubble" type emergency (earthquake, attack), being able to talk and not run out of batteries is a good thing.
-Waterless clensing wipes (for face) and waterless hand sanitizer would be good too.
-An ASP palm defender (or some other pepper spray) and some decontamination wipes would also be nice for everyone in the office to have.

Just some ideas. It really depends on your situation and expected threats. A business person who travels often might find some things useful that wouldn't help, say, an officer worker. For instance, a 110/220v converter. On the other hand, an office worker might face anything from getting trapped in rubble to getting confronted in the parking lot by some undesirables. A business person

Any sort of multi-tool, even the little mini ones, would also be useful, although as you mentioned, it might get you hassled at some place with a metal detector

If it is helpful, I found a nice on-line source for orange bandanas:

http://www.wholesaleforeveryone.com/page/WFE/CTGY/bansolid

I purchased both 22"x22" and 27"x27" bandannas. The 22" size is available in both imported (cheaper) "Orange Crush" and American-made versions. Unfortunately the American-made version is poly-cotten instead of 100% cotton. The 27" version is imported 100% cotton. I accidently bought the poly-cotton 22". The color of the poly-cotton is much bolder, but I should have gotton the 100% cotton version.

Yeah my first idea would be to add Leatherman S4 but I looked at mine and it has a blade so that's out of the question. You may want to look into other lights to substitue Maglight. LED light like photons are smaller and lighter. I found that attaching a light to the zipper of the bag with a quick release option makes it so much more useful and ready than digging for it later on in the night.

I was about to make the same suggestion. Not fast enough !
Your light is immediately available (usually the timer goes off when you are in the middle of the stairway, with big shopping bags in each hand...) <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />
Another good point of that configuration is you have less risk to accidentaly power the LED light on inside the bag (being crushed between things)

While many people will not agree with the idea of constantly keeping a PSK on their person, such tiny LED lights are often well accepted.

I have to second Matt's suggestion on a different light. LED lights are the way to go, and perhaps some of the CountyComm cheapie lights would be good to attach to zippers, etc.
Mag lights make better batons than lights, there are any number of better flashlights on the market.

>>Mag lights make better batons than lights, there are any number of better flashlights on the market. <<

Depends on your criteria, I guess.

Mags are not high-tech by any means, or energy-efficient, and they weigh a ton... but they sort of remind me of the old EV-664 directional microphones. After a while, they were far from the best mics out there, but in a pinch you could drive nails with them, they'd be fine... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I carry Photons, Mags live in a drawer.

The MiniMag was my knee jerk also... but the cost on Photons can add up. I suggest you also tale a look at the Dorcy AAA LED (about $6 at Wally World or a buck more elsewhere) Here's a link that shows some pics, including a side-by-side with a MM: http://tinyurl.com/3zemj

Now that the 1.5 v Lithium AAA is out, load the Dorcy with those. Replacement can be any chemistry AAA cell.

Also check your local American Red Cross for ready-made FAKs - if you supplement /replace a few items these tend to be great bargains in a ready-made FAK in my experience.

Eye protection? Swimmers goggles are a pretty good compromise for non-eyeglasses wearers

A pair of large or medium deerskin unlined gloves?

An N95 dust mask with valve works nicer than the ones without valves.

Add an emergency space blanket? Less than $2 each in volumes as low as 4 packs

HTH,

Tom

I have given these to friends and family, and they all have had positive things to say.
Plus, you can't beat the price!

what about bandaids, a prepaid phone card, a small radio like countycomm sells.
maybe a few packs of OTC things like tylenol etc
a small first aid booklet, incase of injury.
a small compass since its a quick escape kit
maybe a small bit of paracord incase anything (like a bag strap) breaks in the rush to move, its not that big and has tons of uses.

I don't know if they'll use a compass in the office, and I imagine the first aid kit she mentioned would have band aids and tylenol <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

... I agree with you ....
but a few feet of paracord (and a small flat "roll" of duct tape ....) are very useful even in such an environment (easy to fix a loose hem with a bit of duct tape...)

I think you're on the right track and I wouldnt get too extensive with it since you (i assume) want it to be small and easy to carry so that it is actually with them when needed. IMO, of the things you listed these are most important (in order of importance) items and they are also the ones I would include if it were me. duct tape and paracord and other such items are certainly nice for everyday use but this is an urban escape kit (right?) and IMHO I say keep it small and light ans stick with the essentials.

Flashlight
FAK
Aqua blox
whistle
bandanna
Dust Mask

May I remind you of 9/11? The Fire Lt. (now Battalion Chief) who survived in the North Tower stairwell was calling directions to potential rescuers over the air - telling them he and others were in the ???? side stairwell of the North Tower. One response he heard ... "Where's the North Tower?"

Direction finding is very important in an urban/suburban hi-rise environment or any other place that could be potentially smoke filled. Keep the compasses. Maybe out of curiosity they'll play with them and learn a bunch of valueable lessons ...

M

Thanks a ton, guys. Once again, you've come through. The Countycomm tip was great, too. Never heard of it before.

Good point I guess, I didn't even know a compass would work well in a giant steel structure!

i wasnt thinking about the inside of the buildings when i mentioned the compass.

but assuming part of the "quick escape" was maneuvering around outside it may be usefull at sometime.

I just purchased a smaller, hand-cranked AM/FM radio that would be great to include in your "Family-Friendly" Office PSK. I picked it up at an Eddie Bauer store for $11.99 (marked down from $24.50 - I think they're a clearance item). The box says it's a "Water Resistant Self Powered Radio" and should be good for 20 minutes with 90 seconds of cranking. It also will work off of 2 AAA batteries (which were included) and has a built in flashlight. Dimensions are approximately 5.5" x 2.5" x 1.5". While the flashlight isn't much, it appears bright enough to walk around without bumping into things (or even to make it down a dark stairwell). I figured for the price I would get one to throw into my auto emergency kit. I have a headlamp that uses AAA batteries as well so I have some redundancy built in.

I liked your idea of a "Family-Friendly" Office PSK so much that I bought two of these radios and am putting together a kit for a friend. Thanks for the post.

Terry

Is it this radio? You got a good deal if so.

For whatever it's worth, I had assumed that the last place a compass would work would be a large cruise ship... essentially a huge steel structure immersed in salt water.

To my surprise, they worked just fine- probably a few degrees off, but not enough to notice. Having one also came in handy in two distinct ways.

I carry one in the city every day. Most often, I find myself referring to it to get oriented quickly when coming out of unfamiliar subway stations, but, in general, I find it much easier to get disoriented in the city than in the country. It's much harder to see the sky, and you often have to walk a block or two to see how street designations progress in a given direction. Maps are useless if you don't have any idea which way is which. I'd hang on to it.

Unfortunately, I'm in circumstances very similar to those you describe. Probably worse. Typically more than 30 miles from my vehicle, and in a building where I face the possibility of having to go through metal detectors and having anything I carry x-rayed, they nonetheless encourage you to have a "go-kit", implicitly if not explicitly for evacuation after a terrorist attack.

Those who have been on this forum awhile can imagine how I feel about not even having a pocket knife for those circumstances.

Anyway, I've devoted a lot of thought to it, and probably more money than you want to devote to these kits, but you might want to consider that such an evacuation can happen any time of year, in any weather. In a large event, people might have to go some distance on foot... one of the things we learned from 9/11 is that you want to KEEP GOING, not stick around to watch the drama unfold, to try to hail a cab, or to take "shelter" under a handy awning. You want to keep putting distance between you and the "action" by any means available.

One of my first thoughts would be a poncho of some sort- even a disposable one (if not too terribly fragile) would be very welcome in some circumstances. It may not provide much insulation in the cold, but there's no quicker way to hypothermia than being both wet and cold.

I also carry a fleece cap, a fleece neck gaitor, and a flat-folding pair of ear warmers in the winter, and a rolled-up canvas brimmed hat in the summer. I don't know how much you're willing to invest, but none of those items cost a lot. Keeping the head warm in winter and cool in summer is half the battle, and gear to do that is much more compact and effective (per weight and bulk) than the equivalent gear to do the same for the rest of the body.

No, it was a slightly smaller model without the clock (I didn't see it on their website). The store I went to did have the model you show with a price of $19.99 (it looked like they were clearing those out as well). I was looking for a radio as small and inexpensive as possible with the ability to power it by hand. If the store I went to wasn't located three and a half hours away, I might go back and see what kind of extra features the other model has. Some kind of weather band would have been nice.

Terry

While we're talking radios...

I've had a chance to try out both the Grundig FR200 and Sony SRF-M37V during blackouts due to our recent Florida hurricanes.

Both have features to commend them. I particularly like the Sony with its weather stations and TV reception for channels 1 through 13.

I found that the TV audio was a great source of information. Most of the TV stations assumed that people in blacked-out areas would be listening to their audio, and did expanded descriptions of the weather and hurricane tracking.

Bear

Thanks- I have the FR200 (which seems at least better than the Baygen/Freeplay radios), and have been seriously thinking about the SRF-M37V. I have been carrying a tiny coin-cell powered radio EDC, but it's FM only.

I note that all, or virtually all the SRF-M37Vs on ebay are refurbs. That can be good or bad- sometimes it indicates that there was some problem with the initial release of a product ("bug"), and the refurbs are the only ones you can be sure are fixed....

Do not thank them too much for the CountyComm.com link yet..
Now that you have found it, you too will be broke soon!

Just at tip...Go over to www.candlepowerforums.com and join(it is free.)
CountyComm.com has some GREAT deals for CPF members. Their BugOutBag is so cheap CPF members that I am temped to buy ANOTHER one(I already have 2,) but now they have one that has been gone over by MAXPEDITION and been given their treatment...What to do...What to do??????

I bought my Sony SRF-M37V new about 2 years ago, and have had no problems with it...the eBay auctions I've seen lately are selling refurbs for only a few dollars less than a new one (around $30).
About a year ago there was a sale of a stock of slightly used ones - AmEx logos on them, given away at the U.S. Open, and the prices were much better...around $12-$15 each, or about $21 for 3. Wish I'd picked some up at that price.

I went with the inexpensive radio from CC for my parents BOB. That and batteries from the Dollar store did the job. BTW both the AM/FM and the SW from CC are decent radios, I keep one of the AM/FM at work.

I have two of those little blue AM/FM radios and was surprised how well they work considering how cheap they are.

I played around with the SW radio and a antenna made of 10 or 12 feet of speaker wire, logged 20 or 22 overseas stations.
I was impressed, small enough to take along on vacation and have fun with. I did a post some time ago listing all the stations/countries.