My urban kit

So I'm living and going to school in NYC. I live about a ten minute walk from campus and I carry my school supplies in a messenger bag. I also carry a few everyday use and emergency supplies:
Thermos
Clifbars
Washcloth
Sunglasses
First aid kit (trauma bandage, nitrile gloves, bandaids, aspirin, Benadryl)
LED headlamp and extra batteries
Spoon and chopsticks
Reusable shopping bag
Change
Notebook and pens
Swiss Army knife in my pocket

Suggestions?

Be mindful I don't want to break my back carrying it, I'm a student without many funds, but I have a decent inventory of camping supplies.

if you don't already EDC...
whistle
bandana
I'd add a small AAA LED keychain light in addition

bag
multi tool or silcock wrench to access water... my Swiss Tool will cut chain link fence
N95 mask
chemical splash goggles/swim goggles
syringe for eye wash or wound irrigation
leather gloves

A Metrocard with a few rides on it.

Are you looking for emergency supplies, or everyday comfort items?

Thermos? Water bottles (full) instead.
Washcloth? Large bandana instead.
Spoon and Chopsticks? ??? What for?
Reusable shopping bag? ??? I guess OK if you're planning on shopping.

LesSnyder already mentioned a flashlight and whistle and mask.

Cellphone (even a retired one without a service plan will work for 911 calls)
Toilet paper (don't you just hate it when the stall is without?)
Fingernail clipper with file (I'm surprised how often I find this useful)
Anything for self defense is probably out for NYC, so no need to mention

It's not true that you can't have anything for self defense in NYC. That's just an exaggerated impression of people who haven't spent a substantial amount of time living in New York. However, this is something I wouldn't recommend any New Yorkers to discuss online publicly. If you get into a lawsuit, you definitely don't want put evidence of your self-defense planning and training in public.

Great suggestions so far.

One thing I see missing is shelter. Even with the genetosity of spirit that abounds in NY, Id be concerned with getting stuck outside for a while because of "X" (fire, bomb scare, etc.) within your local AO. It's Spring, so cold and wet weather is part of the seasonal forecast. I'd add a disposable poncho or something equivalant. Personally, i'd also throw in a winter hat, mitts/gloves and a pair of socks, unless you know you're going to be dressed for the worst weather. (I find that harder in Spring and Fall because the temp variances are much wider.)

Great answers. This is just what I carry, I haven't distinguished between emergency and comfort items. I don't really do so in practice, somethings are more obvious, but everything else is a source of improvisation materials. Even with first aid since aspirin and Benadryl can be life saving. There is a whistle attached to my key chain, and I carry a cellphone, earplugs, wallet with a metro card, ID and an extra $20, and I usually have a (not necessarily clean) handkerchief. I've started checking the weather before I leave and adding a sweater or rain jacket if the forecast looks like I need it. Usually, I'm pretty well dressed anyway though.

N95 mask and gloves will probably be added.

Justification for a few other items.
Spoon and chopsticks, definitely comfort item, but I use them all the time. I also carry headphones...I really don't want to destroy them, but they could be most useful as cordage.

Thermos, I carry this instead of a water bottle since I usually leave the house with coffee in the morning. Then I rinse it out and fill it with cold water. If I'm going downtown or something on the weekends, I'll fill it with hot tea or cold water or lemonade. It's a compromise, but it keeps me carrying it.

Shopping bag, mostly for, well, shopping. When I drove everywhere I couldn't remember carrying reusable bags for anything, now its right with me. But it also gives me the option of picking up supplies if I have the opportunity and carrying them more easily.

Washcloth, I like because its more absorbent. I go back and forth between this and a small towel. Why should I carry a bandana instead?

a bandana is typically large enough to improvise a sling for an arm or collarbone injury, and long enough to wrap around a leg for an improvised tourniquet...and if color neutral a "do rag" if you don't have to worry about color associated street gangs...for Sun protection and holding a bandage on a scalp cut

I EDC a bandanna regularly. A good all cotton bandanna makes a very effective towel. I regularly used mine when showering at work after commuting by bike. A cotton bandanna is one of the few cotton items I still employ, and they are marvelously versatile.

That's as far as that particular discussion can go on ETS.


chaosmagnet

Here is my commuter rail kit list as it has evolved:

• one liter Nalgene, full of fresh water
• protein bars **
• spare CR123A battery in a plastic wrapper, suitable for my primary EDC flashlight (which is a 4Sevens Quark 123 S2)
• 4Sevens Prism kit to turn the Quark into a headlamp
• iTP A3 EOS Upgrade 1xAAA flashlight on a neck lanyard
• Mini-Bic
• A couple of large paperclips
• eight Potable Aqua chlorine dioxide tablets
• Fox 40 Micro whistle in blaze orange
• A small amount of duct tape
• Sawyer sunblock with bug repellant spray
• Dust mask
• bandanna
• mechanics gloves
• Heatsheets 2 person emergency blanket
• emergency poncho
• large contractor bag
• Countycommm "ETFR" small radio with earbuds
• Leatherman Wave (pre-2004) **
• screwdriver with bits in hollow handle **
• Preon 2 S3 Ti **
• cable ties **
• small FAK including Patrol Officer's Pocket Trauma Kit
• sync/charge cables and AC power cube for my iPhone **
• 10 Ah lithium polymer battery with cables to charge my iPhone, iPad, and other devices **
• earplugs **
• facial tissue **

** denotes items I carry for work that can be pressed into service for emergencies

The only things on my list that I didn't see on yours that I'm sure I want to recommend to you would be the Heatsheets, a pair of gloves, and a mini-Bic. For myself, I prefer a multi with good pliers over an SAK, and I also believe that a silcock key is unneeded weight (especially with a multi) but those are my preferences.

May I ask why the pre-2004 caviot? The Wave I have is indeed pre-2004, it was bought when the Wave first came out. But I had considered buying a newer Wave as a second tool, mostly for the ability to look the tools so they don't fold while in use (a capability that the original Wave lacks).

Are there problems with the newer Waves?

Thanks

My decision on what I EDC comes from my experience. Experience will be your best teacher and the best source information on what to carry. Experience will also tell you how to trim your gear if you feel you are carrying too much.

Jeanette Isabelle

I own both a pre-'04 Wave and a post-'04 Wave, and I like them both. My New Wave (which is what Leatherman calls it) lives in a sheath with a flashlight and a Leatherman bit set that I take with me when anticipating the need. The pre-'04 Wave lives in my laptop bag for the IT work with which I earn my daily bread.

The post-'04 Wave has larger knife blades, all locking tools, different scissors, and trades in the screwdriver bits for a socket that fits Leatherman's proprietary flat reversible screwdriver bits. It comes with one of those bits (for two kinds of driver); there's a bit set available for purchase that works with a number of different fasteners.

The pre-'04 Wave makes more sense to me for my laptop bag because it's lighter than the the New Wave, and because I'm already carrying a screwdriver with bits. The old-school screwdriver bits on the multitool are better, sometimes, for reaching recessed screws than bits that go in a socket.

Warm or rain jacket. Small umbrella. cell charging cord.

I did not say what your post claims I have said.

Jeanette Isabelle

I have a pre-2004 wave too. Its lighter, has a better file and scissors. I put my newer wave with a toolkit with all the bits and other things and EDC the older.

Neat little radio. Who do you hear talking on shortwave? I have a ham radio that picks up all kinds of traffic, but I don't carry it with me.

Thanks, all, for the info on Original Wave vs. New Wave differences. I have had an incident or two where one of the screw drivers has folded on me while in use on super tight screws. Not the end of the world, but painful if your fingers happen to be in the way. At least the blades lock on the Original Wave, which is the bigger safety issue. The solution may not be to buy a new tool, it may be to be more aware when using the one I already have. Thanks.

My question may seem odd, but are the OTC meds in their original containers/packaging? There are instances where OTC meds that are "free-ranging" can raise suspicions about illegal substances and slow down your day. As much as I like my repurposed medicine jar that has four compartments for Tylenol, Benadryl, Immodium, and Motrin, I am not sure it would be wise to carry. I made a lablel that listed what each med is, the color, and the basic dosing. Even with all that, it could still cause me problems.

In a free country, no. In a police state, yes. It is sad to think what has happened to our country where we are now concerned that putting medications in a different bottle "could cause me problems". It most certainly should NOT cause you problems. Are we a police state? No. Are we moving in that direction? Answer for yourself. Because people tolerate these "problems" happening, that is the reason that they keep happening, and with more frequency.

Anyway, that is not what this thread is about. But it does give one pause to think about it...

Sorry, I messed up the quote on that post. Fixed.

I can pick up shortwave news on it if I have to; I've done it enough to know that I can and remember some stations. It's not something I'm normally listening to. I'll pay more attention to local FM and AM stations if they're up.

I also have both Waves. I find I prefer the new version, primarily because of the locking feature. I still keep the old Wave handy - it's a fine tool.

Seems pretty complete, more than I carry. Les has made some good suggestions.

You are right, this is not the place for that.
-Blast

I carry one of those window breakers doodads on keychain.We had a coworker thats car went into a drainage/irrigation? ditch.About same width as car,doors wouldnt open,electric windows wouldnt work.He drowned!

I actually found the neatest solution to this, the local chain of pharmacies (Duane Reade now owned by Walgreens or someone else) carries single doses of aspirin, benedryl, heart burns and one or two other meds in a powdered form in nice flat plastic envelops. They're a bit expensive, but flat and convenient.

Be nice haertig. I carry a spoon because if you buy yogurt at Wa-Mart all they have is forks. And I have a pair of chopsticks because they make nifty kogai type weapons. I was a bit thrown by the shopping bag, but the poster sounds enviromentally concious and it would be nice to have for spur of the moment shopping trips on the way home.

As it's NYC you might consider a space blanket or bag or SOL bivy in case you are forced to stay somewhere and must shelter there.

I'm always heavily armed when in NYC. On and off duty. I've strolled through the park in the wee hours ad survived. But then the average person isn;t me. They have my licenses, training or experience.

As a New Yorker, I am not sure this suggestion is applicable. The transportation system and infrastructure are robust enough that you can usually get home. If you can't, you can probably find a hotel. If you can't do either, that means something on the order of a nuclear bomb going off has happened, and you'll probably need something more than your PSK.

I now live in a small town in the Midwest (oh Lord, get me out of here!), and I carry space blanket in the car in case my car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Here I also worry -- if a road get flooded, there may not be another way to get home. In NY, one road goes down, and there are plenty of detours.

Also, NYC is generally a safe place -- if you know what you're doing.

I wasn't intending to be not-nice by asking why one would carry a spoon and chopsticks. I was wondering why, that's all.

What if theres a forced evac Bingley? Or subway attack etc? Boston Proves America is no longer feared. You just can't know what will happen. Hence the ETS'ers EDC of flashlights, fire and knives at a minimum. Careful? With my clients I'm a mother hen. On my own in strnge territory I go about my buisiness. If someone can't reaad my bpdy language that's thier problem. And TV series aside the NYPD is a huge joke.

Sorry haertig. Thought you were being a bit sarcastic. I misread your intent. Again, my apologies.

You can't know what will happen? So why not recommend that he trucks a whole big survival container wherever he goes? So that sort of "you never know what will happen" is no argument at all. As for the specific possibilities you raise: if there is a subway attack, take the bus home. Or walk home. A forced evac? In a place as dense and big as NY that will take a while. You may have more time and flexibility than you'd first anticipate.

I'm more worried about a forced evac where I am. Small Midwestern towns are the sort of place where environmental regulations are lax, and I'm just waiting for the next chemical spill. Our lakes here are so polluted that we can't eat the fish caught here.

By the way, I didn't say "be careful and you'll be OK." I said "if you know what you're doing." But you didn't get that. Then you turn to insult to bolster your non-argument. That's not civil.

Anyway, not that I like picking on people for their writing, but I find it difficult to communicate with people who have poor writing skills. So maybe I've misunderstood you, but it wouldn't be my fault.

Pats bingley on the head. They didn't take a bus home after the london subway, did they? And they hold everyone in the area for questioning, which can take awhile. I'm actually a published author many times over, so your critique of my writing skills actually made me smile. If you like NYC so much why didn't you tay? As for my typing skills I am recovering from severe eye injury to both eyes and the black print on a bright white background is hard for me to see clearly. I've spoken with a mod about this problem. If that offends you I apologize. My insult was to the NYPD, with whom I'm sure I have had more dealings with professionally than you have had privately, not you. Since I don't play well with the sensitive lads I have a simple suggestion: Let's simply avoid each other? I'm sure Chaos will scold me for that, won't be the first time. I would suggest you get more real world experience before attacking those of us who had done so. In conclusion if I have hurt your feelings in any way I offer my most sincere apologies. Ciao.

You sure had me fooled.

Merely short stories. And in here no need to be creative. Not submitting my posts for publication.

I too write but I am an amateur working with other amateurs. What we do is a series of stories. If I were to post one on fanfiction.net, readers would be lost because so much is built on previous works. One I wrote last year turned out so well I considered rewriting it as a standalone.

That will be on hold as another writer and I are involved on another project.

Jeanette Isabelle

No doubt you are a highly creative fiction author.

With regard to rain jackets, you can get ones that pack up to about the soda can. If you type something like "pack away rain jacket" into google you should find something you can use.

Originally Posted By: Snake_Doctor
..... I'm actually a published author many times over, so your critique of my writing skills actually made me smile. ....

After reading several of your posts, I guess spell check works wonders.

Let's quit the personal jabs and return to our regularly scheduled programming, shall we?

30 Uses for a Bandana

1. Signal (also see signal mirror)
2. Neck Gaiter for cold weather
3. Tourniquet (But for Snake Bites use a Sawyer Extractor)
4. Pot Holder
5. Collecting Wild Edibles
6. Sun block for neck
7. Sling (first-aid – also see medical kits for you BOB)
8. Sling (as in David and Goliath)
9. Sling (for a staff )
10. Cordage (strips or as is)
11. Washcloth/Towel (Bathe out of a Collapsible Bucket)
12. Sweatband
13. Waist pack/pouch
14. Hobo Pack
15. Padding a hotspot
16. Cleaning Patches for Firearm
17. Bullet Patches for Muzzleloader
18. Gun Wipe Cloth (with oil)
19. Toilet Paper
20. Mark a Trail
21. Dish Rag
22. Napkin
23. Eye patch
24. Pre-water Filter (like Coffee Filters)
25. Clean Glasses and other lens
26. Ear Muffs
27. Bind a stone and toss a line over a limb
28. Dust Mask (in Urban Survival)
29. Wet and wear for Hot Weather
30. Sneezing

31. Material for char cloth

If you have firefox browser there is a add-on called "NoSquint". Allows you to change background colour, text colour, text size. And more. Very useful.

That's a great list. I had never thought of half of those potential uses. Thanks!

Hearty agreement on every thing except #19 - snowballs are much more effective.

Hope this wipes the slate clean.

Jackie, you left off the list the one you came up with in reply to one of my posts: a coffee filter for making coffee (with grounds) in hot/boiling water. For those who enjoy loose tea, it should work the same. I always enjoy a good cuppa!

No, you have not hurt my feelings. I'm just attempting to correct your misinformation so others won't be led astray.

You may actually be a dog on the internet, and there is no way of knowing. We only know your words, and given the nature of this forum, your words here are your action. Screaming about how you are a "published author" (a dime a dozen) and how "experienced" you are means nothing if you keep saying uninformed stuff and act in a way that does not earn anyone's respect.

I'm sorry about your eye problem. Perhaps that explains your misspellings, your failure to adhere to established orthography and rules of punctuation, your inability to make paragraph breaks, and possibly even the absence of coherent, unified paragraphs. (I'll even give you the benefit of the doubt with some grammatical problems such as "with whom I'm sure I have had more dealings with." The relative clause has one too many preposition. Typically that indicates a discomfort with formal, written language -- rather odd for a widely published author.) I genuinely have trouble reading your posts. But your eye problem does not excuse your condescension, the groundless assumption you make about others, and your hostility towards law enforcement.

If you are indeed some sort of emergency preparation genius, I do pray that you will share your knowledge with us -- in a rational discourse that will persuade us that you are in the right.

I have trained for decades in combative arts and firearms with police officers, and I'm friends with some of them. Some of them even worked in NYC. After getting to know them, I grew to respect all of them. One of them is among the very finest people I know, and I have a high standard. I'm sorry that not everyone has the same experience.

Brain fart! LOL! That might be my favorite one, bows, tied with hairband/head covering. Oh yeah - and flag for capture the flag!

OK, seriously. You guys are messing up a good thread. Take it to PM. Please.

She's right. That's more than enough.


chaosmagnet

I don't have an "urban" kit. I have some stuff in my car that might well be useful for such a kit, but I never got around to actually making one.

The thing is that in urban areas you have access to a lot of resources at hand that just don't exist out in the woods, so I guess I feel the need to have some things in the woods that I don't see as especially necessary anywhere else.

I don't go to urban areas much anyway. I live 60 miles from Chicago, and I avoid it like the plague. The nearest "big" city is Rockford and it is not that big. I tool around the area a fair amount but many places I go I just would not be comfortable carting around a big pack of stuff. In fact, many of the places I go would take a dim view of me bringing it in with me. Some places won't even let me bring my cell phone, apparently fearing some kind of industrial espionage, although at least one of these places has now relented somewhat and allows outside service people to bring cell phones as they often need to call for technical help, and I come under that umbrella.

Incidentally, I find the typical writing mistakes I see in others' posts jump right off the screen at me, but my own not so much. I wonder if that is because I know what I wrote even if that is not what I actually typed.

FACT: NYC Is one of America's safest cities.

Not my stats, Forbes Magazine's stats:

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/egim45edhe/10-new-york-n-y/

Whatever credibility they might have had, is no more. I think Forbes must have some kind of weird agenda in publishing a statement like that. They also published Aurora Colorado as a safe city. Well, I happen to live near the Denver Metro area (or which Aurora is part). Aurora is not really considered a terribly safe place in just the state, let alone nationally. I mean, it's not as bad as Chicago or Detroit, but there's no way a Colorado resident would spout off and say, "Now Aurora, THAT's a safe city." Falling right behind Denver, Aurora is gang city. What a load of BS Forbes.

Accusing a source of an agenda without being able to spell out what it is isn't exactly persuasive. If you can cite better sources or statistics, please do so. I mean, if facts don't matter, I can just say, "Every colorado resident thinks Aurora is the safest place to live in. Haertig must have some kind of weird agenda is posting a statement like that."

Here's a source that proclaims NYC's safety record, citing FBI stats. I haven't dug up FBI's original report -- maybe NY Post misrepresented it (it's not a great newspaper, after all) -- but you should if you want to dispute it:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/regional/item_KwpQPtSU9ivJn69UinZMWM

A few relevant sentences: "One small thing about the Big Apple is the crime rate -- New York is America's safest big city by a mile, new FBI crime stats show." "And of the 261 cities with more than 100,000 residents, New York's crime rate ranked 246th." "The story was far grimmer in small-town America in 2008... Places with fewer than 10,000 residents charted a 5.5 percent rise in murders, a 1.4 percent increase in rape and a 3.9 percent rise in robbery."

I don't think this is the definitive statement, but it largely agrees with my experience of living in New York. NYC became much safer during Giuliani's mayorship. Was it because of his police tactics, or was it because he just got lucky with the economy? Who knows, but it got safer.

REDACTED

Are the facts from the FBI Universal Crime Report OK with you?

Here they are:

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/ucr-publications#Crime

From there, go to the section "Crime in the United States"

You will see that 2011 is the latest data that is not considered preliminary. Click on 2011.

Click on the "Violent Crime" link on the resulting webpage. That click will take you here:

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/cri...e/violent-crime

Now look over on the right side of the resulting page. There is a list of twenty-some-odd tables. Hover your mouse over "Table 6". You will see that a popup says: "Crime in the United States by Metropolitan Statistical Area". Click on that ("Table 6").

Here is where you will be after all the above navigation:

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/table-6

Now you can see data for tons of cities throughout the US. Of interest are the columns "Population" and "Violent Crime".

Scroll down until you find New York City. You will see that there is a "Rate per 100,000 individuals" row down a few rows below New York City. Unfortunately, this rate/100000 is for a group of cities including New York City, but you can calculate the rate for NYC alone using the raw numbers. For New York City, it shows the population is 8,336,002 and the number of violent crimes is 48,489. Doing the math, you will see this comes out to a "Rate per 100000" of 581.7 for New York City.

Now scroll up and down that Table 6 and compare 581.7 to other cities. The vast majority are well below New York Cities numbers. A few are higher (look at Anchorage Alaska with a rate of 812.9). A few are far lower (see Bangor Maine with 68.4).

So there are a few scattered cities that are higher than NYC, but most are quite handily below it.

So much for NYC being "one of the safest cities". I wonder where Forbes got their data? I am citing the most recent FBI data, the same data that Forbes claimed they used. You can look at the preliminary data for 2012, but it doesn't include the detail you need to look at individual cities. And even if Forbes did have access to some secret unpublished FBI data, wouldn't you find it hard to believe that NYC amazingly jumped from one of the worst, to one of the safest in only one year?

If something smells fishy, it probably is fishy. Coming out and saying NYC is one of the safest places to live is just contrary to common knowledge. Swallowing a claim like that hook, line and sinker shows the gullability of the US population, and the unethical/bias/agenda/whatever of Forbes.

Great work, haertig. I'm pleased and impressed that you rose to the challenge.



If you break up the statistics further, you'll see the large area aggregates (giving only the "rate per 1000000" for huge areas composed of many cities) disguises a lot of high crime rate cities. Detroit has an insane rate of 1887.4 violent crimes per 1000000, for example. San Francisco and Oakland are also surprisingly high. But these are not individually computed. So I am suspecting that NYC is more middling than your analysis above suggests. That does mean if we're talking about cities in general, then NYC doesn't look distinguished. So point taken.

However, if we're looking at a particular subset, say the biggest cities, perhaps things are different, and it may not be evident from the chart. My cursory calculation suggests that NYC's number may look pretty good for big cities. That agrees with the NY Post article that I quote in the previous post. It states: "New York has the lowest crime rate of the 25 largest cities in the country... Following New York in the lower crime rates for big cities were San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio." These places are all far bigger than Bangor.

This debate has very little to do with the OP, (Maybe a new thread is in order?) and I hate the idea of helping us get sidetracked further, but it does illustrate an important point:

"America's safest city by a mile"? ummm... 246th out of 261 isn't first place...

I was a History major, not Math, so maybe I'm missing something, but it illustrates Bing's suggestion nicely: do your homework before you move to, work in or travel through an area, and before you determine your priorities for edc, ghb, bob, etc. (You just might want to find a source of info that can do it's basic math right before you put your faith in it.)

When we first moved into the AO we now live in, the headlines and stats screamed at us. Had we blindly listened to them, I'd be edc'ing a full on hazmat suit, KI pills, radiation monitor and a shovel for digging a hasty bunker. I wish I had spent as much time researching the stats about water main failures as I did nuclear accidents before we bought our house. It turns out that water is a higher priority on the threat list for our family.

I can see a Locked Thread happening if we don't get back on topic which is "My Urban Kit".

First place = highest crime. 261st place = lowest crime.

There are parts of every urban area that are bad as Detroit and other areas that are fairly safe.

In any case, most of the urban areas actively manage their crime statistics by various means so that they are not as meaningful as one would hope for.

Reading anything into them as a survival tactic is not going to be as helpful as one might hope. Raw numbers like this just do not tell you anything useful.

You cannot really depend on being safe in areas considered safe either. An acquaintance of mine was murdered about 10 years ago in a well to do area that had virtually no crime, and there has been very little crime since in that area.

There are some Google maps that have been put together by various entities that show where crimes have occurred. The maps show clusters of crimes that make for good information on what areas of town to avoid.

Thanks for clarifying, Bing, but you missed my point. (I added your original quote to clarify a little further.) Regardless of which is the high end of scale, 246th isn't 1st or 261st, so "New York is America's safest big city by a mile," is an exaggeration.

I don't belabour the point to argue about how safe NYC is or isn't, or even how best to interpret the stats. We could do that all day and accomplish nothing but tick off everybody here by further sidetracking this thread.

My point is don't take the news, or even statistics, at face value. The same goes for what you need or how to prep or carry for EDC, GHB, BOB, etc. The OP has already received conflicting information about defensive weapons, as an example, demonstrating the need to wade through it all to figure out what works best for him, instead of getting caught up in endless debates about which is the best whatever.

My simplest advice is to do your research. Get advice and opinion. Be discerning. Listen to your experience and your gut. Remember that other people's prep lists may not accurately reflect your threat assessment, even if you live/work/commute through/visit the exact same city.

Now, back to the "30 uses for a bandana" post, where is a good place (online probably) to find large good quality (printed on both sides preferably, hemmed all the way around) cotton bandanas? Looking at all of mine, I think they are on the smallish side. And they are all about 500 years old. Time for some replacements I think.

LOL! Thanks haertig!

Great question!

I've been pondering the bandana question myself. About two years ago I discovered "Buff". They're those bandana-like things they use on the TV show Survivor. It's one piece of fabric that's cut in a tube instead of a square. I've added one to my kits, but not removed any bandanas.

You can use them for many of the same uses as a bandana, but I've noticed these key differences:

-buffs work better as clothing (I.e. a head wrap) than a bandana because you don't need a knot. You just slip it on.
-buffs don't work as well as a sling because the material is thinner and stretchier than a regular cotton bandana. To get the support you need for a sling, you need to pull it taught, which makes it more constricting. Of course, that might be a good thing too sometimes.
--also, because some applications need a bigger piece of fabric, (i.e. a signal flag) you might need to cut it to make it work. Then again, in an emergency situation, who cares.
-buffs are more expensive than bandanas, at least brand name retail. I'm thinking of making my own out of one of my daughter's onsies.

I just started looking around online (Amazon, etc.)

From what I have researched, a "good quality bandana" is defined as

27"x27"
100% cotton
hemmed on all four sides
printed on both sides

So far, I haven't found any that posses all four of these traits. I'll keep looking...

Thinking back to that sewing machine thread, maybe I can just go to a fabric store and buy the material and thread to make some myself. I haven't sewed in many years, but a hem is pretty basic to accomplish.

All I've seen are smaller ones, likely just like what you have, and then up to a shemaugh or pashmina.

I've never had the stomach to watch even one episode of Survivor, so I have never heard of a "buff". I think I'd like a regular bandana better, but I will check out these newfangled buff things just to see what they are...

I was thinking the same thing. I have a plaid cotton shirt that fit me while I was pregnant but is too big now. I think I'm going to hack that up and give it a go. An old bed sheet would probably work well too.

http://www.buffusa.com/sports/

Not a sales rep and i haven't spent a dime on them. I got a summer buff and a winter one as gifts, and I'm quite happy with them.

I use mine mostly as a hairband. It works well for that, and I love that I can just slide it down for a neck warmer, but I can't bring myself to buy one. Frankly, IMO, they're way overpriced, at least in these parts. Even the knock-offs are expensive. $20 buff (I've seen them as high as $40 for a polar one) vs $3 bandana? I'll buy a bandana, thanks. In the meanwhile, I'll use these two buffs until they wear out, and try to figure out a cheapo DIY alternative, or just keep on using my trusty bandanas.

you might want to do a little research as to the color of your bandana, if you live in an area with active gang associations...something like a neutral tan or OD... don't know how up to date the list from Wikipedia is on gang associated colors

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_colors

Big fan of Buffs here; I find them very versatile and useful.

Personal uses include: a neck gaiter when its still cool but I have the motorcycle out, a sleeping mask for camping, a facemask for sub-zero weather, and a simple cap.

I have just the one right now (a plain black Original Buff), but I always have it with me. It folds up nice & is virtually imperceptible in the back pocket of my pants.

I have a military version of the buff. A bit longer and much better material. No labels though so no idea of the material. Been carrying it over 10 years and I am second owner. Great item.

For bandannas, I buy tea dyed muslin. Cheap. I just rip it to the size I need. Nip the edge to get it started and then rip it. Tears in a straight line along the thread line.

Nomad

How 'bout these...$5.99 shipped...
http://www.amazon.com/MIXED-COLORS-MULTI-SCARF-BANDANAS/dp/B004QFBXGK/ref=pd_bxgy_sg_img_z

That's a price point I can buy into, Byrd. Thanks!

My favorite bit of cold weather gear is a wool Buff. I use it to cover my neck, my ears, my head, and/or my face. I carry it constantly.

I have 3 22 X 22 bandannas with a 4th on the way that I got off ebay for just a little over $1 each shipped.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=tan...na&_sacat=0

I did a couple blog posts on the first couple I got.

http://ilbob.blogspot.com/2013/03/1-pc-premium-paisley-navy-blue.html

http://ilbob.blogspot.com/2013/04/1-pc-premium-paisley-white.html

The last one that came in yesterday is black and the one I have not gotten yet is another blue one.

I just made bids of about $1.15 or something like that and while I did not "win" on all the bids, I eventually got them. They seem of decent quality.

+1. Me too.

Only trouble with buffs is the way they disappear in urban environments, I loose one every 2nd month or so. And since it looks like some rag someone has thrown away you can be pretty sure someone else will toss it in the bin immediately.