SITUATION; you work for a civvi coy which sends you to the following areas of the earth : Colombia, Brazil, India, Mexico, Kenya, NZ and Spain. You travel on your own, enter via airport and find hotels by yourself. You have to meet people for your work you don’t know. During the day you travel in the countryside outside tourist areas in 4x4s which are likely to be old and may break down. You will be in and out the country in less than a week.

You are a woman.

What would you take which makes your trip as safe and comfortable as the situation allowes? Think along the lines of money belt, wistle, small FAK.

What wouldn’t you take? Think needles in the FAK, military FFL and other gear that could make you look suspicious.

The basic setup I have though of so far:

Money belt and money case that can be slung around your neck underneath your clothes. In this will disappear credit cards, passport, cell, at least 200$ cash and a piece of paper will emergency contact details inc embassy #, your coy #, emergency #, hotel #, partner #, passport #, flight ticket # and health #

A wallet with fake/old cards, some coins for a phone box and a copy of the piece of paper with the # in case either gets lost.

Old cell in your pocket

FAK: gloves, small wound dressings, tape, wipes, plasters, no meds

Pepper spray in your hand warmer pocket (when passing borders hidden in toilet bag)

Torch (strong enough to blind, which do you recommend on a budget?),

wistle

Smalle bottle water

Map (any good websites out there to look at the area in detail or where you can order world maps?)

Scarf to cover head and neck

Door wedges (for hotel)

Leatherman juice, you being a woman it’s the only type you will want to carry, it looks cute.

A ring around my ring finger

boots

What I wouldn’t carry:
jewelry

low cut tops or skirts

bikini

I would also carry a day pack with extra food, more water, PSK good folder, signal mirror, metal mug, hexi, water filter, compass, hypo blanket etc for when in the countrside but now you have the mindset of a woman who is not into emergency preparedness… you will simply not carry it because you cannot see a need and when you will need it you will expect it to be there. End.

Footnote: I realize gear is only part of the setup. Knowledge, the right mindset, alertness, studying the culture, rules+laws and country stats beforehand are all important.

Thanks in advance,
Ryan

I would add a handheld GPS with map capability. If you can load area maps, like the Garmin City map stuff, it would be really handy finding you way around.
I take one on all trips now and load the appropriate maps before leaving. I have no problems finding resturants, places of interest, hotels even police stations.
Get one with memory card upgrades, so you can load more maps. Color screen is nice to have also.

hahaha, thanks for the tip!! but for "her" the cell is challenging enough. I dont know any girl in real life actually that would be seen uploading maps to her personal GPS. No doubt they are out there (think Dame McCather..)

A great tip nevertheless, for me also. However the "girl" bit is crucial actually.

I DO NOT like your assumptions about females in the least bit!! <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

I am so sorry...

They are not assumptions this is what I EXPERIENCE. I am a nurse student, I only work with girls. I explained there are of course expceptions.

I also advice other people what gear to get and help them get it. Inc boys,men and women... like I said, these are my experiences.

You forgot tampons and/or sanitary napkins. No sewing needles because they look suspicious, but ok on the pepper spray? And why no meds? Surely you don't mean perscription meds, and if the lady needs an aforementioned tampon she's gonna need some pain killers for sure.

In general, building a kit for a woman is really no different from building one for a man. You have to take into account the physical capabilities of that person, their special medical needs, and their level of preparedness/street smarts, etc. REGARDLESS OF THEIR GENDER.

I'm just going to assume that you're planning a kit for a young woman you personally know and that some of your comments reflect her, instead of correcting you at length for speaking of women in general. All that typing on my keyboard might break a nail. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

thank you for your pely Christina... the list more of an addition to your standard travel package so thats why no tampons...

Pepperspray in toilet bag... spoke to a police officer who kitted both his daughters out iwht it when they left on a world trip, for both of them it wokred this way... I suppose if the authorities start pulling the fak out and see hypodermic needles you might be in trouble.. OTOH pepper spray is not only legal in many countries but with a deodrant label perinted out from the net and stuck on it easy to bypass.

thanks on the last bit... its true what I said I epxerienced, in everday life... they should take the women on equipped.org as an example!

You're in trouble now!!!
Tell you the truth, I am a little weak with techno gadgets. I work on computers and servers, but when it comes to things like cell phones, I can barely make a call.
Navigation is easy for me, the military drilled that into my head, without a GPS. For road trips, the GPS is really handy.
I was able, as was my girl friend, to use the GPS with minimal instruction. The software is really easy. Little icons with labels like FOOD, push enter and a list comes up, pick one and it will tell you how to get there from your present location.
Or, the other option is one that just provides Lat/Long or UTM location. If you ever have to call someone for help, it is handy to tell them where you are actually located.
I know lots of girls that have GPS and use it effectively. The newer models are super easy to learn and use. Cheers!

yep, in big trouble! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

..just my experiences mate. I do use a GPS but prefer M+C because thats how I learned it. But I wouldnt dare to tell any girl I know to start carryin a GPS... but that topic was closed with my las post I think.

Christina about the meds.. some countries are real funny about them and must watch out.. rather buy the brand ones in country.

the pepper spray may well also NOT be legal in some countries.. or you'd need a permit to carry it.

Also for at least India and proably Kenya, a large scarf/ piece of cloth for a head covering.