I carry a Public Transit Map as part of my Commuter Kit and consider it essential.<br><br>With this I can determine complete alternate routes in the event that my normal commute route is disrupted by bridge failure etc. With this tool, I can also figure out best routes to avoid urban events (riots, demonstrations etc).<br><br>Urban survival is not necessarily calling on the same skills and tools that wilderness survival may use, and indeed "survial" may not even be the best term to describe the need. A commuter kit should be designed to help you deal with the typical and potential atypical events that may arise in your community.<br><br>Where commuter prepardness really is the same as wilderness prepardness in that you need to figure out what your are preparing for. By evaluating the difficulties you may face daily and figuring out a plan on how you will respond and then build a kit that helps you respond.<br><br>My commuter kit centers around dealing with natural or unnatural disasters that disrupt normal urban transit, communication and services. I overlap to wilderness skills in shelter, water, medical, and fire. I reality, it turns out that I just use my wilderness PSK and suppliment my daily carry bag with the urban tools, like the transit map, money, credit and ATM cards, flashlites and batteries, HAM radio etc.

Geez! Remind me never to travel with you! <br><br>I'm also sensing that the stigma about carrying 'survival' gear that we once discussed several month ago seems to be lessening. Last week, one of my coworkers stopped me in the hall and asked if she could use my knife to open a box. I never told her that I carry a knife, she just assumed from my scouting background and books she's seen me read at lunch that I would have one.<br>

Read the letter on "An MDs report From Ground Zero." This report proves the need for commuter survuval in my opinion. Not just from terrorism but here in California we get a lot of Earth quakes. <br>In that event Infastructure probably will not collaspe, BUT how long does it take to die from a wound, what if someone is trapped in a car, wouldn't you need a knife? A blizzard knocks out the roadways for a day or two. Couldn't you frreze to death?<br><br>A ham radio would have kept me from hiking 30 miles when my car broke down. If I had been slightly injured I probably wouldn't been able to make it out. <br><br>As you can see I spend a lot of time thinking of possible scenarios. The most likely to kill me or others are the situations we face everyday.<br><br>This makes carrying a backpack full of gear EVERYWHERE I go important for survival.

Wow! To have been present for all of those major events, you must be the unluckiest person on Earth. Don't stand near me in a lighthing storm!

Just a correction. I only wrote of one event. The others were possible scenarios I have forseen and prepared for.<br><br>There is no such thing as luck. "Chance favors the prepared." But that doesn't stop freak accidents.

Special situations require special measures; given your situation, a radio makes sense. I would imagine you would most likely be able to raise a response on a marine frequency on Isle Royale.<br><br>You ask about SAR in the NPS. It varies from park to park. Some parks are tiny; others are huge. Some are located in downtown areas and others are raw, screaming wilderness, where even the rangers disappear. Larger parks have their own SAR capability, but often coordinate with local SAR groups and the military for larger, more involved operations. I am biased, but I think in general, you are in pretty good hands for emergency situations when visiting a National Park Service area.<br><br>I am not familiar with the specifics of ranger operation on Isle Royale, but they have people at both Rock Harbor and Windigo(east and west ends). When I was last on the island (1983), a ranger patrolled from Amygdaloid Island, about the middle of the north shore. Obviously, while there will be a response, it probably won't be instantaneous, depending upon your location. Isle Royale is isolated enough that I doubt that there is quick response by helicopters, etc. in SAR situations, but I certainly don't know for sure. It might be worthwhile to email or call the Chief Ranger - he should be able to give you current information.

I agree with you that the NPS staff are likely well trained and experience for handling emergencies. Any park with sufficient numbers of visiors will have a wide variety of emergency situations during the year. I just wish their web site offered a little more information so I can be better prepared, both or my son's condition as well as for the rest of the group. As a leader, we have the responsibility of other parent's children as well.<br><br>>>> ... they have people at both Rock Harbor and Windigo(east and west ends). <<<<br><br>We will likely have enough boys for 2 to 3 groups (limited to 10 people). When we plan our itinerary, we may work one of the groups in a loop on the west end to stay reasonably close to Windogo, where I would stash his electronic nebulizer. We haven't even discussed any details yet, so it's very early in the planning stages, which is why I'm trying to gather as much information beforehand so I'm ready when we do get down to the brass tacks!<br><br>>>>...email or call the Chief Ranger <<<<br>I did email the park and received a reply, although it was not signed so I don't know who it was from. The email did provide some information, such as the use of marine radios for reaching park staff. There is the possibility for a helicopter aitlift to Thunder Bay in an emergency, but the reply stated that the few times this was neccesary the weather prevented it. It did say what the outcome was in those situations. :-( I read on the web site that the float plane service is going to be reinstated this year, which would provide another option.<br><br>Again, I seriously doubt that there will be a need for any action of this magnitude. My son isn't a frail, near-death weakling. He's a normal, reasonably fit young man. But if some allergin triggers a reaction, the result can be fatal. I don't expect anything on the island that would trigger such a reaction. The worse situations he's run into to date were the church basement sleep-in I mentioned, and campfire smoke. Camporees are especially hard becasue of the large concentration of troop, each with their own campfires.<br><br>Anyway, my initial thoughts are as follows:<br><br>1. Stash his elecytronic nebulizer at the ranger station.<br>2. Plan an itinerary that's within reasonable distance form this station.<br>3. Obtain and carry an small oxygen cylinder to drive a nebulizer treatment, or get a portable, ultrasonic nebulizer (expensive and relient upon batteries, but lighter than a cylinder)<br>4. Carry a marine radio for emergency contact.<br>5. Carry a heat sheet of ferry schedule and drop off points<br>6. Have a great time!<br><br>I just had to add the last item because my hope is that's the only point that will get used!

I agree. Can you really think of ANY situation in which you would need a compass and fire-making materials in an urban environment? The roads/buildings are ready-made landmarks and you wont be building a campfire on main street. Even in the hugely unlikely event of a complete "roadwarrior" like societal collapse, you could readilly scrounge these things if you needed them. I would focus more on realistic "survival" needs. If I were caught in a terrorist attack, earthquake etc., and I was not immediately preoccupied with my own injuries or need to escape, my first thoughts would go toward coordinating with my family. So I would (and I have) set up some plans regarding a safe meeting point and different ways of communicating (email, cell phone, pager, voice mail). Sure, one should carry prescription meds if one needs them, but the other first-aid stuff you mention is too scant to help yourself or someone else if really injured.

hiker,<br><br>I have been turned around while driving in the city several times, and simple consultation of the compass was very helpful. Another scenario I experienced traveling was popping out of the ground from the subway and having no idea which way to orient the map. Having to walk a few blocks in a circle to get the streets alinged was not nearly as efficient as it having a compass.<br><br>It is hard to conjure up a fire building scenario on Main Street, but not so hard to imagine being forced out of your home into the backyard under a tarp and wanting a fire.<br><br>To me the carrying of a small number of tools that cover primarily wilderness needs is not a burden. A hot spark, compass and map weigh nearly nothing...the piece of mind is worth the weight.

Burt said: "Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it." <br><br>Makes sense, within reason. If a mini-compass and lighter doesn't take up too much room, might as well take them.<br><br>Burt may be a survivalist nut, but he knows a thing or too. <br><br>BTW: I just read on Internet Movie Database that, Michael Gross (Burt) will star in the TV series version of "Tremors" in 2003 on the USA Channel. Hope they have some good writers.