Great to see more women joining in! Thank you all for your comments, suggestions and encouragement! I agree that there is "always more to do or can be done better." That is my situation for sure!

Angel, you are quite an inspiration to your grandchildren's neighborhood! That is so neat! It reminds me of our house when I was growing up. All the kids in the neighborhood came down the street to our house. We were always doing outdoor things and it was a lot of fun! Forts, hikes, picking huckleberries and making huckleberry pie. We collected Yerba Buena and made tea. I sure miss those years!

I think my EDC is also one of my weak spots. Like you I have different size bags, purses, etc. and I am always moving things from one bag to another and trying to figure out how to get as much emergency stuff into my smaller 'Eagle Creek' purse. I like to keep a few emergency water pouches with me, as well as a couple bars, first aid, multi-tool, meds, headlamp, duct tape, cell phone and cell phone charger, etc. - and that is all in a very small shoulder purse. So I have gone back to carrying a larger bag - even then I want to put more and more stuff in it and it gets too heavy, just like you were saying.

DFW, I can understand your being uncomfortable about having your car moved further away from you at work and not having access to it. How far is it going to be and for how long?

I think in your situation I might keep a box with the 'layer system' you talked about in it and then if you have to leave in an emergency, you would have it with you to either bug out or stay in place. The box is so that the others don't know what you have in it (if that is a problem). I don't know if you have a place at work to keep it though. And hopefully there would be enough room to keep other things in it too, like more food and water, etc. If that isn't possible, let us know and maybe we can think of some other better ideas.

Christina, some day I plan on getting Doug's AMK/PSK. I bought one for a gift last Christmas. I keep thinking it is geared more for emergency situations while hiking or camping. I have most of the kits stuff in my purse/bag already. But like others, I like checking out the contents and playing with them so I know what is there and how to use it. I put duct tape on a small pencil and I keep that in my bags, along with other things that are in Doug's.

I'll have to do a search to see how Blast plays his "Bad Dog" game. That is a great idea! Thank you for sharing it with me.

Well, I guess this is getting too long. Thank you for sharing everyone.

Joy