Sorry, didn’t mean to offend- I think that we actually agree on a lot of points… but… Pepto Bismal? :-)<br><br>From your message:<br><br>“the little things, like loosing your keys, having your car stolen/vandelised, flat tire, or your pocket picked- these are statistically much more likely to happen… While a flat tire might not seem like a crisis, it can be. Trust me, I had one on the way to a job interview once.”<br><br>“basic meds, especially anything improtant, but a pepto-bismal/immodeum, a non-drowsy allergy/cold med, and an anelgesic at a minimum”<br><br>You have to admit that this set more of a “coping with life in the city” tone, rather than “avoiding immanent death in the city”. <br><br>No offense, but I’m not currently considering a bottle of Pepto-Bismal for my UPSK, no matter how useful it might be in the normal course of things. Partly that’s just me- I’m not oriented toward first-aid, and as I’ve said of the wilderness kits, I tend to be skeptical of how essential any med supplies that can fit in a PSK and are legal to carry can be. Also, the potential hassle of carrying prescription medicines out of a prescription vial in the city is pretty daunting.<br><br>I tend to draw a very firm mental line between “important” in a career/avoiding hassles sense, and “important” in a life-or-death sense.. especially since it was driven home by that incident I mentioned where co-workers refused to heed a fire alarm because of an impending deadline.<br><br>One of my uncles taught me about the “Malay monkey trap”. It may be apocryphal (not qualified to say), but I consider it one of life’s great lessons.<br><br>As for items in your most recent message- well, yeah, the cotton swab and mirror aren’t in my kit, nor the gloves or band-aids.. my orientation again. As for the glasses screws, I have no argument as to it’s importance, but I opt for a very small pair of multi-fold reading glasses instead- a lot can happen to a pair other than a loose screw. I consider this so important that it’s about the second-largest item in my UPSK, and I don’t care. However, I recently saw some new folding designs that were even more compact.<br><br>No argument on the compass- I can find North much more easily in the woods than in the city. As a matter of fact, my “wilderness” PSK's carry button compasses, but I put a somewhat larger watchband/wristband compass in the “urban” PSK, on the principle that in the city I’m much more likely to be in a real hurry, with my hands occupied, while needing to check orientation on the move. Stopping and putting things down to dig something out of a pocket and get my bearings on a crowded sidewalk during an emergency doesn’t appeal to me.<br><br>Thanks for the clarification of the subway route maps. In the city I’m closest to, the “subway” maps are mostly useful for choosing trains, pretty much useless for finding stations from street level (they’re copied from the Paris Metro style). I agree, finding the station is more important- once you’re on the system, you can get oriented quickly. <br><br>Personally, I’d want more cash than you mention. My father was better at solving problems with money than I’ll ever be, but people (and cab drivers) will often come up with amazing ingenuity on your behalf for a $100 bill, offered courteously and with respect.<br><br>By far the most important (to me) item that’s in my kit that’s not on your list is the tiny FM radio with earphones. I consider that essential to my UPSK, and I plan to order one of Sir Clive Sinclair’s coin-sized FM radios soon to see if I can reduce the bulk further. I’ve been in the dark about what or where the problems were more than once, even with the news choppers hovering in sight (Rodney King riots, San Francisco, springs to mind).<br><br>I also have a Gerber LST lock-blade folder in mine. Usually it's a backup, but it fits in an Altoids tin, and I know of no place in the US where it would be illegal to carry, other than on an airliner.<br><br>Of course, you could argue that my P-38 can opener is a convenience item, and you may be right... but it’s so small, and so effective, that I would feel very silly trying to open cans with a knife instead.<br>