I believe that the FEMA lists mentioned are here.

Posted October 28, 2007 5:37 PM by James D. Macdonald

This is valuable info.

Living near Houston, tropical weather would be the biggest threat, so I'll probably prepare something similar for my wife and myself. We also have a small pair of walkie-talkies, and since cell phone channels can be jammed, they could be useful.

If you can't connect on a cell phone, send a text message - they are queued up and delivered when conditions allow.

Posted October 28, 2007 5:48 PM by Steve C.

Tums and Tylenol I understand, but why the Tic-Tacs? Unless that's a "so that your breath isn't hideous after three days without a toothbrush" item, rather than some medical use I haven't thought of...

Posted October 28, 2007 5:57 PM by Fade Manley

Socks:

I was just at Costco, and at least at my local Costco, they are selling 4 pairs of good wool hiking socks for $9.99. Two weeks ago I paid $8.99/pair for identical socks at a specialty hiking store. They're thick, good-quality and very comfortable, and at least 85% wool. I recommend checking it out -- don't know whether Costco's inventory is totally nationwide, but I wouldn't be surprised. These are the socks I would want in a survival situation, especially a situation where I might have to walk for a long way.

Flashlights:

I like the LED ones that work off Faraday's Principle of Induction (as can be found at ThinkGeek). No batteries needed.

Also, I linked the jump kit page in a comment on Lifehacker recently (commenters were asked to weigh in on what they'd grab in 30 minutes in the event of a wildfire). I'm a hypocrite, though, because I haven't put together my urban bag yet.

Posted October 28, 2007 6:00 PM by Caroline

My local Costco has windup LED flashlights in 4-packs for $20. One for home, one for the car, one for work ....

Posted October 28, 2007 6:23 PM by P J Evans

The comment thread at Lifehacker that Caroline mentions seems to be here.

Posted October 28, 2007 6:27 PM by James D. Macdonald

It is impossible to have too many ZipLoc bags. They're up there with the LED flashlight as the most useful thing I carry with me.

Things I've really missed while in emergency situations on the road: My written prescription for my asthma inhaler, back when they first put through the liquids and gels ban and started tossing all prescription meds without attached prescription printouts. And warm clothing, during last year's October Surprise blizzard in Buffalo, when my rental car got covered in two feet of snow and I got to dig it out wearing socks for mittens and a scarf wrapped around my head as a hat. I've been carrying a spare pair of gloves and a fleece headband in my computer bag ever since.

Posted October 28, 2007 6:43 PM by G. Jules

Caroline @ 4: The induction-powered lights are great and really appeal to the geek in me but I am disappointed at Think Geek for not including the warning that the manufacturer, other retailers and reviewers mention:

NB: The charging magnet is made of anisotropic sintered ceramic containing neodymium, iron and boron. There are two other neodymium magnets inside the torch, one at either end of the case to provide a magnetic cushion for the charging magnet. Because these magnets produce such strong magnetic fields, you need to be careful around credit cards and magnetic computer media. Please read the warning information included in the box.

I doubt you'll be putting anything magnetically sensitive in your go bag prior to an emergency but I know a lot of people whose first response to the need to evacuate would be to grab the backup hard drive and shove it in whatever bag was closest. Putting the light into a pocket with a wallet containing credit cards would also be bad.

Posted October 28, 2007 6:55 PM by Paul Duncanson

>I've figured out that there's no way I could possibly carry as many items as they list (I'd be dying from the weight of the bottles of water alone), and get myself and my cat and my husband out of the house in ten minutes.

Well, there's your obvious 1st answer; get the cat a rucksack...

And to add to Jim's lists: Condoms. Not for the obvious. They make great water carriers, can waterproof anything they'll stretch over and they'll stretch a loooong way, keep dust out of anything pipe-like, make great tourniquets... Only limited by your imagination and take up negligable room and weight.

Also, consider a pencil instead of a pen. They don't dry up, freeze or leak and write on a much wider range of surfaces than pen including wet ones.

Finally, a length of gaffa tape. Just make your own mini reel of it from any suitable core former: a ballpoint case, film can, whatever. Gaffa will repair ripped clothes, tents, in fact anything in a pinch.

Posted October 28, 2007 7:53 PM by Ian

I kill flashlights. Have managed to kill an induction one and also a AA LED one in the last two years. Don't ask me what happened, I pull them out of my purse to find the car in the dark, and... they don't.

The magnet in the induction on was good for picking Canadian quarters out of my change jar, though (Canadian quarters are magnet sensitive, US quarters aren't. I don't remember about dimes and nickels.)

Posted October 28, 2007 7:56 PM by Thena

This probably goes under prescriptions and other medications:

If you wear glasses, when you get a new pair, put the old one in with the emergency supplies. Also, those glasses repair kits are useful to have around.

I've got my stuff in a rolling small suitcase rather than backpack, as one of my shoulders is so messed up, a backpack is impossible. *sigh* If emergency evacuation happened, it'd be one hand for the suitcase, the other for the cane, and ghods help me if I need to walk more than three or four blocks, 'cause I can't.

Friends got me a two-burner propane stove for the holidays last year, after the several-days-of-no-power. If you can stay at home, but the weather's cold, having warm soup/drinks is not a bad thing.

(And yes, I do the rotate-the-prescriptions, but only every three to six months - they're still nowhere near the expiration date.)

Posted October 28, 2007 8:07 PM by glinda, who is not necessarily good

Are wind-up LED torches available in the USA? Some of them come with a built-in radio, and have mobile phone charging connectors suitable for Nokia, Motorola and some other models. You crank the handle for a few minutes, and it produces enough power for about twenty minutes of light, one or two minutes of phone use, and so on.

Posted October 28, 2007 8:09 PM by mcz

Here are some windup flashlights: http://www.21st-century-goods.com/page/21st/CTGY/HCKP

Keep size and weight in your thoughts when you're selecting gear.

About the heaviest thing in my urban kit is the roll of quarters, but if you leave that at home you'll wish you hadn't. Other stuff ... use your best judgment.

Posted October 28, 2007 8:44 PM by James D. Macdonald

A couple of nifty things you can pick up at your local army surplus - type store: water-resistant notepads and a large backpack with a hydration system. We have one of these packs that we use as a weekender. It holds an amazing amount of stuff, has a zillion pockets, multiple handle for various carrying configurations, and a built-in camel pack for water.
I'm from Oklahoma and have been through my share of tornadoes. My family always thought I was nuts because I would grab my purse and put on tennis shoes whenever the sirens sounded. Then we weathered the massive tornado outbreak in May of 1999. They realized the shoes protect your feet from debris after the storm, and that your body is much easier to ID if your wallet is on you. Morbid, but important. Also, it's much easier to withdraw money from your bank for a hotel, new clothes, and food if you have ID on you.

Posted October 28, 2007 9:28 PM by L

one AA flashlight...one AA transistor radio...one pre-paid phone card...lists of phone numbers

All of these (and GPS) are built into mobile phones - though a spare phone card (if there's still payphones left where you are) and a list on paper is probably good to have if (when) your battery runs out.

Posted October 28, 2007 10:02 PM by Roy G. Ovrebo

Relying on a mobile phone in a major emergency as a source of light or a substitute for a radio is great until its battery runs out. AA batteries are obtainable very easily - in a pinch they can be found (or looted) in any convenience store, supermarket, hardware store... etc. Power to recharge a mobile phone might not be so easy to come by.

Posted October 28, 2007 10:26 PM by Paul Duncanson

Note that about $12 dollars in quarters fits nicely into an M&M Minis tube (the small one - the large one holds quite a bit more, but is unwieldy - the small one fits in a back pocket). The minis tubes are water-resistant, but not actually water-tight - they will survive casual water exposure, but dedicated submerging will eventually soak the stuff inside.

Roy Ovrebo #15 -
one AA flashlight...one AA transistor radio...one pre-paid phone card...lists of phone numbers

All of these (and GPS) are built into mobile phones - though a spare phone card (if there's still payphones left where you are) and a list on paper is probably good to have if (when) your battery runs out.

This presumes your phone is anything other that an expensive paperweight when the towers are down - some are, some aren't. It also presumes a level of mobile sophistication that is often lacking in most US-branded cell phones (US phones tend to stress smartphone tech over things like am/fm/weather receivers, or flashlights - and although the LCD on a cell can make a surprisingly effective impromptu light source, it's not very long ranged, bright, or useful for things like signaling, or putting a bit of light - right there.

The hand crank flashlights, radios, etc. are good for an evac kit (especially a more complete one intended to get you well away from the disaster site), or as part of your car's emergency kit (your car does have a separate emergency kit, tailored for your area's most common auto disaster types*, right?), but in your urban "get the hell home, and it's dark" - a micro-size multi-band radio and a pair of ear buds is likely more useful. And LED flashlights come in sizes ranging down to 'absolutely tiny' - I carry a pretty bright Inova in my back pocket (with my wallet and a Leatherman) - and it isn't even small, as such things go.

I would add another stash of money - maybe two hundred dollars - in the evacuation bag, along with another roll of quarters. Like many of the things on this list (including the bag itself) these may not be necessary - but if the situation is worse than "stabilize in a couple of days", that extra cash can make a difference between staying in a cheap hotel, staying in the public shelter - or staying nowhere at all.

*So mine has, in addition to the usual basic auto tools, spare fuses, full-size spare tire, jumper cables, and the like, a pair of winter gloves and a pullover hat, a change of footwear, wool shirt and socks, a sweatshirt, a container of ice-melter crystals, a small entrenching tool, some water, some gatoraid, a spare umbrella, and the like - covering rain, dehydration from events, and SNOW. I don't keep radiator fluid in the car, because the chances of a well-maintained auto overheating in the Rochester area is fairly minimal - but I have a jug of washer fluid, because you can go through it pretty quickly

Posted October 28, 2007 10:35 PM by Scott Taylor

I'm fairly sure that the mobile phone networks will overload in emergency; they don't have the capacity for simultaneous calls that the wireline networks have. Still, a day or two on, a mobile phone might be useful.

Posted October 28, 2007 10:39 PM by Randolph Fritz

It has just occurred to me that in a major emergency mobile phone networks may be overloaded or damaged to some extent. CB radio may be the answer, but then we have the problems of weight, bulk and power requirements. Wind-up CB radio, anybody?

Posted October 28, 2007 10:45 PM by mcz

A normal watch or travel clock. I know too many people that use their cell phone to tell time and are screwed without it. Important to know the time for spacing the dose of some medications; also if the news reports storm to make landfall at 7pm.

Posted October 28, 2007 10:50 PM by T.W

Anti-chafing ointment: you can get the dignified stuff for grownups that Jim recommends; but the stuff they sell to prevent baby diaper rash, like Balmex, will work just fine -- and you can find it in every drugstore.

Posted October 28, 2007 10:58 PM by Teresa Nielsen Hayden

I don't know about wind-up CB radios, but I have a pretty small battery-operated hand-held one. It lives in the car. Tune to channel 9 for emergency transmissions.

Good lists. But not enough water.

I've realized lately that I'm less likely to need to take off to a safe place, and more likely to want to provide refuge for others at my house (way out in the desert). I keep thinking about generators. I'd like to get a solar generator for the well.

Posted October 28, 2007 11:00 PM by beth meacham

You definitely need to presume that the cell system will overload/get knocked out/be nonfunctional for other reasons in any major crisis - if you have one, great, but don't count on it. Same goes for local broadband service (especially wireless, for those places that have city-wide wifi) - don't count on the crackberry, wireless push on your smartphone, etc. Alternate communication systems - and even landline phones can get overloaded in a crisis (but they do work even if all other power is shot - unless you have a wireless phone, in which case all bets are off).

Posted October 28, 2007 11:00 PM by Scott Taylor

I'm thinking that if you can't carry the weight of water then how about the sanitizing iodine tablets for water and a good shatter proof container like a stainless steel flask.

Posted October 28, 2007 11:07 PM by T.W

Beth: like a photovoltaic array with battery backup? A decent setup could provide power for other applications as well (probably not enough for cooking or airconditioning).

Posted October 28, 2007 11:22 PM by mcz

By the time you're carrying a gallon and a half of water you're well into the Roughing It / Camping Out mode, and well away from Get From Home To A Shelter mode.

You can get little straws that have filters in 'em that'll allow you to sip darn-near any water, if that's what's on your mind. http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2005/05/lifestraw.html

Posted October 28, 2007 11:30 PM by James D. Macdonald

Don't some of those windup radio/flashlight thingies have a DC-out plug? They could be used as an emergency battery (depending on voltage, etc).

The solar charger is a great idea as well, and less tiring.

If you're worried about infrastructure breakdown, then some kind of water filter is a really good idea. Someone just told me about one that works via ultraviolet - and it has a solar recharging option.

Posted October 28, 2007 11:34 PM by Allen J. Baum

On water - my evac bag (coincidentally, also my camping backpack - kept topped off at all times) has both tablets and a small water filter - you can buy (semi-)expensive Katadyn filters like mine, or cheap disposable units that will clean up x gallons of water, at most camping/outdoors stores (certainly at Gander Mountain, or EMS, likely at Dick's). There are also water bottles with built-in filters (the nice folks at Britta make a water bottle with an activated carbon filter - I don't know if it will keep the giardia away, but it does a pretty good job of turning marginal water into drinkable water, and the filter is replaceable).

Nalgene bottles (made by Nalge plastics, here in Rochester, NY) are damn near unbreakable, don't contaminate water, etc. - highly recommended. They also make polypaper, which is damn near indestructible - you need a knife or scissors to cut it, it resists chemicals, even flame, but you can write on it with anything. Rite in the Rain makes a similar product, and is likely cheaper and more compatible with jump bag needs (the polypaper is available mostly in normal laser printer pages and scientific notebooks).

Posted October 28, 2007 11:35 PM by Scott Taylor

Thanks for posting this-- I'll probably get one together soon, just enough to get to shelter. I hadn't thought of triaging the bags like this; my zombie-apocalypse plan is 'get home to family' and I hadn't amended it to include any more plausible problems. This in spite of being rather inconvenienced by a few hours without electricity.

Posted October 28, 2007 11:45 PM by Diatryma

re: Teresa @ #21:

As a father of two under three, I recommend specifically Desitin Original over either Balmex or Desitin Creamy. For diaper rash applications the higher Zinc Oxide content (40% vs, I think, about 15%) works (I think) as a better moisture barrier.

I don't know for certain that that's better against chafing, but I promise you it's better against diaper rash.

Posted October 28, 2007 11:56 PM by Ian Ireland

On the batteries v mobile phones issue. One of the things I was very keen about in my antepenultimate mobile phone – an analogue Alcatel model I had to discard cos of the shift to digital – was the ability to fit it with ordinary AA batteries as well as the special rechargeable mobile ones.

I haven't yet found a more modern model with this feature in Australia. But I have used my phone as an emergency light, clock with alarm, timer, calculator, and container for useful info like names and addresses. It would be great if, even without a working phone system, I could put in batteries to keep it working longer.

Posted October 29, 2007 12:04 AM by Mez

This isn't about emergency survival kits, but about what you want to have with you if you have to leave and don't know if home will be there when you get back.

Make a list now of what you need to be able to grab quickly, or have in duplicate elsewhere, in those circumstances. Things like family pictures, financial documents, important papers like birth certificates and so on. Thanks to the wonders of the digital age, many of these things, like the family pictures, can be recorded and stored on things like flash drives, but that's no help if you haven't taken the steps to copy them.

Stop and ask yourself now: What paperwork is essential to recreating my life? What items are truly not replaceable? What can I do to make sure thse things can be saved if at all possible? Then do something about it.

Posted October 29, 2007 12:09 AM by fidelio

FWIW, I live in the SoCal San Bernardino mountains, although we were never personally in danger from the latest round of fires. However, I took advantage of the situation to link to your previous treatises on preparedness (down at the bottom), including a link to the Doyle/MacDonald jump kit lists. Thank you so much for the info -- it does help when there's something you can do to prep for this sort of thing.

Posted October 29, 2007 12:11 AM by Rachel Heslin

Jim, I'm obsessive about water: I live in the desert. We keep two gallons in each car at all times. A human needs a half gallon a day to survive out here, and you won't find anything to use tablets or straws on, unless you are very smart indeed about desert survival.

My survival kits have hats and sunscreen in them, too. A space blanket can be rigged for shade, as well as saving your ass in a cold night. I also recommend light rope for a car emergency kit, and string for a backpack kit.

Posted October 29, 2007 12:12 AM by beth meacham

Mez: you can use some wind-up LED torches as phone chargers -- they come with a set of mobile phone connectors. The "Nelson" models that you can buy at Woolworths seem reliable (I have several). The drawback is that you may be cranking the thing for a rather long time...

Posted October 29, 2007 12:22 AM by mcz

You'll find things like 100' of parachute cord in my wilderness pack. You'll naturally tailor your pack to your local situation and needs. Someone who lives way out in the desert will have a different loadout from someone who lives in downtown Boston whose biggest problem will be "How do I get to Cambridge (or, if the world really falls apart, Albany?)"

I'm looking for A Kit To Take if the Gas Company Guy says, "There's a Leak, Get Out!"

Posted October 29, 2007 12:24 AM by James D. Macdonald

Umm, is there some particular reason this thread was posted now instead of some other time? Should I be panicking now?

I guess I shouldn't have watched that durned apocalyptic Nostradamus show on the History channel earlier this evening. heh.

Posted October 29, 2007 1:44 AM by Earl Cooley III

De-lurking to second Fade Manley's question at #3--what is it with the Tic-Tacs?

Posted October 29, 2007 1:46 AM by Rob T.

I have one of those little gadgets that allows you to charge up a cell phone with 2 AA batteries. The charge lasts about a day. A car charger never comes amiss, either--and you can use it when the power's out.

Living reasonably close to DC for 37 years, I've always operated under the assumption that a crisis will either be instantaneously fatal or merely annoying. So far so good, although after various panics over the years I have a small stash of stale stuff I've never touched.

Posted October 29, 2007 1:49 AM by Joy

Beth, there aren't many people I think might need an area control device in event of serious social disorder, but you're one of them.

A generator would come first, though. Nothing matters more than water. Spare gasoline's also good. You're a long way from everything.

Posted October 29, 2007 2:16 AM by Teresa Nielsen Hayden

beth@22: I'd like to get a solar generator for the well.

A hot water heater holds about 30 gallons of water. It usually has a hose connection at the bottom for draining/flushing. That should make a pretty good water storage device for the house. At least to outlast a short term disaster that puts out your power.

Whatever happened to the old hand pumped wells anyway? I think my grandparents farm had one. No electricity required at all.

Posted October 29, 2007 3:19 AM by Greg London

Scott Taylor @ 15:
This presumes your phone is anything other that an expensive paperweight when the towers are down - some are, some aren't. It also presumes a level of mobile sophistication that is often lacking in most US-branded cell phones (US phones tend to stress smartphone tech over things like am/fm/weather receivers, or flashlights - and although the LCD on a cell can make a surprisingly effective impromptu light source, it's not very long ranged, bright, or useful for things like signaling, or putting a bit of light - right there.

Fair enough - but for those of us in the rest of the world, it can be useful. And the torch and radio functions of many phones are obscure enough I suspect many people are unaware they exist.

Joy @ 39:
a crisis will either be instantaneously fatal or merely annoying

The last time we had a significant crisis in this part of Norway was from 1940-45, and there's no bag that would help for that...

Posted October 29, 2007 5:41 AM by Roy G. Ovrebo

There's a thought: the Grab This If Nazis Are Invading Your Country kit, containing a self-inflating rubber lifeboat and a Norwegian-English phrasebook with phrases like "Please help, the Germans have conquered my country!" (which will, of course, translate to "My self-inflating rubber lifeboat is full of eels!")

Posted October 29, 2007 6:09 AM by Daniel

Found just now on ebay: a wind-up LED flashlight with built-in AM/FM radio, emergency siren, and mobile phone charger. Waterproof, natch, and it takes a 5v input if you want to charge it off a car battery or similar. Yes, I have a low saving throw vs. shiny, but this one looks useful enough that if it does as advertised, I'll be buying another one to keep in the car, and maybe a few more as seasonal presents. (I figure a present that can save your ass in an emergency is worth far more than any number of knitted socks and novelty Santas.)

I will confess to not keeping a go bag to hand, due to working in the place I live, right in the middle of a big city in a country with a temperate climate and few disasters in living memory. On the other hand, I know where to grab [nearly] everything in ten minutes flat ...

Posted October 29, 2007 6:41 AM by Charlie Stross

Thanks for the list, but I was wondering about those of us who use meds (in this case insulin, lantus, symlin) that need to be injected and temp controlled. Insurance being what it is, I never have much of a surplus on hand and if the power goes out and it is either summer or winter I risk spoiling the meds anyway. I can live without the lantus and symlin if I have to and use the rapid insulin more frequently and in higher doses. Of course, that assumes I don't run out of test strips or the meter doesn't die. And then there is the danger of lows.

I have always assumed that in the case of a long term serious disruption of services and supplies my diabetes will simply be uncontrolled.

That said, I plan to put together the urban (or suburban in my case) kits for work and home and to have stuff in the car as well.

Posted October 29, 2007 8:56 AM by amysue

In addition to the other chafing relief/prevention preparations, anti-perspirant also works in a pinch. The solids are best for this, I've found.

Posted October 29, 2007 8:59 AM by fidelio

AA batteries: please do not store them in the device that uses them.*

*unless you have a spare device that is empty. I've had rotten, rotten luck for the longest time with leaving any kind of alkaline batteries in anything. Also, don't get smart and use rechargeable lithium batteries. Lithium is not water-compatible. (Though if you really, really, need to start a fire, and can breathe toxic gas...)

Posted October 29, 2007 9:12 AM by midori

For cellphones in emergencies: turn it off as soon as the emergency strikes, to help extend battery life. Also, store important data on the SIM card, so you don't depend on the existence of a network to retrieve the data.

Posted October 29, 2007 10:03 AM by P G Dudda

amysue, #45: use a backpack cooler for your meds--in summer emergencies, fill it with ice, in winter use warm water. If possible, head for a hospital; hospitals have their own generators.

Posted October 29, 2007 10:39 AM by Randolph Fritz

This may not be the best place to mention it, but the Disaster theme reminds me of some TV ads I saw yesterday, for Wil Smith in a film version of I Am Legend. Has anyone else seen these, or did all of this crowd ignore the World Series? (Don't know how well it's adapted, but Smith certainly looks hot.)

As for the ads for the Beowulf adaptation, argh!!

And now back to your regularly scheduled serious discussion.

Posted October 29, 2007 10:45 AM by Faren Miller

I saw the "I am Legend" trailers too. Smith living in a post-disaster NYC, competing with the escaped zoo predators for deer and raising crops in Central Park. Makes me wonder WTF happened since he describes himself as the only man in the city, though.

Posted October 29, 2007 11:25 AM by John L

This might sound a bit silly, but I was wondering what it would take to have a wireless network running through an emergency? I'm thinking more of a city here, but how many transmitters would you need, of what density, and with what power source? I know nothing about it all, but can easily imagine a network of local wireless connections that overlap and can effectively replace the mobile phone services for a day or two until things get sorted out.

Posted October 29, 2007 11:39 AM by guthrie

Paul Duncanson back at 8, you make a good point. Especially since I do have a tiny portable HD (on which I keep a bootable duplicate of my laptop HD) that I probably would take with me if I couldn't grab the laptop.

I'm trying to think of reasons that I might need to evacuate. Hurricanes are not likely, since we're inland, but in my lifetime there has been one (Fran) that made it all the way here still at Category 1. Power was out 8 days and most roads were blocked for at least a day or two. We just stayed at the house until the roads got cleared, although we did hike to the grocery store.

We do get ice storms, and I'm frankly expecting a doozy this winter because the weather has been so messed up here. You can't do a lot of evacuating in an ice storm, even though the power gets knocked out. Driving is a Very Bad Idea. Walking is almost as bad. I've got gas-heated water and a wood-burning fireplace, so it's chiefly important to keep wood around, and food I can cook over an open flame.

Both of those would come with enough warning that I would be at home rather than at work.

A meltdown at the nuclear power plant, if the winds were wrong, could force an evacuation. That would be by car. The important thing is to keep the gas tank full, which I do.

Currently impending emergency: The city is running out of water. At last count we had 67 days of water remaining, and no expectation of sustained rainy weather until next February at the earliest. I don't know what the worst-case is. I'm stockpiling cases of drinking water.

Posted October 29, 2007 11:56 AM by Caroline

Roy G. Ovrebo (42):
The last time we had a significant crisis in this part of Norway was from 1940-45, and there's no bag that would help for that...
I don't know, let's see, minimum contents would be a large box of paperclips to share and a small, hideable, radio transceiver.

Posted October 29, 2007 12:10 PM by John Houghton

#52 ::: guthrie ::: (view all by) ::: October 29, 2007, 11:39 AM:
This might sound a bit silly, but I was wondering what it would take to have a wireless network running through an emergency? I'm thinking more of a city here, but how many transmitters would you need, of what density, and with what power source? I know nothing about it all, but can easily imagine a network of local wireless connections that overlap and can effectively replace the mobile phone services for a day or two until things get sorted out.

Depends a lot on how the network was originally designed - and the disaster in question. If it's all-wireless, with no/little cabling involved, and each repeater station had its own independent power source (solar panels with long-life battery backup?) then possibly. But I suspect most community-based wifi projects are not set up to be that fault-tolerant.

What might be more useful would be some sort of mesh networking system (maybe using a mix of devices - Skype-like "netphones", PDAs/laptops, etc. - possibly with centralized data repeaters, or air-droppable communication repeaters/sensors). This kind of ad-hoc network would develop organically (as devices come on line, they add to the overall coverage), and if things like the deployable repeaters are built cheap enough, could be quickly set up where necessary. You'd need to set it up so that devices not normally part of it could still tie in (set it up with an SSID, etc.) to allow non-repeater devices to connect, although ideally it would be a technology that would be incorporated into many different devices (possibly at the chipset level).

Posted October 29, 2007 12:17 PM by Scott Taylor

Ian 30: As a father of two under three

My first thought reading this was "isn't two always under three?" A couple of picoseconds later I realized what you meant, but it was an interesting couple of picos there!

Teresa 40: Beth, there aren't many people I think might need an area control device in event of serious social disorder, but you're one of them.

What is an area control device, and why does beth need one?

Posted October 29, 2007 12:21 PM by Xopher

Caroline,

I went through Fran back then too, here in Raleigh. Lost power for about 36 hours, but by the morning after the roads were cleared of trees by enthusiastic chainsaw wielders; there was just no place to go.

What was worse was the sudden ice storm that hit Raleigh a few years ago. It was very cold (sub 20 degrees) that day, and the forecast was for "less than an inch" of snow. Except, every single flake that fell didn't melt, at least until it was run over by a car. Then it did, and instantly refroze into a thin but slick sheet of ice.

Instant chaos on every single road in the region. Commutes that took 15 minutes from work to home took 10 hours or more; many people just stayed at work and slept there overnight. Every intersection had a crash; every hill had a line of stuck cars. Anyone with an emergency situation were SOL because no one could get anywhere through the stalled traffic.

We were fortunate; I had taken my wife to the dentist for oral surgery early that morning, and we were already home when the snow fell. But, for all those trying to get home or staying at work having an emergency bag would have come in handy, especially for those with small children with them.

Posted October 29, 2007 12:26 PM by John L

#54, John Houghton, and Roy G. Ovrebo (42):

I don't know, let's see, minimum contents would be a large box of paperclips to share and a small, hideable, radio transceiver.

Paperclips? Is this in reference to the national myth of Johan Vaaler and the paperclip patent?

Posted October 29, 2007 12:42 PM by midori

I've spent a lot of time backpacking in remote areas and can chime in "foot protection!" here. Because it really sucks to have ten miles to go and you've got a blister the size of texas on the sole of a foot.

To prevent blisters:

Cover expected hot spots with a piece of duct tape -- i.e., if you know you're prone to blisters on your heels or the soles of your feet, slap a piece of duct tape there. This works amazingly well.

If you do get a blister, cover the moleskin Jim suggested with duct tape. Moleskin, at least in my experience, will come off eventually. Duct tape helps it stick.

I also wear two pairs of socks -- a hydrophilic (water-shedding) inner sock that is made of a synthetic material and is nice and smooth and thin, plus thick, comfy cotton outer socks. Note that most people should opt for wool for their outer socks but I'm allergic to it, so I use the thickest cotton socks I can find. Cotton is not as warm as wool and takes longer to dry out, but neither is a real concern in my neck of the woods ... I'm in Arizona.

Shoes should be broken in without being broken down. I keep a good pair of hiking boots in my car at all times -- they've saved my butt once when a wash was flooded and I couldn't drive through it (knee deep -- it could be waded through) and I had to walk three miles home and I had on heels. :-)

Also, for those of you including animals in your evacuation plans -- it bears emphasizing and repeating that you need a collar or harness, ID, leash, plus a carrier for small animals, for every animal you plan to take with you in an evac situation. Plus keep a copy of necessary papers -- rabies and shot records for dogs/cats, Coggins or brand inspection paperwork for horses, etc. in your go bag. Whatever you need to travel with the animal, have it ready. Microchips are also not a bad idea for valuable livestock or pets. It's not unheard of for animals to be "adopted" by "rescuers" who refuse to give them back later ...

And leave the critters behind if it comes to that. Human life is more valuable than animal life.

-- Leva

Posted October 29, 2007 12:58 PM by Leva Cygnet

midori #58: I believe Norwegians wore paperclips on their lapels as a sign of solidarity and resistance.

Posted October 29, 2007 1:01 PM by Jakob

Hello. Long time lurker, never posted before, but, what the heck. Umm... I'm not sure how to quote...

Guthrie at 52: This might sound a bit silly, but I was wondering what it would take to have a wireless network running through an emergency?

Don't know if this is what you mean, and it's been a while since I worked for a cell-phone company, but I know that Ericsson and Lucent at least both have emergency portable cell towers. I think they call them COWs (cell on wheels). I know they were deployed in the last biggish LA earthquake; I couldn't say if they were used in any emergencies later than that.

Well, there's my first post. Hopefully, not completely useless.

Er... we now return you to your regularly scheduled posters.

Posted October 29, 2007 1:11 PM by Cheryl

Not in the grab-and-run category, but something to think about: two or three days down the line you're in a shelter, and people are getting bored. What things are there which could help pass the time?

No computer games.

A guitar is a bit awkward. Nothing that depends on electricity. But something as disposable as a penny-whistle could easily be kept in your car, maybe even a jump-bag.

And remember that the people we usually hang out with are unusual. How many people, even in the boom-time of RPGs, would play D&D? (Though a simple set of rules combined with patience and imagination could help with a group of kids. Don't forget some dice.)

Basically, there's all sorts of things that would take up no more space than a road atlas, and could help keep you sane.

Posted October 29, 2007 1:13 PM by Dave Bell

Cheryl 61: Quoting is manual, and you did it just right. And that was useful information, though I read guthrie as speaking of using wireless LAN connections to make a substitute communication network when the phone services are down. Rereading him I think I'm probably wrong, and you're right.

Anyway, good first post! Welcome to the Commentariat.

Posted October 29, 2007 1:21 PM by Xopher

Thanks for the list, Jim. I'll bump "pack go bag" up on my to-do list; it's been languishing there at the bottom for a long time now.

The question about what would keep a wi-fi network going reminded me of this article at The Straight Dope. It's quite possible I originally saw the link here, but it turns out its also interesting as a re-read.

As far as entertainment, a skein of sock yarn or two will do me nicely. We used a similar question as our ice-breaker at my knitting group the other night: what luxury item would you pack in your emergency kit? It turns out we mostly want chocolate and the-internet-in-a-bag.

Posted October 29, 2007 1:35 PM by Sarah

Regarding babes-in-arms, anything and everything you ever wanted to know about baby carrying devices can probably be found (or found as a link from) thebabywearer.com. You can find information on nearly every kind of baby carrying device, how to make them, where to buy them, how to wear them comfortably and safely and a responsive message forum.

One of the most popular types of carriers, the wrap sling, is nothing more than a length of sturdily woven fabric that you wind about yourself to provide a safe comfy place for baby to sit or recline. The high end german woven wraps like Didymos or Storchenweige are expensive, but if I could only grab one bit of baby kit for an evacuation, I'd grab my 5.2 meter Storch. The Storchenweige site actually has pictures of one of their slings used to tow a car out of icy slush. With it I can carry my baby on my back, my front or my hip, it fits both me and my husband, it's infinitely adjustable, and folds down much smaller than a stroller can. It can also do double duty as a changing pad, swaddle blanket, toddler tether, extra warm layer, sunshade, etc...

In an emergency, though, you can fashion a one-shouldered baby sling from a folded bedsheet. It doesn't have quite the same level of comfort, but it's much, much more comfortable than having your arms drop off from carrying your baby, and makes it possible to travel with relative ease and comfort through terrain a stroller finds difficult.

Posted October 29, 2007 1:35 PM by Tamago

Dave @ #62: I carry a deck of cards and a set of miniature dice with me everywhere in one of those tins meant for CCG decks. You've got about a billion games right there, and there's still room in the tin for a Cheapass card game of your choice. (This is really more of a life-with-small-child rather than disaster survival tip, but hey, the two aren't always so different.)

Posted October 29, 2007 1:57 PM by Cat Meadors

Dave Bell (#62): A standard deck of cards allows for a number of games, of course.

Other small games that are usually in my backpack, not for emergency go-bag use but just because I'm too lazy to keep removing and re-packing them: No Thanks!, Fluxx (currently Zombie Fluxx), Wizard (the Amigo Spiele edition since it has better art), and Bohnanza (also the Amigo edition; it only plays 5 players but comes in a smaller box than the US edition).

These are all small enough to fit into a small sealable plastic bag for weatherproofing, also.

Posted October 29, 2007 2:00 PM by Christopher Davis

Dave 62: My friend Dave (not you, another Dave) invented a rule system called ERP! (for Easy Role Playing) that has very simple rules indeed. I ran a bunch of teenagers using it when I was in Houston. It requires a bunch of ten-sideds, and no other dice. Leaves a lot of decisions up to the GM, but that's by design; it's designed for roleplaying rather than realistic combat.

10 pages of rules, or less if you don't format them pretty like I did. Character creation fits on less than a (Letter) page.

As for music, drums are useful. They can be used as a warning signal, as well as for music. Natural-skin drums, while they give the best sound, are problematic in most disaster scenarios: if the humidity is too high, they sound like cardboard; if too low, they break unless you wet them periodically, which means they'll break if water is scarce. Fortunately there are several kinds of artificial heads which are pretty good. I have a doumbek with a mylar head that sounds as good as any natural-skin doumbek I've ever played. It's heavy, though (ceramic), but you could use a mylar head on a light metal body.

Also, any single-head drum takes up very little actual space (anyway less than it looks like) because you can pack things inside it. I can go away for a weekend with only my djembe to carry, because all my other stuff is packed inside said djembe.

I'm a great advocate of singing. I think everyone should be taught that they should sing, even if they're no more talented than Florence Foster Jenkins. I've had the experience of singing with people who I was feeling really angry at (verge-of-violence angry, a state I was in much more often when I was young), and by the time the rehearsal was over, even though none of the issues were dealt with, feeling warm toward those same people.

I think if people sang together more often (as they used to before radio and recorded music), there would be less violence in the world. Certainly in a disaster scenario it would be worthwhile.

Posted October 29, 2007 2:09 PM by Xopher

I just got an LED flashlight that recharges itself (quickly) by squeezing a handle, thus being basically self-contained (and cheap).

And yet I note that Jim speaks of D cells and matching flashlights. ;-) Aside from not being heavy enough to club attackers with, how does my hand-charged light fail to moot the classic D-cell flashlight for emergency contexts?

Posted October 29, 2007 2:12 PM by David Harmon

I'd forgotten the potential of a deck of cards.

Or, for those of us of a more English persuasion, a Cricket Bag.

(Actually, you have a bunch of people stuck in a sports stadium for several days, possibly with lots of wind and rain--it seems perfect for a game of cricket.)

Posted October 29, 2007 2:14 PM by Dave Bell

Steffan O'Sullivan produced an RPG called Sherpa about a decade ago, which was designed for play on the trail. Pretty much everything fits on 3x5 cards, and the randomizer used is a digital stopwatch (or any other digital readout with a stopwatch function). I'm not sure if it's still in print, but it's likely one of the most light-weight (in multiple dimensions of the word) implementations of a game system I've seen.

Posted October 29, 2007 2:22 PM by Scott Taylor

I have a dumb question. I've got a bad knee, so walking anywhere with a backpack (or anything heavy) is hard for me. I live in an urban area. Do you think one of those wheelie carts is a good idea for emergency pack or a bad one?

Posted October 29, 2007 3:53 PM by VM

Xopher @ #56: My first thought reading this was "isn't two always under three?" A couple of picoseconds later I realized what you meant, but it was an interesting couple of picos there!

Thank you. I'm glad that construction had its intended effect.

Tomago @ #65 I don't leave the house without one of three different types of baby-wearing device, but it's to the level that I don't even think of "packing" it ... it's just what the girl and I wear. Because the (older) boy is so active, it's the only way I can manage to keep up.

That said, do you have a pointer to an illustration or diagram of how to do that improvised sling? I took a quick look at thebabywearer.com's Babywearing DIY links section and didn't see anything that looked promising ...

thanks!

Posted October 29, 2007 3:59 PM by Ian Ireland

For a game -- I've had an awful lot of fun with a folding fabric frisbee intended for a dog. Dog optional, as it can be used quite well for games between humans. Handy for running the energy off children. (Or dogs.)

The fabric frisbee is light weight, indestructible, too soft to cause any injuries, throws very well.

For quieter amusements, don't overlook the appeal of reading aloud from a book.

Posted October 29, 2007 4:01 PM by Leva Cygnet

It depends on the size of the wheels, I guess. They'd have to be big enough to handle fairly rough terrain and fat enough not to be wedged in gratings. It would be advantageous if they were designed to negotiate stairs as well.

Posted October 29, 2007 4:06 PM by mcz

Ian #73, there are some good instructions for improvising slings out of other clothes at mamatoto, and instructions for using a bedsheet are here. I've never actually tried any of these methods - my improvised sling of choice is made by knotting the ends of an old pashmina together and using it like a ring sling.

Posted October 29, 2007 4:37 PM by Philomytha

Ian @ #73

There's a video tutorial on how to use a bedsheet as a baby sling and a thread (with photos!) about using bedsheets as carriers on The Babywearer.

Hope that helps!

Posted October 29, 2007 4:41 PM by Tamago

"Sometimes called a fanny pack (and for our Brit friends, no, that's not what it sounds like)"

Brits will get it if you call it a "bum bag". Though quite what North Americans will make of that is something else again...

Posted October 29, 2007 5:07 PM by blufive

VM at 72, I think the thing to remember is what you're doing. If you have to hike from the urban center to a field somewhere, or vice versa, your priorities will change. This particular packing list seems to be for getting from wherever you are to the nearby place with more supplies-- work to home, home to next town over, and not cross-country zombie apocalypse.

Posted October 29, 2007 5:13 PM by Diatryma

blufive 79: Brits will get it if you call it a "bum bag". Though quite what North Americans will make of that is something else again...

A stuffed handkerchief on the end of a stick.

VM 82: I wasn't talking about a zombie apocalypse. For me, any walk is hard. Shopping in the grocery store is hard. I could make it from work to home, but it would take me a couple days, if I lost my car and public transit went splat.

VM, I think you're in the category of "persons needing assistance" in such a crisis. I remember the people who carried the wheelchair user down the stairs at the WTC, and so on.

Jim, any thoughts about things we able-bodied sorts might want to include to make it easier to assist those needing assistance? VM could probably be carried piggyback, but is there any especially efficient way to carry someone who can't assist at all, even by hanging on? Anything we might add to our own Go Bag to make it easier to do?

Posted October 29, 2007 5:33 PM by Xopher

#84: "You're a lot likelier to survive by helping your neighbors and letting them help you than you are by waving weapons at people."

Amen. You beat me to it. I was going to write:

"The most effective survival tool is a functioning community."

In his blog, David Brin mentions that he spent part of Wildfire Week banging on doors as a CERT volunteer. The next step from "go bags" should be that sort of work, not an arsenal.

Posted October 29, 2007 6:33 PM by Stefan Jones

Jim, Interesting!

Re: Pocket knives. I carried one around for years, having spent large chunks of my life working around computers. Now, I can't. I can't have one when I work my part-time job at the airport. I can't have one when I fly. I can't legally bring one into some of the buildings I regularly go into.

In addition to a pocket knife, I'd also keep a non-electric can opener in a go-pack. And a battery-powered radio is a life saver.

Tic-Tacs/hard candy are both helpful when you don't have access to water - both can help relieve dry-mouth.

I'm not sure anyone mentioned having a First Aid book. I might not remember every detail of how to relieve shock or help immobilize a broken bone, but if I have a First Aid book, I'll be reminded.

As I've been reading your "list of things," I realize about half of those things are in a cabinet in the kitchen, about a quarter in master bedroom, and about a quarter of them with our camping gear. I think I'll grab the useful items from our camping gear and move them upstairs (we haven't camped in many years, but we kept everything).

Most of us have never had to evacuate, but most of us who live in the north have had to stay in place due to blizzards and power failures.

Posted October 29, 2007 6:36 PM by Laurie D. T. Mann

Laurie D. T. Mann @ 103
Re. pocket knives. I agree. Lots of times I've been "prepared" for stuff going wrong by having my Leatherman or Swiss Army knife with me. Now I'm not supposed to have even my tiny 1.5 inch folding knife or tiny tweezers with me when I fly, and I have to risk the Leatherman getting stolen from my hold luggage. It can't be part of my normal "carry everywhere" if I'm travelling. This is a real pain.

P J Evans @ 104
Embryotomy wire and two metal rings (flexible saw): lighter and easier to pack.

Posted October 29, 2007 7:30 PM by dcb

ema 136: There's no large dangerous animals

OK, suppose the aggressive and carnivorous Kangaroo Rex returned, and was preparing to attack your town? Wouldn't you want the mil there?

(OK, yeah, I'm joking. I just couldn't resist bringing up the Kangaroo Rex.)

Posted October 29, 2007 7:51 PM by Xopher

I must say that in all my years of lying about dangerous Australian fauna, I've never heard of the Kangaroo Rex. But that's an excellent idea, thankyou :)

Posted October 29, 2007 7:53 PM by ema nymtonsti

138 -

It's probably a relative of the vicious Drop Bear my friends warned me about.

Posted October 29, 2007 7:58 PM by Thena

If they haven't done one already, I'm sure SciFi will produce a terrible, boring TV Movie about Kangaroo Rex that features at least three decapitations.

(If they set it in the States, it will feature a potbellied redneck in a Skoal cap who gets his head bit off in the first scene.)

Posted October 29, 2007 7:59 PM by Stefan Jones

#139

The drop bear, of course, is absolutely real.

Posted October 29, 2007 7:59 PM by ema nymtonsti

Stefan,

Yes, and they will call it, "ManRoo".

Posted October 29, 2007 8:00 PM by CommunityRadioVet

ema 138: It's not mine. It's from Janet Kagan's story The Return of the Kangaroo Rex. The critter is a sort of cross (you have to read the story for it to make sense) between a kangaroo and and a Tasmanian devil (IIRC).

Posted October 29, 2007 8:02 PM by Xopher

Drop Bear wiki

Posted October 29, 2007 8:02 PM by CommunityRadioVet

CRV 142: Yes, and they will call it, "ManRoo".

No, no! They will do it as Anime and call it...Mangaroo.

*ducks shower of less-than-completely-fresh produce*

Posted October 29, 2007 8:04 PM by Xopher

On the subject of Skoal caps:

Put a nylon baseball cap in your Go Bag.

Good against sun and keeps the rain out of your eyes . . . something a poncho won't.

* * *

A guy at the Portland Saturday Market sells a cute emergency item: A wooden handle with a rod of flint (?) and a rod of magnesium attached. You need a knife to use it. The flint produces sparks when struck; it your kindling is damp, you lace it with magnesium shavings first.

Posted October 29, 2007 8:05 PM by Stefan Jones

#144

I'll keep an eye out for it, thanks for the tip, Xopher.

Posted October 29, 2007 8:06 PM by ema nymtonsti

#142: Careful hombre! Having written the title, you're in danger of being asked by the SciFi channel to do the script.

Posted October 29, 2007 8:07 PM by Stefan Jones

LOL, Xopher.

Will "Mangaroo" also feature horridly mis-cast American C and D-list actors for the English dub?

Posted October 29, 2007 8:09 PM by CommunityRadioVet

CRV 151: Featuring Dakota Fanning as the Mangaroo...Vin Diesel as Alice (the little girl who befriends the Mangaroo before it goes completely nuts and eats her)...

Oh wait, those are A-list actors.

Jaleel White as the Mangaroo. "Did I do that?"

Posted October 29, 2007 8:16 PM by Xopher

Xopher: LOL!!!!!!

Posted October 29, 2007 8:17 PM by CommunityRadioVet

(said with Alice's blood streaming from his jaws, and her body parts all around him)

Posted October 29, 2007 8:21 PM by Xopher

Xopher @ 155... Mangaroo vs Kangaraw?

Posted October 29, 2007 8:35 PM by Serge

Wow. This started off as a VERY useful thread on a topic of immediate concern to me. Then it devolved. I don't suppose there's any chance of heroically dropping "Interwebs Gun Debate Part MMCCCXVII" and getting back to the original discussion of go-bag recommendations?

I'm in Texas, and at least in the summer, a kit should contain both sunglasses and sunscreen. A hat's a good idea even if you don't normally wear one.

If you have a small Nalgene bottle full of unscented chlorine bleach, and an eyedropper, you can disinfect a lot of water at four drops per gallon. This can make you a hero to a whole thirsty group. I have read that a teabag per gallon will hide the taste. Never tried that.

I still want to hear about the Tic-Tacs and the area control device, and I am devoutly hoping that will be TWO answers and not one . . .

Posted October 29, 2007 9:23 PM by Steve Jackson

The current issue of Time magazine has an interesting article titled The Things Not Left Behind. It's an overview with photos of what people evacuating from the SD fires took with them, and what the current (non-MacDonald) thought is about what should be taken.

Posted October 29, 2007 9:52 PM by Linkmeister

I would consider adding a cotton bandanna to that urban list. In addition to its use as a head covering (whether to conserve heat or to provide shade), it can also be useful as a dust mask, a tourniquet, a compress, or tinder, as the need arises.

Posted October 29, 2007 10:09 PM by RichM

From one of the SD news sites last week (bold mine):
EVACUATION TIPS:

If you have time to pack - what to bring:

Important documents (Social Sec cards, birth certificates, passports)
Legal & financial records (Deeds, wills, bank info, insurance papers)
Address book
Irreplaceable items (photographs, heirlooms)
Clothing & toiletries
Medications
Radio & flashlight
Linens, towels
Laptop, PDA (and charger)
Cell phone, camera (and chargers)

Posted October 29, 2007 10:14 PM by P J Evans

I can't walk much more than a block, so preparation for walking out is not much use for me. The condo is set for the cats and me for two months (except for meds because Medicare only lets you have a month at a time). The van has the equivalent of a go bag, but some of it is in the cupboard-like nooks and crannies. A couple of large things are loose (a collapsible chair, for example) and the rest are in a bag. I have another large bag that I can put all the essentials in, if needed.

I have a wind-up power for the cellphone in both places, plus three wind-up LED flashlights with radios (two in the house, one in the van).

I'm on the city's list of non-mobile folks who get priority in non-vehicle evacuation. Eight of us in our condo development now. I would grab the cats' go bag and the big carrier plus my meds and then make up the bag from the van, if that happened.

Diatryma, #90, I still have my hot glue gun although I'm not supposed to use it. Burned myself badly last time, but I wasn't able to throw it and the gluesticks out.

CRV, #123, two of my neighbors are police officers and another neighbor is a Secret Service officer (with dog). If any of them had a gun out, I wouldn't worry. But strange people wandering around with guns out would definitely worry me. A census/survey? In our development, I'm likely to be the center of that with able-bodied folks actually going out and asking and doing. Nobody in uniform or with guns. And btw, I grew up in the Navy and spent most of my career working for defense contractors. I'm not afraid of guys in uniform; I'm wary of guys wandering with guns.

Jeremy Preacher, #134, do you by any chance have three sisters also with J male names? Went to W-L?

Posted October 29, 2007 10:57 PM by Marilee

Here in KC, the radio stations are frelliing useless in any kind of newsworthy way. We could have a tornado on the ground and you would not hear about it.

Seriously. All the stations, AM and FM are either Entrecom, Clear Channel, other syndicates or are religious-related. I have been out in the car, seeing wall clouds, rotating clouds, etc. and worrying about what the weather was doing and scanned channels hoping for help. I got none.

The worst thing about it is that our TV weather bunnies pretty much wet their pants when we have a thunder cloud or 1/2inch snow scattering show up. They pre-empt whatever shows for their bleats of terror over weather that usually ends up not being that bad.

Posted October 29, 2007 11:35 PM by Paula Helm Murray

Philomytha @ #77 & Tamago @ #78:

Thanks for the pointers ... guess I didn't do to well at looking for myself. (Note to self: if you're too busy, frex with managing the kids or writing a paper, to do a quick google, you're too busy to be posting comments on teh interwebs.)

With regards the the example in the video, looks like it'll function pretty much like the Taylor-made ring sling. I'll have to practice the knot a couple time before I need it, otherwise I'll never be able to do it.

I can't find the point someone made about parenting in some ways being an exercise in maintaining a go-bag, but I know that my habit is to pare down the stuff I'm packing for my own needs in order not to have to carry so much stuff, given that the kids needs pretty much can't be deferred. Maybe not such a great idea if a real go-bag situation actually arises.

Posted October 29, 2007 11:47 PM by Ian Ireland

#163: "a small Nalgene bottle full of unscented chlorine bleach"

Oooh, good idea. You can use another bottle to store the tea bags and eyedropper.

RE nalgene bottles, you can now get second-rate ones (the seal isn't great) for a buck. They're small, about big enough to slip into a car cup holder, which is where I keep one.

Posted October 30, 2007 12:02 AM by Stefan Jones

The guiding principles for all of my bags are these:

All the items are small, light, cheap, and multi-purpose. (A firearm is none of those things. And a ten-dollar bill will get you a nice lunch in the Chinese restaurant across the street from the bus station a heck of a lot better than a pistol will.)

So let's leave the macho fantasies and movie plots at home, and look at any of the real domestic survival situations we've seen in the past ... fifty years. Not a single one of them involved zombies, space aliens, or the Thunderdome. Lots of them have have required a ten mile walk, sometimes a night or two in a motel, and getting rained on. So that's what we want to look at.

For anti-chafing stuff that you can find in any store, Bag Balm is great. (Desinex is just nasty.)

Tic-tacs are because sucking on a candy can help if you're thirsty. Also, if you're out of toothbrush-range of a sink, they can help with Nasty Mouth. And if you get the ones with sugar, a little-bitty sugar hit. It's important to keep up your blood sugar.

Posted October 30, 2007 12:21 AM by James D. Macdonald

I love the "Be Prepared" posts. But I'd really love to see a Red Mike review of Into The Wild.

Posted October 30, 2007 12:39 AM by Tania

I used to have stashes of the individual serving Oreos packages in places till they kept going missing by desperate thieving snackers. The car would be broken into every week just to steal the cookies from the glove compartment and nothing else. My portable first aid kit would be emptied of useful things by people looking for bandaids and not asking at work since using the official office supply meant having to fill out injury reports.
So where ever you keep your go bag check it regularly for stock levels. Little kids will help themselves to candy stashes as well.

Posted October 30, 2007 1:21 AM by T.W

Happy were the days
When CRV had resolved
To not pick fights here

For the rest of the thread, I'd swap out the curved scissors (because I never figured out how to use those) for a pair of toenail clippers. Good solid cutting action that works fine for moleskin etc, and also for hangnails! Also, possibly the best tool for getting rid of zip ties.

This summer I went on a 5-week-long vacation in London and Europe, and spent a couple weeks of that living out of a backpack. Things that were so awesome to have:

--A 3 oz plastic bottle (meant for shampoo) filled with Macallan (single malt scotch whisky). You walk all day surrounded by people you didn't necessarily choose, and then they want to gab at you all evening... The thought of Macallan is a powerful solace: by means of it one gets through many a bad night.

--A Tilley hat: hat that is wide brimmed all the way around, and made of fabric so it's easy to flatten and jam into bags, and has straps for your chin and the back of your head so it can't be blown off. Keeps your head warm and cool both.
--One of those microfiber towels: I was dubious, but they really do work to dry you off, and their lightness and flatness is so very worth it. They take awhile to dry, but it was nice to drape a damp one over my face and stay cooler and more bug-free while I slept.
--A $100 pashmina shawl... Of the sort that gave rise to myths of dresses that could be pulled though the eye of a needle. The lighter, the warmer, somehow; and it looks nice enough that even if you're grimy you feel ok.
--2 big binder clips, so I could clip curtains shut, or clip them on the edge of a shelf or table to create a point to hang my towel or stretch a clothesline to.

Stuff that is awesome in my day-to-day-life: I have a keychain thingy that has a 1" knife blade and a bottle opener folded into it. I never have trouble at airports, or when I have to open a bottle of beer in the house of a person whose drawers I don't want to dig through.

Posted October 30, 2007 1:26 AM by Madeline F

It's better to travel in groups. If you car-pool, is that a group that will be going to the same general place? Do the folks back home know who's in that group? Which home do you aim for first?

Even if your group has a vehicle, and traffic is moving, it's possibly best to settle on getting to one safe haven, as a first step.

Posted October 30, 2007 4:24 AM by Dave Bell

James D. Macdonald @ 181

Lots of them have have required a ten mile walk, sometimes a night or two in a motel, and getting rained on. So that's what we want to look at.

Agree - walked most of the 15 miles home after 7/7 due to all the London rail stations being shut (my mother-in-law picked us up for the last part of the journey). Mobile 'phone couldn't get through most of the time - bandwidth was given to the emergency services. I did get through (to arrange that lift) on a pay 'phone. If you're organising something like that, make sure both parties agree on what route you're taking. Comfortable shoes help a lot (no blisters). And yes, it was raining.

Posted October 30, 2007 5:03 AM by dcb

Thanks - this is really well timed for me. Living in Phoenix I never worried much about a small emergency kit; we had camping gear, sunscreen, and extra drums of water where they were easy to grab and the pool for an extra emergency water source, but there was literally nowhere else to go that I could possibly walk to (especially in summer). However, I'm about to move to Taipei, which is prone to earthquakes, typhoons *and* tsunamis, not to mention those missiles China still has pointing at it. I think an urban go kit is a very very good idea; thank you for reminding me.

Posted October 30, 2007 5:37 AM by dichroic

A few things it seems people haven't mentioned:

A headlamp (running off of AAA or AA batteries, whichever you've chosen for your other kit) is a wonderful thing. Most of the time that I really need bright light I am better off with my hands free. LED headlamps are fairly widely available and not much more money than a good torch. Alternately it's possible to get or make adapter kits designed to strap a light to your head or wrist.

It is possible to get "emergency charge" packs for mobile phones that basically consist of the appropriate connector and a battery pack that will take standard AA batteries. I think that these are a Very Good Idea.

My spare glasses are a pair of pinhole glasses; the past few years I've been wearing my glasses until they fall apart completely so I don't have any old ones to stick in as spares, but the pinhole ones, though not great in low light conditions and not sufficient for 20-20 vision with my -7 shortsightedness, are a lot better than nothing and have been very helpful (particularly, for example, the last time my glasses broke and I was waiting to get new ones). They're cheap, lightweight, reasonably sturdy and have the advantage that they can be used for just about anyone, or as sunglasses if your vision is good anyway.

Using a flint and steel is not actually all that difficult, and non-applicator tampons make wonderful tinder if you rip them apart a bit. Probably not worth packing in the small bag, and probably only worth putting into the large bag if you know how to use them, but they do have some advantages over lighters and matches.

I'd second the comment about latex condoms as being a very useful thing to keep in a go-bag.

A course of emergency contraception could be a very good thing to have on your person in case you or someone you care for has been raped. It's not a nice thing to think about but it could happen, and if things look particularly bad, it's not a good time to get pregnant.

I keep a selection of herbal teas (peppermint, chamomile, fennel, something citrusy and something fruity), they're lightweight and can be useful, especially if someone is afraid and upset but otherwise alright. Getting liquid in can be important, and herbal tea is a lot nicer than plain hot water. Normal tea, plus some powdered milk and sugar in a tin, is also useful. For the small bag, consider caffeine tablets; if you have a massive caffeine addiction then you don't want to be dealing with the effects of withdrawal during an emergency, and if you don't have a caffeine addiction you may find they help you keep going when it's crucial. Care is required in using them of course as caffeine is diuretic and doesn't agree with everyone.

If you smoke, consider that like a prescription medication. Again, you don't want to deal with nicotine withdrawal at the same time as whatever emergency is causing the lack of availability of smoking materials. Better yet, quit now so you're in better shape generally.

Posted October 30, 2007 5:48 AM by ewt

ok seriously, I was just thinking that a lot of the go bags were too complicated and frankly somewhat ridiculous, but then I realized that it was because I live in Denmark currently. They would be reasonable in an area hit with a hurricane/out of control fires/earthquake type disaster with likely to be incompetent emergency help but I think the most extensive go bag I have to worry about is if the house burns down and then the police or other public servants see to it I get to a good hotel.

hmm, damn taxes.<