Watching all the Japan earthquake coverage made me realize I’ve neglected one aspect in my preparedness efforts. There is a big likelihood a disaster can happen while you are away from home and emergency supplies.
Most of my supplies are at home. I already have a car kit, and recently upgraded my office kit. But I don’t have much in terms of the EDC -or everyday carry. So I would be sorry indeed if an emergency were to happen while I was out walking or shopping, and not close to my home, car or office.
In the coming days, I will be adding to my everyday carry stuff. The challenge is to keep things compact, yet have the items that may come in handy in an emergency. I’ll post my list once I have assembled it.
Take a look at “The Walk” by Lee Goldberg. It is the story of a man walking across L.A. after the”big one”. Also Google up Get Home Bag for hints on E.D.C. bags that might work for you.
I had not heard about The Walk. Sounds like an interesting book. Thanks!
i’ve tried to look at what others use for get home bags but they seem more along the lines of mini camping type stuff (which might be what people actually want) but it just doesn’t ‘feel’ right.
i can’t put my finger on it but i see people loaded up with 10 pounds of stuff and little of it seemed useful in a real life situation (like what we’re seeing in Japan)….
Know what you mean, I don’t plan on being overloaded with 10 lbs of camping stuff for EDC either, I’d keep those in the bug out bag, if we have to leave the city.
I keep a Swiss Army knife on my key chain and I usually have a book bag with me that has a small flashlight, a water bottle clipped to it, a few snacks, and some Advil as well as a book or two. I keep small toiletries and first aid kits in my car as well as a couple of flashlights, some food, a half gallon of water, a small fleece blanket and a weather radio. If an earth quake hit here and I was away from home and couldn’t drive home I’d have enough stuff to feel comfortable walking home or sheltering in place for a day or so. None of this stuff takes up much space or gets in the way. I use the blanket on occasion and bust into the food, first aid stuff, extra water, and toiletries all the time. You’ve just have to remember to replace what you take out. The stuff’s handy to have around and have come in handy on plenty of occasions.
great post – thanks! I’m dealing with the same issue. I have my kits figured in a few phases:
1) a ‘go kit’ that goes with me just about everywhere. I use GearPods Frontier for this.
2) a base camp kit that I keep in my 4×4.
3) a shelter-in-place kit that i have at home. I live in a highrise in downtown LA so even in an emergency I might need to be stuck here for a few days.
Apartment Prepper,
I am ashamed to say that the most “preparations” I make for when I am neither at home nor at work is to have my public transportation passes on my person should my car break down. I may indeed get a mini-swiss army knife, given that my ‘regular’ sized Swiss Army multitool is bulky (but it was an excellent investment and I plan to use it for life).
I keep a variety of “go bags” in my vehicles” and as far as everyday carry – I have a small pouch that goes on my belt and holds a powerful LED flashlight, Gerber suspension multi-tool, several eye-glass cleaning wipes, and a few band-aides. I could add more but that is it. The flashlight and multi-tool come in handy often.
I will be doing a review soon on it at my site – but this is truely an every single day carry item.
Rourke
I was thinking about getting that Gerber suspension multi-tool the other day but wasn’t sure about it. Good to know it works well for you. Thanks!