The Emergency Prep, Tools and Kit Thread

[Joben]

I and several other people on the board have interest in survival and emergency gear.

My thread about my plan to sell emergency fire starting kits prompted a couple really thoughtful responses.

I'd like to continue that sort of discussion.

This thread is a place to show off your gear and discuss the merits of different items.

• 
  
  
• Do you carry a swiss army knife? Post it up.
  
• Do you have a change of clothes in the trunk of your car? Post it up.
  
• Do you have a backpack, or a big purse filled with all manner of goodies? Post it up.
  
• Do you have a well stocked bunker in an undisclosed location for when the zombies rise? Post it up.
  

It's also a place to share stories about dangerous situations you've been in.

• 
  
  
• Have you ever gotten stranded or lost? Tell us about it.
  
• Have you ever had something break and needed to improvise a fix? Tell us about it.
  
• Have you ever been affected by a natural disaster? Tell us about it.
  

This thread will be about all that and more;

In short, what are your plans for when things don't go as planned?

[Lady_Nerevar]

The only think I carry is a bunch of band-aids, since I tend to favor sexy footwear that gives me blisters with prolonged use. That counts as survival gear...right?

[_echo]

Oh my... let me get my camera and ill show all I got so far. Its a WIP.

[Vince]

I'm glad to see this thread. As my post in the original topic was one of those that prompted Joben to start this thread, I've included the description of the incident below--it could have happened to you!. The things we discuss here, and the actions we take in response, may come in very handy on some deserted road sometime in the future.

About a year ago I was driving home from work when three bad things happened at the same time. 1) I had a flat tire. 2) The wheel was stuck on the hub and I couldn't get it off. 3) When I went to call 911, my cell phone didn't work! I later found it wasn't the battery; it had just died. If this had been on a rural, infrequently traveled road, it could have been a very serious situation. However, the road was well traveled and after about an hour, a big, burly guy in a tow truck pulled in behind me. I explained that I didn't need a tow, if I could just get the wheel with the flat tire off. He went up and slammed the wheel so hard the whole car shook--and the wheel was loose! I gave him $10, changed the wheel, got a new cell phone the next day, and put a 4 foot long 4x4 in the truck for future stuck wheels.

So far, I've found some very interesting information after googling (yes, that's a verb now) "911 cell phone". As I start to get a real list of stuff, I'll post here.

[HeyYou]

At one point, I carried a fairly complete set of hand tools in my truck. I could probably have swapped a cylinder head on the side of the road.... (yeah, I was just a bit anal.) These days, there is a basic tool kit, and a first aid kit, and that's about it. Not like I could change a tire on the side of the road any more, not even if my life depended on it..... I DO have an air tank though, so, if the tire isn't totally destroyed, I can air up enough to cripple into town/nearest house.

For your vehicles, some common spares wouldn't be a bad idea.... serpentine belt, various fuses, and for the Gotta Fix it NOW times, a can of fix-a-flat. Makes your car drive crappy, but, if the weather is ugly, what's worse? Having to pay to have the tire dismounted, cleaned out, and then patched? Or, treatment for frostbite?

[_echo]

Blub... cant find all my things, so ill just list them.

- Backpack - Camelbak supported and MOLLE connections all over the thing.

- Basic medical pouchs - Bandages, pain pills, etc.

- Survival knife

- 100ft of Nylon rope

- Camo rain jacket

- Misc knives for whatever

- CO2 pellet pistol

Zombie invasion optional equipment:

- Katana

[vometia]

This is the sort of thing I thought would be cool to carry around, but never quite got around to: so my car had a very old and not at all useful first aid kit and... er... that was about it, really. Then again, it's amazing what you can do with a bit of creative thinking if the car breaks down, such as replacing a broken spring on the engine's petrol thingy with a not very important-looking spring you might find somewhere else. When I took my car to the garage to be fixed properly they said they couldn't have done a better job. Can't see that happening again.

Hmm. So I guess the lesson to be learnt is that the best survival tool you can have is... your head.

[Beana]

This has really got me thinking because really... the only things I carry in my car in case of emergency are...

extra diapers, wipes and a blanket!!

[HeyYou]

This has really got me thinking because really... the only things I carry in my car in case of emergency are...

extra diapers, wipes and a blanket!!

Suppose it depends on your definition of "Emergency".

[vometia]

Suppose it depends on your definition of "Emergency".

To be fair, the worst thing that can possibly happen to a person is running out of toilet roll, so it's not unreasonable.

[Joben]

To be fair, the worst thing that can possibly happen to a person is running out of toilet roll, so it's not unreasonable.

"How to Poop in the Woods"

...but no, seriously, that's a pretty useful video, since most people, including me don't really give such an eventuality any thought.

[Joben]

I made a new video showing the contents of the bag I have along whenever i go out.