Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

It’s not an exhortation. It’s an emergency preparedness kit, otherwise known as a ‘Go Bag’. Miserly Bastard has a great post about it, and I think everyone living/working in a major metropolitan area needs to consider having one, especially in coastal areas with earthquakes. San Francisco has a great resource site called 72 Hours.

Living close to the Pentagon, I have thought about what I would do in an emergency many times. I don’t keep a 72-hour kit since my actual building is not in danger of being a target. But I do keep all my camping gear in the house and I am pretty well stocked in case of an emergency, whether it be weather related or some other kind I’d rather not dwell upon. I really don’t like bottled water, but in this case, keeping some on hand is good.

Some further tips:

1) Red glowsticks are the best color to get. There’s a reason why red is used on planes and buildings, the wavelengths are longer and are spotted froma further distance. Wipe them down periodically if it’s dusty outside. Makes for greater visibility. Carry it on a lanyard and make sure you wear one in front and one in back. I personally prefer blinky LED’s that cyclists use because the blinking is more attention getting. It’s important to be visible from all sides. You don’t want to be mowed down by an emergency vehicle.

2) There are also high intensity glowsticks which last for about 30 minutes and fade to regular strength. I highly recommend Liquid Light in California. I’ve done business with them before and they carry a range of products for industrial and festive purposes. Carry extras just in case you get duds. (I have a low dud percentage with Liquid Light, can’t say the same for other providers.) If you order from them be sure to get the 12-hour industrial strength ones. Industrial vs. regular makes a huge difference. (ooh ooh! They have INFRARED ones!)

3) Pack an airhorn, not a whistle. How do you use a whistle if you have a dust mask on? If you are trapped in rubble, the horn will work better than a whistle because it is much louder.

4) Goggles are good with dustmasks if you don’t want the full face military kind. Welders goggles have flipup dark shields which allow you to see through clear lenses too.

5) Eye drops are good to flush the eyes if it’s that dusty out, you may need to flush your eyes anyway since the seals on goggles don’t always work well.

6)An extra battery for your cellphone might be useful if you expect that service might be available, but the towers may be jammed with lots of callers.

7)A change of socks. It sounds weird, but if you have to hike a long way from work to home, a fresh pair of socks can make a difference in motivation.

Keep in mind MRE’s and water have expiration dates/Best if used by dates. So keep ‘em fresh and rotate your stock. I make a point of eating through all my backpacker/camper meals every two years or so and stocking up when they go on sale because they’re so expensive.

If this seems overwhelming or kind of scary, think of it as an extended power outage. What would you need around the house if you didn’t have electricity for 3 days?