Rob, you ever consider replacing the granola bars with a mainstay/SOS/Datrex bar?

http://beprepared.com/product.asp_Q_pn_ ... Food%20Bar

Preppy Dude:

You really have a lot of options on this. As you say with Rob's wait-pack, you can do a lot with a small amount of space if you had to. You can do more with a back-pack. It's going to come down to what you feel you need and in that conditions you're going to need those things. I like to have as much as I can within reason. I don't carry a lot on my person, but I do have stuff in my office and in my vehicle.

Things that come to mind:

a change of clothing and shoes - no one wants to be humping it home in business attire, plus you may stick out like a sore thumb in some places. better to blend in if you can. this is something to keep at work.

Rob listed money, yeah, it's a good thing. May want to even consider tossing in a couple of silver coins.

Water is important, 10-20 miles is a long way to hike...

food, I like the marine/rescue boat bars - compact and lots of calories. you'll be burning calories.

do you know how to get home from where you work when walking?

Found a good deal here:

http://www.amazon.com/Mainstay-Emergenc ... hisProduct

Yup. I have a couple of them in my main Fast Pack. I keep meaning to upgrade to the smaller bars, just haven't gotten around to it. Probably will during the next refresh cycle.

Wow! That is a lot of stuff you got in that fanny pack! I'm impressed!

I have my own pack that I have set up to walk out from a trail ride that goes bad. It has more items in it just in case its a two or three day hike to a phone. (I will be adding the "trick" birthday candles to it. I love that idea.) I always have a gallon or two of spring water in the truck as well as my two 24oz water bottles that are with my "camp pack".

I gotta ask. Why did you go with black and blue bandanas? I went with red and white for high visibility. (I figured these would also help in flagging someone down- a back up to my whistle, radio, flashlight, mirror, and glowstick.)

I can definitely understand about the shoes and the clothing.

Money is a good thing.

I also think that water is very important.

Do I know how to get home? Definitely! I live less than five miles from where I work and know multiple ways to get there by heart.

My idea of this type of fast pack was for people like my brother who aren't into prepping that much, save for maybe a snow storm, and take a train or subway into town for work. He's not going to want to carry even a medium fanny pack every day, but if I "build" a small fanny pack with some basics, he might take it with him. The recent accident on the metro could help my arguement. (I'll have to make it seem "friendly" so he doesn't think I'm being "paranoid". )

I'm going to treat his like someone using a .22 for concealed carry. It's not much, but it's better than the 1911 left at home.

As for me, I'm planning on buying some of that stable food you guys listed and replace my cans of ravioly and soup so I can keep my bag in the truck and not worry about the 90% humidity and the 120 degrees cooking it in the bag.

Thanks

I went with subdued bandana colors as I use them more for general use as a bandana and prefer those colors. I don't think the size of a bandana is large enough to use a an emergency flag, so I don't think of it that way. Also, after having used a bandana in the field for a while, I can tell you that they get so dirty/dingy that they're not much use as a brightly colored panel. I think you're better off carrying a very large cloth specifically for that purpose, if that's how you chose to signal for help.

I very much like the Mainstay bars because of their durability in harsh environment - mainly heat. I don't know of (or can't remember) any other foodstuff that is rated for high temps. Not even military MREs can withstand high temps for very long. I also think they're fairly palatable. Wouldn't want to eat them on a regular basis, but more than sufficient taste for an emergency food bar (Popular Mechanics agrees: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... 19185.html).

I'd like to get some of the smaller 1200 calorie Mainstay bars for smaller packs, like the waist pack: http://beprepared.com/product.asp?pn=FM ... RFM%20R120

Also, just in case I didn't make this clear before, this waist pack is *not* my main Fast Pack (FP). This waist is inside of my FP as a supplemental unit.

One thing I can tell you from experience is that if someone doesn't "get it" as to why they should carry emergency supplies, you can't make them. They'll always be forgetting it, or worse, expect you to pack it and repack it for them, as well as pay for it.

Like I said, the King...

Definitely!

I figured that the fanny pack wasn't your main F.P. but its great for general walking around/shopping.

I'm only thinking of this to ease my own mind, since my brother does take that train route daily. (He works in a government building, so I don't think they'd allow the multi-tools and swiss army knives in there.)

You may want to consider something from Maxpedition.

http://www.lapolicegear.com/mafaves.html" target="_blank

http://www.lapolicegear.com/majuve.html" target="_blank

http://www.lapolicegear.com/macove.html" target="_blank

Thanks. I'm definitely going to get one for my truck.

I also had a good "moment of truth" this weekend. My wife and I needed some rope to help tie down a couch we were moving and couldn't find any. I told her not to worry since I have some in my pack. I went to get it and, low and behold; It was gone! I forgot that I had used it to tie down a tarp over the veggie garden to protect it from hail one day. (Strong thunderstorm)

Lesson learned: Check your pack every month and see what's missing.