Sunday, January 17, 2010

Preparedness Bag Part 1 - Fire and Heat Kit

I work in downtown Philadelphia and I take the train from New Jersey to Philly everyday which is about a 25 minute trip covering 14.2 miles.  Until recently I never carried a bag to work.  I hated carrying a bag but I realized that getting caught without a BOB or Preparedness Bag was risking my life.  I am creating a new Preparedness Bag consisting of several components that take into account the fact that I will be traveling to an urban environment.  Some of the ideas are not mine but come from other survivalists.  I will try my best to give recognition to the person whose idea I borrowed :-)

The first component of the Preparedness Bag is the "Fire and Heat Kit".  Although I am traveling back and forth through an urban environment, you never know when you will need fire.  Unless I was forced to walk back to New Jersey I do not foresee using much fire in an emergency but it's there if I need it.  In the kit, I have steel wool, a 9 volt battery, dryer lint, matches, magnesium fire starter, and a lighter.  Not shown is my knife (which I carry on my person) that I use for the magnesium fire starter. 

In the winter it does get fairly cold here and staying warm is vital.  Sometimes I see other train passengers with just a windbreaker and a sweater on in 20 degree weather. If the train ever broke down and we needed to walk they would freeze their butt off.  So in addition to my winter apparel the kit includes two hand warmers and a body warmer which will keep me warm in vital areas for 10-12 hours, and a space blanket.  I also have an emergency heater which can be used in my car if I ever get stuck going to the train station or can be used in at my office if for some reason the office heater no longer works.  The emergency heater consists of a 1 quart paint can, a roll of toilet paper and rubbing alcohol.  I got this idea from USNERDOC on YouTube. See the below video. It works pretty good but make sure you do not leave it unattended.



Here are pictures of my Fire and Heat Kit which will be included in the Preparedness Bag:










































Let me know if you have any other ideas for this kit.

Live The Motto - Be Prepared.

6 comments:

  1. Great first post! Can't wait to read more!

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  2. Great site! I recently wrote on my blog about this same topic. I am glad to see another person has the same common sense ideas & approach. Simply-Be Prepared. Look forward to more!

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  3. Absolutely superb! You're bringing me back to my Boy Scout Days as well. I actually dug out my 1986 office Boy Scout Handbook and am re-reading!

    Keep it up!

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  4. Thanks Ray. I have referred to my 1988 Boy Scout Handbook several times in writing my posts. Great info and great memories.

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  5. David, thanks for your comments and for mentioning my site. I visit your YouTube channel all the time. Your videos are great and very informative which is why I posted your video in this post :-)

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