Micro Backpack - first line of defense

Once again, the purpose of my BUPK (Basic Urban Preparedness Kit) is not so save me from a Nuclear explosion or a zombie invasion.

It's to save me from inconvenience and nuisance caused by minor problems that can happen daily. An Urban Survival Kit for all the small daily problems that urban life can throw at us :-)

We all know that kits should be small enough to be always carried with us - so I wondered how small could I make an useful kit - and what the bare minimum was to be carried.

Years ago I stumbled into a micro backpack (more or less the size of half a pack of cigarettes) that could be worn on a belt or slipped in a pocket. And I proceeded to fill it up with useful stuff.

Bear in mind that I usually have a larger kit as well with me, better lights, a better multitool, more stuff. This is the first line of defence only :-)

Here its latest version:

Contents:

Light - Fenix E05. AAA battery. Very bright. Lasts enough. 

Small and light. Might not be the best on the market but it has proved extremely useful and efficient times and times again. Happy. 

Not cheap at 25-30€, but I would buy it again. Gives you a quality feel, seems to be well built. Good stuff, I'd say.

More info: 

http://www.fenixtorch.co.uk/Shop/Fenix-Torches/E-Series/12406-Fenix-E05.html (or Google it)

Multitool - Leatherman Squirt P4. Good. Blades not exceptional. Light and practical. 

I gave quite a bit of though wether to get the version with scissor rather than pliers. 

At the end of the day, though, I could cut with a knife; a blade can do most of the things you would use scissors for. But scissors cannot take the place of pliers. So, easy decision. 

Probably by now there are better small multitools on the market. Choose wisely and go for quality and good brands. 

Chinese cheapo knock off tend to leave you down in times of need.

BTW, the Squirt P4 is not produced anymore - I'd probably buy a PS4. 

More info: 

https://www.leatherman.com/squirt-p4-91.html

Cash Stash - along with the light, the item I use more. It happens to me that I need a bit of extra cash or that I forgot to visit the ATM... and I find out while at the counter, in a shop. I always keep 10 to 20 euros as a strategic reserve. Plus some coins in the micro backpack. The cash stash is a cheapo chinese thingy bought online. Bought a premium one once. Spent 4 times as much, no difference. As long as you do not expect it to keep your money dry 100 m underwater, probably. Or you want it bulletproof and made out of titanium (why?) In which case, be ready to shell out some 150$.

Mine was about 3$/piece (bought a couple from some chinese site)

More info on similar item: 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TRIXES-Waterproof-Aluminum-Capsule-Keying/dp/B005FKKVPY

USB Key - one of the many I usually have with me, in my backpack etc. 2GB, was a gift from a supplier. Don't like sliding, half height keys much, but better that nothing. It works.

Sure you can get one for free or very cheap.

Lighter - much less useful now that I've decided that I'm not that interested in smoking anymore. But, hey, you can't have a kit without a fire device, right? I suspect it's even unlawful in some countries.

Other stuff: from time to time I slip in plasters, of small chewing gums blisters, or a single medicine pill, or, more often, a Dunlop Jazz III pick (that can be used for quite a few more things, apart from playing guitars)

http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/jazz-i-ii--iii

Knives and Blades

(In Italiano, sotto) 

In a Urban Survival Situation, a blade is often a crucial ingredient for success. But Choose wisely.

As we are talking about non-life threatening situation (mostly) and not major upheavals, a large knife can be more of a liability than an asset.

You don't want to take this with
you while shopping, probably.

You do not want to be caught (in most countries) by your local police wearing a hunting knife while at your local shopping mall. Of course things change as soon as you get into a wilderness scenario.

So, you are in town. Or driving your car. Or on a train, subway, bycicle. What should be in your emergency kit / BUPK?

My personal philosophy is that you need a pocket knife... but as in a personal pocket space is at premium, you should choose the smallest, lightest knife you can. So to make sure it will fit in the kit - this means always having it with you - including when you need it.

Victorinox Classic Alox Swiss Army Knife

My favourite is the Victorinox Classic Alox Swiss Army Knife - a keychain swiss knife that easily fits in my pocket kit.

I tend to prefer it to other pocket knives I own because it is definitely slimmer and lighter, leaving precious space in the kit for other stuff. 

On the other hands it does not have the toothpick (which I find useless) and the tweezers - very useful: I buy them extra, as a spare, and put them in the kit, saving a considerable amount of space.

Glow-in-the-dark
pocket knife.

So, if you prefer something with built-in tweezers, I recommend on the base of my personaly experience, the Stayglow model (I bought it on eBay for $ 11,22). 

It glows in the dark (for a while at least, after having been exposed to sunlight) - which might be quite handy.

I usually tend to stick with Victorinox but Wenger makes very good knives as well, so it's up to you. Just stay away from cheap chinese stuff. I tried them a couple of times - complete waste of money.

Spare tweezers can be
bought separately and
added to the kit

On top of this very minimalistic blade, I tend to always carry with me some extra tools, depending on the situation.

More on a successive post on multi tools.

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In Italiano:

In una situazione di emergenza - maggiore o minore che sia, un coltello tende ad essere uno degli strumenti più utili a disposizione.

A condizione di essere dotati di buon senso.

Un coltello da caccia o da combattimento ha pochissimo senso in città - se non nell'improbabile caso di un'invasione di zombie o di un collasso della civiltà occidentale.

Negli altri casi è in gradi di mettervi in grossi guai. Il suo porto è illegale (se non siete autorizzati) e in combattimento è più facile ferirsi seriamente col proprio coltello che fare male ad un ipotetico avversario, se non si è specificamente addestrati. Quindi lasciate stare i coltelli cattivi, soprattutto in città.

In città, in treno, autobus, in auto... ma soprattutto in tasca, cosa portare - che sia utile e legale? Proporzionato alla situazione e sufficientemente comodo da poterlo portare sempre con noi?

Il mio consiglio è quello di dotarsi di un coltello da portachiavi da avere sempre con se'. In aggiunta (ne parleremo più avanti) di un multi tool e/o di un coltello di dimensioni maggiori - a seconda di cosa intendiamo fare e della situazione in cui ci aspettiamo ( o temiamo) di trovarci.

Focalizzandoci sull'ipotesi del kit da tasca da avere sempre con noi, la mia scelta è caduta sul Victorinox Classic Alox. Ha una lama, la limetta, il cacciavite, le forbici. E rispetto ad altre varianti del coltellino, è spesso la metà.

Il che significa poterlo infilare nel kit lasciando spazio per altre cose. 

Quello che manca è lo stuzzicadenti (ne faccio a meno) e le pinzatte - che sono utilissime ma che compro a parte come ricambio del coltellino e metto nel kit. Risparmiando comunque spazio.

Se preferite un coltellino integrato, io mi trovo molto bene con lo Stayglow - esposto alla luce resta fosforescente per qualche ora. 

In un prossimo post parleremo di multitools.

The Basic Urban Pocket Kit

WTF? BUPK. (In Italiano in fondo)

Click on Images to enlarge them.

A basic EDC (EveryDay Carry) Urban Kit - knife not shown

Let's be honest. There are not so many real emergency situations you can encounter in an urban setting from which you can escape by means of a pocket "survival" kit.

(If you have an idea about how to escape from a building in flames, only using things you can carry in your pocket - handkerchiefs apart - please let me know...)

Furthermore survival is more about skills and mindset than about tools and kits. Ideally, you should have a McGyver mind.

Letting life-threatening emergencies alone, in an urban setting what can happen (and happens often) is that you have to face inconveniences rather than true emergencies.

Thats the reason that led me to develop my own B.U.P.K. aka Basic Urban Pocket Kit.

My goals were:
1. Have fun
2. More of the aforementioned
3. Assemble a small and light kit that might be useful in coping with things that might happen to me and fiercely attempt to ruin my day.

"Whatever might go wrong, it will."

Things I planned for...
1. Evading darkness (including, yes, dangerous situations as getting stuck in a dark subway train...)
2. Substituting that crucial shirt button seconds before the most important meeting of the year
3. Coping with having your wallet stolen
4. Fix things and restart computers
5. Mitigating your dumbness in wearing new shoes the day public transport is on strike
6. Minor cuts, headache
7. Running out of cigarettes
8. Being in dire need of setting fire to something or someone.

Of course, your needs, priorities and environment might be very different from mine - and consequentely your kit should be different. And should be modified according to the season, your daily plans and so on (more of that later).

Coming Next: what's inside the Urban Kit?

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Siamo onesti. Le situazioni di "emergenza" che possiamo affrontare con un kit di dimensioni tascabili non sono molte. Se siete McGyver potete fermare l'Apocalisse con una graffetta.

Se siete una persona normale, il massimo dell'emergenza che potete affrontare con un kit tascabile è la rottura della cerniera dei pantaloni. E, se capita prima di una riunione importante, è un'emergenza non da poco.

La sopravvivenza, inoltre, è più una questione di atteggiamento mentale e di conoscenze che di utensili e gadget - pert quanto ci faccia un gran piacere collezionarli e portarceli dietro :-)

Comunque, un piccolo kit ben assemblato potrà aiutarvi anche in alcune situazioni serie (la mia paura classica: restare al buio, bloccato in metropolitana. Qui una torcia o due e magari una bandanna se c'è funo possono fare un enorme differenze - se non nelle chance di portare a casa la pelle, almeno nella serenità d'animo).

Per questo motivo ho sviluppato e adottato il mio B.U.P.K. - Basic Urban Pocket Kit.

I miei obiettivi:

• Divertirmi, fare qualcosa di stimolante
• Idem
• Realizzare un kit che potessi facilmente sempre portarmi dietro, per affrontare quelle piccole o grandi disavventure che spesso cercano con impegno di rovinarmi la giornata.

"Whatever might go wrong, it will."

Le cose per cui ho cercato di prepararmi

Ovvero le emergenze che posso ragionevolmente trovarmi ad affrontare e risolvere con un piccolo kit:

1. Buio. Impossibilità di muoversi. Panico nella folla. Impossibilità di decidere la mossa migliore.

2. Bottone. Affrontare minime emergenze sartoriali prima di occasioni socialmente o lavorativamente importanti

Substituting that crucial shirt button seconds before the most important meeting of the year

3. Ladro. Ritrovandomi senza portafoglio lontano da casa, magari di notte.

4. Rotture. un minimo di strumenti per riparare cose. 

5. Disagio fisico. Piccole ferite, bolle ai piedi a causa dello sciopero della metropolitana...mal di testa

Mitigating your dumbness in wearing new shoes the day public transport is on strike

6. Problemi di fumo. Voi, non fumate. Ma una sigaretta di scorta e la possibilità di accendere un fuoco possono essere preziosi se lo fate.

7. Varie ed Eventuali

Naturalmente la vostra situazione, bisogni, ambiente possono essere diversi. Di conseguenza richiedere un kit diverso.
Sentitevi liberi di adattare, modificare. E condividere le vostre idee.

Fondamentale poi  integrare il piccolo kit con dei kit più ricchi, per emergenze maggiori, se ritenete oportuno.

Ma sulle varie tipologie di kit ci sarà tempo di parlarne più avanti.

Nei prossimi post inizieremo l'analisi delle varie componenti del Kit Urbano

About Urban Survival Kits…

A typical Urban Survival Kit

It’s not about pandemies, alien invasions, major catastrophy, long term survival. Many excellent blogs and websites already cover that.

Here is about how to get ready for minor emergencies (ripped trousers) but also urban life threatening situations that could really happen any day (trapped in the subway, in pitch dark).

It’s about how to prepare your kit, how to improvise, what to carry with you, making smart things with your hands and a limited budget.

Enjoy. And survive another day, in the Urban Jungle.