Home Kit vs. "Always With You" Kit
Mark and Judy,
I completely agree with you on being prepared for a week or more. Katrina proved that when it comes to a large scale disaster, agencies don't always think logically (such as a state legislature not allowing Naval doctors to treat injured civilians on land- Mississippi). That, and volunteers in organizations such as the Red Cross quickly find themselves fighting with both hands tied behind their backs. I come across this on many of the small "disasters" I respond to.
I too have a much larger kit (aka a fully stocked pantry) at home. 72 hours kit is just my 'Grab & Run' kit... although right at this moment, its sort of spread out everywhere!
It's been a good discussion. I might be looking into a larger hiking backpack (when my finances allow) to set up a larger mobile kit. I don't want to go too large, because it will be too much to carry and frankly, I don't want to stick out like a sore thumb in the aftermath of a large disaster. You might attract the "you have it, I need it" syndrome as well.
-Brad
We really went off-track from your original post, didn't we? LOL
For basic everyday emergencies: flashlight and extra batteries, blanket, warning triangle or flares or cone for flashlight (to warn people in case of an accident), cellphone with car charger, basic 1st Aid kit, filled spare tire, basic tools including tire-changing tools/jack. I find my AAA membership invaluable.
Do you really need anything more than some good music and maybe something to drink in case you're delayed for an hour due to an accident ahead? I always have a few bottles of water in my car, add a radio/CDs/tapes/satellite radio, and you should be set. If you're worried about getting hungry, carry a few granola bars and/or protein bars. They keep a long time. And the cellphone would come in handy to let anyone at home or work know you'll be late. I always keep a couple of magazines and a book in the car in case I find myself with time to spare. I usually use these for a picnic lunch break. But if you're truly totally stopped, and not creeping along, something to read might be nice.
We had very different hazards!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig720
It's going to be a bit over an hour each way. I'm just trying to plan ahead a bit. I've never had a commute this hectic.
I have tried to zone out during my trips to headquarters, but the traffic is so intense -- especially the part where I'm driving in New Jersey -- I've had to keep my wits about me so as to arrive alive (and exhausted).
I know I'll get used to it, but why commuters have to treat roads like their own personal Indy 500 is beyond me.
Our commutes are quite different. It sounds like your hazards consist mostly of other cars. My hazards consisted of weather and how it effected road conditions, and animals. My drive was 37 miles (which, come to think of it, took more like 50 minutes to do, yeah, I know, splitting hairs...) from town into the country along a 2-lane, twisty, turny county road.
While it was a relatively well-traveled road, the only time traffic was an issue was when I would get stuck behind a slow-moving RV that refused to be considerate and slow down to let me pass. Believe me, I got real good on this windy road on knowing what short-straight stretch was OK to try passing on and which weren't. There were some where if you hit it just right, and got your car up to speed fast (easier after I bought a car with a turbo), you could just make it. It did give me a few cheap thrills. LOL
During the time I worked out there, 5 different people (and this was only the ones I heard about) hit deer/elk on their commutes. I tried to keep an eye out for them but it was hard because I would often unconsciously go on auto-pilot ("zone-out") on this drive. One time I came close to hitting a deer when I came out of my zone at the last possible second. Another second and I'm sure both the deer and I would have been quite unhappy. I did, unfortunately, hit a few squirrels and rabbits, even if I slowed and tried to swerve around them because they would often run right under my tires. Eek! Poor things. I hated when that happened. One spring my car seemed to be a bird magnet. I had 3 birds actually dive-bomb my car and get flattened. One was a big, fat crow! I had about another 3-4 birds during that time that almost dive-bombed me and missed. What was up with that? Freaky.
Heavy rains with some flooding, icey roads, and occasional snow really made this a "fun" drive. Any kind of gravelling or sanding was slow to get out to most of the drive. One memorable time, one area was totally flooded. The only way to get home was to drive down onto the beach and go through the "river" where this flooding overflowed to. Some nice guys got out and stood in the river to guide us over the least high spots. High tide was also coming in so you had to time your exodus in-between waves. Kinda exciting but I would have welcomed a more boring drive home that day!
One of the main reasons why I've become a stickler about having a well-packed car for road-safety reasons was because of something that happened to another woman on this drive. She didn't come home from work that night but, apparently, her and her husband were having problems so he thought she was just avoiding coming home. He didn't worry all that much until work called him the next day and asked if she was sick. After calling around friends and family and not finding anybody who knew where she was, he started a more intense search. I think he was thinking she was really with some other guy, but I digress....on the the second day, someone spotted the sun reflecting off of something down a ravine. Yes, there she was. She had a broken leg and various other injuries. None of her injuries were life-threatening but the 42 hours she spent in a car with no water, nothing to eat, and no blankets didn't help her any. Her cellphone couldn't get service because service was spotty out there anyway, and being in a ravine, she couldn't get service to call for help. She was severely dehydrated and probably would have had hypothermia except she was lucky in one way...her car was able to run and she had a fairly good supply of gas. Thank goodness her fuel tank wasn't punctured and that the exhaust pipes weren't buried!
Anyway, after that, I started filling my car with necessities in case something similar should happen to me.
But it was a beautiful drive. So, in that sense, I probably enjoyed it a lot more than you will enjoy your commute. Books on tape or satellite radio will help a lot with that type of commute.
Take it easy!
