The Martialist: The Magazine For Those Who Fight Unfairly

I was deeply troubled when reading accounts of the
survivors of and spectators to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the
World Trade Center towers in New York City. If any worst-case scenario
represents better what can go wrong when you’re away from home, I don’t
know what it could be. People who fled the towers and those who left
Manhattan in general were literally walking out of the city with
whatever they carried with them — and little else. Those images have
been with me ever since.

Several years ago, Central New York State experienced
the “Labor Day Storm,” a near-tornado that knocked out power to parts
of our state for days. My wife and I were without electricity for three
days, prompting me to assemble the Big Red Box of Power Outage Supplies.
Over time, as I learned more about survival and preparedness, and as
the world became just a little scarier, I decided that I was not yet
properly equipped. Over the course of several months I planned,
procured, and assembled the materials for three survival kits: a home kit, a mobile Bug Out Bag (BOB), and my daily carry shoulder bag.

My shoulder bag is a Rothco Messenger Bag that I
purchased specifically because it is similar (if not identical) to the
one carried by “Jack Bauer” on the Fox series 24. I call it, affectionately, the Jack Sack.
It happens to be a really great bag, too. It is of heavy Olive Drab
canvas, made in India, largely open inside with several side pouches.
It has one large flap that closes using hook and loop strips, keeping
the contents reasonably secure but allowing easy access to the interior
of the bag. The wide shoulder strap is absolutely necessary because I
need to be able to sling this bag and carry it with me, possibly
hands-free. My Jack Sack is also full to capacity; it cannot hold much
more or it would be too heavy to tote. As it is, a person smaller than
me would find it uncomfortable to sling this sack for any length of
time. You must tailor the contents of your daily carry bag to suit your
individual needs.

The Jack sack contains these items:

A rigid plastic organizer for files, books, and papers
Personal items, memory sticks, and other odds and ends for work
My PDA, charger, and USB cable
First aid kit with snakebite kit, earplugs, etc.
Spec Ops On Board Dry Cell Organizer and Wingnut Travel Organizer
Signal mirror
Paracord
Compass/Whistle/Thermometer/Magnifier Survival Tool
Fishing kit
Sparklite kit/li>
Purifier straw
Pocket razor blade
Krazy glue
Batteries
Countycomm.com AM/FM/SW radio
Leather gloves
Space blanket
Disposable pancho
Umbrella
Pocket LED light
Kleenex
“Off” anti-bug spray
Hobo knife
Pens
River Rock LED light
Brinkmann Maxfire
Eyeglass kits
Eyeglass straps
Eyedrops
Titanium escape card
Torx and screwdriver kits
Pocket duct tape
Break Free CLP
Waterproof matches
Antbacterial wipes
PAL light as beacon
Boonie hat
Victorinox survival kit (with compass, etc.)
Moleskine notebook
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Kefiyah
Bandanna
Butane lighter
Small folding hacksaw
Victorinox multitool
Locking folding knife (selected for its flat profile)
Diamond sharpening rod in pen-cap case
Nail clippers
2AA Flashlight with LED conversion and tailcap kit
Sewing kit
Small Swiss Army Knife
Potassium Iodide tablets
Nukealert alarm
A copy of The 2 Oz. Backpacker: A Problem Solving Manual for Use in the Wilds
Maps

The rigid plastic organizer makes my Jack Sack a
field expedient briefcase, keeping my work and personal papers
organized while preventing books and magazines from becoming crushed or
rumpled. The Jack Sack also has a small zippered inner pocket sewn into
the top of its interior rear side, in which I keep my USB memory
sticks, passport, emergency cash, and other identification.

My PDA keeps all my data organized and synchronizes
to my Microsoft Outlook calendar. The PDA, a Cingular 8125, is also my
mobile phone. I carry a headset for the phone as well as the USB cable
and an aftermarket charger. The charger can plug into a wall or into
the lighter socket of an automobile.

I keep a full first aid kit in the sack, which
includes a guidebook, extra band-aids (the First Aid item we all use
most often), and a few other odds and ends.

Most of the contents of my Jack Sack are modular,
meaning they’re not simply sprinkled loose throughout the pockets and
interior of the bag. Instead, I keep them compartmentalized and grouped
in a Spec Ops On Board Dry Cell and a Wingnut Travel Organizer, both of
which have many handy compartments. To transfer the contents of the
Jack Sack to another bag is thus easily and quickly accomplished.

I keep plenty of survival odds and ends on hand,
including the obligatory signal mirror, a length of paracord (which has
countless uses), fishing and firestarting gear, a lighter, a small
hacksaw, glue, batteries for the accessories I use most (my flashlights
and my radio), a razor blade, a pancho and a space blanket (small but
very useful and available everywhere camping supplies are found), and
an extra LED light. I also have mundane items like an umbrella, a
folded Boonie hat, gloves, tissues, extra pens, eyedrops, eyeglass
repair kits, drivers to supplement my Victorinox multitool, a travel
toothbrush and toothpaste, and antibacterial hand wipes.

One of the things I worry about is finding adquate water
in an emergency. To this end I have packed a small and lightweight
filter straw in the Jack Sack. This way I can drink from any available
water supply without worrying that I’ll make myself sick.

In any emergency, the ability to obtain information
about what is happening is extremely important. My little Countycomm
AM/FM/Shortwave radio is very small, works remarkably well, and is both
well built and fairly sharp looking. I carry it in a small PDA pouch,
so I can wear it on my belt like an iPod if I want to. Listening to the
Shortwave stations at night is also very entertaining.

The Victorinox SwissChamp Survival Kit
is built around the company’s biggest Swiss Army Knife. I’m
sentimentally attached to this handy monster of a knife because it’s
the same model my father has carried around with him all day, every
day, for as long as I have been alive. I have vivid memories of him
using that knife — with its secondary blade and tweezers — to remove
splinters from my fingers, or to open tape-sealed packages on Christmas
morning, or to accomplish any of countless other tasks. The SwissChamp
Kit takes an already useful item (the knife contains everything from
saws, a magnifying glass, tweezers, and a ball-point pen to pliers,
scissors, and blades) and tucks it into a leather case containing a
sharpening rod, compass, writing paper, pencil, bandages, thread,
safety pins, matches, string, signal mirror, level, and more.

I keep a PALight in
an outer pocket of the Jack Sack. It can serve as an emergency light
source and as a strobe beacon but, more importantly, its always-on
survival lamp means I can find the Jack Sack itself in the dark.

As a nod to my job as a writer, I carry a Moleskine
notebook (the famed notebook of writers like Hemingway). This is a
high-quality “little black book” that has a built in bookmark and an
elastic closure. it’s a great all-purpose notebook and I carry a
quality pen to go with it.

I always carry a bandanna
because it’s such a useful item. I carry a kefiyah in the jack sack as
well because it’s essentially a giant bandanna and has even more uses.
A petite individual could even use the unfolded kefiyah as a blanket.

I carry potassium iodide tablets, a Nukealert alarm,
and maps in the Jack Sack. The maps are useful no matter what (they can
help you plan how to get where you’ve got to go to survive). The pills
and the alarm are to protect me from and alert me to the possibility of
a radiation release, either from the proverbial “dirty bomb” so often
threatened in terrorism-related news, or the much more likely nuclear
power plant disaster (there’s a nuclear plant not all that far from
where I live).

Finally, I tote a little copy of the The 2 Oz. Backpacker: A Problem Solving Manual for Use in the Wilds.

What I’ve not covered here is weapons. I went through
a brief phase during which I carried my primary weapons in the Jack
Sack, but they increased its weight too much and were really not
terribly convenient. Off-body “carry” of weapons has its place — I’m a
firm believer in keeping weapons tucked away at home, in your car, and
in other places where you can access them readily — but ultimately,
for the sake of personal security (I am a public figure and have made
my share of enemies) I have simply committed myself to carrying
firearms, defensive knives, and other weapons directly on my person at
all times. Your choices are your own and I will not attempt to dictate
them to you. Tailor your personal weaponry choices to your individual
situation, and do so in the context of Minimum Accessories for Personal Preparedness.

Remember, too, that every survival kit is a work in
progress. You will discard outdated items and replace them with fresh
supplies or updated and improved technology. You will think of things
to add that I have not included here (or you will discard items I have
included for which you do not see a need). Personal taste and
individual circumstance will dictate much of what you choose to
stockpile. What is important is that you formulate a plan and act on
it. In my case, I have built a daily carry bag that goes back and forth
to work with me every day and accompanies me on long trips. With the
Jack Sack, I would be well prepared to make my way back home if an
emergency occurs while I’m away. I can use its contents to handle most
problems and other minor inconveniences that could arise while I’m at
work or on the road traveling for business. I can sustain myself to a
reasonable degree if I’m caught where I am with only the Jack Sack at
my disposal.

I like to think Jack Bauer would be proud of me.

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