How to carry urban survival gear?

Myakka

Myakka

Joined
Feb 9, 2004
Messages
1,447
I'm looking for sugestions on how to carry some everyday survival gear in the city, I dont want anything to military looking, or to out of place. I need it to carry a nalgene water bottle and a few urban survival goodies. I have pleanty of wilderness packpacks, butt packs, and possiblies bags. I need somthing to carry into my office, mall etc.. and not look to strange? Any ideas? :confused:
 
how about a simple jansport backpack.....can carry alot and will not draw attention
 
I use a black Eagle Creek Guide Bag, though it looks like they've changed the design slightly since I got mine. I like mine better.

I wear it to and from the office. The other day when the guard was doing bag check he looked in my computer bag but failed to notice the Guide Bag. I opened the main compartment for inspection. The majority of my stuff is actually in a large secondary compartment under the flap, so I didn't have to explain what it was. :D
 
paleo25 said:
how about a simple jansport backpack.....can carry alot and will not draw attention
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The Mrs. and I spend alot of time downtown (Washington D.C.) both at the National Gallery Of Art and the Zoo, as we're Fonz members. (Friends of the national zoo, a volunteer group that helps out)

Paleo's sugestion make the most sense- the nylon backpack is one of the most ubiquitous things carried by almost everyone. You could walk down the street with gear for a week in one and nobody would look at you twice. Students, office workers on the metro, turists all carry them.
 
I agree with Paleo too. We have a jansport that holds a good amount of gear and they blend real well in urban areas.
 
Target sells Eddie Bauer "messenger bags"(and backpacks) that are pretty large and inconspicuous.
 
I'm a lawyer, so I have to look the part a lot of the time. I've carried the same Coach black leather messenger style brief bag for the last 10 years or more. It is OP, I think, but it is glove leather bonded onto cordura. It's strong as hell, and no amount of gear, books, and papers has ever sistrorted the thing.

It is really sheeple friendly. Nobody looks at it twice, and in fact, if you carry something professional looking around when wearing jeans or khakis, it kind of upgrades your image.

But, I hate pack, except for serious packs.
 
kenk said:
I wear it to and from the office. The other day when the guard was doing bag check...
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Urban or suburban office?

And what is the guard looking for? WMD? Pistols? Candy? What kind of training does he have? Or is he there because the insurance company says so.
 
I've got a forest green REI backpack with a water bottle pouch on the outside. All my other survival gear goes in the secondary compartment, leaving the main compartment mostly empty. I put EDC stuff in there and carry it everyday. It's my work bag, my gym bag -- my EDC bag.

The small compartment contains a UKeLED4AA flashlight(yellow), a Leatherman multi-tool, a Ritter Mk I survival knife (yellow), 2x20" of 550 cord, a compass, a Geko 301 GPS, a Ritter designed Pocket Survival Pak and a small first aid kit (one designed with big cuts in mind). With the cash in my wallet and credit cards, that's my EDC gear.
 
I pretty much use the same approach. I have a casual urban backpack that I lug everything, including my laptop. Inside the front pocket, I carry a smaller carry-all type pouch that contains my survival gear. In an emergency, I can grab the pouch and leave the pack, however, I'd likely bring the entire pack with me.

Guy
 
In the summer this is what I use (all black):

2249-194191-p.jpg


In the winter:

232L.jpg
 
I think any reasonable looking outdoor pack will work, as long as it does not draw any attention to you. I carry my kit in a mountainsmith lumbar pack. I also own a small northface day pack and a kelty redwing, 2500 cubic in. All you really have to do is find something that is comfortable and hass enough space for your equipment.
 
randjack said:
...I've carried the same Coach black leather messenger style brief bag for the last 10 years or more....It is really sheeple friendly. Nobody looks at it twice, and in fact, if you carry something professional looking around when wearing jeans or khakis, it kind of upgrades your image.
Click to expand...

Agreed, but Coach is expensive.

What affordable line of "brief bags" could inexpensively enhance one's professional image (without also killing one's wallet)?
 
I agree with most of the recommendations - but keep it low profile! No need to look any more like a target than necessary! ;)
 
I live and work in the city, and my kit has been evolving over the years. I always bring a backpack to work (with a first aid kit and a bunch of "survival/convenience supplies"), but I find I don't always bring the backpack when I go out to lunch, or leave the house for little errands, etc. So I've taken a layered approach. I still am usually near my backpack with the bulky supplies, but my true EDC is now attached to my pants using the nifty and under-appreciated Leatherman Crunch Sheath:

chargenylonsheath.jpg


(I clipped the little metal Leatherman logo plate off mine with some heavy-duty wire snips.)

8 bucks, about the size of a cell phone, fits on your belt, looks like a regular multitool pouch, but with 5 little internal pockets it holds a lot more. Mine has:

All this on my belt where it's out of the way until needed, and I can't forget it.

To this I add keys & wallet, the Mini-Ritter (RSK Mk1) clipped in a pocket, a cell phone in the other pocket, and a wide-mouth 1-liter Nalgene, and I'm set. :)
 
Wenger/Victronox is making backpacks now under their swiss gear line that are very sturdy and also non-military looking. They have a padded section for your laptop and still tons of pockets to store additional gear. I've been using one at work for a few months now and like it very much. I do security work so the bag is getting drug around all night, tossed in and out of vehicles, and basically lived out off for 12 hours a night/day and thus far it's held up very well w/ no problems.
 
I now use a laptop pack for my goodies , I can not only fit my essential work gear into it but a lot of "possible essentials"as well.
 
I've got a little Victorinox toiletry kit bag that I use as my 'pull kit' of essential itmes within a larger bag. Same concept as the Sprc-ops Pack Rat, just a lot more organized.

It is regratably getting too fat to put in my EDC shoulder bag, but I use a Spec-Ops Dry Cell for that.
 
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