Plenty of good items already posted, including the handgun with which I concur.
Cash
Carrying $1,000 in cash seems a bit risky. IMHO up to about $200 should be enough for most situations. If I understand your motivation correctly, the idea is to have already with you the necessities for surviving a few days, not anticipating buying them at escalated prices after the doo-doo hits the fan.
Water
For water, look at keeping about 6 or 8 of the 2-liter bottles at the office and travel with about 4 of the 1-liter bottles in your pack. In emergencies you'll need extra for medical and sanitation requirements. Imagine how valuable a water-soaked bandana would have been in NYC amid the concrete dust from the Trade Center collapse. To supplement your water, I'd recommend about 10 of the food/energy bars of your choice for three days. Hard candy can be good for morale. I also like Fig Newtons as semi-indestructo cookies because you can still eat the misshapen lumps if they get squashed.
Shelter and a whole lot more
An essential suvival item IMHO in the car or pack is a heavy-duty mylar Sportsman Space Blanket. They only cost $9.99 at Cabela's in either red (if you want to be seen) or OD green (if you want to hide).
http://www.cabelas.com/texis/script.../CabFALL1998/CabFALL1998/XA916L?format=search
There are two weights of Space Blankets. There are heavy ones (Sportsman model) with a reinforcing scrim of threads sandwiched between the reflective mylar side and the colored side, which are the ones I recommend. These have a cloth tape reinforced edge and grommets in the corners. The other version (Emergency model) is a really lightweight, pretty insubstantial, non-reinforced reflective mylar that tears more easily. The heavier ones can be used for shelter against rain or sun, a sleeping cover, lining a solar still, wrapping hypothermic victims, signalling rescue craft, gathering water, rigging an improvised rucksack, etc. The lighter ones will fit in a few cubic inches (very compact) and do keep you dry & warmer than just plain plastic sheeting will. But I advocate the lighter weight ones only where space is the only limiting criterion. They are a "use it once & throw it away" item. For general usage and anywhere that sturdiness is an issue (like in multi-day survival scenarios) I definitely recommend the heavier grade blankets. And $10 is cheap for a multi-use item.
Knife
IIRC the Becker knife has an exposed tang. You may want to consider a knife with a tang enclosed in a rubber handle, in case you need to cut potentially live wires to evacuate from a collapsed building. That's a tip from a firemen I read somewhere. There are some other "sharpened prybar" knives that have kraton/rubber handles to offer some insulation from electrical shock. The ones that come to my mind are (in order of ascending price):
- some of the Ontario blades
- Cold Steel SRK or Recon Tanto
- Busse Basic 5 or preferably Basic 7
- Mad Dog knives
My overall favorite for comfort in my hands is a Busse Basic 7 or 9. YMMV. The thing is a beast. Sorta like your Becker.
Rappelling Down A Rope To Escape
You are on the sixth floor, so it's about 60-80 feet off the ground. You may want to consider whether a rope or rappelling is really needed. Yes, you can die falling 60-80 feet. But you can probably evac the six floors down in under 4 minutes, even at a walk. Practice evacuating your building a few times and see how long it takes you.
Consider rappel evacuations ONLY if you have experience rappelling already and know what you are doing! PERIOD!! The consequences for getting it wrong can be fatal.
The anchor point/object is critical! If it breaks or lets loose, you're putting in air time for which you do NOT get frequent flyer miles. Read that lame joke as "You Will Fall!!"
You can rap down either static (non-stretch caving) rope or dynamic (semi-stretchy climbing) rope. The two types of ropes are laid (twisted) and kernmantle (strands inside a woven sheath). I'd say nine-millimeter diameter kernmantle rope is the minimum I'd consider. Eleven-millimeter kernmantle rope would be better & more comfortable. Use only rope made explicitly for either rappelling or climbing!!
Remember, you need a rope twice as long as the distance you want to rappel. While you can rap down a single rope, it pretty much requires a harness, which you won't have time to put on in an emergency evac scenario.
Miscellaneous Items
-- sturdy, comfortable shoes to walk the miles home. Something with soles able to withstand walking over glass and other grating substances is the order of the day. Due to possible uneveness of the terrain, ankle support may also be important. IMHO hiking boots are about right, if their viable in your work environment.
-- Two or more bandanas for their overall utility.
-- Hat, whether it's a boonie, Tilley, Pakhat, Seattle Sombrero, cowboy hat, baseball cap, whatever.
-- Not sure if anyone mentioned a whistle. You can blow a whistle long after you'd have yelled/screamed yourself hoarse when you want to be found. IIRC higher frequency sound (whistle shriek) travels further (more efficiently maybe?) through air than lower frequency sound (yelling/screaming). I prefer plastic whistles because metal ones can be cold on the lips. Fox 40 whistles usually get good reviews.
-- A few Inova Mini-LED flashlights in pack/pockets/beltclip would definitely be in order IMHO. One for the office desk drawer as well. These little Inova lights are a bit larger than a US quarter-dollar coin and run approximately 72 hours on a pair of CR216 lithium coin batteries. 1SKS has them for less than $10 per unit, which is cheap for waterproof long-term light. An alternative would be whatever other waterproof LED light you can find.
-- 550 paracord (typically around $5 per 100'). I'd say two or three hanks of 50' each should about do it.
-- Toilet paper or Kleenex or paper napkins in double zip-lock bags, preferably the heavier freezer weight gallon size to use for other purposes as well.
-- Antibiotic cream & bandaids/bandages, anti-diarrhea pills/liquid, sunscreen & sunglasses, EMT scissors, tweezers.
-- A sturdy folder knife to ALWAYS live in your pocket along with a SAK too
(edited to removed dead link)
