It can’t happen here … but if it does, you’ll want to be prepared. Below is a survivalist-certified checklist of everything a New Yorker might need to survive in the urban wilderness.
Gas masks with extra canisters (1 per adult with 1 extra canister apiece) ($170)
Child gas mask ($200)
Hooded infant seat
Smoke hood (Essex Plus 10, used on Air Force One, is the best; $195)
D-class Tyvek hazmat coverall ($9–$12), plus gloves and duct tape (to seal gaps)
Potassium iodate or iodide pills
Military atropine auto-injector or tablets (for nerve-gas exposure) ($300)
Police radio scanner
Basic first-aid kit
2 water filters (Katadyn is best; $200 each)
Toiletries
Insect repellent (DEET)
2 lighters – one flint, one gas – plus windproof, waterproof matches
2 flashlights, with extra bulbs and batteries (optional: battery-free NightStar flashlight from Applied Innovative Technologies; $75)
2 emergency candles
550-lb.-test nylon cord
Extra cotton underwear
Two knives (folder and fixed blade)
Powdered drink mix, tea, coffee, Gookinaid ERG (electrolyte replacement with glucose)
Pedialyte for children
Dehydrated trail food
Multivitamins
Tent
Radio (hand-crank or solar)
Stainless-steel mess kit
Cooking utensils
Portable stove
Rain ponchos
Cat litter (for disposing of human waste)
3 pairs wick-dry socks
2 pairs Sorbothane shock insoles, 2 pairs sealskin socks
2 pairs sturdy shoes
2 BDU pants (black, tiger-striped, camouflage prints)
Important papers and personal photographs
2 Boonie hats
Sunglasses
Work gloves
Tri-fold shovel
Small pry bar
Water containers (canteens, camelback, jugs, etc.)
6 to 10 A.L.I.C.E. (all-purpose lightweight individual carrying equipment) pouches
2 signal mirrors
Water-purification tablets
1 pack fish hooks
5 assorted sinkers
1 spool 30- to 50-lb.-test fishing line
Ziploc bags
2 Tomahawk multi-tools
Magnesium fire starter
2 Mylar blankets
Thermal blanket
Sleeping bags
Goggles
2 inflatable or wooden splints (for fractured limbs)
Charcoal tablets
PLUS:
Survivor N.Y.C.
It used to be paranoia. Now it’s being prepared. Robert Kolker hangs out with urban survivalists who’ve made a science of getting ready for anything the city – or Osama bin Laden – might throw at them.
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