Advice please :)

[scoobie]

Field dressing
Surgical gloves
FFP3 masks
Torch
Smoke hood
Rigger gloves
Underground map
Sat-nav or GPS
Hand wipes
Tissues in packet
Note paper and pens/pencils

I'll have a think

Packets of raisins/peanuts (unless allergic)
Cereal bars
Mars bar
Spare socks
10 high output white glow sticks

That's more along the lines of what I was thinking, thanks Gnole!

Thanks for the other suggestions too everyone

[itsybitsy]

Glad to hear things are looking up Scoob, hope you get a firm offer of employment soon.

[Carrot Cruncher]

I would look at a worst case scenario and then decide I how much I am prepared to carry. Nothing worse than being 50 miles from your preps and only having a biro in your pocket, but in the same context you dont want to be carrying an 80L rucksack to work full of all the bits you might possibly need.

Worst case (imo) could be all hell breaks lose while you are in london and you have to make it back 50 miles to home on foot (which would probably take 3 days at least)

Walking shoes/boots
Maps of city / tube / route home & Compass
Water Bottle and Puritabs
Small FAK with any prescription meds included
Dust mask
Torch / light sticks
Wet weather gear (paka mac type things)
Fire Lighting bits and pieces
Some snack bars

I am sure there are lots of other bits depending on your particular situation. You could keep a more substantial kit in a locker at work to give you a bit more insurance if anything happens while you are there. Might also be worth wearing the walking shoes / boots on the train and leaving your work shoes at work (if you know what i mean )

[southernPrepper]

1 x bottle of water.
1 x small LED torch.
1 x small pocket knife.

That's it. You're just commuting to work not crossing the Amazon.

Am I not? Thank goodness you cleared that up for me, I was confused for a while there.

I'm not carrying a pocket knife into London, no matter how small and 'legal' it is.

What about a pocket A-Z, snacks, small FAK, alternative walking shoes? None of that important, no?

LOL. Glad to have helped

Okay, maybe add a pocket A-Z if you don't know the bits of London that you are travelling through but beyond that what exactly are you preparing for? The complete shut down of the transport system combined with every shop, pub & cafe, B&B and restaurant in London closing?

I'd concentrate on learning secondary routes home rather than carrying field dressings but then it's not me doing it and YMMV.

[scoobie]

Put it this way, if the public transport system is shut down for whatever reason (other than a few flakes of snow ) I'd rather be getting out of London as quickly as possible rather than hanging around, or trying to find a B&B etc. You have seen what the general public do in the event of an emergency, right? I don't want to be anywhere near the mouthbreathers thanks all the same!

[itsybitsy]

1 x bottle of water.
1 x small LED torch.
1 x small pocket knife.

That's it. You're just commuting to work not crossing the Amazon.

Am I not? Thank goodness you cleared that up for me, I was confused for a while there.

I'm not carrying a pocket knife into London, no matter how small and 'legal' it is.

What about a pocket A-Z, snacks, small FAK, alternative walking shoes? None of that important, no?

Okay, maybe add a pocket A-Z if you don't know the bits of London that you are travelling through but beyond that what exactly are you preparing for? The complete shut down of the transport system combined with every shop, pub & cafe, B&B and restaurant in London closing?

Well I guess the answer is that you don't know what you may be prepping for. But surely the whole ethos behind prepping is 'better to be safe than sorry'...so it's up to each of us to carry what we feel is appropriate for our individual circumstances.

SP - do you carry an EDC? If so, what does it contain?

[diamond lil]

Good warm comfy clothes
hidden money
good knowledge of ways out (in your head better than faffing about with a map in the rain/in the dark/and in a crisis!)
torch
hankie
glucose tabs

[Attack Warning Red]

Scoobie - I commute into Scumdon every bloody day. Welcome to the club...

Here's a copy/paste of my current EDC:

Torch (LED lenser - bright) + spare batteries.
Mini Maglight (attached to keys)
Red Bull Shot - BB: 9/9/11
Nature Valley bar - BB: 5/11/11
Sports bar - BB: 27/6/11
Energy bar - BBE: 6/11
A-Z of London
Map of UK roads
Hand sanitizer gel
Hand warmers x 2
Lighter + matches
Compass/thermometer
P-38 can opener
Spork
Tablets + plasters
Paracord
Emergency mylar blankets x 2
Keffiyeh

It all fits neatly in the bottom of my rucksack, and surprisingly doesn't weigh that much at all. The food/drink items and the firelighting/cutlery items are wrapped in separate carrier bags using rubber bands, keeping them in small tight packages.. The flat things (maps, blankets etc.) go flat in the magazine section along my back. I don't notice them at all.

I carry torches as twice I've had to walk through underground tunnels due to break downs. But I'm happy to say that since November I've cycled through London and not had to use the tube at all. Having my bike also means that I can technically get home if all public transport goes up the swanny. The downside of course is if I get a flat tyre - then the bike is just a dead weight.

I don't carry any kind of knife. I've been stopped and searched before at random at an underground station a few years ago, and even a legal one I would be worried about TBH.

I was in London on the day of the London bombings in 2005, which showed me how unprepared I was. I had to borrow an A-Z map from someone at work to walk to my girlfriend's place of work, and then to get across London. No compass, no food, no EDC, nothing. It was an experience that taught me well. The mobile networks were down - so my advice is carry a PAPER map. Your iPhone/Googlemaps isn't going to work on a day like that. Whether they were overloaded or whether it was 'MI5' shutting it down - don't rely on the mobile network. Carry coins for payphones. Have your important phone numbers on a bit of PAPER in your wallet. Most shops and cafes closed on that day, as staff made thier way home. Carry a small food/drink supply to keep you going.

Generally, I think the biggest problem you're likely to face in London is having to get home when public transport has shut down due to terrorism/weather/strikes, so prepare for a long journey. Or get a folding bike...

[itsybitsy]

Why don't you add a puncture kit to you EDC? Mind you - how would you manage to locate the puncture to fix it?

[scoobie]

Thanks for that AWR...I was hoping you'd post on this thread as I knew you also did the daily commute