Can I still think of it as my purse? 
Don’t natural disasters ever happen where you live?
Like what? There hasn’t been a major earthquake in decades, there hasn’t been a tsunami in the Med for centuries, the weather never gets worse than fierce rainstorms, and my city is made out of concrete, so no major fires. The only major risk is Scuds and assorted other projectiles, but if that’s the case, I’ll either be staying indoors or evacuating in an organized manner. We have gas masks, if that helps.
Besides, I have friends and family. There’s nothing I need to take that they can’t provide me with.
Wallet, keys, cell phone, sunglasses and lip gloss. I am obsessed with staying lightweight.
If a disaster happens that affects my fortress-like urban DC apartment, we are all screwed anyway.
I have a go bag (I think the term “bug out bag” is retarded) that has enough stuff that we can stay away from my house for a week without needing anything and probably longer than that if I have a food source. I grab that bag just as automatically as I grab the baby’s diaper bag. It has clothes, toiletries, an extra cell phone, first aid items, some cash, etc. And a gun.
I don’t have it because I’m anticipating a natural disaster or zombies or whatever but because sometimes I pack up the kids to go get milk in town and we wind up in, you know, Utah or whatever on a whim. That gets expensive when you don’t have extra clothes, toothbrushes, etc. already with you.
Sure, but they’re all either of the “gradual enough to actually plan and execute a withdrawal” kind, like a hurricane or drought, or they’re along the lines of “so fast and violent that you’re better staying put than fleeing” like a tornado.
What natural disasters are you worried about where you have less than an hour’s warning, and where it’s safer to flee in that time frame?
Where the F are you people keeping all this crap? I carry a wallet, keys, and phone, and even that stuff feels too bulky sometimes.
I have a plain LL Bean backpack for work that carries my “EDC” items as well as my work heels (I wear walking shoes on the commute until the weather gets cold/snowy, then a sturdy pair of Sorel boots) and any paperwork I might have to carry back and forth, plus my iPad, etc.
Wallet, keys, phone. I can carry a gun if I want but rarely do.
Yes, because of all those videos of survivors who said it was all due to their Glocks and MRE’s that got them through these disasters compared to those stupid people who had buildings collapse on them and/or got swept away by flood waters who cursed the fact that they didn’t have a multi tool to get through things.
Right, did I say that having a go bag or some level of disaster prep is total insurance against anything ever going wrong? Because I’m not sure why I deserved that level of snark. All I meant was that the US has experienced intense disasters that aren’t the end of the world/zombie apocalypse level, and that some level of preparation may prove useful to some people.
Jesus, are you expecting Armageddon?
Let’s see, my purse contains my phone, my keys and my wallet, obviously. Then I have my lipstick and lipgloss, a small make-up mirror, mini-pill container, travel-size hand cream tube, um, gum and/or mints, a comb, an emery board and nail clippers (in case I break a nail). Some pads, a pen, and my winter gloves.
(I need a new purse, this one is getting worn out)
My everyday carry changes depending on the day. For work my bag has the usual vitals (wallet, two sets of keys, glasses) plus my iPad, phone, and earphones. On weekends the purse has just wallet, one set of keys, and phone. There’s lots of other miscellaneous stuff in both bags, of course, but nothing I’ll turn around and go home for if I forget it except the wallet, phone, and keys.
I’m definitely not worried about apocalypses, zombie or otherwise. The catastrophe I’m most likely to encounter would have me stranded away from home, but still in dense civilization. And I wouldn’t carry a weapon because I’m not scared of my neighbors or the vast majority of the people I encounter as I go about my business. I like my rose-colored glasses.
I now feel woefully unprepared. I carry a purse with my wallet, a cell phone, my reading glasses and sun glasses and a small zip bag with lip gloss, lip balm and hand lotion in it. Oh, and I usually have an extra matchbox car for my son, a small toy for my daughter and possibly a snack for each and a pad of paper and a pen.
The only things I feel naked without are my wallet and phone. It never occurred to me to carry a gun, though I do own a small hunting knife (which I never carry). Then again, I’m not a gun or weapon enthusiast - the only reason I have the knife is my high school boyfriend gave it to me as a gift. For those of you who carry a gun, have you ever needed it or used it?
If a building collapsed on you or floodwaters swept you away, how would a Glock help? Shooting God?
Wallet, keys, phone, and a good quality folding pocket knife (currently a Spyderco Caly 3). The knife is a tool, not a weapon.
Holy crap, I don’t think the 1960s Batman Utility Belt had half this stuff. What, no fire extinguisher? No hand grenades?
Personally, wallet and keys. And if I have a cold, tissues. Maybe some coins. Sometimes a cell phone.
FWIW the U.S. government agrees with you on that.
I’m still playing the odds that while those sorts of disasters are only rare, thse occurring without some warning are rarer yet.
The CDC agrees on the threat of zombies too. 
(OK, they’re really using the motif of zombies as a way to show how to prepare for both shelter-in-place and evacuation types of disasters, but hey…)