Firearms as a tool are one of those items that the VAST number of us will NEVER have to use as intended. I pray to God that is how it shall ever be. They are a tool for a statistically low probability yet high impact event. I prefer them to be hobby. I am not here to talk about firearms, however. I just wanted to talk about what I think the basics of EDC should be.

For myself, personally, I have always carried what one could call EDC gear since I was about 7 or 8 years old. Over that time I have come to live by the following rules of carry for myself and have found them useful so many times. My personal rule of EDC is follows.

"One should have on their person or within their reach at all times a decent blade, basic tools, a way to make light and a way to make fire. With these tools and a little imagination you can accomplish damn near anything."

What I mean by that is with a few simple items combined with what we all have with us everyday no matter what (clothing, shoes, laces, wallets, cellphones, keys etc.) you should be able to tackle most any task from first aid to cooking to repair to egress through drywall if need be.

So in my case my normal EDC no matter where I am is as follows.

A DECENT BLADE - I have many to choose from but I find for me a blade around 3 inches that is easy to use one handed is my sweet spot. My most often carried knife is a Spyderco PM3. Good slicer, thick enough to not be fragile, easy one hand use.

BASIC TOOLS - I have wavered back and forth between a small Leatherman/multitool and a Swiss Army Knife basically since I was like 10 years old, but when it comes right down to it I have settled on the good old SAK. In my case a Champ or Cybertool. It has all the tools I could ever need in the most space efficient package. You can do a TON with an average SAK.

A WAY TO MAKE LIGHT - I know it is 2020 and everybody "has a flashlight on their cell phone". That's great........until you have an emergency and need both light and communication and don't want to kill your cell phone. For this reason I think having a decent flashlight on you is a must. These days you can toss a AAA sized light into your pocket without noticing it and you will have at least 100 lumens of light at your fingertips. For me, I have generally always carried a Surefire single cell light. Currently I like the EDCL-1T. The beam is a nice mix of throw and spot, will still cut through photonic barriers and has blinding 500 lumens on high and an extremely useful 5 lumen low. I personally think low light is more important then high and in many cases more useful. The beam pattern of the EDCL-1T makes good use of its low. Combine all of that with a dead simple UI and I love this thing.

A WAY TO MAKE FIRE - There are times you want to light a candle, there are times you need a fire to keep warm, heck you might want to light a lady's cigarette should you find yourself in 1952. The point is being able to easily make fire can come in mighty useful. Are their ways to make fire from the environment.....absolutely. Are they generally easy.....notsomuch. So for me I keep it simple stupid and keep a pack or two of matches in my wallet. flat, light, easy.

So there you have it. My personal EDC philosophy. I am not saying I am right. I am not saying there are not other items one could carry. I am just sharing what as worked for me day in and day out for the better part of 35 years and as I said with a little knowledge and lot of imagination there is very little you cannot accomplish with a few simple easy to carry tools and the clothes on your back.

So what are your must haves or tips?

As always, take care and shoot safe.....and "be prepared, cuz ole'e Satan Clause, he's out there and he's just getting stronger." :P
Chris

Pen and paper

When SHTF you will be amazed at how haywire your brain goes and writing stuff down is very helpful.

Pen is in the SAK. Paper in wallet.

Funny, I did that in the military.

Rotate the matches out of your wallet on a fixed basis, if you are determined to carry them. Used to do that when I replaced my current Leave and Earnings Statement.

I found the matches would absorb moisture and become useless, so once a month was easy.

(better yet, get a key-chain/fob fire starter)

Picked up a "forever match" at a flea market in Germany back in 1981, and have several of them now, in the glove box of my cars, truck, range bags, and keyrings.

I also have picked up some magnesium rod types with flint and a small piece of hack saw blade at gun shows and keep them in backpack/go bags as well, since they are better able to start a fire than the "match".

I backed this item and have them screwed into my SAKs.

https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...r-swiss-army-knife#/

I have been "edc"ing long before "edc" was a thing.

My edc has evolved. I have never so urgently needed fire that I thought to myself that I was really glad to have a lighter on my person. So, no more fire starting on my person after years of carrying lighters, matches, ferro rods, etc.

The flashlight is now on the edc fence. Sometimes I'll put a flashlight in my pocket, sometimes not. The cell phone flashlight has filled in for the occasional flashlight use, and so I don't feel as naked as I used to without a flashlight.

I have a Leatherman multitool that I rotate in if I am going about my day with the anticipation of having to use it. Much like I will put on sturdy pants and boots if the day calls for it. Otherwise, I so rarely need the tools that the multitool doesn't make it into my edc.

So, basically, I'm back to edc-ing a knife, which is how my edc started so many years ago. Sometimes it's a big knife, other times it's a small knife, but always a knife.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I have never so urgently needed fire that I thought to myself that I was really glad to have a lighter on my person.

Agreed. This is a common aspect of "EDC Culture", with folks eagerly showing off all their nifty firestarting gadgets that they carry with them at all times, but I don't get it...

Sure, it makes sense to have it on you if you're hiking in a remote area (in which case you'd be stupid not to have a source of fire). And you should definitely have a means of making fire available in general, in your supply bag in your car in case of breakdown in a remote area, in your home for lighting candles and grills, etc.

But what kind of everyday potential situations do you envision where you'd need to make fire right now and therefore must always carry that means on you because you won't have time to go to your car/drawer/etc. to get a lighter or other firestarter?

I've needed a knife right away. I've needed a flashlight right away. I've needed a gun right away.

I've never needed to light a fire right away. (Especially lighting a fire by means of making sparks with something like a ferro rod, which are all the rage, but can't even be readily used for the abovementioned tasks like lighting a candle or a lady's cigarette.)

quote:

I backed this item and have them screwed into my SAKs.

https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...r-swiss-army-knife#/

Cool. I use that spot for a eyeglass screwdriver but that is cool.

I keep fire starters stashed around. The matches are just the always on my person use. Also the lions share of needs have nothing to do with some emergency. Most often it’s light a candle for ambiance, use the corkscrew for a wine bottle, use the screw driver to tighten x, y, or z. EDC for me isn’t about the emergency uses as much as it is the daily uses.

One thing I above heard all my life is “why do you carry a flashlight?” Or “why do you carry a knife?” I’ve gotten to where my answer is I will give you a few days to think about it......a few days later almost subconsciously they will say....

“Can I borrow your light or can I borrow your knife. Or crap does anybody have any matches for the birthday cake?” I will just chuckle.

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:
Or crap does anybody have any matches for the birthday cake?”

[EDC Guy]
Sure! Luckily, I just happen to have my Swiss Army Knife with Fireant in my pocket. It's my EDC, y'know... Gimme 5-10 minutes to go into the backyard, gather some twigs and leaves, pile them up into a mini campfire, dig the ferro rod out of my Swiss Army Knife, unpack my tiny kindling, strike the ferro rod a few times, blow on the kindling until it catches, introduce it to the leaves, hold a twig in the resulting fire until it lights, stomp out the campfire, and then bring the burning twig inside, and we can then get those candles lit in a jiffy!

Wait, you mean John just took 30 seconds to walk out to his car and get the lighter he has stashed there? It's not even part of his EDC? Amateur.
[/EDC Guy]

Hence i carry a simple pack of matches.

Although I kinda want to do the above just once now.

I used to keep lighters in cars etc. but I don’t smoke so they don’t get used a bunch and the fluid evaporates. I have found the simple match book to be the most useful for me. Again not planning on going down in the Pacific and making friends with a volley ball just like having the ability to light candles or a pilot light etc. handy.

I don't even EDC a spare mag anymore.

The odds of an encounter extending into a reload is diminishingly small, on top of the diminishingly small odds of getting into an encounter to begin with, *particularly* since I have my awareness set to "avoidance" rather than "hero-guy" whenever I am conscious about it.

Spare mag is for special occasions.

quote:

Snip..., *particularly* since I have my awareness set to "avoidance" rather than "hero-guy" whenever I am conscious about it.

This. I do have reloads in a shoulder bag, but I don't carry a full duty loadout on my fat-guy citizen belt under my fishing shirt. I have a knife in the bag, and a knife in the truck. I have a magnesium firestarter in the bag, but that is more for emergency failure hunting or fishing in the wilderness than it is for birthday cakes. I keep a multi-tool in the truck console.

Usually, I'm either at home where I am well equipped, or not too far from my vehicle, which I let do the carrying of stuff, rather than my pockets.

Been carrying a Zippo daily since 1986. Quit smoking cigs 20+ years ago, but still carry a Zippo, now with a butane insert. Spare mag, knife and flashlight are also on me at all times.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:

quote:

Snip..., *particularly* since I have my awareness set to "avoidance" rather than "hero-guy" whenever I am conscious about it.

This. I do have reloads in a shoulder bag, but I don't carry a full duty loadout on my fat-guy citizen belt under my fishing shirt. I have a knife in the bag, and a knife in the truck. I have a magnesium firestarter in the bag, but that is more for emergency failure hunting or fishing in the wilderness than it is for birthday cakes. I keep a multi-tool in the truck console.

Usually, I'm either at home where I am well equipped, or not too far from my vehicle, which I let do the carrying of stuff, rather than my pockets.

Yup, my "apocalypse" bag in my car has everything I need for, well, the apocalypse.

My briefcase/day bag has a CPR mask, TQ, and hemostatic gauze--because a medical emergency while at the office isn't unheard of...

But I just don't see the need to carry full "battle rattle" into the grocery store or movie theater, and I'm not carrying a messenger bag like Jack Bauer all day long.

I'm okay with being a half mile walk away from my stuff in case of emergency. It's there. Nobody is rummaging through my dirty Subaru during the first twenty four hours of a crisis.

My EDC is pretty much like what most of you are carrying. But I add a small impact weapon in case hands on is not avoidable and I dont want to shoot.
Boker Koppo stick.
Titanium Kubotan
Impact Kerambit.
The Impact Karambit is my most often carried.

Currently I carry one spare 8rd mag for my Shield giving me a total of 15+1, but if I switch to a higher cap pistol (17+1) due to current events I may skip the (heavier) spare. I may also add a small IFAK with some basic trauma stuff in it, something that'll fit in a coat or cargo pocket.

I always have a folding knife in my pocket, always. Bigger fixed knives (along with fire making stuff and other stuff) I keep in the emergency kits in both of my vehicles.

In the winter I keep a light in my jacket pocket to prevent lazy drivers from running me over walking to and from the bus stop twice a day, but I usually leave that at home when it gets lighter out. Although this winter I'll still be working from home due to the china virus so I won't be doing the bus thing.

I also carry a decent evacuation tool (auto glass breaker, seat belt cutter).

I agree with most of the above.
I do carry a lighter, found butane does not evaporate like a zippo lighter that I carried for years (and refilled every other day).

My Folding knife has a glass breaker on it, no need for another tool on my person. I have a Gerber ink pen that also has a glass breaker on it. And my notepad is waterproof, mostly because I have washed my notes before.

For me, a wallet, phone, & keys are a given.
No matter the day, I would carry those, along with a knife, gun, and a chap stick.

Anything else on top of those would be extra, and depending on situation.

OTF auto knife (Benchmade bought before the they were a chop shop), flashlight (Fenix PD35), Sig P365 with spare 15 round magazine. EVERYDAY!