Every Day Carry (EDC)

[Freecare Spiritwise]

Wasn't a boy scout but should've been. Never leave home without this stuff in my pocket: Aluminum wallet, Gerber multi-tool, Cutco pocket knife, iTP 250 lumen infinite-variable-brightness tactical EDC light, Oakley gas cans. The light has a 250 lumen strobe that's probably a better self defense tool than pepper spray. The first thing most people do when I hand it to them is point it at their eyeballs and turn it on. Even without the strobe you still can't see right for an hour. Natural selection I guess...

edc_normal_s.jpg

There's bears on my dad's ranch! A bear or pretty much anything alive will stop dead in its tracks for about 3-5 seconds if you hit it with a 1,000 lumen strobe from the aerospace-grade Sunwayman light below. Even the backup AAA Olight keychain light has advanced optics and will go 30 hours in low mode with a store bought alkaline. I have a couple lights (yes, I'm a "flashaholic") that are bright enough that you'd think you were part of a UFO encounter or something. The "flick-knife" has safety features such as a seat belt cutter and glass breaker for auto emergencies.

I've asked Santa for a real leatherman to replace the Jeep multi-tool. Those Oakleys are a little heavy so I've asked Santa for Ray Ban Original Wayfarers, which will also make me look a little more my age too lol.

edc_woods2_s.jpg

I don't EDC (or even own) a handgun but I know lots of folks who do. I did for a few years but it never really made me feel safer and I spent half the time worried that the kids would somehow get to it. So I got rid of them (the guns, that is). Besides, a handgun will generally just make a bear angry. The single best self defense tool is the human mind.

Anyone else here have an interest in EDC?

[Ddrak]

Why the wallet?

Dd

[Freecare Spiritwise]

I believe it's waterproof, and someone told me you can't RFID hack a credit card inside a metal wallet. But honestly I just like it. Shiny, and it's less weight to carry than my last typical leather wallet that most guys carry.

[Alluveal]

I know who I want on my Zombie apocalypse team....

[Freecare Spiritwise]

I'm giving a bunch of these away for XMAS for everyone's keychains. Cheap ($12), rugged and reliable. In an emergency, twist the bezel and it will give you light.

http://www.batteryjunction.com/nitecore-t0-purple.html




I feel much better that my mom/sister/aunts/etc. will all have these on their keychains.

[Xican]

My girlfriend is a pro-rated marksman. I just bring her with me for protection.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

For me it's more about just being prepared for anything that comes along. Years ago I spent a short time as a mechanic. I got used to having a little flashlight and pocket knife with me at all times. So yeah, while I like having "multi-taskers" in my pocket, it's more for general preparedness than self defense. If I'm having to defend myself then it's pretty much a failure for dealing with a situation.

I read somewhere that your odds of surviving the world trade center mostly depended on having a small light. And no car is totally reliable. Murphy's law says that when your brand new Honda breaks down, it'll be late at night in a remote location. And I've never been a first responder but I have helped out in emergencies.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

My sister makes all types of survival/emergency/first aid kits. She's something of an expert with all the time she spent in the peace corps. I'm giving some of these smaller ones away as gifts too this year:

edc_car.jpg

She sells all her kits as fast as she can make them.

[Taxious]

Hmm I'm about the opposite of you Free with this stuff. I have been thinking about getting a knife lately for self defense reason, but I've always heard you have better chances of surviving a fight if you don't carry a weapon. "I only got a concussion from being punched multiple times instead of internal bleeding from being stabbled multiple times!"

My phone has an app that uses the camera's flash as a flashlight - definitely does the trick when I need light and I don't have to carry another thing in my pocket.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

That's why I don't consider the pocket knife a weapon. The flashlight makes a good, legal kubaton though. I'd be more likely to use that for self defense (or the strobe!). A chunk of metal in the shape of a flashlight is illegal, but as soon as it's a flashlight then it stops being a kubaton and you won't get hassled for it.

But the whole purpose of self defense isn't necessarily to hurt your attacker. It's to keep yourself safe. I'm not against harming another human being to keep my family safe. But 99.999% of the time turning the other cheek and walking away is going to give you your best odds of being safe. I agree with you that the best defense is pacifism. And for the other small fraction of the time you still have lots of other options before it comes to violence. Like I said, coming to blows (or worse) is usually a self defense failure.

And yeah, as far as knives go I think time spent learning how to take one away from somebody is far better than learning or contemplating hurting someone with one. Fuck that macho bullshit. I don't want to hurt anyone or be hurt. We really are all brothers.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

Here's something good for self-defense. A 100 decibel titanium whistle! Doubles as a legal kubaton too



http://goinggear.com/survival/whistles/ ... 00-db.html

[Embar Angylwrath]

For me it's more about just being prepared for anything that comes along. Years ago I spent a short time as a mechanic. I got used to having a little flashlight and pocket knife with me at all times. So yeah, while I like having "multi-taskers" in my pocket, it's more for general preparedness than self defense. If I'm having to defend myself then it's pretty much a failure for dealing with a situation.

I read somewhere that your odds of surviving the world trade center mostly depended on having a small light. And no car is totally reliable. Murphy's law says that when your brand new Honda breaks down, it'll be late at night in a remote location. And I've never been a first responder but I have helped out in emergencies.

I thought surviving the WTC was a matter of being below a certain floor.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

I almost forgot my dad's words on the subject:

"The bear doesn't know you're a pacifist as it's eating you."

[Freecare Spiritwise]

I thought surviving the WTC was a matter of being below a certain floor.

I forgot where I read the article from so I don't have the linkage. I probably didn't paraphrase it very well either. But certainly, having a small flashlight and pocket knife could be very handy in an emergency, eh? That I can say from direct personal experience. The last one I had is when I trusted the 16 year old to put the all-season wheels (I keep separate winter and summer sets) on my truck and he forgot to tighten one of the wheels. So of course we're on a dark country road at night in BFE with a full load of passengers and the whole truck starts shaking. We had to pull over and jack the truck up right there and then. I held the flashlight while he did the work lol.

The wife even said something snarky like "I wish one of us always carried a flashlight ... oh, wait."

[Freecare Spiritwise]

Some of the lights have what is called a "strike bezel" or "attack crown" for self defense.

strike_bezel.jpg

...just remember that how you carry and use something like this pretty much determines its legality. I've already talked with a couple cops about it...


cop: I'm not sure this light is legal, Mark.
me: Oh, the little teeth? If anyone asks, they are to protect the glass lens.
me: You wouldn't want the glass breaking and injuring anyone, right?
cop: Ok, I like that ... because I was going to give one to the wife.