Whether you you know it or not you have EDC items on your persons every time you leave your house. This is especially true if you live in the western world. EDC stands for Every Day Carry, and is comprised of things that you carry with you daily. Three common EDC items would probably be your keys (house keys, car keys, work keys, etc…), your wallet, and your phone. You’re probably wondering, if you looked at the image preceding this post… where’s this crazy guy going with this? That (the photo of the knives and such), my friends, was just to draw you in. In reality I think you just need 3 essential items. Items you can and should carry with you everyday, items that could easily fit in a pocket or purse. Without further ado here they are:
The Three Essential EDC Items
A Knife
From the dawn of time, humans have carried a knife as their primary tool of choice. With changing social norms wielding a crocodile dundee bowie knives aren’t really acceptable. What I mean by a knife is a simple pocket knife – Think a simple folder or a Swiss Army Knife, that’s easy to carry and doesn’t seem threatening when you whip it out to cut open a box. The last thing you want is to draw attention to yourself and have someone yell “Look at that lunatic and his knife!”. I could write a book about how useful knives are – practical uses – from opening boxes, blister packs, loose threads from clothing, to survival uses – building shelters, starting fires, cutting restraints, cutting your seat belt off after an accident, etc… You should never leave home without some sort of cutting tool. You never know it might save your life one day!
A Light
Again I’m not talking about a 50,000 lumen, I have to compensate for my feelings, spotlight. I carry around a mini mag-light and it’s saved my skin a bunch of times. Having a light is just plain practical. (Notice a theme here?). You can use a light to find stuff under your desk at work, light the way to your door after a late night, and get you to your car in a dark parking lot among other things. Let me give you a practical “personal” example how a flashlight saved my butt. Well let’s just say the power went out one day at the office and I had to go to the bathroom, numero dos, if you will. Well the bathrooms in the office were windowless (as I think most bathrooms are) and it was pitch dark. If I didn’t have that flashlight… let’s just say without that flashlight things might have gone terribly messy…
Some Cash
The saying Cash is King is no joke. You ever had the situation where your card all of a sudden declines while you’re at a restaurant or store, and you know that you know that you know that there’s money in the bank, and come to find out your bank decided to shut down your card without telling you because of suspicious activity? Yeah that happened to me once, but luckily I had cash on hand to cover the bill. This happened to me while I was on vacation in Hawaii of all places. Super embarrassing as I was there visiting relatives and they were with me. I recommend carrying anywhere between $20 to $200 in cash any given time, depending on your circumstance. If you’re going on a trip I recommend carrying more, rather than less. The paranoid prepper in me says if the taco salad hits the fan and credit card machines / ATMs are down, you’re going to need something to buy the last case of water at wal-mart with. Another practical example – carrying cash can also save you money. I once had to get my car towed to a shop and the tow guy said if you have cash you can pay me $60, but if you have card the shop owner is going to take on a 15% fee. Well, I didn’t have cash on hand and had to end up paying more. Needless to say that hurt.
Runners ups!
Pen and Paper
Having a pen and paper on hand is just plain useful. Suddenly the muse strikes and you have an idea for a blog, you can quickly jot it down. Your phone dies and you need to write down some important information, that pen and paper will be mighty handy.
A Lighter
Lighting a fire in a desperate situation – let’s say if you get lost in the woods – is probably one of the most comforting things to have. It will not only keep you warm, but is also a proven morale booster. A lighter to quickly start a fire isn’t a bad option to have.
A Watch
A watch is just plain convenient. It sits on your wrists and isn’t easily lost (unless of course you decide to take it off and set it down). There are so many “Smart” watch options as well to keep you connected. I prefer digital watches, but analog ones are great too. Smart Watches don’t yet have the prolonged battery life that I’d prefer. Keeping time to set rendezvous and synchronize maneuvers is highly practical.
Super Bonus Round
The 5 C’s of Survivability
The 5 whats of what?! The 5 Cs of Survivabilty, which I believe was first coined by survival expert Dave Canturbery, include 5 items that are essential for survival. I’m not going into full detail, but will give you an overview There’s also an extension of the 5 Cs called the 10 Cs… but I’ll let you research that if your interested. Anyways the five Cs include having a Cutting tool, Container, Combustion device, Cover, and Cordage. Obviously the ideal cutting tool would be a knife, but there are other options for differing environments. In a more tropical environment you may need a machete, in a more arctic biome, you may need an Axe. A Container would comprise of a metal container (to boil water in) – a metal canteen would be an example. A recommended combustion device would be something like a ferro rod or lighter. Cover would primarily include some sort of tarp or shelter and cordage would be rope, or the all coveted 550 para-cord or tarred bank line. These 5 items combined should allow you to survive out in the wilderness for a significant amount of time, until you find yourself outside of trouble or rescued.
Well that’s all for today folks. Let me know if you agree, disagree, or are indifferent!
Thanks All!
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