Everyday carry and why it’s important!

Everyday carry and why it’s important is something we all need to know. Once was a time when all you needed was your wallet and you keys, but those days are gone as we face a new and increasingly more dangerous world.  In today’s post, we are going to discuss the items that I think you should carry with you each day and why these are so important.  Grab a drink, sit back and let’s have a talk.

You know that when I was in the military and in the Sheriff’s dept., we had certain things that we had to have with us when we went to work every day. What you might call “everyday carry” items.  Things like a small flash light, a knife, and an ink pen just to name a couple of items.  These we carried while on duty and off, because they were very useful items and you never knew when you might need them. There were other things that I carried as a Deputy Sheriff that I still carry to this day, like a concealed weapon, an extra clip for it and a multi tool.  Why you may ask?  Because the world I knew as a young boy growing up in Southeast Texas is not the world we live in today. Back then the thought of needing to carry a concealed weapon seemed crazy, but not so much these days.  As I grew older and worked in fields where I needed to carry a weapon, I began to realize that there is a very wicked world out there field with millions of evil people who simply do not think as you and I do.  They spend every waking hour looking for ways to take advantage of others in any way they can.  They have no fear of the law or those that enforce it.  They prey on the unsuspecting and the weak believing that they are somehow entitled to the things they take…. including innocent lives.  Don’t let yourself believe for one minute that they are not or that you are somehow immune to their ways.  Every day people die because they refuse to see the evil that is in the world around them.  I’m not saying that everyone is evil, but there are a lot more of them out there than you think.  Your only hope is to be prepared when they come.

OK, enough of the dark truth about the world around us. I think you get the point and that is why it is important to carry things with you that can save your life at all times.  These are commonly known as your EDC (Every Day Carry) and it’s important to think about what you have and what you need.  I recently ran across a website dedicated to just this.  The site is called “Everyday Carry” (www.everydaycarry.com)  and it’s a pretty cool website that draws attention to this very subject and what others are choosing to carry with them on a daily basis. Just in case you are wondering, no, I am not affiliated with them in any way, nor can I recommend any of the products they offer.  They may be good items, but I just don’t know, so that’s between you and them.  This is a good place to get some good ideas on what you should be carrying with you and this is why I mentioned it. I found some great ideas there for things that I will be adding to my EDC items.  If you get the chance, you might want to check them out and see what they are doing.

If you haven’t already sat down and made a list of EDC items that you use, then maybe you should and see what you may want to add to them. I know that my wife carries a knife around her neck that comes on a thin cord, so that it’s concealed, which also has a whistle built into the sheath and yet is always handy if she needs it.  I guess that the point of today’s post is to try to impress on you that you need to be carrying more than just your wallet and your keys when you go out.  You don’t need much, just a few well thought out items that can be used to get you out of a bad situation when it happens.  Try to find items with multiple uses like multi-tools and tactical flashlights that have points around the front for self-defense.  Some even have built in Tasers that could be used to stun an attacker if you are attacked.  These items should all be kept in a place where you can easily get to them if needed and not just thrown haphazardly into the bottom of a bag or purse.  I know anytime my wife goes into her purse to find something other than her regular EDC items, it usually takes a half hour of searching to find it. Her EDC items are all in one section of her purse.  EDC items are important and need to be kept in the same spot, every day, so you can find them the instant you need them.  This does not come natural to many people and needs to become a practiced skill.  Statistics show that most of us will face a life or death confrontation at least once in our lives and whether or not you survive it may just depend on what you have in your EDC at the time.

Here is a list of what I carry in my EDC: My wallet with a credit card size escape kit and lock pick kit in it, my keys with a pill holder filled with dryer lint for starting a fire, a small cigarette lighter, a flint rod, a small tactical flashlight, a 4 inch folding knife, a multi-tool,  My phone with multiple survival apps on it, and a USB Flash drive around my neck that is loaded with survival books, in PDF format.

While I do not always have my backpack with me, I think it is important to keep a few more safety items in it as well. In my backpack, I carry: 3 bottles of water, a 6 inch fixed blade knife, another cigarette lighter and flint rod, a larger tactical flashlight, dried fruit, Cotton balls covered in Vaseline for starting a quick fire, A small first aid kit, and a paper tablet with pencil, a 8 watt hand-held ham radio and last of all is a rechargeable battery for charging my phone if it goes dead.  I have other items such as 2 clips for my concealed weapon and a chemical light stick, a rain poncho, and dry socks just in case.  Let me say that I am in the process of rethinking these items and hopefully fine tuning it to be more useful when needed. I suggest that you do the same and be ready when the time comes so that you are not just another victim, but rather a survivor!  That is it for today and I hope you like this post and maybe even learned a thing or two.  Until next time my friend, keep on prepping!

-The Sargent-