Every Day Carry

EDC

With your 72 Hour Bag in your car how do you get from work to your car safely in an emergency? The items you carry on your person every day could be of vital importance. I think of my 72 Hour Bag as what I need to survive with a pretty good level of comfort. There's food, water and shelter for three days. They may be tough days, but I've survived on less. Your EDC is what you need to get you to that 72 Hour Bag. In a worst case scenario your EDC should be able to sustain you for that journey home if your 72 Hour Bag were inaccessible (say in a collapsed parking structure). The journey home with just your EDC may be tougher, but it should none the less provide all the same survival tools, just not at the level of comfort your 72 Hour Bag would provide.


In my backpack I carry to set every day I have an EDC pouch I carry with me every where I go. I found this condor pouch and love it. It holds a good amount of gear and fits nicely in my leg pocket.  The inside has a couple of great dividers and zips completely open making it easy to pack and access gear.

The Condor Tactical Gear Pocket, is available at LA Police Gear for $10.99. It's on closeout so act quickly. In this pouch I keep a ton of gear and the pouch fits neatly in the leg pocket of my cargo pants. I have in this pouch the following: pen, 9volt light & battery with electrical tape wrapped around it, celox, wire saw, cotton balls soaked in vasoline, strike any where matches, Leather Man Squirt P4, super glue, band aids, button compass, rescue whistle, unlubricated condom, tampon, steri strips, 4-0 & 2-0 nylon non absorbable sutures, back up meds. 

You may be wondering about the tampon and the condom, all I can tell you is there are many uses for each other than their immediate given roles. I will do a post on each and their benefits later. 

In addition to this pouch I carry many things on my person on a daily basis. I have attached to my key chain a Light My Fire Scout Swedish Firesteel. It's set up so the key chain comes apart and the striker and steel can be used easily. I have black electrical tape wrapped around the striker because there's a sharp edge on one side and I'm always using E Tape to fix things. I also have it set up so when I have to leave my car with a valet or give the keys to someone at crew parking I always have the steel. Using my knife or a piece of metal to create a spark on the steel is much more possible than the later.

A tool I carry every day every where is a folding knife. There are several I rotate depending on where and what we are filming or if I'm going out to dinner. I will post about the types of knives and what I recommend later but for now any edged folding knife is better in your pocket than none. Remember a dull knife is far more dangerous than a sharp one, so please do your self a favor and maintain this tool in your pocket. Quite literally your life could depend on it.

Quick Note:

I call my knife a tool and not a weapon because it is that... A tool. Do not confuse yourself and think you're going to be some Kung Fu Master and take a bad guy down with the knife you carry in your pocket.
Chances are one of two things will happen:
One, the bad guy will take it out of your hands and stab you with it or
Two: even if you "win" a knife fight that usually means you'll bleed out after your opponent does.
It's not a pleasant thought going into an altercation thinking that a 'win' is dying last. When I was training, the more I learned about knives and knife defense I would always say the first stab wound you should receive when someone pulls a knife on you is in your ass because you were running away. If you have any questions feel free to contact me, but I can not stress enough that even if you are trained, knives are far deadlier than guns, just YouTube any video on what happens to cops when they're confronted with a bad guy with a knife. It never ends well.

I also carry a shemaugh in my EDC bag. I have several and stow them away where I can easily grab them. There are so many uses for these that it justifies a post on this specific topic at a later date. They are the cousin of a bandana but are at least twice as large as a bandana so they can be used as an additional layer like a shawl or around your head and neck like a baclava or like how the Operator is using it below. Early mornings when you're standing on set and the wind is blowing as the sun is coming up this really comes in handy to keep you warm.

Something we all carry to set each day is an additional layer, I've found the Patagonia Nano Puff to work really well. Not only is it a very warm layer it will stuff inside it's own pocket into a neat little square and then can be used as a pillow. I take on my backpacking trips for this reason. There are two versions, the nano puff, and the down sweater. I have both and I think they are equally as warm. I use the synthetic nano puff at work because even if it gets wet I don't have to worry, it'll still keep me warm.  Below you can see an approximate size compared to a pair of gloves when its packed inside its own pocket.

Because I am a HAM radio operator I carry in my bag my Kenwood TH-F6 handheld tri band 5 watt radio. I have it set up to use on set hand held or plug into my car with a very good antenna which extends its range. I am a member of the PAPA system of repeaters which covers from Tijuana to Santa Barbara and Los Angeles to Arizona. It's a great way to stay on top of things if communications are down.

Flashlight: In addition to the 9 volt LED flashlight I carry in my Condor pouch I make sure I carry a brighter flashlight. I have chosen the Surefire E2D LED Defender. I love this flashlight because it has two settings for brightness and uses CR123 Lithium batteries which last a very long time both in operation and in terms of shelf life. This flashlight is only about 4-5" inches long ans is MUCH brighter than any other flashlight 2-3 times it's size at 200 lumens. I keep it handy so when I'm going back to my car in a dark crew parking area I pull it out and can light an incredible distance.

You'll have to evaluate what items are necessary for you to carry on a daily basis. Your EDC is not your 72 Hour Bag, you're not going to want to hump that back and forth to set every day from your car at crew parking so your EDC should only contain the things you need to get you to your 72 Hour Bag. In the worst case scenario it should be able to sustain you at a base level and still get you home.