I’m definitely one for being prepared, but I’m not about to break out my old ALICE pack and load it up with every contingency I might need in case of (a) one guy with a gun (b) multiple guys with guns (c) terrorists take over my city (d) a group of ninjas suddenly emerge from the shadows (e) Lex Luthor hijacks a nuclear missile and directs it to a fault line in California. Sidenote: For my entire life I’ve been a huge fan of Superman, going all the way back to when I was 4 years old, but the older I get the more I agree with Lex Luthor’s plan to get rid of California. So my everyday carry (EDC) is therefore a balance of preparedness and comfort.
Comfort, in my opinion has slowly become the most important fact of everyday carry. I’ve seen it a lot – people who are getting into carrying concealed get excited and load up on guns, knives, flashlights, medical, and so on. This is awesome and I’m definitely in the preparedness camp, and as a protector of ourselves and our families we want to be ready and able to defend people and offer help. The problem though is when we have too much of a good idea that slowly becomes simply TOO MUCH TO CARRY. People get loaded up, feel tacticool, and then one day not far off, stop carrying because their EDC has become so uncomfortable.
Here’s a bullet of truth: If your Everyday Carry is uncomfortable – EVENTUALLY YOU WILL STOP CARRYING IT.
My EDC varies depending on a number of things, such as time of the year. I might carry a bigger gun in the winter than the summer because in the winter I have the added benefit of extra layers to help hide any printing that might occur.
Typical Summer carry:
Now, for anyone asking, “Hey Joe, what about medical stuff?” In my car are 2 bags. One bag is my, “I’m coming to get you bag” which has a lot of stuff in it – and is named so that if I need to fix someone up quickly, or someone is lost in the woods I can go both find them, and find our way out. This bag has various medical supplies in it, compass, maps, trail markers, flares, chem lights, ponchos, emergency blankets, waterproof matches, various firestarters, notepad, pen, duct tape, electrical tape, webbing tape, water purification, vodka bottles, paracord, extra knives. In this bag I can treat a gunshot wound, set a broken limb, find someone who’s lost and arrange for rescue if I’m not able to get them out on my own.
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