Thursday, December 22, 2011

EDC and Man Purse

Alright, let me preface this by saying I'm in a Canadian suburb. There's two glaring omissions from my kit- a lighter, and a knife. The lighter is easy in my AO: if I need fire for a reason other than light or making sure some hot girl can have a smoke, what I actually need is a full assault rig and a flak. I'm in the burbs. I travel to more densely urban areas. When I head towards the woods, I bring it, sure. But there's no reason to start fires in an urban area.

The second is a knife. Quite frankly, the Canadian laws regarding carrying a knife are so vaguely, poorly written that it's largely up to the officer who catches you with one as to whether your folding knife is a weapon or a tool. I don't feel comfortable carrying one, and the public reaction is almost the same as brandishing a handgun.

I've broken my EDC down to two levels: All day, every day, and daytrip. And I'm going to skip the picture of my wallet and cell, and just show the interesting stuff:



Sorry for the poor quality, it was taken using my cell. Anyways, that is one nightmarish keychain. It has a pen, a flathead and Phillips screwdriver, bottle opener, the original key fob from a Corvair, and all of my keys. Beside it, there's a stainless steel Embassy Pen. In addition to being an absolutely excellent and elegant writing tool that makes me look more stylish, it definitely has some weight. Getting wonked in the head with it would certainly be unpleasant, and it can be used ot load a punch. In either case, it's a non-obvious self defense tool with other uses, so it rides where my knife used to.

As it stands, when I know I'm going to be out for the day, I'm trying to get back in the habit of bringing the Man Purse. People snicker and laugh periodically, but they stop considering it has all of this in it with room to spare:



So, let's start with tools. It has my multitool, duct tape, paracord, battered notebook, fine point screwdriver, medical shears, two flashlights (the little orange LED fob and the 6P LED), and a sharpie. Everything you need to fix most problems are breakdowns you encounter day to day.

There's the emergency stuff: a set of nitrile gloves, a CPR mask, a SOF-TQ, and an Oales bandage. Basically, everything you need in an OH SHIT scenario to save a life, yours or another's.

There's the boo boo kit: Bandaids, Asprin, Pepto, Reactine, alcohol swabs and a warrior wipe.

Finally, there's my Android tablet. It mostly fits in pant pockets, but sometimes it prints real bad. Anyways, it fits in there like a dream.

Finally, what it needs is a Cliff bar or something, and one of those Gatorade Accel Gels. Something to make your body work. So basically, everything you'd need during an average day. That was the aim here, a really nondescript bag to get you through most inconveniences and some pretty serious situations. Where does it need improvement? I'm not sure. It works pretty well most days, and I have a lot of bases covered from heart attack to serious injury. I mean, in an active shooter scenario, I'll have to make do, but concealed carry is illegal here (functionally, at any rate). Here's what it looks like all packed up:



Anyways, opinions?

Des

2 comments:

  1. add some cash and (for me at least) immodium.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pepto is standing in for immodium. It's more of a broad range thing.

    ReplyDelete