Dear Mr. Rawles,
I was very glad to see J.C.R.’s article on Everyday Carry Items and wholeheartedly agree with him that Everyday Carry (EDC) is of critical importance when preparing for events that happen at speeds that do not allow time to fetch go-bags or other equipment.
While he makes excellent suggestions on items to carry and notes the importance of keeping these items compact and lightweight for ease and consistency of carry, there are some additional notes that I thought your readers may find helpful.
Firstly, rather than limiting the EDC of whistles to women’s handbags, I recommend that everyone keep a whistle with them at all times. This is easily accomplished by purchasing one of those cheap little rescue metal whistles and attaching it to your keys.
Whistles are useful in an emergency to anyone in any location, be it in the city or in a rural area. Whether you are lost in the woods or trapped under debris in a building, you will be well served by keeping a small but loud whistle with you. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, the noise of a whistle will carry a lot further than shouts for help and cut through background noise that would drown out a human voice. Secondly, a whistle will allow you to make loud noise for as long as you can breathe, whereas your voice will soon fail after repeatedly shouting for help. Thirdly, in cases were the air is filled with dust or smoke, using a whistle can help you avoid taking the deep breaths of harmful particles that would occur if you were shouting for help.
Secondly, on the note of the cell phone contacts list, I recommend carrying a hard copy of your contact numbers in your wallet as a backup to the contacts function on your cell phone. The main reason for this is that if your cell phone’s battery runs out or the phone itself is damaged beyond use, then you still have a contacts list that is not dependent on power and is far more resistant to water and crushing if properly produced. Personally, I carry a credit card sized laminated piece of paper with my contacts on one side (with their names shortened to initials to protect their privacy should the card be lost) and two ‘In Case of Emergency’ (ICE) numbers on the other side in case I am incapacitated and my family needs to be contacted.
Thirdly is the subject of flashlights. If it is practical, I recommend carrying something that will take AA or AAA batteries instead of the little coin cell lights. These will give very long running times and are common enough to be scrounged from common electronic items if necessary, such as television remote controls, wireless computer peripherals and other gadgets. Of course, it is preferable to keep a spare battery on your person instead of searching for one in the middle of an emergency, which is why I carry a modified, cut down version of the PowerPax battery holders, usually two chambers cut off the AAA holder or one chamber from a AA holder. The plastic is easily cut with a hacksaw and filed and sanded to a smooth round finish. The battery holders protect the terminals of the batteries well and have good battery retention. In the case of the glow-in-the-dark PowerPax holders, the glow can be of assistance in changing batteries in the dark.
As for the flashlights themselves, I am a big fan of Fenix brand lights, which I have found to be very reliable and hard wearing. The Fenix E01 model in particular is a very affordable AAA light that is extremely robust, waterproof and simple to operate, while producing around 21 hours of 10 lumen light off a single battery, being capable of standing on its tail as an improvised candle type light and being small enough to carry on your keys. For those with a larger budget, the Fenix LD10 is a very capable AA light too, which I highly recommend for its toughness, variety of high and low settings and potential for seventy hours of runtime in it’s lowest 3 lumen mode.
Finally, I am a big believer in keeping a small notepad or at least a scrap of paper and a writing instrument on my person whenever I am out of the house. It gives me a way to record information easily and reliably, which could be of great help in a disaster should I have to note down important information on the radio or that has been given to me by another person. In the most dire of circumstances, it could be used by you or another person to write a goodbye note to your family if you are certain that you or someone you come across will not survive their injuries. Not a pleasant thought but it could bring some measure of comfort to you or another person in your final moments.
I hope that these suggestions will be of use to your readers.
Many thanks for producing such a wonderful blog, it’s a great resource!
Regards, – T.C.
Sir
I’d like to comment on purses for carrying EDC items. Years and years ago I bought a leather backpack. Absolutely the best investment I’ve ever made. It’s been around the world and though a lot with me. I’ll describe it, and try to make the case for carrying something like it rather than a traditional purse.
It has several layers of compartments. On the outside of the main “sack” there are three largish pouches, each with a smaller, flatter sub-pouch. They are all zippered. The front pouch is compartmentalized with space for pens, etc. and is large enough to handle a wallet, checkbook, cell phone, and so on. The side pouches are big enough to handle a gun, hairbrush, Tylenol bottle, etc. These pouches are important because they are convenient places to store every day stuff. If I need my wallet, I can just sling the sack off one shoulder and around without ever having to relinquish possession of the sack. You can say the same thing for a largish shoulder bag, but the even distribution of weight on my back, rather than on just one shoulder makes a big difference.
The smaller sub-pouches are great places to tuck away a folded trash bag, dental floss, a few paper towels, kleenex– things you might not need everyday but that come in handy.
The inside of the sack is huge, and also has one zippered compartment into which I put really sensitive stuff– the spare cash, my passport, glucose pen. Right now the main sack part has almost nothing in it. But it’s plenty big enough to carry an extra sweater, a change of clothes, cameras, video recorders, sneakers– you name it! Oh, and importantly, it can also hold a real purse! (A nested purse.)
There are a couple of other advantages. Leather can take a pretty good soaking and still protect the contents. My husband has no problem carrying my sack (he would hold a purse but would not carry one around). I always have two hands free. In dicey situations, it’s just as easy to carry it in front, instead of on your back, in other words, it’s a lot easier to protect than a purse. And it’s also a weapon of a certain sort. I have used it to push my way through a horde of beggars in a foreign train station.
I know that some women would have a real problem carrying something like this around on a day-to-day basis. “The sack”– as we call it– has become part of me. It’s just who I am. On those rare occasions that I don’t actually carry it– to a [formal occasion like a] wedding for example, or going into a courthouse (where guns aren’t allowed)– it sits quietly in the truck. But it– and more importantly its contents– are still accessible. Thanks again for the article. – Mrs. B.