Everyone has their own ideas about what people should include in their EDC kit and what you choose to carry really depends on your situation. Where you live, where you work and where you travel and how you get there will all affect what you need to carry and what you can carry
For example, if you live in Texas and have your concealed weapons permit and you fly to New York, you will not be taking your Glock 19 with you. Everyone’s EDC has an ebb and flow, you don’t have all you EDC gear on you when you’re at the gym, do you? Many of the items listed below I carry every day but I do not necessarily have them on me all day every day. Some things will go in my EDC bag, which is always with me or in my vehicle near by.
EDC – What’s On Your Person
What do you have on you right now? If you are at home maybe not as much as the rest of us hope, but all joking aside, when you leave your house what do you have in your pockets, that’s your EDC. This is a collection of items that you have assembled to solve problems that you encounter or think you may encounter on a daily basis.
Wallet
My wallet of choice is a Maxpedition Spartan. It’s a basic trifold and is remarkably unremarkable. It does what you expect a wallet to do, store your important documents, cash, and cards. It’s not sophisticated, it’s utilitarian, made from 1000D ballistic nylon it will last.
So what do you carry in your wallet?
- Drivers License
- Credit Cards
- Cash
- Insurance Cards
- Business Cards
What’s in my wallet
- Drivers License
- $50 Cash
- Debit Card
- Credit Card
- Insurance Cards
- CCW Permit
- USCCA Insurance Card
- Lock Pick Set
Here is a few thing you may not keep in you wallet but should consider.
CASH – I have the usual debit and credit cards but prefer to have at least $50 in mixed bills too, because you never know when communication or power lines may be down. One addition to my debit and credit cards is to use RFID blocking card sleeves to protect my cards from wireless scanners.
CCW PERMIT – This one will vary depending on where you live. If you are within the United States and live in a Free state and your state does not have constitutional carry, you may be able to jump through the legal hoops, background checks, and fees, and get your concealed weapons or conceal and carry permit. If you are able, I strongly urge you to pursue this important endeavor.
USCCA DEFENSE SHIELD INSURANCE CARD – If you are a gun owner and have a home defense plan that includes the use of a firearm or you have your CCW permit, you should consider that someday you may have to use your firearm to protect yourself or others.
Even if you are fully justified in your actions the situation may look differently to law enforcement and having a company like the USCCA behind you will make things much easier to deal with. When you have their Self-Defense Shield and the unfortunate happens, they will bail you out, get you an attorney on retainer and provide up-front defense funding.
LOCK PICK SET – Lastly, I keep a small lock pick set in my wallet. Lock picking is a skill that I almost never hear people talk about when they talk about
I always have my wallet and that means I always have my lock picks. Lock picking is a valuable skill to have and can be used to save yourself some money or even save a life. Just remember that just because you have lock pics does not mean you can open any lock. It takes training and practice to be able to use lock picks correctly and not damage the locks you are trying to bypass.
Keys
Those you live in the city may only have a couple of keys, maybe one or two for the apartment, one for a bike lock, and maybe one for a friends place. Me, I feel like a janitor so being able to organize my keys is important. The best solutions I have found are key organizers like Key Smart and Clips. These both offer a variety of designs and sizes to suit most anyone’s needs.
Cell Phone
These days everyone has a cell phone, many of which are smartphones. As we all know smartphones play a much larger role in our lives than just a cell phone. Most of us use our smartphones for communication of course but also for banking and finances, tracking our fitness, our calendar and clock and much more. For many of us this makes our phone the single most important device in our lives. This makes it very important to protect your phone from damage and intrustion by using quality cases and using pass code protection.
Watch
With the popularity of cell phones, the watch has gone by the wayside. I still like having a watch, there is something about having a timepiece on your wrist, unfortunately, due to my profession, I am not able to wear a watch all day, every day but do when I can. Sure beats digging my phone out of my pocket just to see what time it is.
Tourniquet
If there is one life-saving piece of equipment that is difficult to effectively improvise it’s a quality tourniquet. Sure, you can improvise a tourniquet but what if you don’t have anything to make one with? Blood loss is one of the major causes of death from trauma. Sure, you can pack a wound with a t-shirt or towel but a major arterial bleed on an arm or leg is best handled by a tourniquet.
My personal favorite tourniquet is the SOFTT-W. I prefer the SOFTT-W design for a couple of reasons. First, you can flat pack it. Meaning you can fold it up in such a manner that it is easy to stow in your pocket, making it great for an EDC load-out. Secondly, you are able to unhook the loop so you can wrap the strap around the limb if needed, instead of having to go over the limb.
Multi-Tool
Being a guy, I love me some tools. A good multi-tool will have your back when you are in a pinch. I have a couple of different multi-tools that I rotate through my EDC depending on what I’m doing or how much size and weight I want to deal with. My main go-to multi-tools have externally accessible knife blades for utility purposes.
Defensive Tools
The types of defensive tool you carry will vary a lot depending on where you live and what options you have available. Whatever tools that you have available, learn how to use them, practice with them and carry them.
Flashlight
Everyone needs a quality, high output LED flashlight. Just lighting up a questionable individual in a dark parking lot can deter a possible attack. It can also assist you in the event of a power outage or investigating that bump in the night.
Fighting Folder
Even though I carry a multi-tool with an easy access knife blade, I do carry a defensive blade. This is a knife with one purpose, self-defense. I do not use it for anything thing else, no opening boxes or letters, nothing. These knives should never need sharpening.
Firearm
Now I could be opening a can of worms with this category, as firearms can be a contentious topic, but for those who seek and understand individual and personal responsibility, this will be easy to understand. I’m not going to get into a grand philosophical debate here. I’m not going to sit here and tell you what firearm is best for you. What I will say, is if you choose to carry a firearm for self-defense there are some things you really need to consider.
First, with whatever firearm you choose, you really should get training and not just training on the fundamentals but also on defensive shooting tactics and also practice regularly to maintain the skills that you have learned. Another thing you should study up on is the laws in your state and in any area, you plan on traveling to while carrying your firearm. Lastly, you need to make sure that your spouse and family know what to do in the event that you need to use your firearm to defend them.
If you are unable to carry a firearm due to the laws where you live I strongly urge you to pursue other means like a taser, stun gun or pepper spray if they are legal in your area.
Spare Mag or Speed-loader
Reasons to carry a reload, if you carry a magazine fed firearm most malfunctions are caused by the magazine and if you carry a revolver, then your round count will most likely be less and having a reload can be important. Either way, it never hurts to have another reload handy.
Now, you may have noticed that in the opening photo I don’t have a spare mag in there. That’s because I don’t always carry an extra mag on me but I do, in my EDC bag. I always access the threat level of where I am and where I may be going and then I adjust my defensive EDC load-out
EDC – What’s In Your Bag
Your EDC bag can serve two purposes, to support your EDC and as a Get Home Bag. If you will be using this bag as a Get Home Bag, check out my article: HOW TO BUILD A REAL GET HOME BAG – A PRACTICAL GUIDE
The Bag
We should start with your bag choice. For an EDC bag, you really want something that looks like any other backpack out there, you don’t want to be drawing necessary attention with tactical looking packs, especially if you are “off body carrying” a firearm in the bag. Otherwise, the sky is the limit.
Trauma Kit
Having a rock solid trauma kit is one of the most important things you can have in your bag. You are far more likely to need a trauma kit than a firearm and if you carry a firearm you better have a trauma kit. These kits should include:
- Tourniquet
- QuickClot
- Compression bandage
- Gauze
- Nasopharyngeal (Nasal Airway 30FR)
- Surgilube
- Decompression Needle
- Nitrile Gloves
- Alcohol Prep Pads
- Tape
- Ziploc Bag
I added a Ziploc bag to the end of the list because you can cut it up and use it as a makeshift chest seal. Also, you may see that I have another tourniquet listed here, you can never have too many tourniquets. It’s not enough to just have a kit but get some training on how to use the items in your kit.
Glasses/Sunglasses
If you require glasses it’s never a bad idea to keep a spare set with you in your bag. If you don’t need glasses it’s still a good idea to have a pair of sunglasses to protect your eyes from UV light, especially in snowy environments. I prefer to have sunglasses that are also safety glasses. Ideally shooting glasses as they are rated for high-velocity impacts.
Medications
I keep some over the counter pain killers in my EDC bag, to help with the occasional headache. You may have prescriptions that you need and having some with you is always a good idea.
Pen and Note Pad
It’s a good idea to have a note pad and something to write with. You never know when you may need to write down some notes or to leave a note for someone else. I always like having something to write down a business idea or something that I might forget during a busy day. Most times I use the notes app on my phone but during an emergency, there’s no guarantee that your phone will work write down important information. I like the Rite in the Rain weatherproof pen or pencils and notebooks, it’s great knowing that the notes you write down won’t be gone when they get wet.
Cords and Chargers
When you have important electronics that you count on every day you need to keep them juiced up. This means having the appropriate charging cords, adapters, and chargers. If you are dealing with an emergency situation where communication lines are down doesn’t mean that your phone is useless, you may need phone numbers or addresses, or you may even be able to use the GPS and maps.
Power Bank
Modern smartphones are great but have one problem they all seem to share, a serious lack of battery life. One way to solve this problem is to have a battery backup.
Lighter
It’s not rocket science but the easiest way to start a fire is with a lighter. You never know when you may need to start a fire.
Area Map
I always have maps of any area that I will be traveling through. Depending on where you live, having a local map may be a good idea too. You may know your routes to and from work and other places in your area but if you have to take a different route home home through unfamiliar areas of the city or county side having a map would be a life saver.
Climate Dependent Extras
We all live in different parts of the country and/or
Living in the upper Midwest we get quite cold in the winter and a fair amount of rain in the summer, so my extras vary from extra gloves and hat in the winter, to rain gear in the summer.
For those who live where the weather can get quite cold, having some hand warmers could keep you from getting frostbite.
Final Thoughts
This is not an end all, be all list. This is just my EDC kit, yours will vary some based on your needs. Your EDC is your first line gear of preparedness. If you have nothing else, you at least have