Have you? Have you ever been stranded in a 100 story high-rise, like Bruce Willis (wishes he) was? Or, handcuffed on a boat to nowhere? Have you ever used your EDC tools to save your LIFE? Honestly, despite all the preparation, I haven't. I've used my EDC on many occasions to open a box, or cut a bale of hay, but never did my life depend on these things. AND, I use the things I carry as tIools. Just that, and nothing more. One time I thought about buying a grappling hook (seemed really popular in the EDC community). Then I realized the only time I'd ever use it was to get fishing hooks unstuck, and the concept of doing a "Batman" up a building was kind of silly. So, we have BOB's (Bail-OUT Bags), and BIB's (Bail-IN Bags). Which is better? Personally, I don't have a BOB, and honestly I'm not sure what a BIB is, really. I'm old, so I don't plan on running. My BIB is my house. Do I have a BOB? Yes, but it has interesting stuff in it. If it gets to that point, I'll be happy eating some spam and reading scripture. (not that I'm a particularly religious man). BUT, it won't be long then!~
Yes for sure. I have been in bad spots many times when the lights and/or power goes out and if not for a high performance light with me at all times I imagine I could still be there now! I am a Technician and often in iffy places before,during and after problems occur often which are one of the reasons I am there in the first place. Add to that the relief work that I have done mostly after destructive storms and even just camping in strange places to me and I will say that having a Light is easily my number one EDC item every day. I also use my MT tools and knife all the time instead of walking back to the vehicle if I can get done what I need to with just that. But yeah I hear you,once the Spam is deployed we might well be near the end!
I'm a volunteer firefighter. I've been in a few sticky places fighting brush fires over the years. Used tools I had on me to get into a locked room inside a house. I've used my personal tools to save peoples lives in accidents many many times over the years. More often than not it's not my life but I have been in some life or death crap.
Yes. Stranded for 12 hours in car that that stopped running in the middle of one of the worst Michigan blizzards in decades. I had nothing other than the clothes on my back and a few slices of leftover pizza. The police closed they highway. By the time I was rescued, I had a touch of frostbite and was dehydrated. That incident made me realize how important it was to carry a supply of emergency goods with me at all times.
A shooting situation in an alley in January of 1969. D.C. at 1am when I was a young and stupid smart and was somewhere I wasn't supposed to be in a not so good part of town. My EDC small handgun saved my life and I ran like h--l! April of 1988, in the Shenandoah National Park on the Appalachian trail near the intersection of the Big Devil Stairs trail and the A.T. A wacko attempted to invade my campsite after dark with unknown intentions. A warning shot form a small concealed handgun sent him running off through the woods. January, 1991, saw a car lose it on an icy road, on rt 26 in Frederick Maryland and the junction of Interstate 15 north. Car rolled three times and came to rest on its roof, against the guard rail. Started to burn and the driver was hanging upside down unable to release seat belt as it was jammed by her large weight. Crawled in and cut the seatbelt with my small pocket knife.
Honestly never thought of it as life or death while I was in it. Backpacking in the high sierras 9-10 miles from anything in a thunderstorm where you are huddled under your poncho to start a fire just seemed like another day. Poncho, fire starter, dry clothes made it workable. Sitting on your bike at a stoplight one second and staring at the sky the next after a Lincoln Continental didn’t see you, you wonder how close you came. My pliers got the bike running, and I made it home to head to the hospital. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Ever been in a high-speed rollover? Yeah, I wouldn't suggest it. Stuff goes flying everywhere, and all that carefully curated Gucci kit goes right out the window along with everything else that isn't secured. I have EDC bags etc, but it was the gear on my person that got me oriented/out of the car.
Actually, I have been. End over end even, more than once! And I agree, it is not advisable at all! In my case, my EDC wouldn't really have mattered, no matter where I had it stowed. My left hand was crushed where it went through the dash, and my right elbow was dislocated along with my right shoulder. Twelve broken ribs, a gash down to the bone from above my right temple down to behind my right ear...a ruptured spleen, bruised heart and a raft of other stuff. They had to cut me out of that truck. Definitely not advisable at all! I did have my EDC stuff on my person, and like you said, anything not tied down went flying. Don't get me wrong, my EDC is vitally important to me and I have a big interest in it. I was just curious how many people have used theirs in a life or death situation. To me EDC just makes everyday life a little easier, and I guess that puts it in perspective for me about the limits on what you can really prepare for with EDC stuff.
And THAT, is the big mistake I see most often in the whole EDC thing; big bulky kits, with bulky items that are NOT going to be ON YOU when you really, really need them. For most my life I've been semi obsessed with how small can an item be to work? Small means its going to be always on you when you need it. Not under the car seat, or back home, or back in the car when your away from the car/bike/motorcycle/boat. For an item to work, it has to be not just with you, but actually on your person. No matter a knife, gun, fire source, cell phone, whatever. The little SAK classic in the watch pocket of your jeans or on your keyring is way more useful than that Randall number 14 back home. When I had to cut that seatbelt in an upside down old Datsun B210 that was filling with black greasy smoke, the little 1 3/4 inch blade keychain penknife cut that seat belt just fine. It was on me, while the bigger knife wasn't, but it did just fine. When I had a wacko night stalker in a remote setting up on the AT, and I had no idea what he was armed with, but he was trying to sneak up on my tent in the night, I didn't have my Smith and Wesson .357. It was back home because this was an ultra light backpacking trip. BUT...I did have my little North American Arms mini .22 revolver. At night, it makes a wicked big orange muzzle flash and its very loud with that short barrel. My midnight caller took off running through the woods like an Olympic sprinter. The mini revolver was there while the bigger more effective gun ws back home. The EDC world is filled wth stuff that is impractical as hell, and in time will be left behind as too big, or too bulky, or too heavy. Go with the smallest lightest item that will still work. And BE ON YOU WHEN YOU NEED IT.
Almost, and it was almost an edc fail I was in a friend's car one night and we were in an accident and the car rolled and landed on it's side. I was in the back seat with two others and I was essentially on top of them, hanging my by seat belt. Because I was jammed in, I couldn't get my seat belt off and I didn't have a knife. Thankfully someone else was able to get to the buckle but that accident is why I always carry a knife now.
My EDC has never been employed in any kind of emergency or life-threatening situation. It has, however, allowed me to continue with my normal daily activities that would have otherwise been disrupted. Visiting friends, checked phone, it was dead. No big deal, I carry a charger. Went to my folks' property to do some work outside at my cabin: forgot my normal folding pocket knife at home, and my emergency bag was at home in my truck (rode with my brother). No problem: backup folding and fixed blades in my EDC bag. I've needed scissors, a file, bandaids, lens cloth, super glue... all in the bag and all kept things moving. My EDC is not to save me from the end of the world: it's to save my typical routine from a variety of minor inconveniences, and in that respect it has been employed to great effect quite often over the last many years.
One of the most down to earth comments I’ve read on the forums (any of the many forums here and elsewhere), in a long time. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
yes, once used my pocket knife defensively 10 years ago stabbed some guy that that clotheslined me off my bike before he could crush my skull with a patio stone. I had a bunch of witnesses never even went to court, after three hours LE let me go home. Fast forward to December of 2019 and LVMPD let me pick up my knife from the evidence locker.
