I don’t believe I have ever done one of these. And if I am being completely honest, it’s because I find most of these “This is my EDC” pictures to be completely fabricated bullshit.
Two guns. 3 knives. All kinds of hidden, fetishized garbage. The entire genre is a dumpster fire of weekend warriors and wannabes.
I’ve carried every day, every way since the early 1990’s. The first rule of carrying a handgun is to actually carry one. If I left the house thinking I would need a gun? I would have left with a rifle or shotgun.
Now…let’s look at my EDC.
- One Gun.
- One Reload.
- One small knife.
- One watch.
- One wallet.
- One flashlight.
- One set of keys.
- One cell phone.
That’s A LOT of damn gear. A lot. 16 hour day? 16 hour EDC. 24 hour day. 24 hour EDC. This is a huge commitment. HUGE. As a matter of fact, as I write this, I am sitting in a chair outside of DC wearing all of this stuff. If I was home, I would be wearing this stuff.
Now let’s get into my EDC philosophy
Wallet
What can I say? “American Express. Never leave home without it”. You’ll need two things to survive in the modern world: Credentials and credit. Don’t believe me? Go ask the guys living under a bridge how they are doing without it?
Watch
I’m old. I always wear a watch. One, it doesn’t need batteries. Two, I don’t need to look at my phone to check it which pulls me into e-mails and alerts. Three, I can glance at a watch while face-to-face with someone and they not detect it.
Keys
Be it for your car. Domicile or keys to the city, professionals have responsibilities. And with responsibility comes keys. Show me a person who doesn’t have keys, they either are the King of England or the King of Their Moms Basement.
Phone
Don’t kid yourself. In many ways a phone is more potent than a gun. You can call for help. Locate your position. Video events. Prove your innocence. Or pass the time playing Solitaire. Chances are any battle or bump-in will be won or lost with your phone, not your iron.
Knife
Flexibility here. The first thing to dump should I need to dump something is a knife. If I am not wearing a belt, I don’t carry the knife. I don’t believe in folding knives and therefore only carry a fixed blade. This one. I know it. I understand it. It’s light. Fast. Strong. And economical. Meaning I can toss it in an emergency. I also use it to cut everything. Literally everything. Knife nerds don’t like that. Knife nerds don’t live the real word either. Some guy who has spent 3 years cutting up boxes with a warehouse boxcutter, is probably more dangerous than some guy who pocket clips something with Benchmade or Cold Steel embossed on it.
Actually I know so.
Flashlights
These are very important. I worked nights for 19 years. Back alley’s, shit holes, dive bars, dope houses, dark parking lots, mansions. I’ve seen and “not seen” it all. Some real crazy, unbelievable bullshit. I always carry a primary Surefire light. And I always carry a small light on my keychain.
And these days, every cell phone has a flashlight built in. While not tactical or cool, sometimes it just comes down to battery power. Not ruggedness.
Gun / Backup Guns
My choice is to carry one full sized gun I can fight with at my maximum level of skill. I don’t carry BUGS. I carry a reload. I am not saying I have never left a reload behind. But in over 25 years, it’s rare. Damn rare. I loathe it. Way less than 10 times in 25 years.
I’ll dump a reload if my “gun is too big” to CCW. Not make an excuse to grab a pocket-rocket. One just has to be willing. Most aren’t. That says more about the user’s will than the size of the pistol.
Sincerely,
Marky
www.John1911.com
“Shooting Guns & Having Fun”
Areas of focus: Defense and National Security, Modern Light Weapons, Small Arms, Weapons Training.
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