EDC and Get Home Bag Thoughts
[On a tangent I just don’t have enough good things to say about that bag or the company in general. They do not seem to make the exact bag I have anymore though it seems to have been slightly updated as their modular operator pack. Also this is a darn good lesson along the “buy nice, once” school of thought. My bag cost $110 approximately 8 years ago (the comparable bag now sells for $200ish, another lesson maybe). I remember because it was a huge sum of money to me back then. That being said 8 years later I am still using it happily. Theft, loss or massive damage via fire or shrapnel damage aside I think getting about 10 more years out of it is likely. I have never had an issue with the zippers despite literally shoving the contents down with my foot and forcing them closed a few times. The straps have never had issues despite carrying far more weight than is reasonable for such a bag. Aside from a few dirt stains I am too lazy to scrub out, slight smoothing out of the little fibers on some straps and some scratches on the buckles it looks just like it did years ago. It has never failed me despite being pushed beyond the reasonable limits of what is essentially a beefed up book bag. (Not saying this bag is somehow inferior to anything on the market. Quite the opposite in fact; I would give it even money against all comers. What I am saying is that the “assault pack” category of bags are essentially overgrown beefed up book bags and we all need to have realistic expectations about what they will do. If you expect them to do what a 4,000 cubic inch bag with a full frame and heavy hip pad will do then disappointment is in your future.]
Like any company I cannot say every product Tactical Tailor makes is for you. I can say they do not skimp on any part of the process from planning useful well thought out gear, buying good material to properly assembling it. My only relationship with them is that over the years I have spend a few hundred dollars on their stuff. The reason I went on this tangent is to A) to mention that I really like this bag, B) point out the benefits of buying quality gear and C) to recommend a source for said gear I have been very pleased with. End Tangent.]
I have talked about get home bag’s before 1, 2, 3and John Mosby chimed in on the topic also. No need to totally retread old ground. Check out the older posts if you have not read them already. Anyway like I said before getting all distracted I have been doing some thinking.
First after a lot of consideration I do not see any reason to spend a bunch of money on a bag that is basically just going to sit in my car. Especially since a very nice bag is usually there anyway. Even if money wasn’t an issue it just doesn’t make sense. My plan is to put together a nice little get home bag in the used alice pack I bought. I will take the basic packing list from my last one (things get disassembled when you move) and build on it to make a more squared away one. Not a full up 45 pound BOB but a bit more than a running home bag. Not exactly sure how that will crack out but that is a problem for another day.
As to the TT bag I EDC it can use some work also. I am just tossing out ideas here but if it has a personal survival kit,a steel water bottle and cup, an IFAK as well as a bandaid and asprin style boo boo kit, a poncho an all weather blanket (like the good space blankets), say 2k calories in food and a spare pair of socks that would be pretty awesome. If I do it right then most of the bag will still be available for everyday junk AND I will have a nice setup if I need it. I envision it almost like a light long hunter/ bush craft type style setup.
Really the ideal situation for me (aside from living a charmed life where I do not need this bag at all) would be to transfer whatever everyday minutia and work junk is in my TT bag to the car or whatever and empty the contents of the ALICE bag into my preferred bag. That being said both my EDC bag (albeit as a much smaller system) and the GHB need to be able to stand alone. I do not want to depend on anything in the EDC bag because while it does come with me very often it stays at home sometimes too.
Anyway that is where I am with bags and kits today. As always input is appreciated.
Vehicle Kits, Get Home Bags, Modularity and Systems
My get home bag tends to live in our vehicle because it is how I get places and I am rarely far from it. If riding in a carpool it and my normal EDC bag of junk like a coat, lunch, etc get combined and a few things might get stashed at work, like a spare functional set of clothes and footwear.
I do usually keep some stuff in our vehicle. There is a Rubbermaid tub with a flashlight, spare batteries, some tools, coats, some water, some oil and coolant, first aid kit, warning triangles, etc in the back. We also each have dedicated bags with things like a knife, light, lighter, etc. To be honest at some point I went a bit overboard. The back of our full sized SUV is almost full of “my crazy stuff” as Wifey calls it. Things definitely need to get pared down however considering our timeline here it is more like they will be reassembled leaner and meaner on the other end.
Honestly I focus a lot more on the ‘kit’ than the vehicle part. The vehicle is where this stuff lives as it is a good place to haul stuff and is usually pretty close at hand. I think the contents of a “vehicle kit” could be easily broken down into stuff for you and stuff for the vehicle. The contents of both kits should logically flow from your overall situation. If you might get stuck for 4-5 days in the hinter boonies during a frigid winter a lot more kit is required than if you work 5 miles from home in balmy South Carolina. Your vehicle side of the kit’s contents will depend on need and skill. If you are a mechanic who regularly drives a 30 year old truck in very isolated areas it would be hard to have too comprehensive of a kit. On the other hand if you aren’t very handy and drive a newish reliable car on frequently traveled roads very little stuff is needed.
Back to Get Home Bags. John Mosby recently talked about a personal shortcoming in the GHB/ vehicle kit area. Definitely worth reading and if it applies to you taking action. Read about my GHB development here. I think the concept of a get home bag is sound. However, it’s contents need to fit your situation and the distances you travel from home. My get home bag will shortly be put into a dedicated bag whose entire job is to sit vigilantly in my vehicle. Some basic survival stuff will still live in my EDC bag because I haul it around a lot. A knife, flashlight, lighter, matches, a few granola bars, etc do not take up much space.
My get home bag is really stripped down and minimalist. This works because I stick pretty near home far more often than not. If I worked 50 miles from home or regularly traveled long distances a more substantial kit would be necessary.
I think different kits might fit better for different situations. I have a stripped out assault pack right now just so I could be a bit more comfortable on a long walk home. If I was going 50-100 miles from home something more akin to a backpacking setup/ BOB/ rucksack would make sense. The kind of thing that has a couple days of water, food for several days and enough clothing/ gear to meet all of your basic needs for a pretty long time. Maybe I don’t want to keep that bag (and the one for the Mrs.) in our vehicle all the time since we really don’t need it that often. If we went driving across rural northwestern Canada in the winter more gear would be prudent.
I think that using systems which already exist may be the best way to fit this need. No point in reinventing the wheel here. Sticking with EDC/GHB a la assault pack/ BOB aka rucksack somewhat layered systems may be a good way to fit a wide variety of potential situations/ needs.
Anyway those are my thoughts on kits today.
My EDC
I carry the typical stuff like a cell phone, keys and a wallet with some cash. In terms of survival stuff I carry a knife, typically a buck 110, a bic lighter and a tiny led flashlight. Often I carry a Cold Steeel push knife and when legal/ practical I also carry a Glock 19 with a spare magazine.
My everyday life takes place in a pretty small area. If it was more open a sniper with a .50 could just about cover the whole thing. As such I don’t worry about EDC all that much. When I go further away I add items to supliment my EDC.
Every Day Carry
Please no BS. I am interested in what other folks actually carry all the time, not their opinion of what a perfect survivalist would somehow manage to haul around all day long. If you say that you carry a fullsized handgun with 6 reloads, a backup piece with 4 reloads, a kabar, a .22 derringer in one boot and a boot knife in the other, a 4″ folder, a folding saw, a leatherman, a GPS, binoculars, a night vision monacle, a water filter, 3 MRE’s, and “mini” survival kit whose contents would barely fit into a shoebox and some other junk it will be pretty obvious that you are lying.
Finally Friday and Knife Sharpening also 3,000th Post
Not too long ago I found myself in need of a knife sharpener. I had a couple of them but one got worn out and the other is probably in a box somewhere. In any case I wasn’t quite sure what to get but those diamond rod type ones seem to work pretty well. I rather arbitrarily put this one into my amazon wish list. Lansky seemed like a good name but there was no real thought behind it. Wifey was ordering some stuff and needed another thing to get the free shipping (far better to get $6 bucks of stuff you were going to get anyway then to pay it in shipping). It arrived the other day. My only tentative complaint is that it is pretty big. There is a lot of handle and it has this other sharpening thing on the back that adds like an inch and a quarter. I guess you are supposed to use it first then finish with the rod. To be honest I didn’t look that closely and thought it was the normal model but black. Maybe that will be convenient but I am not sure yet.
It might be a bit big to carry in my pocket but I am quite happy with this handy sharpener. In a couple minutes it tuned up an old Buck 110 nicely. In 5 minutes it got my EDC Buck 110 which had a couple minor imperfections in the blade all tuned up and ready to go. I haven’t had it long but am pretty impressed with it so far. This sharpener will definitely go in my ruck for long trips.
I hope you all have a good weekend,
Ryan
Edited to include: This is the blog’s 3,000th post. I had wanted it to be a lengthier post I am working on but finishing it today wasn’t in the cards. To be honest after a long day at work I forgot about the whole thing. Anyway it is a pretty cool milestone. This blog has suceeded beyond my wildest dreams and sometimes I am just amazed by the whole thing.
I am definitely not putting things into auto pilot. Slowly but surely we are still growing, one link, one more person following the blog and a new advertiser at a time things are continuing to get bigger and better. I have some things that I plan to do in the coming weeks and months that should be pretty cool for you guys and gals.
If you feel like helping in this effort then please tell a friend about our site or share a link to your favorite post in a forum, or social networking site. Also check out our advertisers and if you need things they sell then consider purchasing from them.
What If- Knives
I was doing some knife preventative maintenance and had a bit of inspiration. While looking at a stack of knives I wondered what if I had to chooose? We talked about what we would choose if we could only have five guns awhile back and talking about knives seems fun.
Anyway you get five. To define it we will say you get five knives to suit every normal cutting need. No need to get sidetracked into strictly kitchen culinary stuff, herilooms or industrial things like razor knives, I am thinking more general purpose, survival, defense type stuff. These knives could fill most of those other roles anyway. In no particular order here we go.
First I thought about a good all around edc knife. For this I would choose a Buck 110. A great knife to carry around. It won’t cause any awkward looks in a sheath on your belt but it handles and cuts like crazy. If I found myself stuck in the woods with one I would not feel at a serious disadvantage.
Next I considered something I could carry concealed and use effectively as a weapon. Without a doubt this would be a cold steel push knife. I have a bit of experience in knife fighting but a decent background in striking and knifepunching people seems rather intuitive to me.
A relatively large sheath knife for general purposes or fighting came next. I would have to go with a Ka Bar for this. Ergonomic as can be with a big solid blade, not much to argue with here. They are just a darn good knife and I cannot imagine not owning one.
A multi tool is just a darn useful thing to have. I do not carry one as I do not use them that frequently but I keep them at home and in my ruck. I like the original leatherman. (Pictured is a SOG multi tool because my leatherman is MIA.)
Lastly I would want a solid camping/ survival kind of blade. Without a doubt I choose the cold steel kukuri. A few years ago I was watching Lost and thought “what knife would I want if I was stuck on a jungle island?” and ended up buying one of these. They are definitely pricey and it would be genuinely hard to argue they are worth the price when you can get a good machete for 30 bucks or so but I happy that I own one.
Narrowly missing selection was the Buck 119 special which is just a darn good knife. Great as a hunting knife or for all manner of tasks. In all honesty sentimentality is probably the reason the Kabar beat it out for the general purpose sheath knife spot.
Noteably absent is the modern one hand opening “tactical” folder with a pocket clip. I am just really soured on them due to a slew of bad experiences with a variety of big name models. I fiddled with a small belt knife to do everything. It worked OK but carrying one all the time is problematic. A buck 110 to do stuff and a push knife as needed just in case is what I am trying right now.
What would your five be?
Plans
Deployments are sort of like prison. You spend your time doing whatever job you are assigned and trying not to get hurt or killed but in all the other hours of the day there isn’t much to do but work out and think about what you are going to do when you get out. I definitely did my share of lifting. I am breaking or approaching all time records in many lifts. Not sure why it took a deployment for me to remember that I love lifting weights but I am glad I got back to it. Definitely going to keep it up back in the rear.
I am going to take a cue from John Mosby and beef up my EDC “survival kit“. Incidentally if you are living under an internet rock and haven’t checked out his excellent blog I strongly recommend doing so. John’s background as a soldier and NCO in Ranger Regiment and the Special Forces give him tons of expertise on all sorts of things. I would say his primary concerns and mine differ but that is superficial and I get a ton out of his blog. A solid foundation of good preparation, strong individual skills and tactics are useful in a wide variety of schenarios.Plus also he carries a Glock 19 AIWB (like I do) which means he must be a man of taste and distinction.
I have saved a wad of cash over the last year and am seriously thinking about using most it to purchase a NOD (aka night vision monacle). I have no interest in doing this halfway. To me it is definitely a buy once, cry once kind of thing. It is something I had planned to do a lot later but I am kinda thinking it makes more sense to do earlier as I have a wad of cash. Shuffling other stuff back a bit is easier as those are all smaller purchases I can make more easily. Also the idea of having one big item to show for this year of my life is appealing. It is a big purchase but since I can’t do it oversees (where I will be for the next several months) there is some time to think about it. Input is welcome on this one.
Beyond that my big goal for the next several months is to reestablish useful modular systems to meet a variety of needs. We have the vast majority of the stuff but moving, life and to be honest some neglect have left our systems in serious disrepair. This will be addressed.
Also I plan to spend a ton of time with Wifey and Walker doing all sorts of cool family stuff and some traveling. Got to make the most of our remaining time in Europe. Better start saving Orbitz coupon so we can return often.
Warehouse Raid
While I was home I checked out the warehouse. Almost everything was just fine. A medium (not dripping) coat of oil has kept things just fine except one piece on one gun. The suboptimal piece of metal was given some TLC, oiled up and put away.
Last time I was home I had to dig all around to find mags, ammo, etc for the weapons I carry/ use while home. I decided to take an ammo container and put the stuff I want while home in it. The contents were 3 glock mags, an IWB holster, an OWB kydex holster, 2 boxes of 9mm JHP, 4 rifle mags and a few hundred rounds of ammo. It worked perfectly. I grabbed a Glock and the box and was good to go. When we went on a longer trip I loaded up a couple mags and grabbed the rifle.
I noticed that I need to add a knife to the box. Not having a normal EDC knife was kind of annoying. Sticking a knife in there would let me have one here and just grab it with the other stuff would be convenient.
If you have a cache or keep some guns with a friend or whatever it might be a good idea to put the stuff you would want to pull out first thing in a convenient and accessible location.
EDC Belt Knife
I have been thinking that I might go away from the super common EDC one hand opening pocket knife with a clip to a small fixed blade knife. Maybe this is looking for an answer to a nonexistent problem but who cares. One nice thing about knives is that they are, provided you stick to standard consumer brands, affordable enough to do some experimenting. I am looking for a fairly small (3-4in) blade in a relatively small overall size. Something with a good blade and a handle/ sheath which are rugged, probably plastic. I don’t want to spend a bunch of money. Price between about fifty bucks and a hundred but probably closer to the bottom end. Knives of Alaska makes a novel and useful looking compact knife which seems to fit the bill. It has a large hole which your pointer finger goes through. Reports say it is very handy and I think that makes up for the handle’s relatively short length. I am curious about your experiences and ideas.
EDC Knives
I have carried a Spyderco Endura pretty much every day for about 5 years now. Carried the first (better) fully serated one for a really long time. Eventually the plastic around the clip wore out and it was no longer secure in my pocket. Still got it somewhere and it will cut fine but doesn’t fill the pocket knife role. I then switched to a partially serated one which I had purchased as part of a long story I won’t get into. That was about 5 months ago.
Today my knife was in a screwy position in my pocket so I took it out and looked at it. The darn plastic where the clip attaches to the handle is shot. With the first one I wasn’t too bummed because it lasted for about 5 years and 10 bucks a year is not a bad average to have a real cutting machine in your pocket. The second one isn’t even broken in yet and it is not useful for pocket carry. Of course it is still a good blade and in a pouch I could find some sort of a use for it. I treated them both the same (carry in pocket and use to cut stuff) and one lasted far longer than the other. Maybe the first one was lucky or maybe the second one was just lame but I am not going to buy another to find out.
So that leaves me without a dedicated folding knife to live in my pocket. I tried the Buck 110 (great knives!) for awhile but carrying it didn’t give me a warm and fuzzy. I am just an easy open folder with a clip sort of guy. Not however planning on getting another one with a plastic handle as they get weak around the clip which gives me a big sad face. The good news is that my personal money has just been accumulating for awhile now so buying a new folder is more a matter of choosing and picking up or ordering than cost.
I am looking for a good easy open type folder with a metal handle and a clip. Not enormously concerned about cost but unless it is also a gun and a universal remote I wouldn’t want to spend more than $100 or so. Any suggestions?
I am going to look at knives online till dinner time which judging by the good smells coming from the kitchen is about 5 minutes.
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