Everyday Carry Gear is referred to as EDC, what to carry, or not to carry is the question. If you do a web search for everyday carry, you’re most likely to get a company’s website who wants to sell you all their gear. We propose to get at the answer differently. What are the most likely situations you are likely to encounter in your everyday life? Where do you live? What season is it? Where do you work?
Most people carry some things on a regular basis, a wallet with identification, cash, credit cards. Some people carry a cell phone regularly, keys for their car, or personal vehicle. These are all examples of everyday carry items most people don’t give much thought to. We’ve all experienced a circumstance where maybe we didn’t have enough cash, and in most cases we tend to change what we do based on some negative experience we’ve had.
That’s all EDC is about, what are you likely to need on a daily basis. Do you live in a rural area, or in a city? Do you drive to work or take public transportation? What is the likely weather you can expect today? All of these provide information to evaluate what are the most likely things to happen to you. In my experience, we tend to learn from situations we have had, and make choices based on things we wished we had when such and such occurred. Where and how you live determines what negative events are more likely than others.
If you commute to work on a bicycle, does it make sense to carry a spare tube, bike tools, rain wear, and a water bottle? If you live in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado and drive your truck 20 miles on an old logging road, you might want to carry different gear. Again, what are the likely problems you are likely to encounter and how will you deal with them.
Most people engage in a variety of activities on a regular basis, so they have different needs depending on what they’re doing and where they’re doing it. A concept I prefer is different additions based on what you’re doing, kind of layering your EDC. If you’re driving into Denver to go to work, you carry the basics. If you’re going to take a hike, you might want rain gear, extra water, spare socks, fire starting stuff, and a walking stick. When you decide to go fishing, you might want to add lures, extra hooks, fishing line, waders, a fishing pole or poles, and a knife in case you catch a fish. If you’re going to do an overnight, you will need to add more gear.
The focus is what is likely to happen, and what might you need to survive gracefully regardless of how bad it gets. There can be a tendency to want to carry too much gear, we don’t believe that’s the optimal choice.
None of my bags are definitive in any way. I change out, add and remove items as I find necessary, usually as a result of making a mistake in what I happen to have with me on any given adventure.
We’d love to hear what your ideas are and what you have as everyday carry gear, and especially why, so please share your thoughts!
