How to make an EDC kit:

Yes, I know… more acronyms. There is a lot in this world of military, preparedness and contracting. EDC stands for “every day carry”. An EDC kit is a small kit that can help you in a big way.  Have you ever wondered about how to make an EDC kit for yourself?

Basically, an EDC kit is a boiled-down version of a preparedness bag or bug-out-bag. When going anywhere and doing anything there are still the basic four elements that you need. Food, water, fire, shelter. Granted I can’t carry a tent in my purse, but I can get pretty darn close!

The reasons that I carry an EDC kit are more numerous than I have time to type out or you have time to read. It’s the “what-if” game all over again, however. What if I’m out around town with my little guy and can’t get to my vehicle that has my preparedness kit(bug-out-bag) in it? Perhaps I’m in the mall and there’s a tornado siren and we all get shoved in a dark concrete cellar and are there for hours? What if there are people hurt down there? Maybe your child gets hungry after hours of sitting in the mall cellar? There are so many reasons. Frankly you just never know. What’s the worst that could happen by carrying this kit? Is your purse a little heavier? That’s about it!

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Here is a list of what I carry on my person (or in my purse) on a daily basis. Some of these items are in my purse, but most are in my EDC kit:

1. A fully loaded Glock 26 with a round in the chamber: In all honesty, I hate shooting the Glock 26. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE shooting guns. I take classes as often as our budget allows. The barrel on a Glock 26 is shorter so the recoil you have is noticeably increased in comparison to a Glock 17 or 19! Also, on the 26 the pistol grip is shorter so my pinky is just left to float around under the magazine and I lose the stability of my grip that way. The Glock 19 is MUCH more to my liking; it’s slightly bigger so it fits my hand perfectly. The 19 is what I use when I go to the range when I take classes or teach. The reason I still carry the 26 is this. I can’t conceal a Glock 19 on my body near as well as a Glock 26. The size difference is just enough to where I print very badly. (“Printing” is a term used in the gun/tactical/conceal carry “world” for being able to see the outline of the handgun under your shirt. This is a BAD thing…it’s called CONCEALED for a reason.)

2. A holster: I need something to put my handgun in! It doesn’t just float around in my purse. I HATE when ladies just toss their handgun into their purse without a holster. It’s stupid, it’s dangerous, it’s just….stupid! There are times when I choose to put my handgun in my purse, but it’s in a Kydex holster and I KNOW that it’s not going anywhere. Always be sure to buy a holster you trust. The reason I put it in my purse rather than in my pants, on my waistband, is that I’m female. Sometimes I like to wear pretty dresses and it’s really difficult to carry a handgun and wear a dress at the same time. My holster is a Longshadow Antero Holster. They’re the best design holster my husband and I have ever seen. Check them out here: http://www.lsholster.com/If you decide to order one, in the memo line, tell him that Nila sent you!

3. A spare magazine (and not the cosmo kind): The awesome thing about Glock 26’s is that they take a Glock 17 & 19 magazines! They don’t fit the same as what’s designed to be in the handgun, but it works. It gives me ammo and that’s most of what I look for when choosing a magazine! I have a Glock 17 magazine with what’s known as a “shoe” on the end. This is a little plastic piece that fits on the end and adds two more rounds into the mag. So my spare magazine originally carries 17 rounds and the shoe adds another 2 rounds so I have 19 extra rounds at my disposal! This stays in my purse in a special pocket. While I can conceal a Glock 26 rather easily I can’t conceal an extra mag on my belt. That’s getting a little too bulky to do without completely changing my wardrobe. * A little caveat here: I have trained and practiced with reloading my handgun with a mag from my purse. It’s not the best idea to keep a magazine in your purse, but I’d rather have it in my purse than on my belt and have it be super noticeable. If you’re going to carry this you need roughly 5000 iterations to make it something your body can do without your brain engaging. Unload your firearm and put the ammo someplace far away from you. After the kids go to bed you can get your purse and your unloaded firearm and just practice reloading from your purse. You’ll figure out pretty quick that it’s difficult to deal with zippers, straps and such under pressure.*

4. Flashlight: I carry a TerraLUX TT5-EX Tactical Flashlight – 900 Lumens
   It puts out 900 lumens. It’s a pretty stinking bright flashlight! What I love about this flashlight is that it has a strobe button. This comes in very handy if there’s a shady looking guy in a dark parking lot in between me and my vehicle and I don’t want to use deadly force. Frankly, if that were the only scenario, I wouldn’t be justified in using deadly force! Poor dude didn’t do anything wrong… yet. However, if he isn’t moving from around my vehicle when I need to enter I can strobe him, reset his senses and use that time to get into my vehicle, lock the doors and get the heck out of dodge! Another awesome feature about the TT5 is that it has a metal bezel on the end so I can whack someone with it, in the head, and it’ll do some serious damage. This flashlight is a great tool for someone wanting to protect themselves without having to use deadly force. Not everyone is ok with that and that’s respectable. Taking a human life is a tremendous decision and absolutely should NOT be taken lightly. If you’re in Northern Colorado you can take a “Compact Flashlight Defense Course” through Makhaira Group. They’re the best guys in the business in this area. The class was under $100 and the flashlight was $90. It’s worth the time and effort.

5. A multi-tool: Seriously I’ve used it for everything. Two of the best brands are Leatherman Wave and Gerber Multi-Tool. I use a Gerber in my range bag and a Leatherman Wave in my purse or vice versa. They’re both good quality and do basically the same things. The Leatherman Wave is one of the only multi-tools where you can access the blade without having to open the entire tool and they lock! So you won’t chop your finger off.

6. My EDC kit is in a little Maxpedition bag: These bags are durable, quality bags/pouches. They have lots of little pockets to keep everything organized also, which comes in handy for the amount of stuff I shove in there.

7. QuickClot Combat Gauze: This gauze is for high trauma situations such as a gunshot wound, a severe cut or stab or traumatic puncture of the body.

8. Food: I carry those little flat packs of StarKist Chunk Light Tuna. It’s little; it fits in the compartments and its food! As a mom, I always have crackers or goldfish and juice in my purse anyway.

9. 25 feet of 550 Cord:  You never know when you’ll need a rope! This can be used to secure a splint also. If you find some sticks or metal rods to secure on either side of the break you can wrap the 550 cord around it to keep it stabilized until you can make it to a medical facility.

10. Chem-Light: Say you’re at the mall and the tornado sirens go off and you’re shoved down into a tornado shelter. Then, of course, the lights go out, and generators take a bit to get going. A little glow stick would be a lifesaver!

11. Krazy Glue: The small one-time-use packets. This works wonderfully to close up a wound.

12. Engineer Tape: Use this for signally. It can be tied to a stick and waved around, it can be used to spell “help” or “s.o.s.”. Also, it can be used to mark a danger or mark the path you’re taking, if you’re out in nature, so you’re not doubling back unintentionally.

13. Hand Sanitizer: This is pretty obvious. You never know what or who you’ll come in contact with. It’s also a great fire starter if need be.

14. Signal Mirror: This can be used to signal an aircraft if need be.

15. BIC Disposable Classic Lighter with Duct Tape around it: A lighter can be used to start a fire, obviously. The duct tape (roughly ¼ inch thick around the lighter) can be used for just about anything.

16.Suunto M-9 Wrist Compass: To know what direction you’re heading! This is a military-grade compass. You can use this to get an exact degree if you need to move on a known course.

17. Emergency Mylar Thermal Blanket: To keep you warm

18. UST Blastmatch Fire Starter: This comes with a nifty flint and striker and also WetFire Tinder to ignite.

19. Hand Warmers: I packed two, just because I can.

20. Band-Aids: For those not traumatic moments.

All that fits in a little bag (in the picture) and it weighs about 2 pounds. Granted you need a purse big enough to carry it, but I bet that most of us already carry oversized purses anyway. For guys, this is a little more difficult. Their pockets are most of what they have unless they carry a “man-purse”. There are many bags that don’t look girly that men can wear without interfering with their man-card. REI, 5.11 and maxpedition are good brands of over the shoulder bags for men.

I use a Maxpedition Fatty Pocket Organizer for all my EDC items.

 

I hope you find this helpful and you understand why it’s such a good thing to be prepared on some level. Having access to shelter, fire, water, and the food is vital for me, each time I leave the house. Please toy with the idea of making or buying an EDC kit. They can make a world of difference in a terrible situation.

 

 

Cheers,
Nila