EDC Bag, what's in yours

Guns & Gear
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I’m a person who likes to keep a backpack with me with some essentials to be at least in my vehicle or on me. Problem is. I load up with gear and extras so the backpacks start off small and usually get bigger and bigger.

I spent time searching for a shoulder bag, one that was small but not too small, durable. And lots of pockets, got one I found delivered today and it looks good especially for the price.

Screenshot_20190329-223452_Amazon%20Shopping

Been loading it up with gear for my new EDC bag, I got it half filled up, it could accept a few more items, I’ll be looking for suggestions on what more I could add.

So far I loaded in the bag, 3 basic tourniquets, 3 lighters. 3 small diameter straight SS straws, .2 bottles super glue, 2 pens, one 5x8 note pad, various band aids and sterile pads, alcohol pads and iodine pads, antibiotic ointment. Single use sunscreen packets, electrolyte rapid replacement packets, 12,000mah portable power pack, folding USB solar panel, various cell charging cables. Universal usb battery charger, flashlight, spare batteries (18650 cells), 4 pull pin cold burning smoke grenades (orange smoke), folding knife. (Will add small bottles of over the counter pain pills, aspirin, and allergy meds and latex gloves).

Looking for suggestions for additional items based on what others may have in EDC bags.

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Just remember, skills will overcome gear. That being said, I’ll carry a basic trauma kit, basic first aid kit, a fire kit (matches, firestarters (cut up inner tube strips and cotton balls impregnated with Vaseline), lighter, strikers, etc), space blanket or two, a few black trash bags, lifestraw, paracord, a topographical map, SOG survival hawk, a few knives (bigger survival type knife and a couple utility type knives), extra socks, protein bars, some freeze dried food packages that would last me 3 days and a lifestraw bottle on a carabiner on outside of pack. Sounds like a lot, but it can all be carried in a small pack. My fire kit is in a sandwich bag, for example.

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Here’s some screenshots from my FEMA app that shows some recommended items.
Screenshot_20190330-084156_FEMA Screenshot_20190330-084203_FEMA

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This topic has some what gotten me to take my time in getting done. I have the bag, but the items I want in the bag I have to do a piece at a time. Money, some of the stuff can be costly. I am also looking for things that last at least 5 years or more. I don’t want to continually switch things out all the time.

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@JKetchem

Got a space blanket in the bag as well. This pack is tiny, a mans purse basically, I’ll get myself some bags, a life straw, paracord, to add but with the size of this bag, adding those items will fill it the rest of the way.

I’ll probably create a small backpack with those larger items. This pack was to simply have a pack of the bare bones that could assist from a skinned knee to something a little more serious to control bleeding till emergency services can arrive.

If I’m out around town, at the grocery store, just walking around, it’s a small and light pack (man purse) that can be easily tucked under a jacket.

Good suggestions.

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I have two kits - a get-home-bag for my truck, and a walk-home-bag just in case. I often work 800 miles or more from home - that’s a very long day’s drive IF the roads are running smoothly, and who knows how long if they aren’t. Or it could be a 40 day walk @20 miles a day - so I plan for 1) what if I can drive and/or 2) what if I have to walk. This is a lot of gear, and I’d expect if I had to leave the truck, I’d leave a bunch of the heavy/bulky gear and take just the walk-home kit. I’ve actually used some of the truck supplies when I’ve been stranded due to weather.
In addition to a lot of the gear y’all have listed, I have a small roll of gorilla tape, grease pencil, sharpie, OTC anti-diarrhea meds, compass, blood pressure meds, 2 pair of reading glasses, maps for between where I’m working and home, bandanas, inflatable backpacking mat, sleeping bag, backpacking tent, rain poncho, gloves, warm hat, hair bands, epi-pens, salt, potassium supplement, season-appropriate clothes, 4 pair of socks, sturdy well broken in boots, knife, small backpacking cook kit/stove, several space blankets, ace bandages, small flashlight, tweezers and nail/cuticle clippers, moleskin for blisters, cortisone cream, antibiotic cream, silver burn cream, 2 water bottles, canvas bucket, small LED lantern, small bottle of vodka (yes you could drink it, but it’s good for sterilizing things too), wire saw, freezer baggies, suture staple kit, large wound kit, bottled water, packable food. If my dogs are traveling, I have a leash, collar, dog pack, dog food, folding dish.
< whew > it’s a lot. that being said, my truck has no problem carrying it :wink:
When I was married to my first ex, for years we spent pretty much every other weekend for 3 seasons of the year backpacking, and periodically went on week-long or 10-day backpacking trips so I’ve got a pretty clear idea of what gear we use, and what we don’t. Anything we actually used while backpacking is what goes in my walk-home bag.
edited to note: my truck is my EDC kit … if I can’t get to it, things get a lot different. going to give a think on what should be on-my-person.

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Kinda cool seeing the difference between your walk and mine. I could get home in 8 hours if I walked straight. We’ve had weird weather at times so that’s where my pack came into play, and what if something goofy happened? I forgot about tape, glad you mentioned it. I fold mine on itself, off the roll, to make it more compact.

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These responses are great.

I was intent on creating a EDC man purse for small light carry…

Now I’m considering expanding that into 4 new packs in addition to that.

Two 40l sized packs and two 80+ liter sized packs

40l packs for 3 day hikes and getting back

80l packs for week long needs. To save on costs. The 40l pack would be placed inside the 80l pack for easy break down depending on needs.

One for each of my vehicles. My person car and them one that can move between my work van and personal van (personal van driven a handful of times a year so the pack could move to it when I take go out with it).

Plan to attach my man purse to either of the packs as needed.

Some of the more expensive equipment I’ll have to get a second set is the repelling harness and ropee.

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consider that carrying the pack-in-a-pack adds the weight of the second pack to the rig, so you may want to consider how to package things to move them rapidly from one pack to the other instead. I use large freezer-grade (heavy plastic) ziplock bags, and some smaller light-weight kit-bags, and we color code and have very-large-print labels on each. Remember that in a high-stress situation things like reading small print or recognizing which bag has the contents you need may be compromised, so make it doable, in the dark, under adrenaline.

one for each is what we do too.

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So to be honest, I need to step up my EDC game. Aside from my pistol and a blade, I got nothing. I wear a belt daily, so that serves as a tourniquet. I do need a trauma kit, but to be frank, I don’t know how far to go before the EDC kit/bag turns into a 3-day bugout bag. We live in an urban environment. There are numerous blogs and posts covering this topic, but it’s somewhat overwhelming. Kits and opinions differ. I carry two laptops in a backpack daily for work, also have kids, diaper bags, etc. I try to abide by the mess is more mentality, however, I do think I could improve preparedness, especially since we are still due for the big earthquake.

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Anyone have any recommendations for where to purchase EDC gear, outside of Amazon. I have an extensive Wishlist on Amazon, but haven’t purchased anything because I’m concerned about quality…don’t want to buy cheap overseas crap.

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@Isaac

The tourniquets I bought were from overseas, bought 3 for about $12 shipped to see how they were. They look and feel quality, they were reviewed 4.9 out of 5 with many reviewers.

I ordered a few more. I check reviews and a good amount of my gear comes from overseas so I can afford more for less. I do know some items end up being cheap but my research tends to make that a rare occurance when I order overseas…

What kind of things are you looking at?

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Thanks, @Orpackrat.

Reviews are very helpful. The main items on my Amazon List are a RATS tourniquet, trauma kit, a couple different tactical pens, and a couple Kershaw Cryo knives. I buy made in America items as much as I can, however, the costs are a bit more expensive. Raising a family in Southern California is not cheap, so every penny matters.

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I’m all for buying Made in America but many times I have to buy elsewhere, that’s the problem with being single, being a prepper as much as possible, and the sole occupant of a 3 bed 2 bath home.

I just got in today 6 months supply of caffeine drink mix at 1 per day, 150 packets of emergency electrolyte replacement portable packets, sanitation supplies, and much more. Ball park $230 worth of additional emergency supplies.

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I did some research on medical equipment recently, and I was reading in a reputable link that a makeshift tourniquet like a belt is effective 30% of the time. Also the article said to stay clear of the RATS, and the CAT is better. That’s fine with me because the CAT is what I know, I saw it work on a few amputations. I carry 2 to make sure I can stop a femoral artery bleed.

Another must have item is an Israeli bandage. They’re great for stopping blood. I used one on myself when I cut a 2inch chunk out of my hand with a hatchet. I stopped the bleeding before I got to a clinic. The doctor was impressed!

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@James

Thanks for the suggestion, just ordered a few of the Israeli bandage…

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Great info, @James. Much appreciated, thank you!

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No problem! I did hear that the RATS is good for kids. I can’t remember where I heard that.

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I have an REI 28 Liter bag:

  • First Aid Kit
  • Space Blanket
  • Jet Boil stove and a couple gas canisters
  • A few bags of Mountain House meals
  • A couple Nalgene bottles
  • A couple different sized knives
  • Headlamp and spare batteries
  • Toilet Paper
  • Rechargeable Battery pack
  • Paracord
  • Socks
  • Water purifier (Sawyer Mini)
  • Extra Ammo

I’m sure I’m missing some stuff - just off the top of my head.

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Majority of mine is already listed in others comments. Something different I have in mine: dryer lint shoved inside a toilet paper tube. A deck of cards and small paperback book (in case I get stuck somewhere for a long period of time. Mental health is just as important). Small sewing kit.

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