Quick, go to youtube and search for “EDC Gear”. You’ll be presented with a pile of (largely terrible) videos about all the stuff everyone carries with them. Gun nuts and survivalists are obsessed with “every day carry” gear, frequently to the point where all the junk people are toting around with them becomes comedic. Which is why to a certain point, I’ve adopted a philosophy that’s the opposite of EDC, which is “I carry the stuff I think I’ll need and takes my chances with the rest.”
For example, all week last week I didn’t carry a gun. Not once. I mostly work from home, and with my knee injury I didn’t really leave the house that often. When I did leave the house, because I couldn’t walk that well, it was generally to go to Starbucks, which has a drive through. I did carry my usual gear, which consists of a knife, my wallet, and cell phone. Interestingly enough, I ended up using all of those things last week. I went to a bar on Saturday night for a friend’s birthday, so I didn’t carry a gun there (because it’s illegal in WA).
I didn’t carry a gun last week because I didn’t do anything that would make my personal risk factors go up. Now, this week I will carry, because I have several meetings downtown Seattle, which entail parking in sketchy, poorly lit parking garages. I’m not going to bad neighborhoods or anything like that, but “leaving the house and walking in a parking garage” has a much higher danger-zone factor than “sitting in my apartment”.
Of course, the odds are that I won’t need a gun. Despite the histrionics from the local media about the recent spate of shootings up here, Seattle’s not a particularly violent city. I just prefer to add that extra layer of safety when my risk factors increase to something higher than “working from home.”
For the record, I’m not saying “don’t carry your guns.” In fact, I would urge most people to do the opposite of that, and carry your guns whenever you leave the house. If your pants are on, your gun is on, etc. But at the same time, like all aspects of life, we need a little balance. If you find yourself one day strapping three EDC knives, a can of mace, some road flares, a reflective blanket, three rubber bands and a piece of chewing gum on as your EDC gear to go with the two Glocks and three spare mags, maybe it’s time to relax a little bit. Plus, where do you put all that stuff?
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