Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Everyday Carry Gear (EDC) List & Considerations

EDC (everyday carry) gear

Many people think that a bug out bag is the only bag they should assemble as part of their preps. In reality, if you’re truly concerned about your everyday safety as well as about you not being home when SHTF, then what you need is some everyday carry gear (or EDC, for short).

In short, EDC is the sum of all the items you have on your person every single day for survival purposes. They’re also referred to as your “EDC kit” and you’d typically use them:

  • to protect you from thugs, angry mobs and assaults
  • to get you home in case of a major crisis or disaster (many people don’t realize they might not be home when it happens)
  • and to help you take care of a medical emergency (more on that in a minute)

Where should you store these items? Anywhere you can: inside your pockets, your purse, a bag, a pouch, a laptop bag and even inside your wallet. And if you really want some extra room, I suggest you get a few pairs of cargo pants (and cargo shorts for the summer).

OK, let’s get down to business. What should your everyday carry gear be? Well, there is no right answer to this. It depends on your age, sex, location, your fitness, your job and your lifestyle. You’ve got quite a lot of options and to make it easy for you so let’s start with the most obvious one.

Did you know your smartphone is one of the most powerful EDC items? Use it to make emergency calls to family members or the police, use it to take photos of videos of what’s happening (that could later on serve as proof), use it to find your way home when you’re lost via GPS. Not to mention you can store hundreds or even thousands of survival books and articles.

In addition, let’s add the following items to the list:

  • cash (use it to pay off angry rioters to leave you alone or to get food and water from vending machines)
  • a folding knife (useful for self-defense and a million other situations)
  • a pen (a tactical pen could act as a self-defense weapon but if you already have a weapon, you can think about getting one with an incorporated flashlight)
  • water purification tablets
  • a small whistle
  • a Paracord bracelet
  • a portable solar phone charger
  • an extra cell phone battery
  • paper clips
  • a bottle of water (This is controversial because water is heavy and you may not want to carry it with you every day. Nevertheless, if you have a messenger bag where you keep your laptop, it might be a good idea since you’ll be carrying it over your shoulder.),
  • a small signaling mirror
  • a mini-first aid kit
  • …and a small multi-tool.

Most of these items are pretty cheap except for the smartphone but, if we leave it aside, you should be able to spend less than 100 bucks for the essential everyday carry gear listed above. Of course, the more stuff you have, the better prepared you’ll be for a wider variety of scenarios so if you want to take your edc kit to the next level, consider these items:

  • a bigger wallet (to allow for more stuff inside)
  • a credit card knife (those are really popular because they look like credit cards and so they don’t raise suspicion)
  • a handgun with a spare mag
  • an extra pair of glasses
  • a headlight
  • a bandana
  • a pair of extra socks
  • a Bic lighter and a few matches
  • a fixed blade survival knife (you may want to check the laws where you live to see if you can walk around town with one)
  • a magnifying glass / Fresnel lens
  • a couple of energy bars
  • instant coffee

Suspicious Versus Non-Suspicious Items

If you were to look at the previous lists of items, it’s not hard to see some of these things are what you’d normally carry with you, while others seem be a bit… weird. To others, at least. Once you made a list of all the things you’re interested in, you need to figure out a way to carry them.

If I were to pick the most “problematic” items, I would choose the gun, the spare mag, the survival knife, the Fresnel lens and the first aid kit. The trick is to keep them concealed so no one sees them by accident. Then you’d have a lot more explaining to do.

You don’t want to keep the entire everyday carry gear in one place because people are gonna ask you what’s in there. But if you spread it around, you’re less likely to raise eyebrows.

Quality Items or Cheap – Which Ones Should You Get?

Here’s the thing. If you get cheaper versions of these items, you’ll only save a few bucks and wake up with them not working when you need it most. Think about it… when chaos breaks loose, can you really afford a faulty folding knife or multi-tool? What will you do if that cheap phone charger doesn’t work?

So always do your research and go for the items that have the best reviews on sites like Amazon.com, forums, blogs etc. the other thing you should to is test your everyday carry gear every once in a while to make sure it’s still working. It doesn’t take long, you can do it twice a year, during daylight savings time (which is also the perfect time to rotate your food stockpile).

What’s Next?

Don’t be fooled: buying things is easy. The hard part is knowing how to use them and what to do in each situation. Plus, you’re gonna need a few more survival bags for various survival scenarios.

For example, a get home bag is something you have in your car or inside your desk with more gear that the one we discussed. It’s designed to get you home and won’t be carrying it with you wherever you go but you’ll need it in case something major happens and getting home is problematic.

Next, you’re going to need a bug out bag. Everyone’s heard of it but making one is tricky. It has to have a lot more stuff than your GHB, enough to keep you alive for at least a week out in the forest.

Last but not least, an INCH bag (which stands for I’m Never Coming Home) is an oversized BOB that can, in theory, keep you alive without permanent shelter for an indefinite amount of time. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, here.

Let’s start with the EDC because it’s easier and more important and we’ll see where we go from there.

(Image from: Mike Petrucci)

Dehydration Headaches: Causes, Symptoms & Recovery

Man suffering with dehydration headache

Water. It’s pretty important stuff. Our bodies are made up of ¾ water content and we lose around half to a whole gallon of it a day through sweating and urination. Without it, you can become toast within a mere 72 hour period, but with it you could survive for 3 weeks upon it alone.

Beyond the more severe of circumstances however, water is also pretty important for staving off potential dehydration headaches and here we take a detailed look into the world of these headaches, as well as going beyond this and onto the details of water seeking should disaster strike.

Dehydration Headaches: The science behind them

So, we all know that dehydration headaches are quite obviously caused by a lack of water. However beyond this, factors such as physical exertion, illness and the physical environment around us (and its respective heat levels) can all serve to complicate the landscape.

Generally speaking, people intake far less water than the levels that our bodies ideally need, with such levels standing on average at around eight cups or half a gallon… and that’s every single day (which will obviously increase the hotter the environmental and the more demanding the physical exertion that you undergo). Drink less and you risk dehydration.

 Why does dehydration lead to headaches?

A commonly asked question about dehydration headaches is why they tend to affect that specific organ, and seemingly not the rest (or at least not to our knowledge through pain or other symptoms). And as a simple answer to this, we must consider the actual bodily process of dehydration, where we sweat out our water content. What’s more, few understand that it’s not only the loss of water that can cause dehydration and the consequent physical issues, but moreover the loss of essential salts (such as sodium and potassium); the depletion of these two particular elements through sweat and then having a limited intake of water to top up our levels, once more results in shifts in our body’s chemicals.

And the most sensitive to such shifts is, of course, our brain, as it essentially notes the changes that are occurring and attempts to notify the person of these by way of a headache; most specifically dehydration causes the brain’s blood vessels to dilate, which can then go on to lead to swelling.

 Going into more detail: How to spot a dehydration headache over and above normally occurring headaches

Deciphering between a normally occurring headache, and one that is specifically caused by dehydration can sometimes be a tough ask. However, the following considerations should help you in establishing whether or not a lack of water intake is behind you headache.

Does your headache have the following characterise?

If you find that your headache specifically gets worse by movement (such as bending down, climbing stairs or running) then the chances are that it is a dehydration headache.

It’s also worth noting that dehydration headaches can occur all over the head, and if you tend to experience them in one area only, this doesn’t prevent them from happening in other areas in the future.

Are you suffering from other dehydration symptoms?

Other dehydration symptoms may be overlooked or relatively unnoticed as they aren’t necessarily painful, however if you’re suffering from a dry mouth, tiredness, increased blood pressure or nausea, then it’s safe to say that all may be linked, and all are likely down to dehydration.

Fully assess the situation you find yourself in

Sometimes, just taking the time to consider your circumstances will help you to establish whether or not you are suffering from a dehydration headache. Consider whether you have been exercising or sweating due to high temperatures, think about whether you’ve consumed any alcohol or have suffered from diarrhoea, vomiting or sickness, all of which are sure fire signs of dehydration.

How to easily identify a dehydration headache: Other symptoms

Many people miss diagnose or fail to recognise a dehydration headache simply because of the pretty demanding levels of water intake that our bodies need. There are many symptoms of dehydration that go beyond a fuzzy or painful head, which specifically can include:

– Darkly coloured urine, as well as passing limited amounts whilst going or attempting to go to the piolet,

– Lack of energy and general grogginess,

– A feeling of being light headed, or passing out completely.

Dehydration headaches: Ways to speed up recovery

As well as drinking more water (obviously!) there are other ways in which you can overcome a dehydration headache faster, and here I outline the four main ones…

  1. Get plenty of rest

Rest helps to alleviate the painful symptoms of a headache and the body tends to heal best and most quickly when asleep. So if you can put your feet up and have a quick nap.

  1. Apply a cold compress

A cold compress can not only serve to be physically comforting, but can help to bring your temperature down, which in itself aids in overcoming dehydration.

  1. Massage your neck

This will increase the blood flow to the brain.

  1. Be careful of what you eat and drink (and don’t smoke)

Whilst you’re suffering from the effects of a headache there are certain forms of food and drink that can worsen the situation, this specifically includes caffeinated or carbonated drinks.

An additional habit that you may want to limit for the immediate moment is smoking, which can cause all sorts of havoc upon a brain that is already struggling with sufficient blood flow.

Dehydration headaches: Natural helpers

If you wish to avoid using drugs to overcome your headache then you can try the following natural remedies:

– Lavender oil – Try massaging a tiny drop of lavender oil onto your forehead and temples.

– Peppermint tea bags – Try wetting two tea bags and placing them over your eyes for 15 minutes.

– Rosemary tea – You can try drinking one cup of rosemary tea, as this is said to stop a headache from becoming worse.

– Lavender, Peppermint and Coconut Oil – Mix these three elements together and apply to the temples, forehead and neck and leave for 30 minutes (ideally whilst you rest).

Dehydration: Going beyond the headaches and onto something more serious

One of the most life threatening of all possibilities should you find yourself living off the wilderness for any period of time after a disaster is that of dehydration, and beyond the symptoms listed earlier the fact remains that the eventual and final of symbols of complete dehydration is death. So let’s move on to being prepared for disaster and avoiding the grave circumstances that being without water can present.

Dehydration and Dehydration Headaches outdoors and in the wilderness

  1. Be prepare before disaster even strikes

First and foremost, you should ideally be packed and prepared for if disaster strikes. We recently published an article upon this very subject where we covered the essential topic of a Bug out Bag. Within this, we stressed the importance of keeping fluid packed (as well as packing water content based foods). So, if you’ve followed this advice and disaster does strike, you’ll already be on firm footing with a water source to keep you going whilst you run through the remaining tips.

For those who are less than prepared however the tips below may not pay to be undertaken with any more urgency than usually, as retaining as much water as you can, and avoiding sweating as much as possible, is paramount.

  1. Rest frequently, keep as cool as possible and be on the lookout for the symptoms of dehydration

Resting frequently, particularly during the hottest parts of the day, is essential when you don’t know where your next drink is coming from. Be vigilant along your travels and wary of the time and your location. If you are very thirsty and lethargic, you are likely dehydrated, especially if you are also experiencing a dehydration headache as well.  Reevaluate your plans and get to a clean water source A.S.A.P.

  1. Remember that water sources aren’t just the impossible to find oasis

Water sources include everything from fruit and veg right through to the trickling stream, so remember to look for more than what may be traditional water routes.

  1. Be aware of drinking water and its contaminates

So, you’ve found water… great, right? Well, not quite. When suffering with dehydration and a dehydration headache, your decisions may well be compromised and you may not be thinking clearly. You see water sources in practically every part of the world are very rarely pure, and generally tend to include contaminants to greater or lesser degrees. This most specifically can include: turbidity, toxic chemicals, bacteria, viruses and parasitic worms.

This is again where my Bug out Bag blog post would have come in handy, as it covers all of the items required for ensuring that drinking water is safe through various purification tools.

  1. Look out for the signs of water that is close

There are many signs that a water source may be close, so always be on the look out for the following:

– Rocky terrains and crevices (rain water can frequently collect in these areas).

– Muddy, squishy or damp ground.

– Green vegetation, such as grass, can indicate that a water source may be close.

– Animal tracks or collections of animal habitats.

– Insects (where there are plenty of insects you’re almost certain to find a water source).

– Birds (birds tend to circle watering sources/holes, so keep one eye on the skies).

  1. Gather some form of water carrier

If you have no bottle prepacked then you should remember to look out for something that can be used to carry your water once you find it. Most likely this will be some form of wood that can be cut down and carved into a container.

12 Survival Uses for Duct Tape

ductapesurvival

Duct tape has gained almost a cult following due to its wide array of uses. Whether you wish to make a custom wallet or the most colourful dress at the party, duct tape does far more than secure and item. While it features many quirky and fun uses, duct tape has become the go-to item for survivalists throughout the world. Explore how this everyday item could potentially save your life if caught in an emergency situation.

Tent Repair

A leaky or drafty tent could mean the difference between staying safe and warm or being exposed to dangerous elements. Repair tears and holes with a roll of duct tape. Patch the tear or hole by covering with a layer of duct tape on the exterior and interior side of your tent. This is also an excellent fix if your tent zipper has broken. Simply place the tape along the zipper line of the tent.

Repair Your Water Bottle

Patch holes in your water container by placing a small strip of duct tape directly over the holes. IMPORTANT: Make sure the water bottle is empty and completely dry before applying the tape, as it doesn’t stick to wet surfaces. Enhance this fix by completely wrapping the water bottle with duct tape.

Create a Homemade Spear

Grab a pole and attach your camping knife to its tip by wrapping it with several layers of duct tape. This survivalist method turns these two common items into a deadly spear to ward off animal attacks or to catch dinner.

Secure a Sprained Ankle

Sprained ankles could potentially put you and your hiking group in serious danger, especially if you must escape a potentially dangerous situation. Secure a sprained ankle by wrapping it with duct tape. While not a permanent fix, the tape will secure the ankle enough to provide mobility.

Care for Blisters

Whether on your feet or hands, blisters can not only make common movements painful, but if left exposed to the elements, it could become seriously infected. Place a layer of cotton gauze or bandages over the blister and secure with duct tape.

Create Watertight Boots

Prevent water and/or dirt from entering your boots by wrapping the top of the boots with duct tape. Add an extra layer of protection by tightening the ends of your pants with duct tape. Tightly wrap duct tape around the ankle of your pants to prevent dirt, water or bugs from crawling up your legs.

Make Rope

While not the most ideal usage, create decently strong ropes by rolling several pieces of duct tape together in a spiral formation. This method creates a multi-layered rope ideal for securing items or stringing up between trees as a clothes line.

Secure Shelter

If you don’t have a tent, but need to escape the elements, duct tape can be used to secure items, such as a trash bag or a tarp, to trees. Use several layers of duct tape to ensure its security, especially if it’s raining.

Secure Bandages and Splints

Keep bandages (or broken bones) from moving, or being damaged or getting wet, by applying several layers of duct tape over a bandage or an emergency splint. Make sure a sterile dressing fully covers the wound before applying duct tape.

Reseal Cans of Food

Prevent food from going to waste by creating a makeshift can food lid. Fashion a lid out of duct tape by placing a single strip along the centre of the can. Add strips along the left and right side, making sure each strip overlaps the other, until the opening of the can is enclosed in tape.

Catch Flies Without Chemicals

In the summer months, flies in your tent can prove to be a real nuisance. Eliminate these pesky insects by securing 3 to 5 strips of duct tape from the roof of your tent. The sticky side of the tape acts as fly paper, without the harmful chemicals. As the strips become full of flies, simply crumple up into a ball and throw away.

Create a Belt

When your pants are too big, and you don’t have a belt, the sagging clothing can be not only annoying, but potentially dangerous in an emergency situation. Secure your pants by running a strip of duct tape through your belt loops. Allow the tape to overlap 4 to 5 inches and tighten.

12 Survival Uses For Duct Tape

If you don’t have any duct tape, get some! Seriously, it is crazy you don’t have any… There is a use for duct tape in almost any situation you can think of, everything from around the home, DIY through to medical and survival uses.  Don’t leave home without it!

Quick tip – if you want to carry duct tape with you in your hiking/camping or bug-out bag, don’t take the whole bulky roll; instead carefully wrap your water bottle in duct tape. This will protect your water bottle from bumps and allow you to carry some duct tape without any effort or too much additional weight.

Here is some of the best duct tape you can get: 3M Scotch Heavy Duty All-Weather Duct Tape

(Image from: Joe Loong)

How To Brew The Perfect Cup Of Pine Needle Tea (& Which Trees To Never Use!)

pineneedletea2

Pine trees adorn forests throughout the country, but did you know they offer more than natural privacy and year-round greenery? Pine needles are filled with antioxidants and antimicrobial properties, according to a study published in the July 2012 edition of the “Journal of Food Sciences.” For generations, pine needle tea has been consumed by indigenous peoples as a decongestant, expectorant and an antiseptic wash. In fact, pine needles have up to five times more vitamin C than freshly squeezed orange juice. Enhance your health, while learning a new skill, by gathering and making pine needle tea.

How to Choose and Gather the Best Pine Needles

As a rule of thumb, the younger and greener the needles, the more concentrated its medicinal compounds. The ideal needles are less than three-inches long. Don’t choose needles from a pine that lines a roadway or in a highly-populated area as they may be sprayed with pesticides or other toxic chemicals. The best needles come from pines found deep in the forest. Put your hiking boots on and enjoy a day in the country while searching for healthy pine trees.

While pine needle tea can boost your health, be careful what trees you choose. While the majority of pine trees are fine for consumption, make sure you steer clear from:

  • Common Yew (Taxus) – Found in shrub or small tree sizes, Yew contains a toxic alkaloid known as taxine, which is fatal if consumed by humans.
  • Norfolk Island Pin (Araucana Heterophylla) – Also referred to as the Australian Pine, this pine tree is often used as Christmas trees and small indoor plants. This plant is poisonous to humans and animals.
  • Ponderosa Pine (Pinus Ponderosa – Also known as the Yellow Pine, is regarded harmful to humans. In fact, its needles are used to terminate animal pregnancies.

In additional to the aforementioned, stay away from:

  • Lodgepole Pine
  • Shore Pine
  • Monterey Cypress

**I am not entirely sure why, but it is recommended that pine needle tea should not be drunk if pregnant or breast feeding**

Pine Needle Tea – A Step-by-Step Guide

  • Step 1 – Gather at least 1 cup of fresh pine needles. Thoroughly wash the needles with clean, cool water.
  • Step 2 – Chop the needles into a small pieces. Make sure to remove any brown portions of the needle.
  • Step 3 – Bring 3 cups of water to a rolling boil.
  • Step 4 – Add needles to the water as soon as it starts to boil.
  • Step 5 – Remove the saucepan from the heat source, and cover. Allow the tea to steep for at least 20 minutes. Increase tea potency by allowing the tea to steep overnight. This results in a deep, reddish-brown colour as a higher concentration of compounds were leached into the water.Step 6 – Pour the tea through a strainer to remove the pine needles.
  • Step 7 – Sweeten the tea with honey or agave nectar. Some find freshly squeezed lemon enhances its flavour.
(Image from: Goldenzebra)

8 ‘MUST HAVE’ Items Everyone Should Have In Their Bug-Out-Bag

bugoutbag1

The thought of a natural disaster or some other catastrophic event is not one many enjoy meditating on; however, in our modern society, this is a very real threat. To protect your family, and yourself, it’s essential to begin preparing for the worst. While there are many ways to accomplish this goal, the easiest, and most effective in emergencies, is known as a Bug Out Bag.

Bug Out Bags are filled with essential items to keep you safe and protected during an emergency situation. There are many items that may be used, but the following are necessary for any Bug Out Bag.

(Loads of people have asked what bug out bag we use and recommend. We use and highly recommend the 5.11 3 Day Rush Backpack. It is absolutely amazing and given what it costs it’s a steal. We also like that it comes in a range of colors. We chose the black version as you look a lot less like a prepper/survivalist (with loads of gear worth acquiring!), than you do if you go for the usual military colors.)

Map and Compass

What would happen if your smartphone turned not-so-smart due to a lack of electricity or data signal? Being able to find your way around your immediate area could mean the difference between escaping from harms way or walking directly into it. Therefore, a current map and compass are essential for every Bug Out Bag.

TIP: Enhance your survival skills by learning how to effectively use a compass and read a variety of maps.

Pocket Knife or Multitool

As pocket knives and multitools are so useful for work and day-to-day activities,  it should be obvious how useful they would be in an emergency scenario. My personal preference is for a good quality medium sized Leatherman multitool, as they are well made, durable and have numerous uses in survival scenarios. Many people will argue that a fixed blade knife is preferable over a multitool, but not everyone is comfortable or proficient with fixed blade knives. There are pros and cons to each, but for everyday folk I am going with the multitool. By all means carry both!

LED Flashlights

Flashlights are essential to find your way in darkness as well as flagging for help. Traditional flashlights aren’t acceptable due to their short battery life and dim light beam. Enhance your ability to navigate during the night by storing a fresh LED flashlight in your bag. For maximum benefit, gather a large and small flashlight to illuminate a variety of situations. You should also store a few sets of backup batteries too.

Tarp for Emergency Shelter

If you’ve escaped traditional shelters, such as homes or buildings, tarps offer lightweight protection from the elements. Choose a brightly coloured tarp, which may be used as a location device when you’re lost in heavily wooded areas (unless your goal is not to be found, in which case choose camo). Of course, the tarp must be accompanied by several ropes. Paracord is vital for securing tarp shelters to trees etc, and ait lso has many other survival uses as well.

Various Fire-Making Items

Being able to make fire is among the most important elements of survival. Therefore, all Bug Out Bags should contain at least two methods of starting a fire. While matches are common,
gusts of wind of an unexpected rainfall could render these pieces of wood useless. If you must use matches, waterproof lifeboat matches offer the greatest resilience. Include a fire piston, flint and steel or a magnesium fire starter. Make sure to include an accelerant, such as cotton balls soaked with petroleum jelly.

Water Filtration Items

In cases of emergency, clean water may become scarce. Prevent yourself from drinking water of unknown quality by including a water filtration system of some sort. Personal straw filters and
carbon water purification tablets effectively purifies water in emergency situations. Enhance your survival ability by learning how to purify water using natural methods.

Extra Clothing Items

Being stranded or having to escape a dangerous situation with only the clothes on your back is a recipe for disaster. The amount of clothing you should pack depends on the size of your Bug Out Bag. Regardless, keep several changes of socks, several shirts, some extra pairs of underwear, a lightweight down bodywarmer and a lightweight waterproof jacket.

How To Make A T-Shirt Eel Trap That Gets Results

eels

When I was a kid I watched a TV show called Alone In The Woods. In that show Lofty Wiseman the author of the SAS Survival Guide showed how to make an eel trap out of a t-shirt, in a survival situation. Of course I immediately went down to river to give it a try. I set up the trap, left it overnight and when I came back in the morning, I had caught THREE eels! Here’s how it’s done.

How To Make A T-Shirt Eel Trap

What You Need

  • You will need a t-shirt or sweater/jumper etc, some grass (or equivalent) some string or natural cordage and some bait. Eels love meat of any kind. I initially used some bacon I pinched from the refrigerator, but I have since used worms (lots of them with some chopped up), fish/eel guts and parts of dead animal carcuses I found in the wild. Other than the t-shirt, everything else can be found in the wild.

How To Do It

  • Take off your t-shirt etc (if in a survival scenario). With the string/cordage tie the arms and neck closed so you have what resembles a cloth sack, open at the bottom.
  • Now stuff some dried grass (or whatever you have available, leaves/ferns/newspaper etc) into the t-shirt. You don’t want to over-stuff it, just enough so that it looks a little like an under-stuffed cushion. Once this is done, place your bait in the middle of all the grass, add a rock big enough to weigh down the trap, and then tie of the bottom of the t-shirt. Now you should have what looks like an under-stuffed t-shirt cushion with the bait and rock inside.
  • Now find a good pool that looks promising for eel. At this point you have two choices. If you have enough cordage, you can tie a rope to the trap onto the bank so it is easily retrieved. If you have no cordage just means you’ll have to retrieve the trap by going into the water. Either way, when ready place the trap in the desired location and leave it overnight (eels are largely nocturnal).
  • Check the trap in the morning by grabbing it quickly and throwing it out of the water onto the bank. If you are lucky you may have caught one or more eels. If not add some more bait and move the trap to a different location.

Why It Works

  • The t-shirt eel trap works like this – the eels smell the bait, they find the trap, bite a small hole in the material, slide in and eat the food. Because the trap is dark and contains the grass, the eels usually just hunker down and stay-put until you retrieve them. Either that or they just can’t find their way back out of the t-shirt. It’s doesn’t really matter, because you’ve just caught breakfast whilst you were sleeping! Just be sure to save the eel guts and head to bait your next trap…

(Image from: Wikipedia)