Why do you EDC?

[dealgrabber2002]

I carry a streamlight 1L-AA duel feud light because I live in California and supposedly we are over due for a big earthquake.

 

[Olumin]

Everybody EDCs some things. Almost everyone grabs their Wallets, keys & phones when they leave their home. Women often a lot more various items in their purses or hand bags.
Outside of those things I consider a flashlight to be one of the most useful items to carry around in modern times. I like carrying knives too but I recognize that they are not as useful or necessary as they used to be. Most people Ive given knives never end up carrying them, or even when they do, never actually use them (& then stop carrying them).

The phone flashlight is OK for close up tasks but is neither convenient or ergonomic & since its a mule doesn't have any throw whatsoever. Very limited in its functionality. Most people who try carrying a dedicated light end up finding it very useful, eventually even indispensable. The ability to create light (& heat) was one of the first & most important accomplishments of our ancient ancestors, it still comes in handy today.

 

[kerneldrop]

To survive

 

[thermal guy]

I have slowly gone from carrying very little edc gear to now bringing a small edc pack with me. I have a GHB In my vehicle at all times but my edc pack is always on the passenger seat when I go anywhere. It's a comfort.

 

[ekardscribner73]

I struggle to toe the line between preparedness and reasonable-ness. There's always a part of me that wants to be prepared for any possible disaster, but it feels good to make peace with the thought of being unprepared for some things that are either highly unlikely or simply not that dire.

That said, I too divide my EDC between first- and second-line gear so some of it can live in a bag that comes with my in my vehicle or on adventures.

 

[Poppy]

WHY? To be prepared.

I don't carry much, a very small flashlight, car keys, house key, wallet with credit card (and a backup), and a Gerber utility knife as a money clip. I usually carry between $100 and $150 in cash. Just in case I'm out and for some reason the debit card system is unavailable. A tank of gas can consume a third of that.

I always carry the small bills on the outside of the clip. Oh yeah, and I carry a phone.

 

[dealgrabber2002]

No one carry a whistle? It's better than screaming on top of your lungs.

 

[tech25]

As a kid I used to carry a mini mag and leatherman, used them all of the time.

I still carry at minimum, a knife and flashlight. Use both multiple times a day.

 

[Stress_Test]

No one carry a whistle? It's better than screaming on top of your lungs.

I did in fact add a rescue-style whistle to my backpack quite a while ago after reading advice on what to carry while hiking.

And now that I think about it, it might have come in handy when I was trying to get the attention of an ambulance driver a few months back. Except I didn't think about it at the time and I was in fact screaming at the top of my lungs... and waving a flashlight in the direction of the ambulance. To no avail. Too much ambient city light, and the noise of the diesel probably kept the crew from hearing me either.

They did finally find the accident site, possibly because they noticed the flashlight I'd left on the pavement in strobe mode. Or else they just stumbled on it regardless.

Long story that I intend to write up here as a "lessons learned" topic once I get some time around the holidays.

 

[fulee9999]

I did in fact add a rescue-style whistle to my backpack quite a while ago after reading advice on what to carry while hiking.

And now that I think about it, it might have come in handy when I was trying to get the attention of an ambulance driver a few months back. Except I didn't think about it at the time and I was in fact screaming at the top of my lungs... and waving a flashlight in the direction of the ambulance. To no avail. Too much ambient city light, and the noise of the diesel probably kept the crew from hearing me either.

They did finally find the accident site, possibly because they noticed the flashlight I'd left on the pavement in strobe mode. Or else they just stumbled on it regardless.

Long story that I intend to write up here as a "lessons learned" topic once I get some time around the holidays.

I'm trying to figure out how a whistle would've helped, when a flashlight and you screaming and waving had no effect. If the ambient noise was so high that they couldn't hear you scream, how could've they heard a whistle? Also how did they miss a person swinging around a flashlight?!

 

[DaveTheDude]

The answer to the original question is more nuanced than "to survive" or to "be prepared". Although the simple answers cover it completely, their brevity obscures the more intricate considerations of what to carry, what to bring along in the car, and what to omit. Considerations of time, place, and threat assessment dictate changes in gear and the scope of preparation. But I suspect the the concept of mastery of one's environment and the conditions we're likely to encounter plays a good-sized role in many peoples decision -making.

With regard to portable lighting tools, the ability to see in darkness is important to me. Just ask anyone lost in a woodland at night without a light how important it is to be able to see obstacles clearly. My personal experiences include being on a naval vessel, five decks below the waterline when ship's power was interrupted; being in Houston's tunnel system when all lights went out (learned later that the blackout was caused by backhoe fade); and encountering two elderly women who had taken a wrong turn when out for an afternoon stroll in a California state park, and at sunset suddenly found themselves heading in the wrong direction, about 1.5 miles from the trailhead, with no idea where they were in relation to their car. And as the context suggests, neither carried a light, and neither was dressed for or prepared to spend an unexpected night out, exposed to the elements (55F and dropping after the sun set, overnight low of 45F forecast).

These experiences and many others inform my decision to carry multiple lights: it's not just for me.

 

[Stress_Test]

I'm trying to figure out how a whistle would've helped, when a flashlight and you screaming and waving had no effect. If the ambient noise was so high that they couldn't hear you scream, how could've they heard a whistle? Also how did they miss a person swinging around a flashlight?!

Yeah, that's why I said MIGHT have come in handy. Using a whistle gets you more noise with less effort than shouting, but I don't think that volume was the issue regardless. I was just too far away (and couldn't get close enough while they circled). Which was also why the flashlight was ineffective. Couldn't get close enough, and there were too many store lights and street lights for the crew to notice. Was trying to hit their side-view mirror with the light but apparently didn't work.

 

[fulee9999]

Yeah, that's why I said MIGHT have come in handy. Using a whistle gets you more noise with less effort than shouting, but I don't know that volume was the issue regardless. I was just too far away (and couldn't get close enough while they circled). Which was also why the flashlight was ineffective. Couldn't get close enough, and there were too many store lights and street lights for the crew to notice. Was trying to hit their side-view mirror with the light but apparently didn't work.

ah ok, gotcha. to be fair, having a whistle could be useful, for example if you've fallen off a cliffside and you can't really move and losing energy rapidly, using a whistle would be a lot easier in that incapacitated state than trying to muster out a shout that maybe no-one will hear.

 

[Stress_Test]

Yeah, when injured the whistle could definitely be easier. Luckily in this case I wasn't the one injured. The person who was hurt, however, had a couple of cracked ribs so he couldn't have shouted (much anyway). He was able to talk on the cell phone though, which is how I found him.

Cell phones are good for something after all, heh.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

Why do I edc? Because 💩 happens. I've been trapped alone in an elevator, been evacuated from my home for 5 days due to a wildfire, hiked in a flash flood, hiked in a lightening storm, hiked down Mt. Whitney during a graupel snow storm, had a stove nearly blow up on me on a backpacking trip, had my camp ransacked by bears (Kearsarge Lakes, CA)-same trip as stove incident, had a chipmunk eat a hole in my backpack (into a 3 lb. bag of trail mix) while backpacking Vivian Creek trail up Mt. San Gorgonio, been injured alone while rock climbing, and been through a 7.2 earthquake while sitting on the toilet.

While some things you can't control, how you respond to them in the aftermath can mean the difference between life and death. Having some basic tools like a flashlight, a multi tool, some cordage, and a fire starting device (fire steel, lighter, matches) can get you through many unforeseeable disasters. I like to try to make some things less obvious for carrying. I wear a rapid deploy paracord belt (about 60 feet of cord) and I have a key fob made from a 3/8 inch diameter fire steel with a millipede weave parapocalypse paracord overlay (put together myself). I also carry a Leatherman Rebar and a Nitecore E4K, among other things.

 

[Flashlightmaster2021]

thrunite t1 sometimes also my thrunite t1 and small back pack and the Khun H1 13$ headlamp from amazon. You can never have too maby flashlights/head lamps with you

 

[Brokenarrow]

Being a die hard fisherman and owning a small farm carrying a leatherman and flashlight always comes in handy. Just discovered the flashlight madness but boy it sure comes in handy and I now have 9. Been carrying a leatherman daily for 25 years.
Lights with the side emitters seem to be most most often used.

 

[dealgrabber2002]

I did in fact add a rescue-style whistle to my backpack quite a while ago after reading advice on what to carry while hiking.

And now that I think about it, it might have come in handy when I was trying to get the attention of an ambulance driver a few months back. Except I didn't think about it at the time and I was in fact screaming at the top of my lungs... and waving a flashlight in the direction of the ambulance. To no avail. Too much ambient city light, and the noise of the diesel probably kept the crew from hearing me either.

They did finally find the accident site, possibly because they noticed the flashlight I'd left on the pavement in strobe mode. Or else they just stumbled on it regardless.

Long story that I intend to write up here as a "lessons learned" topic once I get some time around the holidays.

A strobing light in a distant can be interpreted at a bike light.

 

[Repsol600rr]

Many reasons all boiling down to I've determined it's more convenient to edc than it is to not.

 

[brachypelma44]

Eagle Scout. You know why.