Grounded and Ready for Whatever

Pack Light, Stay Ready: Everyday Carry Essentials

• Shay • Season 1 • Episode 2

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We break down everyday carry through the lens of where you live and how you move, focusing on practical tools, simple skills, and choices that work under stress. From dense city blocks to long empty roads, we outline kits that stay light, legal, and useful.

SPEAKER_00:

Peace, peace to all my good people out there. Welcome to Grounded and Ready for Whatever. This episode, we are going to talk about EDC and why it matters to me. Now some of y'all might be saying, Shay, what is EDC? What does it why does it matter to me? And what does it have to do with being grounded and ready for whatever? Well, I'm gonna tell you. Very good question. EDC stands for everyday carry. And everyday care and the everyday carry is essential gear you can't carry daily to handle emergencies, minor inconveniences, or survivor scenario, survival scenarios, and it can include tools, gear, medical gear, weapons, if it's legal, and uh utility items. And so some background. We all live in, you know, a city or a rural area or suburb or something of that nature. So wherever you live, your EDC should focus on where you live. Somebody who lives in the city doesn't necessarily need to have an EDC that's tailored for somebody who lives in a rural or country scenario or situation, and vice versa, too. So the difference between for this explanation, we're going to uh have two types of people. We're going to have um, I hate the word urban, and I'm not going to use that word. So we're gonna say suburbs, suburban people. How about that? A lot of better. So we have suburb people and rural people. Rural people are if you live in the country, if you live in the boony boonies, if you live two, three hundred miles away from other people in the middle of the woods or the middle of the desert, that's you. When I say rural, that's you. When I say suburban, I mean the city dwellers, you have door dashes, you have conveniences that are close to you, and it doesn't take a lot for you to get to a place or a thing. You have uh city conveniences, let's say that. Eve either if either if you do or don't live in the city, you have closer knit conveniences than someone who lives in a rural community will. Okay, so whether you are a suburban person or a rural person, I'm gonna give you some tips and tricks to make your own everyday carry EDC uh kit for you to go through your days because the whole purpose of an EDC is not something that's a big heavy thing, it's something that you can carry either in completion or just little things of all of this stuff in order to help your situation just in case a minor inconvenience comes up or a huge ass emergency, or if you're stuck in a life or death scenario situation, you have something on your person that can help you uh survive or come out on top. So if you are a suburban person, your EDC should be designed for density and disruption. Your priority should be situational awareness, quick escapes, and quicker movements through crowds and through a whole lot of different people. Self-defense in close quarters if you can't run away, like you know how to defend yourself if you get cornered, and also navigating infrastructure failures, power, transit, uh, communication, any of that. Your essentials, and this is these are the things that you should um try to keep with you and why it matters. A compact mini tool, you know, like the Gerbers, you know what I'm talking about. They have the screwdriver and the the pliers and the corkscrew. They are good because they can fix broken gear, they can open doors, they can cut a seatbelt. Just that little mini compact multi-tool can do a whole lot of different shit. A flashlight, it can be small, but it can be a bright flashlight for power outages, dark buildings, garages, uh, alleys, whatever. Pepper spray or some type of defense item that's legal in your air area, pepper spray ain't legal everywhere. It's a less lethal option for type spaces if you're in close quarters. Um, a portable charger, uh, those power banks, um, communications, survival in cities. I don't recommend everybody get a burner phone, but if you think a burner is important for you to hold communications with your people, get a burner and make sure the other people have a burner and make sure they know how to use said burner. I'm not suggesting it, I'm just putting there out as an option. Small cash bills. If the ATMs, if the power is down, the ATMs are down. All digital systems are down. So you might think you have a million dollars in the bank, but you're walking on the street right now with two nickels, and that's not gonna help anybody if you need to get somewhere because cash is it ain't king right now in this instance, but when everything ain't working, it will be. So I would suggest carry small bills around, carry cash and carry it in small bills. No one's gonna have change for a hundred. So if you're okay with carrying a hundred dollar bills and exchanging that for services, maybe a ride here or a cup of water there, or some batteries there, if that's what you're okay with using for that, do that. When if you have a dollar, they just might take that too, or a five, or a ten, or a twenty. Just saying, different denominations of cash, a folding knife. That is legally the legal length that you're allowed to have in your area. Could be used for utility and self-defense. You can use it to cut a rope or cut a bitch, whatever you need to do in order to keep yourself safe. Um, if you're you're in the city, this is for the suburban people, you should have a transit pass or a transportation card if that's your part of your escape route, if public transportation is a part of your escape route. Some people have to use public transportation in order to get by or to get around. If that's what you have to do, have an extra transportation card. So if they're running, you could use it. Um, a first aid kit, a minimal first cade kit, it should have the very basics of a tourniquet, some band-aids, um, disinfectant, uh, maybe some gauze, stuff like that. Uh, a respirator mask or an N95 mask that helps for if there's a fire or the air quality is questionable, or there's debris around, especially if you're in a subway or there's smoke and all of that stuff. If you have that mask, it'll save you a whole lot of um uh trouble with your eye with your breathing, and it'll actually keep your face covered just in case there's stuff in the air. This sounds small, but it can be a hell of importance. Notepad and pen. We live in a society now that everybody uses their phones to write things down, to to take down numbers, to take down contacts, to take down directions. If that is not available to you, a pen and paper will do the same exact thing. Remember that the pen and paper can be used to write down directions or contact information or description information. Well, I'm saying it now. Take the notes, but also feel free to rewind for the things that uh you need to remember to make your own list. But again, for the suburban EDC, the goal is density and disruption. Whatever can help you if anything goes down like that, it's gonna help you get to where you need to go. Mind you, notice I didn't say anything about a map or uh a satellite phone, things like that. Maps ain't that hard. You can get a map on um Amazon or at a travel store. If you keep a map in your bag, it'll look it'll help you only if you know how to read a map. That's one of life skills that that I'm gonna talk about in another um episode. But learning how to navigate, learning navigation, major skill that should be taught a lot more. Um, but that's optional. I should have made that mandatory because that needs to be a thing, but either way. Um for for my rural people, I'm a rural person, so I don't live in a city, I live out where I live, but it's not near a city. So these are some things that I have in my personal EDC. I don't carry all of this at any given time, but I do have some things when I need some things. Um, some of the key points for a rural EDC is it's built for distance and isolation. You far away from everything, so it's going to be harder to get, you know, the normal things that you would have if you were in a a city or a big area. The priorities are self-reliance, help may be hours away. What can you take care of with you right now that you don't need somebody to help you with? Uh navigation over large terrain just in case. Duh, encounters with wilderness or roadside emergencies, animal encounters. If you're in the rural area, you're gonna see some animals. Be prepared just in case, but you know that if you live in in areas like that. Um, some of the items, a fixed blade or a sturdier folding knife used for more more so for hunting and fire prep and repairs. A fire starter, you get a feral rod or a lighter. Um, good for long walks or overnight exposure risk. If you're gonna be out walking or have to transverse long period places of area, you might need a fire starter because you're gonna need a fire. Um, a compass and a local map, if you're out in the middle of nowhere, you're not gonna have self-service. And if you do, it'll be weak at best. You're not gonna have a GPS. So if you have a map and a compass, you can you should be able to navigate to uh anywhere, and that's only if you know how to read both of them. Um I stated about the the multi-tool before in the suburban, but a larger multi-tool or actual Swiss Army knife is a whole lot better for those people in the boonies because they can do actual bigger repairs and um do a whole lot more than the little one can. Uh, water purification tabs or a mini filter, self-explanatory. If you're in the middle of walking and you have streams, you don't know if that water is safe to drink. But if you have a purification tab or a mini filter, it can help. Flashlight and a headlamp, self-explanatory, a gun with extra magazines, we're legal. This is all for legal purposes. Anything I say, if it's not legal for you to do that, please don't say that Shay said to do that, because I did not, and I am not. Um, a tourniquet and a trauma kit, like I said before, helping for medical response, you're in the middle of nowhere. And if you need to self-tourniquet yourself, it's it's hard to do, but I had I I heard it can be done. Um, so if you're out in the middle of of nowhere and you need to do that to yourself, at least you have the kit to help. Paracord and cordage, paracord is a very useful um accessory to have. You can make anything using paracord. You can use that as a fishing for if you need to go fishing, if you need to tie down your tent, if you need to strangle somebody, if you need to hang uh hang your water up for purification, if you have to hang up wet clothes to dry, if you have to hang up your food, whatever. Paracord can do a whole lot, and it can help with emergency shelter and hauling stuff. Paracord is is number one when it comes to your for rule rural EDC, and a small ration bar, so like a granola bar or something to give protein and and some sustenance just in case you're out in the middle of the nowhere and then you ain't got no food and you can't make nothing. If you got that granola bar, it maybe can get you another mile or two, or it maybe can get you through another night or two. Um, some optional things, binoculars, uh bug repellent, a signal mirror or whistle, those are uh helpful because if you're in the middle of the woods or like deep thick brush, you can use the whistle to triangulate your position, or if you have a signal mirror, if they're doing flights above looking for you, you can signal with your mirror. Now, I know everybody doesn't live in every the same places, so what I'm gonna do is I'm going to give you a tip. This is a note part, to create your own minimalist crossover EDC kit. Now, this kit is uh a crossover between the suburban and the rural or the the boondocky people, it has a little bit of both in it, so take notes if you want. So, first we have the folding knife. Again, it has to be legal where you at. The folding knife is good for self-defense, cutting rope, prepping food, whatever. A multi-tool, whether it's uh a leatherman or Swiss Army knife, is good for repairs in both scenarios, it's good for uh survival uses, cutting wire, opening cans, etc. A compact flashlight that is rechargeable, whether it's USB or battery, uh, flashlight self-explanatory, light is non-negotiable, a ferrule rod or a mini lighter, or both. Dual ignition options, whether you use the ferrule rod or the lighter. The lighter is gonna run out of juice, but that ferro rod, if you can get it, is is it can be used for a lot longer. Uh, and it breaks up the redundancy for you know, out in the middle of nowhere fires for emergencies or emergencies. The paracord, six to ten feet of paracord, it packs really small, but it has infinite uses. You could tie your gear, tourniquets, um, making shelter, you could do anything with paracord. Uh, a tourniquet works for car accidents or smaller injuries. If you've if you're in uh a suburban setting or if you're out in the middle of nowhere, you ain't got nobody for miles. If you need a tourniquet, that helps. Many trauma kits, they have the gauze and the gloves and a certain clotting agents for blood. That could be a compact life-saving thing. If you can get it, that would be awesome. That actual trauma kit might take away from all having lots of little um uh first aid kits. If you have if you are on medication or if you're not a tiny pill container, you could keep that. It can hold pill, uh it can hold painkillers, it can hold antihistamines, uh, it can hold pepto pills, it covers minor issues that you might run into. If you have a headache, I'm telling you, if you have a headache, you're not gonna be able to function as good as uh you could in a stressful situation. So, a phone plus a battery bank. Like I said, if you want to do a burner, do a burner. If not, not but try to have a battery bank for the phone that you do have. It's still gonna be a phone is still gonna be your number one tool in both areas, whether it's suburban or in the middle of the woods. It'll have it'll help you with maps, with communication, as a flashlight. You can take notes. Your phone is important if it still works, but if we have an EMP, um, an electronic um pulse, that's dead. So have a backup for the phone. If you don't have it as a backup for the phone, have a map, a paper map, and a compass. Your GPS may fail in in um in the boonies, but if you have backup navigation like a map or a compass, that would help. Cash. Having a cash stash is so important because cash is still king, and when it comes to emergency situations, people aren't thinking. They assume that hey, I'm gonna offer you ten dollars just to give me a bottle of water, they're gonna be on the come up. But if there's a situation that somebody's offering that, they know that money really doesn't matter anymore. So if you got ten dollars, if you're gonna take ten dollars from me for that bottle of water, that bottle water, I need it more than that ten dollars. So keeping a cash stash in a in your EDC is important, and you do not touch this cash stash, have it in like a little um tucked away somewhere in your actual EDC and keep the denomination small, have some ones, have a five, a 10, a 20, maybe. There's no purpose for you to keep a hundred or a fifty dollar bill unless you have a specific purpose to keep that there. If you know you're keeping a$50 bill for an Uber or whatever, that should be the only reason. But for you to keep a$50 or$100, it would have to be for your own personal reason. I wouldn't do that myself, but that's just me. And remember, if you keep a whole lot of money in your stash with a cash stash, you're gonna get a wad. If you don't want to walk around with a whole wad of money, then you need to plan your cash stash accordingly. And with this cash stash, like I said, you could buy a ride, pay for something in a blackout, bribe access if needed. Not saying that's a thing to do, but just in case you need to, you got cash for that. A USB drive that's encrypted with your important documents. Nobody is trying to travel with their passport, well, not your passport, your birth certificate, or your social security card, or any of that stuff. If you have it on a USB, it'll work anywhere. It can have access to your IDs, your insurance, your survival docs. If you get displaced from your wallet or your ID, if you have that USB in your um EDC, it can make you whole again if necessary. A notepad and a waterproof pen. If your phone doesn't work, but you need to write down something for somebody or take notes or description, it's a low-tech reliability for sharing info type thing. Directions, checklist, the good old pad and pen. Um, self-defense, and this is all if it's legal in your area. Pepper spray, the OG, the OC spray. It works in a crowd or isolation, and it's non-lethal, but it's effective. If you've ever been pepper sprayed or if you've ever been in a crowd of pepper spray, you know that shit works. So if you have it on your person, know that if you bring that out, it's probably gonna work and it's probably gonna burn you too. So be prepared to that. And the firearm, if it's legal in your area, it should be small and concealed, and you should have a license for it. But side note, side note, side note, if everything goes left, permits don't matter. Just saying. But if you're on that route of trying to keep it small and concealed, keep an extra mag somewhere because it you're gonna need it, and it's valid to keep in both scenarios. Um, that N95 mask or a cloth that's going to be used for a mask. It's good for dust, it's good for smoke, it's good for debris, public health alerts. If there's zombies out there throwing up on people, if you got a mat a cloth mask over your face, it might not help much, but it might help. Um, an energy bar or something like that, that'll be good in both situations. If you can't get the food, you can get to a cornola bar or some fruit snacks in your pack. Water filters or tablets, it doesn't take up much space, but it can save your life if you really need to make sure that some water is safe. You can use a pocket organizer or gonna organizer. Jeez, or a small sling or a waste pack, or a fanny pack, if that's your pleasure, to keep it low profile and and um easy for use. You can pack the essentials on body, your your knife, your light, your phone, and keep the rest nearby, but removable. This is a smaller uh pack, so let's say you know you're walking and you're trying to check out an area, but you don't want to take everything with you. You can take your pack, hide that somewhere, and get your little fanny pack and put your essentials in it, your knife, your flashlight, whatever, just to get you by while you explore, per se, and then you can always go back to your other stuff. That's if you need to do that. Just saying. Um, the weight of this should be something that you, as on your own, can carry. It should be no more than one or two pounds total. It should be able to fit in your cargo pants or a sling pack or another smaller EDC pouch. This minimalistic uh pack that I gave you, you don't have to have everything in it, everything is not encompassing per se. It's just ideas for you to make your own if uh the pleasure suits you. But anywho, that's all I have for you all today. I appreciate each and every one of you for listening to this uh this episode. I hope you all have a good rest of your day and y'all stay ready out there. Peace.