The 5 W’s of Every Day Carry #4 - Where
There is an important distinction that needs to be made when discussing the “Where” of Every Day Carry in this series. Here, the “Where” refers to the physical location where you carry your EDC, not the different situations and geographical locations you may find yourself carrying your EDC (that is covered under the “when” of EDC). So, where do you carry your EDC? At the core level, you carry your EDC in your mind. The skills and training you have are always with you, regardless of your access to tools. Because of this, it’s important to build within yourself a robust set of skills that will allow you to maintain a high degree of capability and readiness EVEN WHEN your access to tools is limited.
Outside of your skills and training, when Every Day Carry is talked about it is usually in reference to the tools you have ON YOUR PERSON. Tools that are “on your person” are the ones that cannot, in an average scenario, be separated from you. This would typically include what is in your pockets and attached to your belt. Bags and jackets can provide significantly expanded capacity, but can easily be separated from you in a daily context. If you have an epi-pen in your purse, but your purse is at your office desk and you’re grabbing something from your car, you effectively don’t have an epi-pen should the need for it arise. In a time sensitive situation, if the tool you need is not within arms reach it does you no good.
The space on your person is the most limited, and should be reserved for the most important EDC tools. There are several questions you can ask yourself to help identify how you want to allocate your personal carrying capacity:
How FREQUENTLY do you use this tool?
A cell phone that gets used 100 times a day should be more accessible than a wallet that gets used a few times a day
How CONVENIENT is it to carry this tool?
A small tool that is easy to carry but is used infrequently is more likely to be part of your EDC than a large tool that is used infrequently. You might carry a keychain thermometer, but you likely wouldn’t carry a meat thermometer.
Is this a tool you need to be able to CONCEAL? Do you need to consider the “gray man” concept?
The amount of concealable space on your person is the most limited asset you have regarding the “where” of your EDC.
How severe are the CONSEQUENCES if you need this tool and do not have it?
The consequences can range from “Minor inconvenience” to “Life threatening”
If a scenario arises where you need this tool, how SPEEDILY will you need to access it for it to be beneficial?
For example, medical parts of your EDC are often required immediately. An epi-pen in a pocket may be lifesaving when an epi-pen in a car is too far away to be useful.
Now that you have identified the space you have on your person to allocate to your EDC, we can think about the additional areas of “where” to carry your EDC. While you may not ALWAYS have a satchel with you, it’s possible that you will be carrying one when you face a particular challenge. While you may not ALWAYS be in your car when a challenge arises, there are absolutely scenarios where you will have time to access the tools in your car. Consider these things as parts of your expanded EDC. Ancillary carrying locations such as bags, cars, and even your office desk, can be a very valuable part of your expanded EDC. While you may not ALWAYS have access to them, depending on your context you may have a significant amount of access to them. These locations can be useful for storing tools for advanced, specific scenarios, or for redundancy and expanded capability. For example, It is unlikely that you will need to patch a flat car tire in a scenario where you do not have access to your car. Alternatively, if you are heading to a specific scenario where you know you will need expanded capabilities, it would be wise to have a bag made up and ready to go with expanded EDC tools specific to the likely challenges of that scenario.
All of the “where” of EDC is constrained by your context. What you have inseparable access to is defined by your context as well as your decisions. No matter WHERE your EDC is, whether it is in your back pocket or in your car glove box, if you cannot access it when you need it then it effectively does not exist. Because of this, you need to consider the potential challenges that you will face and the FREQUENCY, CONVENIENCE, CONCEALMENT, CONSEQUENCES, and SPEED of the tools you want to carry. With this information, you can make an intelligent decision regarding WHERE you will carry the tools of your EDC.
Get up, gear up, get after it™
~ Eric