When most people first become interested in survival, they will start out watching survival shows and reading articles online. One of the most common survival topics they would find is building a bug-out bag. People constantly talk about what items to bring, how big it should be, and how much they should spend. The bug-out bag is needed in survival scenarios in which it would be necessary for you to leave your home until things settle down.
Don’t get me wrong. Bug-out bags are vital to your preparedness. However, few people talk about how you will get to your bug-out bag. Most people keep their bug-out bags at home or occasionally in their vehicles. If there is a large-scale disaster, there is a good chance you would be at work, class, or out running errands when it hits. This means you will need to have a way to get to your family and to your bug-out bag. You need an everyday carry kit. In this article, we will cover what is needed for a survival EDC kit.
What is an EDC Kit?
When you hear the word “kit”, you probably think of a pack of gear similar to a bug-out bag. However, that is rarely the case here. To have a quality EDC kit, you need to have items that can be concealed or hidden in plain sight. You are welcome to keep some or all of your gear in a briefcase, backpack, or purse. However, you need to be sure your EDC kit stays with you at all times. Unless you plan to take your backpack or briefcase with you to the bathroom and to lunch, those options won’t work.
A good EDC kit does not require an additional bag or pack of any kind. As is with any survival kit, you want to focus on the four pillars of survival. These are water, food, fire, and shelter. Once you have these resources covered, you can consider tools that help with signaling, first aid, lighting, electricity, self-defense, first-aid, or navigation. Just think about a scenario in which you would need an EDC kit. You just need gear to get you to your home, family, and bug-out bag. For most people, this distance can be covered in a day or two. You will likely not be hiding out in the woods for weeks surviving with just your EDC kit. You could end up at your vehicle driving home, or you could end up on foot the whole way so you need gear for both situations.
General Rules
There are three rules you should remember for building an EDC kit. The first is that items should be concealable. This means they are small enough to keep hidden. They could be in your pockets, in your wallet, in your sock, or on a lanyard around your neck.
The next rule is to focus on items that can hide in plain sight. These are survival items that are disguised to look like everyday items. This may sound weird, but there are dozens of items that have been designed for this purpose.
Finally, you should focus on items that have multiple uses. For example, there are lots of multitools available that have several tools built into one compact item. You also have items that are just so versatile that they can cover lots of different needs.
Paracord
Cordage is one of the most valuable tools you can have in a survival scenario. The most versatile cordage you can have is 550 paracord. This is thin cordage that is strong enough to hold 550 lbs. It also can be split open to use the interior strands. Instead of bringing 10 feet of standard cordage, with paracord you would have 80 feet if you used the interior strands.
Cordage can be used for building shelters, making snare traps for food, boiling water for purification, or starting a fire. The best part is that paracord can be used to replace your shoelaces, or it can be woven into lanyards or bracelets. Often you will find other survival tools like water filters or multitools with paracord lanyards attached. You can easily carry hundreds of feet of cordage without anybody else ever knowing. You can also get a modified paracord with copper snare wire, fishing line, or flammable strands included in the interior strands.
Knives
The most important tool you can have with you in a survival scenario is a knife. Knives can help you defend yourself, clean game, build water filters, build traps, construct shelters, and start fires. Like cordage, it is nearly impossible to construct a strong blade with only natural materials. The key is making sure your knife does not stand out.
If you work a job in which carrying a knife on your belt is normal, go for it. For most of us, we want our blades to be hidden. You can buy a boot knife or keep a folding blade knife in your pocket. Many multitools have blades built-in. You can also wear a push knife around your neck on a lanyard or hidden in a modified belt buckle. I even have a credit card knife that is the size and shape of a credit card but converts into a knife.
Water Purification
Since you can only survive a short time without drinking water, you should always have ways to purify water with you. The best option I have found is a water filter. You can keep a straw filter in your pocket, or you can carry a filter bottle. Most people I know carry a plastic water bottle already, so a filter bottle just blends in with everyone else. These filters will eliminate 99.999% of all harmful pathogens. You should also carry a small vial of iodine tablets in your pocket in case your filter gets clogged.
Food
Since you will only be using your EDC kit for a day or two, food is not a major priority. You will have your knife and cordage for trapping if you like. It is quite normal for people to carry granola bars or other snacks, so keeping a couple would give you the energy to get home. You can also take a small fishing kit in a mint tin if you think you would come across fishing waters on your trek home.
Shelter
Chances are you would only need shelter if you are dealing with cold or wet conditions. That being said, you should not discount the danger of hypothermia. I like to keep a disposable space blanket in my pocket for my EDC kit. This barely takes up any space but would reflect 90% of my body heat back to me. It is also waterproof, so it can be used to build a lean-to shelter or to just wrap up. You have your knife and cordage, so you can build a shelter with natural materials if needed.
Fire Starting
You may not need fire if you are hiking just a day or two in nice weather. However, there are several scenarios in which it could save your life. You could need fire to get warm after falling through the ice. You might be dealing with cold and wet weather and need to warm up quickly. You might also get severely dehydrated and need to boil water quickly.
There are still lots of people that carry lighters in their pockets. I like to carry a Zippo since it is windproof and can be refilled with any flammable liquid. I carry a couple of Bic lighters as they are cheap and reliable. I also carry at least one ferro rod with me at all times.
Ferro rods are windproof, waterproof, require no fuel, and shoot out sparks at over 3000F. I have ferro rods built into many of my multitools, but I also keep one on my key ring. In addition, I like to keep a Wetfire Cube in my pocket. This looks like a mint in a wrapper you would get at a restaurant, but it will light with just a spark and stay lit for several minutes in the wind and rain.
Other Gear
Light is vital for an EDC kit as you may very well be hiking home in the dark. This is typically not advised as it is easy to trip and hurt yourself, but you may not have a choice. I have several multitools that have LED lights built-in, and a credit card LED light in my wallet. I also have a flashlight app on my phone. Cell phones have all kinds of nifty apps, but you need to have backups for those in case you run out of power or your phone is broken. My phone also has a compass app, a weather app, a GPS satellite app, and a mushroom ID app. I always keep a fully charged battery pack and cord in my pocket so I can charge my cell phone if it dies.
For self-defense, you already have your knife. In addition, many people conceal and carry firearms every day. If you are comfortable with that, then the firearm is part of your EDC kit. I carry a tactical pen for self-defense in my breast pocket. It can be lethal or non-lethal and has other survival tools built-in, but it looks like any nice pen. You can also bring tools like tasers or mace.
You can keep a pliers-style multitool on your belt, or they also make wallet-sized multitools. In fact, in my wallets I have two multitools, a credit card knife, a lock pick set, a fishing kit, a signal mirror, a fire lens, and a credit card LED light. Your multitools should have at least one compass, blade, whistle, and ferro rod included along with lots of other helpful functions.
You really can keep anything you want in your EDC kit as long as it stays hidden. Just be smart about it. You do not want to slow yourself down when your goal is to get home as quickly as possible. Less is more. Just go through these items and put together what you feel you need to get home when your life depends on it.