There is no limit to the amount of gear you can collect. But, if you are into preparedness, there is a certain level of gear you need to have within arm’s reach all the time. This is what we would refer to as essential EDC. When most people hear about the Ten Essentials, especially the bush hippies, they think about it only when going into the woods. We think about it when going anywhere.
Traditional Ten Essentials
1. Map
2. Compass
3. Sunglasses
4. Food & Water
5. Extra Clothes
6. Headlamp/Flashlight
7. First Aid Kit
8. Fire Starter
9. Matches
10. Knife
MCS Ten Essentials
1. Whistle
2. Knife/Multitool
3. Fire Starter w/tinder
4. Stainless Steel Water Bottle
5. Headlamp
6. Clothing -Wind / Waterproof garment/gloves/bandanna
7. First Aid Kit
8. Food
9. Cordage
10. Heavy duty space blanket
Current Ten Essential System
1. Navigation (map & compass)
2. Sun protection (sunglasses & sunscreen)
3. Insulation (extra clothing)
4. Illumination (headlamp/flashlight)
5. First-aid supplies
6. Fire (waterproof matches/lighter/candle)
7. Repair kit and tools
8. Nutrition (extra food)
9. Hydration (extra water)
10. Emergency shelter (tent/plastic tube tent/garbage bag)
In this article, I will discuss the things that I consider essential. By essential I mean things that I am never without. Most of the time my essentials and much more are carried in the Bag Of Evil, which is currently a Spec-Ops Brand THE Messenger Bag. A few weeks ago, while attending SHOT, I decided for the first time not to check any bags. That obviously meant no knives and guns, but what did I pack into my SO TECH Micro Pack?
Those of you that are familiar with me know that I break the contents of my bag into four different pouches / cases marked with different color parachute cord. This makes it easy to identify to me and others. Here is the breakdown.
Admin Pouch / Bright Blue – contains things that I use all the time like meds, Carmex, Sharpie, knife sharpener, and Leatherman
First Aid Kit / Red- contains both Boo Boo & trauma items
Survival / Neon Green- from paracord to contractor bags
Power/ White – batteries, cell phone charger, head lamp etc
Here is what I packed and did not pack based on my reasoning. This is an example of how to adapt your contents to prohibitive environments and infrequent situations while keeping as many as your essentials as possible.
Also in my Micro were all my clothes and bathroom bag for the 2.5 day trip. Here are the essentials I took and how I packed them.
1. Whistle- on my keychain
2. No knife
3. SA Fire Starter on my keychain
4. Stainless Steel Water Bottle in my bag
5. Headlamp taken from the Power Box and placed in Admin Pouch
6. Old LL Bean Anorak/Mechanix Gloves/Bandanna
7. First Aid Kit- left in its own pouch (I will not go anywhere without it)
8. Food – Almonds and Beef Jerky (protein = energy)
9. Cordage- 50 feet of bank line
10. No space blanket
Even in one of the most restrictive environments I was able to easily maintain 8 of the 10 essentials along with my other necessities in a small bag. The load was intended to prepare me for three environments.
1) Airport- I almost had to spend the night because of a storm
2) Flight- in air emergency or crash
3) In Vegas during Shot Show
This past weekend I was on a cold weather camping trip with the Boy Scouts. Except for more clothes, hammock, sleeping bag, and knife, my kit was pretty much the same as traveling for SHOT.
Another good idea is to have a second set of your essentials that you can give to someone else in an emergency or help add redundancy to your gear.
Look at any three of the essential lists above and ask yourself how well you could exploit those items with your current skill set. If the answer scares you, and it should scare anyone, get off your ass and train instead of buying more gear.
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