As you can tell by the picture above I carry a ton of crap with me from day to day. 2 firearms, 4 knives, 2 flashlights, pen, pepper spray, flash drive, tools, quikclot, and spare mags. Everything pictured either rides in a pocket or on my belt line in some form or fashion. Get comfortable this might end up being a long one, as I break down what I carry, why I carry it, and where I carry it.
My primary gun.
There are many Glock 19’s but this one is mine.
Boresight solutions custom gen 3 Glock 19, equipped with a Surefire XC1 weapon light. Trijicon HD night sights (yellow front sight), vickers tactical extended controls (mag release + slide stop) trigger group is a mixture of Glock OEM and Apex Tactical. Loaded with 15+1 of 9mm 124 grain Speer Gold Dot Hollow Points all riding in a G-Code INCOG holster. IWB (inside the waistband) strong side roughly 2:30 position.
I also carry 2 spare Glock 17 Mags. Loaded the same. IWB Weak side 9 o’clock position in a Sharktac custom Glock mag carrier that I lined myself with fake sued I found on eBay. If you haven’t heard of Sharktac custom holsters please click the link below and check out their stuff. By far the best custom Glock mag carrier I’ve ever owned.
If you carry a gun carry at least one spare mag, not only because no one comes out of a gun fight wishing they had less ammo. But they can also aid in fixing certain malfunctions especially double feeds. Also having 2 17 round mags on your hip and 16 rounds in the gun totaling 50 rounds adds just as much confidence as it does weight to your belt.
http://www.tacticalholsters.com/product/INCOG.html
http://www.boresightsolutions.com
Backup Gun
Smith & Wesson 442 air weight .38 + p
No frills, no thrills, nothing fancy. Just a simple reliable double action only 5 shot snub nose revolver. Loaded with 110 grain Horandy FTX .38 + P. Rides in a random kydex holster I found on eBay lined with the same fake sued. Carried IWB Weak side, right behind my 2 mags roughly 8 o clock position.
Why I carry a backup gun, the short answer.
Primary gun encounters a catastrophic malfunction, strong hand is no longer in the fight, you need to arm someone you trust to watch your 6 in a active shooter situation, or you have spent ALL 50 ROUNDS FROM YOUR PRIMARY! The reasons are many to carry a backup.
LET THERE BE LIGHT!
If we could all just simply speak to the darkness and create light, there would be no need to carry a quality white light with you. But unfortunately we cannot…
I carry 2 handheld lights and one mounted to my primary weapon.
The smaller is a Olight s10 baton 400 lumen multi purpose non tactical light.
This is my utility light, it’s not super blinding bright but it’s still bright enough to light up a room when you can’t find a light switch. There are many things about this little light that has held its place in my EDC line up for years. The bottom of the light is magnetic. If needed it can stick to anything metal and give you a bit of extra light when needed. The power button glows in the dark (if previously charged) making it very easy to see on the nightstand, that means no fumbling for it if you want it to accompany you to the bathroom when nature calls past zero dark 30. Lastly the pocket clip will attach to the brim of a baseball cap effortlessly and give you hands free light for any task being done in the dark. It’s a steal at only $35.00 on Amazon. It is carried in a lower leg pocket on my right side (carpenter jeans)
The larger is by far my favorite light ever made, it is a Klarus XT11 1060 lumen tactical flashlight. Tail cap has two buttons, one for momentary/constant on. The other is for instant strobe. The strike bezel is right between being sharp enough to use as a defensive weapon and dull enough not to tear up my pocket. It has 4 modes.
Low = 17 lumens
Medium = 302 lumens
High = 1060 lumens
Strobe = 1060 lumens
2.5 hour run time on high. Powered by 2 cr123’s or 1 18650 rechargeable. I highly recommend the 18650 and a good charger. I swap my battery out once a week to prevent losing power
Every time the light is switched on it defaults to the high 1060 lumen mode regardless of what mode it was turned off in.
It has a good weight, reliable, simple to use, and tough as nails.
It is carried in my front left pocket (weak side) and just so I don’t repeat myself on why I carry it, check out my post on white light applications
https://staysuspicious.com/white-light-applications/
Knives
Who doesn’t carry a knife? Where I’m from they are more common than anti gun stickers on a Toyota Prius.
4 very different knives. 4 different purposes. Let’s start from the bottom and work our way up.
Victorinox Swiss army executive.
This is more than a tool than a knife, I’ve never actually used either of the two blades available on this little knife. I carry it for three reasons.
Scissors
Tweezers
Tooth pick
Mainly tooth pick, but really that’s why I have it, it’s carried amongst a few other small tools in my front left pocket.
Number 2
Fox Knives / Doug Marcaida Dart Karambit.
This is my strictly defensive knife. No box opening, no rope cutting, no being handed to anyone for any reason. This is my CQB defensive folder. If you are not familiar with The karambit style knife, I could explain it or I could post a link to the master of the karambit here below.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OfO_ZCXNsCA
Okay… Now that you see its potential let me say that I am no where near as smooth as Doug with the dart. Train, Train, then Train some more. I hope to take one of his classes and fully open up the potential for carrying a karambit.
It is carried in my front right pocket.
If you are interested in purchasing the dart the link is below.
Number 3
Ka Bar TDI
The defensive/utility knife.
This knife is cheap, tough, sharp, and super easy re-sharpen. The only fixed blade in the line up. This is the do all knife. Everyday tasks of opening boxes from Amazon to fending off an attacker while I create space to draw my primary gun.
Again to try to shorten this as best as I can here’s a link to my thoughts on carrying a fixed blade for EDC
https://staysuspicious.com/fixed-blade-edc/
Anyone who carries a knife, understands what I’m about to talk about. There are four words in the English language that can put fear in the heart of any blade enthusiast. Those four words are “anybody got a knife?”
If you are anything like me these words are worse than nails on a chalk board. Everyone knows you would be the guy to ask for a knife, you don’t want to be rude. You be polite and hand them something that easily cost you over $100, something that you clean, oil, and sharpen regularly and it never fails… The bring it back, accompanied by chips in the blade, a bent or broken pocket clip, or by far the worst… A broken tip.
Well, that’s where this TDI really shines, no pocket clip to bend or break. No way to close it so no one will “forget” they have it, and if the blade gets bent, chipped, or broken, under $40 and two days from Amazon will have you a brand new knife.
It is carried in the kydex sheath it came with from Ka Bar. I’ve added Velcro to both sides of the sheath, so it can attach to my riggers belt anywhere there is Velcro. It is carried horizontally right at the 12 o clock position and can be accessed by either hand.
Lastly number 4
Spyderco Delica 4
My just because knife, my brand whore knife, my “I like the way this one looks and I like vg10 blade steel” knife.
Yes I know this is vain, but I have some sort of sentimental attachment to the Spyderco brand, I’ve carried them for years. I just don’t feel right walking out of the house without a vg10 or a s30v blade steel Spyderco. I can do everything that needs to be done with the 3 other knives I carry daily, I simply carry this one because I like it.
Last time I checked this was still MURICA, and I can do things simply because I want or like to.
It is carried in my back left pocket.
Now we move on to the unclassified items. Let’s start at the left and work our way right.
1st
32 gig flash drive. Made by Corsair, this is one in their survivor line. It is shock resistant, water resistant, and heat resistant.
I keep password protected copies of all of my personal info, drivers license, social security card, and all of the same for my wife. I also keep a protected version of my NFA trust for all of my class three items, copies of my tax stamps, and a full list of my guns with serial numbers in case one of them is stolen. Carried in front left pocket.
2nd
Sabre Red pepper spray
Okay… Okay stop laughing… Yes I carry pepper spray. Yes I know I carry a handful of knives and not 1 but 2 firearms. But… There are some situations where less lethal is the best course of action. Pepper spray is the line between talking your way out of something and putting your front sight on center mass and pressing the trigger. It can stop less motivated threats. It can help create space while you transition to your primary weapon. Also in worst case scenarios it can help prove escalation of force in a good shoot / bad shoot conviction. Carried in front right pocket.
3rd
A 25 gram small sized sterile QuikClot sponge. This is the only medical item I carry on my person. I have a far better stocked medical kit in the tactical man purse that is with me everywhere I go. If you are not familiar with what QuikClot is, I’m not going to go into the technical aspects of it, simply because it is well above my pay grade.
Here is a link to QuikClot http://www.quikclot.com/About-QuikClot
To put it simply, it stops ya from bleedin. The package itself says “for temporary external use to control traumatic bleeding.”
That should be all I have to say as to why I carry it but I’ll dive into a bit more detail.
This isn’t a final solution to a problem, it’s a temporary fix until trained professionals can patch you up. There are a lot of misconceptions about QuikClot. It’s no longer in a powder form, it doesn’t burn when applied, and it’s not magic. I’ve read stories on the Internet of the older versions of QuikClot, folks used it to treat traumatic injuries and the people being treated described it as pouring molten lava into their open wounds… Yeah I know, sounds fun.
The product has evolved, it says plainly on their website that it no longer produces an exothermic reaction. Fancy way of saying no more lava in your bullet wound. I can attest to this fact first hand. I few years ago I had a mishap with a very very sharp EDC knife that sent blood squirting out of my finger. Grabbed the QuikClot, prepared myself for the lava… And nothing. No additional pain, no burning, only thing I noticed is that the bleeding quickly slowed, and then stopped. After about 15 min I removed the QuikClot gauze replaced it with normal gauze and after a day or so it was back to normal. Here I am a few years later and I have a hard time finding the scar.
You should carry some type of medical supplies, learn how to use them properly, and be just as ready to stop bleeding as you are for anything else.
QuikClot is carried in my back left pocket.
4th
Gerber impromptu tactical pen.
The impact weapon perfectly disguising itself as a writing utensil. And one heck of a writing utensil I might add. Being a small business owner, providing written estimates and signing contracts is a part of daily life.
It’s a pen, so you know, you can use it to write stuff… On paper. It also has a glass breaker at the tip and is machined from a block of TEMPERED STEEL!!!
This is a great weapon to have in hand when you get that uncomfortable feeling. Like being in an elevator and the guy next to you keeps giving you the side eye and balling his fists. 9 times out of 10 in super tight spaces with strangers this pen is in my hands being fiddled with, helping with my nervous twitch, hiding in plain sight waiting to be used as a impact weapon. It’s never had to be used as such, also no one has been the wiser to its intent.
Carried front right pocket.
5th
The last two items pictured go together. This is the multi tool from MultiTasker called the Twist.
Essentially it is as pen shaped multitool accompanied by a set of bits. Each one of the bits can be used in the tool itself, the bits are what you would expect. Phillips, Flat head, Hex, a couple of star keys and a AR-15 front sight tool. Both ends of the tool unscrew giving you the ability to use any of the bits and a assortment of other tools hidden inside. The hidden tools include a small dental like pick, a carbon scraper, and a 3/32 pin punch. My favorite part about this small tool is the end cap will work to adjust aimpoint micro optics for elevation and windage. It’s small, lightweight, and handy if you spend a lot of time around guns.
Carried in my back right pocket.
And finally the last thing in my EDC line up.
Glock Armorers tool.
I’ve been an Armorer for 5 years now, and I’ll never forget sitting down in the class for the first time, next to law enforcement and military professionals. Having no prior training, no military history, just a guy who really likes guns feeling way way out of his league. This little tool in front of me and a very small flat head screw driver. The instructor says welcome to The Glock Armorers course the tools In front of you are the only things needed to fully disassemble and reassemble any of the pistols in Glock’s line up. I laughed at the simplicity of it. Completely tear apart an entire weapon platform and put it back together with this little thing. From the looks of those around me I could see that now, I wasn’t the only one feeling out of place.
I carry this not because I expect to have to fully dissemble my primary gun in the field. It’s more of a personal memento, a trophy proving to myself that I can do anything I put my mind to. I never thought i’d be a “certified anything” in the gun world, while being a certified Glock Armorer isn’t a hard task to accomplish, it was something I never thought I’d do.
Now this little armorers tool serves as a reminder to stay motivated, evidence that there is no such thing as out of my league, and a sign to notice the simple things in life.
Thanks for sticking with me through this insane list. I hope it gave you some ideas on your own EDC line up. Is there anything in your list that is a essential that I left out? Let me know, let’s discuss.
Stay motivated
StaySuspicious
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