I had my pride handed to me on a saltine cracker the other day..

I had my "kit" less than 50 yards away, everything we here on this site say we need to carry on us as far as a psk goes.

I was at work, in a very secure federal installation where you need proximity cards to get into the first 2 sets of doors. Not to mention I had to be screened into the parking lot by the 3 armed federal guards who electronically opened the barbed wire fence to let me in.


I headed into the building and signed in, settled down and started doing my job. Across the room there sat my small, politically correct backpack.

With that pack, I am completely able to survive at a minimum of 3 days. Water purification, shelter, first aid, fire making, para cord, you name it....

You drop me, and that pack into most areas and I would have zero problems staying alive until I either get rescued or walk myself out of there.

I needed to take a leak, so I headed to the bathroom. Less than 50 yards away. So like a million times before,I went there and walked into the bathroom, shut and locked the door behind me.... I did what I needed to do, washed up and went to unlock the door.

The lock had decided to fail at that moment.. I was locked in a small room, with a big steel door and no possible way out... I was trapped!! I kicked, I pounded, I tried everything.. (I'm 6'3 and 275 lbs so it was no small effort.. )

I work in a remote part of the building where the possibility of someone coming by was improbable .I was at the mercy of the fates, period.. If I had my leatherman I could have gotten out of there very easily.But that wasn't possible...

My multitool was in my bag, as was my emergency tool...

Eventually a janitor came by and let me out after 2 hours.

Stop and think about that for a second, and I mean really let it set in.

If it isn't on your person, it has no usefulness whatsoever. 1000 bucks of kit 50 feet away is useless, but 5 bucks worth of kit in your pocket is PURE GOLD.

Always keep the basics in your pockets. Always.. No matter where you are..

think about it....

Having worked in a similar environment before, I was always uncomfortable with the official and unofficial restrictions placed on what I could carry on my person.

If I was to appear as overly paranoid or eccentric, I would get less than good evaluations until I was judged incompetent and done away with or I would hear those fateful, dreaded words spoken to me, "Loss of confidence", at which time I would have been quietly disappeared/banished to Antartica or to a LORAN-C station at a desert Pacific Island such as French Frigate Shoal.

I am glad that I am now retired, having dodged those bullets for 22 years and 5 months!!!!! Now, I can laugh every month when my retirement check lands into my bank account!!!!

After thinking long and hard about what kinds of situations I could end up in, I started my journey of self-sufficiency with a SAK. There are too many scenarios that could become reality and those are only the ones that were thought of, especially in an urban environment. Tools were the common denominator. With tools you can create almost anything you can dream of in an emergency.

Being prepared for almost any situation is the reason I carry my SAK and Leatherman Wave wherever I go, 24/7. I also carry a Maglite Solitaire flashlight with me at all times. Even into the restroom. My wife thinks I'm nuts until she needs something done in an emergency. If I don't have 'em I feel a little under dressed.

Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Glad to hear that it was only 2 hours. Could you imagine overninght?

We learn from such experiences, and again we learn that it does no good to "have" something but not be able to reach it when you need it.

Perhaps a minor rethinking of our EDC kits is in order. Personally, in my pockets (along with keys and usual loose coin/junk) at all the times are: 1) SAK 2) Maglite Solitare and 3) a "bic" lighter/matches. Maybe the EDC kit idea should be seen as add-ons to these. These three things are part of getting dressed.

May I ask how?

I carry a Leatherman, but it's a tiny P4. It's a compromise between the need to have something on me, and the inconvenience of weight and bulk. I'm not going to carry a big tool. So this raises the question of whether it is, in fact, too small to be of real use in a crisis.

It was for this reason that the Mission Wallet was invented.

Me too. I figure that is why Leatherman tools come with a belt pouch. Mine has a Solitaire in the little elastic pouch on one side, and an EZ-lap sharpener in the one on the other side. The pouch is ALWAYS on my belt...

No cell phone with you to call out?
Bill

a LOT of Federal Facilities (particularly if the deal with classified stuff) won't let you take a cell phone inside, much less anything else.

He never really said which Leatherman he has in his kit, only that it would do the job. I am carrying the new Squirt E4 because it fits easily in the mission wallet and the wire strippers and electrical wire cutters actually work. I don't need to EDC scissors and IMO the Squirt pliers are too small to be useful. The Leatherman in my kit is a Charge Ti. I wouldn't EDC that in an office setting either -- something to reevaluate.