Saturday I made it as far as my car without my EDC.

Kinda hard to open the door without keys. At least my roommate was home.

Well, I guarentee that this sort of thing will not happen again. And, reffering to another thread, my DW informed me after she looked at this thread, that she was carrying her EDC (last time your wife surprised you). However, I am going to make a pack specifically for the ATV. It will be modular-should I need to hoof it out of there I can *ehhem* take it with me.

Interesting.

I think that is it far more efficient and effective to travel light and get used to getting by with minimal amounts of gear. Hard experience has shown that historically survival kits are easily lost. Usually this happens at the worse possible time. At sea in the middle of a storm, thrown overboard into severe rapids, after you tumble down the side of a mountain, your likely to find pockets ripped off, kits lost, gear you had counted upon, gone.

As much comfort as you may get from a nice comprehensive kit there is a good chance when you need it it won't be there. So while I don't eschew carrying a simple survival kit I think it best to be fully prepared to make do with the clothes on your back, a knife and a source of fire. And to have backup plans of making do with less than that.

Knock on wood, I've never forgotten my PSK and other gear when going on a hike (I always plan these in advance - no spuir of the moment deals).

Sometimes, around town, I'll just be planning on going to the grocery store and end up doing hours and hours of something else on top of that (so far, always urban/suburban, not unexpected wilderness). I don't carry my PSK around town with me (maybe I should). I do always carry my Spyderco knife and my "special keyring" though. That keyring, funny enough, doesn't have any keys on it. But it has a small capsule with a spare $100 bill in it, another capsule with Advil and baby aspirin (in case of suspected heart attack), a pen, a whistle, and a AAA LED light. I always have my cellphone and wallet too. So I do have a minimum amount of stuff that may be useful. One thing I'm missing on my keyring is some way of making fire, but I'm not terribly worried about that in my urban/suburban messings around.

For urban/surburban I used to have an Altoids tin PSK that I carried in my pocket, but often times found that to be too large and it got left at home many times (OK, lots of times). Thus the "special keychain" that always fits in the pocket of what I'm wearing. If I'm PLANNING on an urban/suburban run-around, I have a small BOB that I carry with me. That carries lots of emergency stuff (PSK, first aid, food, water, firemaking gear, bandana, sunblock, sunglasses, etc.) along with entertainment stuff (a book, deck of cards, small pieces of rope to practice knot tying, an iPod, etc.)

Contrary to your convictions, and certainly not any indictment on your character, the odds are that you will forget again. It may not be on the ATV, but it will happen somehwere, sometime, and there's a chance it will happen when you could really use it.

Of far, far greater importance is the knowledge and reasoning ability you keep with you at all times. More than anything else you could stuff in a sack, down a pocket, or attach to your transport, a properly equipped mind will do far more to ensure your survival.

That said, I've tried to incorporate more kit into my "true" EDC and not separate so that I can pull such a stunt. I've learned that I can attach most of my kit in one form or another to things like key chains, necklaces, or belt pockets so that they are virtually attached to me. I don't go anywhere without equipping the basics first thing in the morning. Yes, it makes my keychain, my wallet, my id badge, my necklace a bit more bulky, but you get used to that sort of thing pretty quickly. Also, by attaching all the seldom used but essential survival gear to my daily use EDC, I am forced to pare it down to just the essentials, and have to really think of ways to make the most out of what I pack. We all suffer from the same diaschisma of believing we need to fill an absolute void before we are secure, but most of the time, much of what we need is not that far out of hand. All we lack in sufficient knowledge or cognitive ability to make the most out of our given environments. Unless you find yourself at the top of a mountain, somewhere deep in Antarctica, or lost at sea, then the provision is usually there to undo most predicaments, otherwise mankind would not have been able venture forth as we did thousands of years ago to occupy most of the land mass of this planet. All it usually takes is time and effort to figure it out. The more you can do of that beforehand, the less artifical means you will need to take with you.

The first thing you should take mentally with you is awareness. Without that, no amount or type of gear is going to save your butt. It seems to me that you had that with you, even if you had a brain fart about the gear, and that makes the biggest difference.

The DR kit is the next best thing to forced attachment. If you can make it a true EDC like your keys or your wallet, you probably won't be as likely to lose it. It will become like putting on your socks in the morning. When was the last time you lost a sock at work?

My EDC kit goes into a backpack that goes with me everywhere. It is seldom off my body when I am out of the house. Somehow I have worn small backpacks long enough that its completely normal to see me with one and with my lifestyle it blends in quite well.

My EDC is mighty but quite small, less than a pound and fits a small pouch.

Checklists. Often, they are for remembering the easy stuff.


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( I sometimes pack a generic backpack for a friend -food, water, shelter-- just so they will have some stuff.)

Deleted because half of it got eaten.

Personally, I don't see the big deal. When I was as young as 10, I'd roam as many as 10 miles from home through the woods with nothing but the clothes on my back. Worst case scenario, if your friends all left, thought you'd gone ahead or something, and the atv conked out, you'd have had a 25 mile hike out, and maybe a night spent hungry and cold in the woods. Uncomfortale, but hardly life threatening -unless I missed something and the weather was crappy - or had the possibility of becoming that way. Something to be avoided, surely, that's why we prepare, but imo, not a big deal, we all forget sometimes, hell, I think I left home without my head once or twice. Of course living in the south, I could leave home naked and other than embarrassing a squirrel or too, I'd be fine 9 months out of the year.

Proving once again that God takes care of drunks and fools. I put myself in the latter category too many times to think about. Or to answer your question....YES. Since you can't change history learn from it and go on.

Take Care and Stay Safe.