"Those that are asking why I carry something ... are normally in the process of needing what they are asking why I carry it."

Yes, they don't even get it then! I just say, "Oh, it's come in handy a time or two." Explaining is a waste of time. If they have to ask the question, they aren't likely to understand the answer.

Sue

I, too, have carried band aids in my wallet for several years. It really keeps things on an even keel when someone gets a minor owie - which accounts for the majority of "first aid" incidents. I usually keep a decent but small FAK in my bag or brief case. I will get into it about once a year, but those are fairly significant incidents. I am a bit surprised that your instructors haven't started carrying a few band aids themselves.

The most useful item in my EDC is probably a flashlight on my key chain. It came in very handy last year when I was assessing a fellow worker with a petit mal seizure, and I use it pretty often for far less serious situations.

If it isn't on your person, it is entirely too likely that it will be unavailable in a sudden emergency.

"I carry X because you don't and you need it and now you owe me. Big time."

Always something of a oddity that so many think carrying a sharp knife sharp is a radical act. Somehow both dangerous and, no pun intended, edgy.

A bit of a bumper sticker slogan but if you want to carry a dull knife you can avoid the odd looks and carry a spoon.

I occasionally get funny looks, but not that often as I rarely advertise what I'm carrying. The really funny thing is how often people rib me for the first aid kit I carry in my chef knife case. Especially given I've cut a fingertip off twice and had innumberable cuts that should have been stitched, not to mention the uncountable burns I've received over the years. Given the fact that professional cooks spend many hours swinging razor sharp knives and working over 1200 degree broiler and vats of 350 degree fat you'd think the notion of carrying some advanced 1st Aid tech would be passe. Of course, they quit laughing when I cap their "gusher" with a Hemcon bandage or a package of Celox.

Incidentally my work FAK is pretty minimal. Since I work a quarter mile from the best hospital in the state my emergency kit is geared towards the most common kitchen problems: Cuts, burns & hangovers. A couple of times I probably could have some my electrolyte tablets for $10 each.

I got stymied today. I saw a woman at my hotel waiting at the elevator with a unopened bottle of wine, they had left the cork screw in the car. Of course I had my EDC on me but brought my LM w/ me for the trip and not my SA Champ which has a cork screw. She laughed because her husband was in the same boat, thus the trip to the car. We got a good laugh on that.

I usually just reply that I grew up in the Boy Scouts and was taught to be prepared.

I don't really have one thing that stands out as far as being asked. I get asked about everything, from a flashlight, to bandaids, to duct tape.

I guess duct tape is the funniest one to me.

I think a lot of us started out as Scouts, and it's just a natural progression. Last week was spent in Disney World in FLA and my Mother in Law spent it in a rented wheelchair due to really bad knees. Anyway one of her chairs kept telescoping just enough that the front wheels would connect with the larger wheels. My Father in Law looks at me and says that if we were home he knew that I would have Duct tape. The look on his face was priceless when I just smiled and handed him my small roll of DT that I keep wrapped around a flashlight.
I also supplied band aids, dental floss and safety pins to everyone throughout the trip

On Thanksgiving, when everybody was trying to figure out where north was, I was asked why I have a tiny button compass. The question brought laughs and heehaws. Nobody listened to my answer, and nobody made the connection to survival of course.

Flashlight or headlamp. I don't know how many times I have been asked why I "feel the need" to carry a flashlight with me all the time. I usually say "because I am afraid of the dark".

At work, many co-workers have laughed at my headlamp. For some reason the same firefighter's who see no problem with a light on their fire helmet or a headlamp on their wildland helmet think wearing a headlamp on an EMS call is weird... until they want to borrow it of course. I on the other hand believe trying to hold a light between your shoulder and head is dumb, and having to have someone hold a light for you when you are charting is a waste.

Firearms are a close second... and I usually respond with an adaptation of a Pat Rogers' quote "I don't carry because I am looking for a gunfight, I carry because I don't want to miss the opportunity to return fire should I find myself in a gunfight." or "You never need a gun until you need one very badly"