I do the same. My EDC/PSK is on the bedside table when I'm sleeping or showering indoors (when sleeping outdoors I keep it on my person). The rest of the time it is attached to my body either in a pocket or around my neck. Technically its all waterproof so I could shower with it but my wife already thinks Im strange enough <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I wear my favorite pair of boots in the whole world everyday. They are cheap-o wall-mart brand boots(the workload Cam-2) that cost $30 Canadian. Now before you have an anyerism, let me first say that budget is a huge concern to me (being a student with no fiscal support) and second, I have not found a way yet to kill these boots. I've always worn low profile, subtle boots since I was a kid and have a knack for seperating sole from shoe, toe from tip and lace from ring. The first time I bought this pair was as an emergancy stop gap, looking for the cheapest boot posible and they just stuck. I buy a pair a year because only because i start to wear out the treads way before anything strats to tear and I don't fancy slipping my way through a Canadian winter. Im sure there are better boots availible, but the cost to performance on these are very high.

BTW, Im not trying to sell boots for walmart or anything, in fact I would encourage people to support small and local stores than to shop at a monolithic monopoly machine. They just happen to reliably carry my fav pair of boots.

I found myself invited on a hiking trip out in the Monongahela State Park in WV without a proper pair of boots.

I got a pair of Wal-Mart hiking boots and they work just fine for most things. There are obvious drawbacks (lack of true waterproofing, thickness of sole, etc.), but for $18 and a last minute purchase they served me just fine. My father has a pair of high end boots, but he is going to keep a pair of the Wal Mart ones in his trunk as backups.


But on the general topic- the first “survival fashion” tip that really struck home for me was to stop wearing cotton. Working up a sweat and then finding yourself in a cold environment is bad news. Switching to Capilene was a smart move for me, as I am probably way more likely to face hypothermia than fire.

What knot do you use for the laces? I've tried paracord with a regular bow not but they keep trying to come loose.

It’s a basic bow knot, but tied twice. Go over and under like usual then go under with one end again. Pull this down tight. When you make your bow, instead of going around the loop once go around it twice then through to make the other loop. Kinda hard to describe but real easy and it holds.

When I undress at night I put my dirty clothes next to the bed in the same place every night. If I have to I can grab my trousers (PSK and EDC in pockets already) in the dark. If I had time I could grab the rest with my delay in leaving the room only a couple of seconds. I do not plan on leaving the house naked so am going to grab trousers no matter what. To be honest I can grab trousers with one hand and boots with the other with no time delay on exiting the room at all. When I get up in the morning without an emergency its just a case of putting on new clothes, transfering EDC to the new pockets and putting the dirty clothes in the washing basket. As long as you dont mind untidy clothes on the floor when you are in bed it solves lots of problems.

Again if I'm in the shower or bath my trousers and shoes are within grabbing range.

I do the same thing. All the dirty stuff goes into the hamper other than the pants/shorts I was wearing. They stay next to the bed. Everything gets switched the next morning to a new pair. Hard to loose your keys that way.

After tying the standard bow knot, finish with an overhand knot.

Pete

That's a pretty good system. I think I might start doing that. Heck thats where my clothes usually sit overnight anyway. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

As a starting point for everyday attire, a good rule-of-thumb is to always wear (or keep close):

• a coat warm enough to spend the next 24 hours outside (including if it rains)
• shoes good enough to walk home from school / work / wherever

The most "dangerous" seasons in this regard are Spring and Fall, when the days are warm but the nights are cold. For rain protection I don't always have a waterproof coat but have a plastic garbage bag or, more recently, a Wal-Mart disposable poncho (less than $1 USD) in my PSK.

Steve