What is practical to carry every day in summer when you don't have bulky winter coats with big cargo pockets? I carry my leatherman wave in my pocket, but what else should be carried when you don't have a lot of pockets or want to look like an apprentice shoplifter with bulky pockets?

Most of us can get our stuff into a playing card sized box -- easy to carry & remember. Look at some of the "EDC" threads.

tro

My every day attire in the summer is shorts and a golf shirt or shorts and a tshirt with tennis shoe, sandals or bare feet. When I am dressed this way all I carry is a light weight full size folder (BM-RSK, BM-ACFK or Spyderco Salt), a mini bic lighter, a modified (shortened) Inova microlight, my wallet, keys and cell phone. Inside my wallet is also an oven bag, a bit of duct tape and a couple katadyn MP-1 tabs. The only thing I really do differently is if I am wearing jeans or sturdy shorts then I may carry a fixed blade CRK shadow III and/or a multitool in place of the above mentioned knives.

Eagle Creek makes a dandy little padded fanny pack sized to carry a smallish camera. I have no idea what model it is or what it's called; but it holds my wallet, a SAK, a mini Witz container with minimalistic 1st Aid items, a Photon Freedom with clip, an emergency poncho and a mini PSK or Doug's PSK with a tad of room left to spare. Even in gym shorts and a t-shirt, it rides comfortably and securely without looking out of place...

M

I am in your situation almost year round here in Phoenix.

Here is what you have to do to survive 3 days: thermo-regulate, hydrate, and communicate.

I would have to be up north to get cold. I carry a LeatherMan Charge Ti clipped in my pocket; it has a saw. I have 10’ of thin braided nylon cord in my watch pocket. If there were trees around I could build some kind of shelter. I have an Altoids strips metal tin that holds two squished Coghlan’s Emergency Tinder I also have a Boy Scout Hot Spark. The back of the LeatherMan saw works great to make sparks. I also have a Bic-mini lighter. It is great for burning the ends of rope and cord. When I go hiking I always take a water bottle or wear my CamelBack. The CamelBack has my Cody Lundin, 98.6, type survival kit. To communicate I always have a Fox-40 in my pocket and a cut down REI featherweight mirror in my wallet. A cell phone is good if it works where you happen to be.

For comfort: I have Chapstick, two Band-Aids (in my wallet), an Ultra Infinity LED (AA), and a Suunto Comet compass with a glow-in-the-dark face. If I were a real survival nut I would keep a folded up square of heavy-duty aluminum foil in my back pocket. Because I am a self-defense nut; I carry a SureFire C2 clipped to my belt and a canister of pepper spray in my pocket. A Glock .40 S&W is seldom far away.

Someone else’s survival may depend on a 3 day supply of prescription medication, if needed.

I’ve listened to Cody Lundin talk. You are most likely to need your PSK when you go day hiking. He said that is when most people get lost and die from lack of thermo-regulation. Think about the rule of 3s only up to 3 days: you can do something stupid and die in 3 seconds, you can die in 3 hours from lack of thermo-regulation, or you can die in 3 days from dehydration. After 3 days they will probably stop looking for you. Then it is time for plan B: get yourself out.

Remember: the best source of water is the water you carry with you. If you had a backpack full of the world’s best camping gear but no water you could still die. I think that if you had a fire starter and a jug of water you could survive the 3 days.

Ooops! Forgot to add the 3-minute rule of 3s. You can die in three minutes from lack of oxygen to the brain from bleeding or breathing problems. Clear the airway and stop the bleeding.

Or 3 weeks from starvation. That's the normal 3s- 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, or 3 weeks without food.

I find it practical to carry a key-ring kit. At minimum, an LED torch (eg Photon 3), a whistle (eg Fox 40), and a small swiss army knife (eg a Vic Rambler). Add a spy-capsule with tinder and either a min-Bic lighter (or any lighter which makes a spark) or a flint rod. A small compass is good too. And some parachord plaited into a key-fob.

I also carry a wallet with money and some "flat" things: a mirror, a Space Pen refill and some water proof paper, a fresnel lens.

I have a watch and a mobile phone. Since I am carrying them anyway, it makes sense to select them with an eye for survival.

Use a waist pack or a back pack if you think you might need more gear. Anything big enough to carry water and a spare water-proof fleece will have room for a PSK.

Bragdon,
Good thought about the watch and mobile phone, picked with an eye for survival--so which watch and mobile phone do you use??? And what are your reasons??

Oops, sorry about misspelling your name, Brangdon