That is exactly what I have done, moved the wave to the maxpedition fatboy along with the surfire e2e in the briefcase and going with the smaller pocketknife and a peak 3led light on the keychain for edc

I have been thinking about carrying a Leatherman Squirt P4 with pliers and my Micra with scissors in place of the PSTII. That would cover almost 95% of my needs.

What What What!?!?!?!?!? How dare you?!?!?!?!?

No no.. I'm kidding. I have made several attempst to EDC my Wave and failed on all counts, although I've found that it's not too bad with the pocket clip. I may try again some day but currently it resides happily at the ready in my family BOB in the office closet, which I think is the perfect place for it. The vehicles and the garage have tools. For bugging out the Wave is the perfect "little toolbox".

For what it's worth my bare minimum EDC is a [color:"green"] firestarter [/color], a [color:"green"] flashlight [/color] and a [color:"green"] knife [/color]. What I carry changes from time to time as I continually search for the perfect tools for my purposes but the one thing that never changes is that simple 3 item list of bare minimum EDC.

Firestarter
Flashlight
Knife

>Are you using the phone cards as long distance cards for a >landline phone? I didn't quite understand that part.

Yes indeed. I don't have a cell phone. I have found that after an earthquake, or just busy phone times (Mothers day, etc) one phone service, such as AT&T may be busy, while another like MCI gets me through. It just provides more options to get through during times of system overload.

The cards can be purchased at places like Costco, Sam’s Club, etc. The rates are down to 2.8 cents per minute. The cards can have more minutes added via phone line and your credit card. I may let my AT&T card lapse since they started adding a "re-charge fee" (what a rip-off). I even dropped long distance service on my home phone. This alone has saved me at least $5 in monthly fees and taxes. All long distance goes on the phone cards for me.

If you don't want to bother with the cards you can get the access codes for the different long distance services (this was my old secret before getting the calling cards to save money). These are numbers that you can dial on any phone to access different long distance services.

Dial the access code then 0+ phone number to use your own local phone card.
Dial the access code then 1+ phone number to charge to the phone you are using.

Some access codes:
Allnet -10444
American Network/Savenet - 10311
American PTT - 10278
American Telephone Exchange - 10050
Amptelco Systems - 10267
AT&T - 10288
Com Systems - 10266
Comex/Chinamerica - 10788
CP National - 10276
Escondido Telephone Co. - 10441
Express Tel- 10700
GTE Sprint -10777
ITT .-10488
MCI - 10222
Republic Telecom -10001
SBS - 10888
Standard Information Services - 10747
TDX Systems - 10223
Telesphere Network -. 10555
TMC Long Distance - 10007
U.S. Telecom - 10333
Western Union- 10220

Many of the long distance companies also have "800" access numbers that can be used in the same way.


I don't even bother to carry the calling cards anymore (too much weight?). I use PrintShop to print up business cards on card stock or any suitable heavy paper. I get 10 cards to a sheet of paper. I use a paper cutter to cut out the cards for a professional result. I use Rubber Maid clear shelving paper for a low cost laminate. On each card I have the calling card numbers, all emergency and family phone numbers as well as important e-mail addresses are on the cards. There are times that the phone lines may be down, but the WEB is up. I also keep the passwords to my home e-mail addresses on the card. This allows me to check my home e-mail from any functioning computer on the net.

I keep one of these cards in my wallet, and another goes in my wife’s wallet. One card each in each of our personal preparedness kits (my wife’s at her work, and the kids in their kits at school). I update the cards annually or as needed.

Hope this helps. TR

Neat tip. Thanks!

Your post was quite interesting. It made me think a great deal. I work across the street from my house which is next to a big hospital. I moved there when I started working with rattlesnakes as a hobby. I live next to the lifeflight helipad and I get ambulances and helicopters all night long. I personally loved the commotion but the wife is getting tired of it after four years. I ain't moving though she might. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> I decided tonight to downsize in a major way. I went so minimal since I can make it home in about 45 seconds if I need to. The only thing I am not really ready for is an explosion that would level my house and that is unlikely. If it does happen I am not concerned about too many things as long as the family is not home. I hope to be posting before and after pics of what I had then and what I have now.

I would also add a question. Are we talking bare minimum in terms of size, weight, or functionality?

For instance, many here would consider the Photon to be a minimum lighting standard, but I can't see with it unless my environment is pitchblack. As soon as dusk sets in I have a flashlight at the ready.

My own personal lighting EDC minimums are the Inova X5T for LED and the SureFire E2e for incandescent. I am never without them, even in my dress suit. It takes a bit of doing, but I manage to cram them in!

Many here don't leave home without the Wave. I too, carry it in my briefcase, but not on my person. I carry my MiniChamp and any one of my small locking folders in my pockets. There's not much I need to open in suburbia that the MiniChamp can't handle. On the other hand, should I need to break down one of those huge heavy-duty cardboard boxes, the Wave's blade would come in handy.

-- Craig

basically talking size and weight here, I don't want to give up functionality, otherwise I would carry a scalpel blade in my wallet for a knife and one of those bobber led lights, but I don't want to go so sub-miniature that it is ridiculous. I am over 50 after all, I have to be able to see the stuff I'm using!

I was thinking much the same thing, but the Squirt's pliers seem frail to me. They don't look sturdy. Can anyone counter that? Does anyone have experience where the pliers took much more stress than they should be able to?

Copy that. I'm 44 and my focal length is changing all the time. Most of the time I can fool myself into thinking I'm still 24, until I have to read/see something close up. I can't fool myself when I'm using my bifocals!

-- Craig