EDC for the wife

I have decided to make a very simple/mini EDC for my wife. My basic choices thus far...mini biner or something to hold it all, with photon freedom led light and fox 40 for starters. Would like some recommendations on
-knife-smaller/simpler the better/something like SAK just for the scissors she'd probably like
-fire, do or don't ? She is really never is a remote enviorment on a daily basis.
Any suggestions would be of great help in deciding. Like i said, this is for the bare essentials....nothing advanced what so ever.
-i also considered kuboton and or mini mace for basic safety/protection

Figtree,

Instead of the Photon, consider an Arc AAA light with an Energizer Lithium AAA (L92) battery. It is a much more robust light, very small and light and the battery capacity of the AAA is much higher. Oh, and the Arc is regulated as well.

As for SAK, I like the Leatherman Juice line. I think the S2 model is one of their lighter ones that still has scissors. However, the main advantage of the Juice is the pliers which I think are a good thing to have. This means the weight is 4.4oz, which is a bit much unless she is already carrying a full size SAK. For a step down in size, the Leatherman Squirt is popular.

In regards to OC spray, I think the 2oz, "flip top" spray from Fox Labs is a good choice. I think the "cone" stream is a good for general purpose.

-john

Emergency cash, both paper and coins.

Went through same exercise few months ago, putting together keychain EDC for wife:

• Quickly learned…her willingness to actually carry dropped dramatically as bulk and weight increased. So, had to overcome my tendency to overload (like I do my own). The axiom “best equipment is what you have with you” figured prominently in final version.

• Since size/weight ruled, some utility was sacrificed.

• Ended up with: Photon Freedom; Bison small-cylinder whistle; Leatherman Micra (decent scissors her requirement); Fox keychain pepper spray ½-oz. An aside: I actually bought two of the pepper spray units, and had her discharge one to give her better feel for how it functions, what to expect from spray pattern, range etc. (been told that smaller/keychain units should be replaced annually due to unavoidable leakage of propellant over time; no firsthand experience yet).

• On plus side, she religiously carries her cell phone (and equally diligent about keeping charged). So, I wedged a folded-up $20 bill in bottom of cell phone case (and check occasionally to ensure she hasn’t “borrowed” it).

A bit beyond your scope, but I’ll also mention that hand-in-hand with this project, I undertook a campaign (training, as it were) to improve her situational awareness.

Before that, she’d been pretty much of the “that wouldn’t happen to me” school of thought. So, I started calling her attention to newspaper articles and TV news stories anytime a woman in our metro area was carjacked, assaulted, approached in a shopping center or parking garage etc. (yes, blatant scare tactics). It worked. She’s more tuned-in to her surroundings, and has a clearer idea of how she should react in a given situation.

A whistle. You can blow a whistle louder than you can shout, and you can blow a whistle longer than you can shout.

Phil

Good thinking here. Especially about "testing" your pepper spray.

I find spouses will come around slowly and especially in their edc is practical --band-aids, ibuprofin, scissors are more likely to be carried than a glock.

Our family awareness has taken a huge leap since Katrina -- and started discussing what if scenarios.

TRO

I'd go with a small SAK or Leatherman for the moment. Maybe add some duct tape, it's always useful. A needle and some thread or dental floss, a couple safety pins. Will she look askance at a "survival" Kit? If so present it as a collection of handy tools for daily repair, etc. Maybe a lighter and something to carry water in, if you can get her to.

Agreed. As far as My Better Half is concerned, bulk + weight = left behind. Why? There's not enough room for her cosmetics. Simple question. Simple answer. Plus, if there's a potential for a broken nail, forget it. She'd really rather have beautiful nails. Seriously.

She is much more ruthless than I am. If it is even slightly gimmicky -- the stuff most guys live for -- it doesn't stand a chance. She won't make the time for it.

I have managed to sell her on carrying a RES-Q-ME, a Photon II, and a SureFire E2e I gave her. She already carries an old Wenger SAK her aunt gave her. Her house keys are on a lightweight polymer kubotan. I believe she has the minimum basics. Any more would be pushing it.

-- Craig

You are on the ETS website and you are not going to get her the ETS PSP?

Craig_phx -

Point well-taken, but Craig (in PA) said it all:


As I said in a post few months ago, my wife's idea of PSK is nail-repair equipment: super glue, polish remover, nail polish, spare acrylic nails.

But, as I think about it...myriad uses for super glue and polish remover...including fire-starting <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Wonder if the acrylic nails have any nutritional value?

She already has the PSP in her 4-runner, so thats covered. besides, she'd never use half of it anyway...... Thanks for everyones input thus far (keep the suggestions comming). As some stated earlier, the idea is something she would actually use. In case someone asks, she too is an RN/EMT so the medical part is more than taken care of as far as "gear" in general is covered. I also already outfitted her 4-runner with the basics, thats why i was targeting EDC for her pocket/purse senario.

Just read the rest of the responses on here......the ibuprofen , made me think about one of the aluminum vials for some basic meds.......i know she'd love that idea. Thanks again team!

An RN/EMT? You probably have half the convincing done for you.

I'd say something a little more robust than a Photon, like a Mag Solitaire, or (because I'm going to catch heat for suggesting the evil Mag) a similiarly designed LED light. Either way, running off AA or AAA. I might wrap a few feet of duct tape around the light body, so you can safely bite down on it without chipping teeth, and because, well, it is duct tape. At the very least, a little electricians tape.

For the knife/multitool, I really like the Micra over the S4 or the SAK Classic, but have her handle them all.

For whistle, the new Fox that Doug helped design- flat and loud.

I would add a bit of paracord. I like a three-plait braid using doubled strands, and split the pairs into individual braids, and whip the ends.

Had I ever refered to any of my wives as "the wife" they would have been ex a lot sooner, and no longer friends.

Amen, I'm always looking for the next Ex-Mrs. Guttery <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

See, that there's funny, and ironic. My wife don't care what I call her, long as it's only her I call. Going on 17 years now. Must have got something right. I reckon maybe it's all them paychecks I keep handing her.

My wife doesn't care when I sometimes refer to her as "the wife." She is, after all, my wife. As such, she is, therefore, the wife. It is a self-defining term. She doesn't have a problem with it.

-- Craig

You're absolutely right - they don't like that term at all! It's like fingernails on a chalkboard. Yes, I'm old enough to remember chalkboards.

Yeah, the term makes it sound like "the wife" is just another possesion, i.e. the car, the lawnmower, the mortgage. I feel that it's depersonalizing...like when we'd go to restaurants when our children were babies and the person at the host desk would say, "Oh, 2 and a half today?" Sometimes I'd get an edge in my voice when I'd reply, "No, there are three of us. My child is not half a person."

I'll stop soapboxing now. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I consider mine to be my better half.( I know there are some who would agree ) Still together after 32 years. Of course things would be different had I EVER refered to her as my "old lady".

I just joined this forum so that I could ask, Why are *you* making an EDC for your wife? If it's *her* EDC, shouldn't *she* be the one making it? Unless of course she asked you to make it?

There's no way that I'd let my husband (or anyone else) put together a pack that I'd have to carry on my person all day, every day. Back when I worked, I let DH put together a backpack that I carried to and from my office, but I was actually carrying it only a matter of minutes each day.

My EDC consists of a keyring and a wallet. The keyring lives in my left pocket, and the wallet lives in my right pocket.
The only thing that I'd let DH add to them is more cash.

-Kuovonne

I am a newlywed, and I want my husband to call me his "child bride." We're 1 year apart, but I think it's funny.

When I'm dressed up to go out, at a minimum I carry Doug's PSK, an AMK Pocket Medic and a lighter in my evening bag (and my Leatherman Juice if it'll fit).

Might I suggest a little experiment.

Go and buy some really nice gifts for "The Wife" and have them wrapped so they look very enticing with ribbons etc. and then address them with "The Wife" ( or other term, - Wench works well too)
Then sit them somewhere like the kitchen table.

When she walks in and says "Oh are they for me?" you can say "I dont know are they addressed to you?"

After they have sat for 3 days and she finally gives in and opens them, she has by default accepted the addressed name and cant complain at ever being called that again.

A bit of fun but it does work <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

As someone once said: "women control half the wealth and all the sex."

We call them whatever they want us to call them. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

About as far as we ever got with pet names for eachother is "Hon". But she has an amazing capacity to "modify" our past pet's names and our granddaughters' names. An old dog somehow went from being called Augie to Boo to Booberini. And the girls Miranda and Meadow are Bubbie and Wee. But, thankfully, I've never been anything other than "Hon.(At least not to my face)

I told my wife that and she thought it was pretty funny. There was a British courtroom drama called Rumpole of the Bailey (Rumpole was a defense lawyer), and Rumpole always referred to his wife as She Who Must Be Obeyed. Regarding use of the definite article (the wife), I once attended a seminar on interviewing given by FBI agents, and they said that people avoid the possessive when they wish to disavow relationships or distance themselves from knowledge of something or someone. Not that I'm suggesting that anyone here would have some similar motivation to someone the FBI finds to be a "person of interest".

As for the question at hand, when reduced to true everyday carry (i.e., no purse), my wife will only carry house-keys, cell phone, and an ASP Key Defender (pepper spray). She takes this on night-time walks and jogs.

Having been raised in a matriarcal enviroment that is headed a woman who shoots as well as I do, and can throw an knife better, this experiment fills me with dread.

being single, I would have to say that 'old lady' is much more offensive than 'the wife' -- then again, I'm single and I don't even have to talk to a 'wife' or 'girlfriend' -- gives me plenty of money to spend on survival stuff

Only half the wealth .... you have a good marrage <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Geeze ok you hardened souls................the wife, a wife, Ms., Mrs, .............i was just wanting a simple answer on a keychain recommendation and get slammed by the feminist movement.............attention girls, if i didnt love and respect, i wouldnt be toting "the one Ring" now would I.? In all, thanks for the recommendations, got some great ideas, but now.......lets move on .....Maybe next time i'll just ask........... "keychain. to carry or not to carry" and leave it at that...........Ha!

Life has its little twists to make things interesting ... and so do these forums <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

very much agreed

You reply to address the "feminist" movement you feel is attacking you and you begin by addressing them as "girls"?? Oh wow. You've managed to swallow your whole leg by this point. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> BTW - tell the little lady to fetch us a beer if you can manage to speak arount that knee. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Well, here's how I see it. I am here in Baghdad for extended periods of time, of my own volition. I have little use for money here, so consequently it all goes home. Whatever happens to it there, I am not privvy to. The wife doesn't seem to mind that I am here, on my own, and not at home taking care of her needs. Either a: She trusts me here; b: she likes the money more; or c: things are not as tight between her and I as I thought. Judging from her reaction when I come home, verses her usual reaction when I was around all the time, I am gonna assume that she does, in fact, miss me. In correspondence, I sign off as "Daddy" and she goes by the nom de plume of "Susie Q". Our opening to each other is almost always "Hello my love". Yeah, I know it sounds kinda mushy, but you gotta push the mushy buttons once in a while if you expect them to remain soft and supple.

To balance the estrogen level out at home (wife and two daughters vs. me) I have two well hung lads to help keep the balance of power. One is a mini-daschund by the name of Samson (aka lowrider), and the other is my prize Chocolate Lab known as Wyatt (aka Sprung). While both have been a little molly-coddled in my absence, they do their best at spreading the testosterone level adequately. I think it is impossible to turn a house into a feminist sanctuary with dog hair and ratted out tennis balls in every room, and a backyard full of "doggie bombs".

As far as EDC goes, I provide all the necessary supplies stocked in all the suitable locations throughout the household, and I make sure "the girls" all know how to use most of it. It is up to them to decide if they will pack it with them, or if they would rather tote cosmetics, their cd collection, their address book, etc. I've done my part, I've never had much success "making" any of them do something they weren't self motivated to.

thats kinda what i thought.

we can try to change another persons opinion on what the should carry, but it's that other person that decicide what they want to carry and wheather they actually carry it or not.
but than again, i'm not married or have GF....

Here's a keychain set I've been carrying for awhile. No particular purpose or reasoning in the component choices. Most of the stuff was just lying around, so I put it together.

Carabiner: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/ursalite_micro_carabiner.html

Smallest full-functional wire-gate biner I've ever seen. Held my 20-pound food bag with no problem.

Flashlight: http://www.brightguy.com/detail.php?Sku=STR72101

I didn't like the hearing aid batteries at first, but this turned out to be a great little light. Rugged and compact. No argument that the ARC might be better, but this works too.

Whistle: http://www.iboats.com/mall/index.cgi?pro...rt_id=781296703

This is a great little whistle. It's as small and flat and loud (based on subjective testing in the car). Most important, it has a hasp lug that takes a split ring very well. Ideal for a keychain.

Fire: https://scoutnet.scouting.org/BSASupply/...;amp;item=01167

I put the striker and rod on separate split rings so the striker can be used just by uncliping it from the carabiner, rather than having to work it off of a split ring.

A more complete, better thought-out set of gadgets is on my actual keyring.

- Larger, cheapo wire keyring carabiner
- 3 keys
- JetScream whistle
- CMG Sonic (white) AAA flashlight
- Photon II (red)
- BSA Hot Spark (on two split rings)
- Small spy capsule with some pills (as an excuse for carrying it) stuffed with cotton for tinder

Just some grist for the mill...

Bear

If the Juice doesn't fit .... you can still carry a Micra.

I raise my beer stein to you, Wolf! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

" BTW - tell the little lady to fetch us a beer if you can manage to speak arount that knee. "

All together now, my sisters! Get Your Own #@$#! Beer, And While You're Up, Get Me One, Too.

Okay, but on the real subject of the discussion, Maybe you could try introducting items to your Reason For Living's kit one at a time, as the need arrises. For example, you could keep an extra Micra in your pocket until such a time as the two of you are out on the town and she realizes she needs a pair of scissors. Then, hand her the Micra and tell her it is hers to keep. Then, carry an extra whistle in your pocket until the day you're watching TV and you see a situation where a woman is in trouble and having a whistle would help her. Then turn to your Reason For Living and tell her, "My Dearest Wife, I want you to have this whistle for your safety,because nothing matters to me more than your safety."

You get the idea.

That was a GREAT show, and I miss seeing it...
I need to check if it is availible on DVD...
But he was not JUST lawyer, he was a barrister. A barrister is a lawyer who has been admitted to "plead at the bar." The other type of lawyer is a solicitor. They are "office lawyers", while barristers are "courtroom lawyers"...
Rumpole was great!!!

GardenGrrl, you must realize by now that guys just don't know how to SELL! They can sell insurance, sell cars, sell advertising, sell cells, but they don't know how to get their wife to carry a flashlight. Sigh. A friend of mine said it's a congenital defect caused by testosterone poisoning. Think?

Sue (sort-of just kidding, guys) <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

So, Susan, what's the secret?

-john