Video: Amazing “Every Day Carry” Kit Plus Contents

Photo – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmyIpxBz3g0

Here’s a great video that demonstrates an Every Day Carry kit – a popular type of modern survival kit tailored to suit the everyday needs of the person carrying it. An Every Day Carry kit is meant to provide maximum usefulness with a small amount of items, covering for the most likely eventualities without being too much to lug around. It should help you to create solutions “on the fly” to whatever “comes down the track” during daily activities.

This kit is centered around the awesome Maxpedition EDC pocket organizer (as shown) – a very well made, robust and useful zippered pouch with elasticated loops to hold and organize a diverse array of tools and needed items.

Other Types Of Survival Kit

There are no hard and fast rules for survival kit contents, only guidelines. In general, an EDC kit is different in style from:

• A “bug out bag” (a portable kit that enables quick evacuation in an emergency and would contain the items one would require to survive for 72 hours).

• A “wilderness survival kit“ (typically for remote locations; this kit will contains the required items to provide shelter and warmth, secure food and water, communicate with rescuers and navigate back to safety.

• A Mini Survival Kit. Also known as an Altoids Tin Survival Kit (check this one out!) owing to the ubiquity of using an Altoids tin. Though any tin is permissible. These have become something of an art form, with miniaturized tools and attempts to pack the most useful items possible into an Altoids Tin.

• An In-car Survival Kit. These range in style and size from the popular Ammo Can Kit through to full blown bug-out vehicles which may contain significant food, medical supplies, communications gear, tools, water, shelter and fuel; designed and prepped to be ready to hit the road at a moment’s notice when it’s time to “get out of Dodge”.

Tips For Survival Kit Design

There are scores of survival kit videos on Youtube and these range from the brilliantly designed through to the not-so-well thought out. It’s an interesting exercise to look at some of these videos for inspiration and ideas. Take what you want from them, discard the rest and try not to get over-excited and go on a crazy shopping spree. Here are a few points and tips from me:

1) Each person’s kit is bound to be different as everyone has different needs. Some will need emergency medications, some live in urban environments and for others, if their car breaks down on the way to work, they could be stranded in sub-zero conditions. Tailor your kit accordingly.

2) An astounding number of people seem to prepare heavily for circumstances that could be considered extremely unlikely, while being unprepared for the things that are most likely to happen. On your way to the office, are you more likely to experience a zombie attack or a flat tire? Are you more likely to experience The End Of The World As We Know It, or a toothache? Think about it. If you find yourself going all “Rambo” and accumulating preposterous amounts of kit you might be indulging a fantasy, rather than being actually prepared for reality. That said, knowledge and tools can be invaluable for the situations you hope will never happen.

3) A kit needs to be balanced – packing in as much usefulness as possible while still being light and portable enough for daily use.

4) The quality of your survival kit will depend on not only your knowledge, skills and budget, but also your imagination and ingenuity. Preparing a good kit is an art form and being prepared for life’s eventualities can make all the difference between having a great time or going through hell.

Ok, here’s the video: