The 5 W’s of Every Day Carry #3 - When
At first take, the “When” of Every Day Carry seems obvious; every day. On the top level, this is accurate. There are tools that you will likely want to have on hand every day, regardless of where you are or who you are with. However, it is important to acknowledge that our day to day context will not be exactly the same 24/7/365. Adjusting and tailoring the tools we carry based on our daily context allows us to be better prepared for any challenges that we may face. There are several reasons our EDC may be augmented or reduced depending on our expected context for the day.
The first reason is the change of environments. While your standard EDC may be well suited for your daily work routine, your context may vary greatly over the weekend or on special occasions. What you carry at work might not be appropriate or necessary for a day at the beach. Or, you may be attending a formal event, and having your pockets full of gadgets and gizmos may not even be an option. Atypical environments call for re-evaluation of your EDC based on varying constraints, and potential expected challenges that may be encountered.
On the other hand, you may be operating in typical environments but facing the potential for atypical scenarios. Atypical scenarios, while unusual, are not always unpredictable. For example, perhaps there is an annual festival in your town. This will lead to a number of atypical scenarios. Traffic will be increased, there may be road closures to accommodate foot traffic, and there will be an increase in the number of people in the area. While these are all unusual in the given context, they are very predictable; the festival happens every year. How you modify your EDC for this scenario is dependent on your context. A much more universal example is the weather. If the weather forecast calls for rain, you’ll want to pack an umbrella. Depending on where you live, rain can be a predictable atypical scenario that is encountered in your typical environments.
At this point it is important to address the concept of “gray man”, and non-permissive environments. “Gray man” is a term used to describe someone who does not stand out in their environment, but is prepared to respond to emergencies. In a broader context, the idea of being a “gray man” (or gray woman) can be thought of as being equipped with your EDC in a way that conceals your EDC to the average viewer. There are a number of reasons this may be desirable. You may be operating in a non-permissive environment, where your EDC tools are disallowed. Or, you may be operating in an environment in which your EDC tools would draw unwanted attention to you. Or, you may just want to be prepared without having your EDC tools detract from the aesthetic of your outfit. All of these are valid reasons to desire a minimally ostentatious EDC. With this in mind, it is important to ask yourself a few questions about the scenario and context you will be encountering on a daily basis. Some beneficial questions to ask yourself include, “What kind of other people am I likely to encounter? What kind of EDC are they likely to have and view as normal? What is my concealment capability, in clothes, bags, or other accessories? Is something I normally carry disallowed in this upcoming context? Am I willing to leave it behind, or do I need to find a way to circumnavigate the restrictions and find an alternate solution?”
All of these potentialities are specific to your CONTEXT, and YOU will need to decide how to modify your EDC accordingly. This may mean carrying only the ABSOLUTE NECESSITY items from your kit, or it may mean expanding your kit to include more specialized tools for potential challenges. There is an important point here that lies outside the scope of this series, but it is important enough to acknowledge. There are scenarios that you may encounter that have the potential for challenges which you are not able to equip yourself for with the tools that you are able to carry in your EDC. If properly equipping yourself for a situation is not an option, there is a strong likelihood that that may be a situation you should avoid altogether. Now, that discussion is more multifaceted than the scope of this discourse on EDC allows for, but it is important to realize that there are times when simply avoiding a scenario is better than any tool you could bring to overcome the challenges that may await you.
Get up, gear up, get after it™
~ Eric