by Brian Griffin November 11, 2020
I've received requests for more information on the small pocket emergency kit that appears in my articles now and then. Some want to know more about it; how it developed and what it contains, so I thought I'd dedicate this article to it.
My work takes me to some interesting areas, especially lately. Some are more questionable than others, and it's usually late night or early morning prior to sunrise. To avoid disruptions and distractions I try to not draw attention. I try to just blend in with the environment, go gray so to speak and be uninteresting, but be prepared for mishaps knowing some could be life or death depending on environment and/or season. So these little kits have developed to contain a variety of contingency items, chosen based on their likelihood of use at the time and place, and still discretely disappear into a pouch or cargo pocket until needed.
These kits are built using Maxpedition® EDC pocket organizers, it began about 12 years ago when the young lady photo bombing the image was a lot smaller and had just started going to work with me most days. Most of the time we were miles from pavement, much less from our house or medical care if anything went wrong, and with small children things can go wrong in the blink of an eye. This pocket organizer is in their “Mini”. I settled on it because it fits more pockets, though I did experimented with the others. The next size up was too big to fit a cargo pocket, and the next size down, the “Micro” didn't hold enough to suit me with my daughter in tow.
This is the kit I've been carrying this summer. When my daughter was little I always carried the little Neosporin® plus pain sprayers, so I could ease the pain of her cuts and scrapes before touching them to remove any debris, and it made things less traumatic for her in the beginning. As she's matured some items have changed and feminine products were added to all our kits, which could come in handy for lady friends as well. The orange pill fob contains diphenhydramine.
The left side of the kit is devoted to first aid, and is pretty basic and straight forward. However the Band Aids and gauze are stored in the back pocket on the other side to keep them away from the scissors and tweezers that could tear their packaging and make them non-sterile. I keep a small light that I can hold in my mouth to leave my hands free, just in case someone needs first aid in the dark. It's usually a AA or AAA torch to simplify battery replacement, but the AA light that's usually in this kit is out on loan and I haven't replaced it. To be fair, the small Streamlight is 9 years old, has been in numerous creeks, rivers, and the Gulf of Mexico and is still going strong. It has been stored in my truck console for years, I just couldn't replace the disc batteries at many convenient stores at 1 a.m..
The right side of the kit is devoted to cold weather-issues and ad hoc shelter fabrication. As well as field expedient equipment repairs, and basic direction finding. Most of this gear is pretty straight forward as well, but there are a couple more specialized pieces in this side.
Duct tape is one of the greatest contingency supplies ever created, but big roles of duct tape can be cumbersome and unwieldy. They're great in a vehicle, but a bit out of place on a friend's penthouse patio. One of the newer pieces in this kit is a ripSPOOL™ emergency repair kit from Exotac Inc.. It includes just over 4 feet of duct tape, 60 feet of 30 lb test braided line, and a large sail needle. It can be used to repair holes in shoes clothing or gear, fabricate other tools, make an improvised fishing kit, or even used as a tinder material.
The nanoSPARK™, which is also made by Exotac is another of the more specialized pieces of equipment. This one is a fire starter that throws sparks the same way a cigarette lighter does, but uses an over-sized flint and a larger and more aggressive wheel to throw a stream of much larger and hotter sparks than a lighter, and with much more control than a ferro rod. The nanoSPARK also has a tinder compartment in the handle that holds one Tinder Quik™ tinder tab. So it's a good emergency fire kit as a stand-alone, but I keep one stored in tube with extra tabs just in case. It also works really well with other commercial tinder materials like Fat Rope Stick™, and Epiphany Outdoor's Badest Bee Fire Fuses, plus lots of common natural tinder materials as well.
This is a pretty small kit, so obviously it's in no way intended to be a do all survival kit for the apocalypse. Yet as you can see – and the case will close with all of these items in it – when personalized to ones own needs these small kits can bring a lot to the table when mishaps and accidents occur. And we all know stuff happens, especially when kids are involved.
I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who once said that an ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure. And that was at 18th century prices. I imagine with the inflation over the last 250 years, an ounce of prevention is worth much more by today's standards. Most insurance policies cost a lot more than the $100 or so dollars I've invested in this kit, and they do little if any good in the middle of nowhere. Between helping me avoid frostbite, and helping to stave off infections in wounds as well, this kit has paid dividends well beyond the initial investment, and has more than paid for itself. And making sure I have it on me anytime I'll be away on foot, is now a matter of habit.
December 10, 2020
Thank you Bob! Glad i could inspire something useful. These kits are always personalized by ones needs and habits. Just put thoughts into it based on your regular adventures and and past emergencies and I’m sure you’ll come up with a solid kit that will be very helpful..
December 04, 2020
Thank you Marz, UI’m glad you enjoyed it! Yes it is, Jack makes awesome stuff. I am wanting to pick up a couple of the smaller ones, but I carry this one as an alternative self defense option when I’m working in the city.
December 04, 2020
love it. I just received my pocket organizer last week. now trying to figure out what I want in it.
November 20, 2020
Is that a Tuff Writer pen in the very first picture? I have two and absolutely LOVE them! I need to put together some better EDC. Great article.
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by Kevin Estela October 20, 2024
Hunting is much more than pressing the trigger; it is an entire process you should enjoy year round. From preseason scouting to year round consumption of harvested wild-game meat, hunting can become more of your lifestyle than hobby. Some people think hunting is just as simple as pressing the trigger but to the true hunter, the experience extends long after you leave the field. You hear a lot of people say “I want to know where my food comes from” but so many of the same are quick to hand off their kill to a butcher. No disrespect to the great butchers out there but there are some hacks (no pun intended) in your industry with less respect for the game brought in to be processed. The only way to follow your game from field to table is to take it from field to table by yourself. In this month’s blog, I want to share some of the tips and tricks I’ve learned for butchering wild game. I believe in processing my own animals and staying hands on as much as possible through the process.
by Kevin Estela July 25, 2024
by Kevin Estela April 11, 2024 2 Comments
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Brian Griffin
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Brian Griffin is an author, photographer, wilderness and survival skills teacher, knife enthusiast, outdoor gear researcher and product development consultant. He has a decades-long history of using and developing outdoor related tools and gear.