“Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag”

Similar to the hat trend of a few years ago, I was doing it first.

As discussed here, I decided to reduce my ‘every day carry’ (EDC) kit. A few people (okay, one person) doesn’t care for my current bag, proclaiming it too ‘tactical’ looking.

Out With the Old

The ‘old’ bag is a Mystery Ranch “day pack lid” for their military line of backpacks. I have a “Crew Cab” back pack from them (not made anymore) that I used for hauling investigation equipment and overnight gear into back-country wildland fire investigations. That’s where the lid came from. There are pack straps stashed on one side and a pocket for a small hydration bladder. At 14.7 liters (900 cubic inches), it will carry a lot of ‘stuff’–two MREs and two 100oz water bladders, according to their website.

For those not in the know, Mystery Ranch is (was?) owned by Danna Gleason who formerly owned “Dana Designs.” I’ve been using his backpacks since my first “Terraplane” in Alaska in 1997.

I designed the shoulder strap from an old Dana Designs fanny pack and some other scrap webbing around the house. It has a magnetic quick detach adjuster, and attaches to the lid via “Grimlocks.”

The real problem is carrying around the weight–too many “safety props.” Getting a smaller bag forces me to reduce my load. Lets take a look at the current load out. Then I’ll show you the new bag and describe what I’m leaving in and out, and why.

The old principle:

Two is one; one is none.

Apocryphal

Here is the knife: a Chase Axin (Chax Knives) “Warrior Spirit” in a custom Sagewood Gear leather sheath. There is an attached magnesium ferro rod and a tin containing fire starter. The tin is shiny enough to be used as a signalling device.

Front

In the front pocket is my Traveler’s Notebook (custom; I made it myself; serves as my analog planner, checkbook and wallet), a Sharpie (to check off my grocery list), a “ChicoBag,” house and car keys, and a Kifaru pouch. My phone is usually in here as well.

Inside the Kifaru pouch:

• Fox40 whistle
• Photon PH021 X-Light Micro (dimmable white light + three strobe speeds + “SOS” flash)
• Leatherman Style PS (incidentally the only TSA-approved Leatherman as it has no knife blade)
• Small grey bag contains some tools for my Peak Designs Capture camera clip, and a spare camera battery
• Dental floss (useful for more than just getting beef jerky out of your teeth)
• Levenger’s “Pocket Briefcase” (holds 3×5 cards for analog notes on the go)
• Retirement credentials (if you carry a firearm post-retirement, you have to have your credentials on you)
• NARCAN nasal spray
• Toothpicks (these were a gift; closed with rubber bands which are helpful for a variety of field repairs)
• Duke Cannon “Cannon Balm 140 Tactical Lip Protectant”
• (center) Surefire E1e Executive Elite flashlight (no longer available)
• (center) SunBum SPF50 solid (I got this at REI, & carry one on any backpack trip)
• Car key fob
• Code of Bell pouch; contains a mask, gloves, and a lens cloth

Rear

Contents of the rear pocket (left to right, top to bottom):

• Patagonia Dragon Fly pullover wind shirt (no longer available)
• Large silk neckerchief
• Smartwool liner gloves (no longer available)
• Matador Pocket Blanket mini
• Matador Droplet dry bag xl (no longer available)
• Gun Shot Wound trauma kit in a North Face belt pouch (I’ll show you the contents shortly)
• Electronics charging kit (small REI zippered pouch; I’ll show you the contents shortly)
• Individual First Aid Kit and miscellaneous in an REI zippered pouch (I’ll show you the contents shortly)
• North American Rescue Products large Emergency Trauma Dressing
• Speedhook Emergency fishing/hunting kit (yes, this really works; I’ve caught fish and small game on these)
• SOFTT tourniquet (the link takes you to the gen4 version, this one is a 2nd generation with a metal, rather than plastic, windlass and other fixtures)
• Smith’s “Pocket Pal” knife sharpener
• Fold up reading glasses
• Two straps with tri-glides (to strap a larger jacket onto the bag)

GSW kit includes everything needed to prevent the three leading causes of traumatic deaths in tactical/combat situations. The nasopharangeal airway is missing here–it was old and dried out. I have no idea why I put water purifier tabs, tea bags, and rehydration salts in here (top left corner of the picture).

For charging the phone on the go. This super thin and light RadioShack rechargeable battery is great. Gives me one full charge on the iPhone. Sorry, kids, RadioShack is not what it used to be.

Individual First Aid Kit and other sundries–a “possibles” kit. Other people that are with me have gotten more use out of this kit than I ever have. I once fixed a guy’s glasses in the theater, moments before the musical started, using ‘snare wire’ out of the ‘survival kit’ and the Leatherman. (left to right, top to bottom):

• “nuun” tabs container containing Ibuprofen
• Heavy duty plastic zip top bag has lots of uses including holding water or small game, and picking up trash
• SOL Emergency bivy
• Petzl e+lite and two spare batteries
• Sea-to-Summit Pocket Body Wash
• small plastic signal mirror
• “survival kit” (old, unknown brand; filled with very useful bits and bobs and some useless stuff like the “fishing kit”)
• Burt’s Bees lip balm
• Leatherman “Wave” multi-tool with attached jewelers screwdriver and various sized eyeglass repair screws
• Adventure Medical Kits ultralite/watertight “.3” first aid kit (AMK has the best pre-made IFAKs out their and I have been using them for years; I restock this one frequently which is a bit cheaper than buying a new one)

‘First Line’ EDC

Oh, I forgot. This is what I carry in my pockets. Why I show you this will make more since later when we get to the ‘new’ princple.

Clockwise from top left:

• Stoic Virtues challenge coin
• OLight i3T 2 flashlight, brass
• Buck 3-blade pocket knife (it was my dad’s)
• Fisher brass Bullet Space Pen
• Zippo lighter, brass
• Emerson folding Karambit
• Money clip made from a brass “Chris-Craft” boat motor plate (“Chris-Craft,” get it?)
• One Euro coin featuring Leonardo di Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man”
• Large handkerchief

In With the New: “Little Green Bag”

(I had to stick to the music references.)

New principle:

The more you know, the less you have to carry.

Mors Kochanski

Wotancraft “Easy Rider” Sling Bag

Ain’t it beautiful? “Aged” leather and waxed canvas. Well, actually the canvas isn’t waxed, but I’m planning to do that soon to darken the color a bit and add weather proofing. At 9.5 liters (roughly 580 cubic inches) it’s about a third smaller than the Mystery Ranch bag. This will indeed require me to down-size my kit.

The back of the main pocket has loop Velcro, designed to hold accessory pouches with hook Velcro on the back of them. I ended up using two of the four (so far).

I put my Rotring pen and pencil, and a Tombow Mono zero eraser in the pen pocket. The zippered pocket holds my passport and checkbook.

The small zippered pouch (bottom left) contains the sunscreen stick, floss, toothpicks, and “offensively large” lip balm. The tall zippered pouch (top left) holds a scaled down GSW kit and the NARCAN. The SOFT-T doesn’t fit in with the rest of the GSW kit, so it is just floating around in the main pocket.

This is not ideal–hard to find under duress–so I’ll replace it with a lighter weight SWAT-T tourniquet. These are not approved by the “Tactical Combat Care Committee” but it has been tested and proven to work. It packs flat so it should fit in the pouch with the rest of the GSW kit.

Major bummer–my Traveler’s Notebook doesn’t fit in the front pocket. I’ve decided to customize the notebook down from this ‘standard’ size to ‘passport’ size. Then it will fit neatly in the main pocket.

I am fairly certain that this front pocket could be used to smuggle just about any contraband (knife, gun, flask of whisky) past the average concert venue security bag check… I should probably do an article about the “security theater” that I have experienced since 9/11.

Any way, this pocket zips closed, and the way the leather folds the zipper is hidden. All I would need to do is open the main pocket at the bag check. It also helps you to engage the security person with nonsense questions or humor. They get distracted, assume you are a ‘nice’ person and then aren’t as thorough, thereby missing other pockets.

For now I will stick to having my house and car keys in there, attached to the Photon light, and whistle. My iPhone rides in there for now, too (easier access to that than the “phone pocket” in the main pocket).

The green REI zippered pouch is in the main pocket still packed as above but with a few modifications. Mainly I switched the full-sized Leatherman “Wave” for the much smaller and lighter “Style PS.”

Other things I eliminated:

• Retirement credentials–not carrying a gun, then don’t need the creds
• The two zip-closure plastic bags
• Tea bags, water purification tabs, and rehydration salts
• Patagonia Dragonfly wind shirt, Buffwear, and SmartWool Gloves
• Chico Bag
• Matador mini blanket & Droplet dry bag
• Compact reading glasses
• Knife sharpener
• Red neckerchief

I also put the RadioShack rechargeable battery, wall plug, and the two smallest cables into the grey bag with the camera battery. I left out the earbuds, car charger plug, and the tools for the Peak Design Capture. The bag is a lens cloth, and I have gloves and a mask in the IFAK and the GSW kit, so I also got rid of the Code of Bell pouch.

I plan to add a second fire option–probably storm matches in a small case. I’m going to upgrade the Surefire flashlight with a drop in LED to increase the candle power.

The front straps disconnect allowing the main compartment to expand a bit. The bag still has room to add gloves, hat, even a jacket come fall. I’ve also been able to get a book and highlighter in there.