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Go to any survival or prepper website today and you will find someone talking about “EDC” (Every Day Carry). On social media sites, “EDC” posts will have great photos accompanying them of what the individual poster thinks you should be carrying every day. But what is “EDC” or “Every Day Carry”?

There are a couple of schools of thought on the meaning or how we define what EDC is. The majority of folk who use the term are talking about those items that are essential to survival that they, themselves, carry every day regardless of their actual activities. The second school, of a very small minority of folk are talking about every day items they may happen to be carrying on any given day depending on activity embarked upon. It should be noted for transparency that the author falls into the second category.

One thing no one ever seems to talk about in EDC conversations and how their EDC can be related to survival is something that everyone, even those who think survivalists and preppers are mental patients running around the wilds eating insects, have with them ever single day.

Clothes people! This small piece of writing is not to tell you about what to carry or how to dress. It is written to make every reader stop and have a look at the way they approach their EDC to start including the way they dress each morning.

Sure, a person’s job can require them to wear attire that is largely impractical in an end-of-the-world-survival scenario, but that doesn’t mean those clothes can’t be used for survival if the zombies attack, the sun goes dark, or the tsunami hits. One often has no control about what they wear as a professional in the workplace, but everyone can start looking at their attire from a different point of view. Simply start by asking yourself “How can I make this work for me in a survival situation?”

OK. you’re not a survivalist or prepper and you don’t worship with the “Bear Grylls Cult” so you think this doesn’t pertain to you, right?

Wrong!

Again, ask a new question and look at what defines a “survival” situation. You drive to work and the two cars in front of you collide with both drivers suffering serious injuries. You are now in a “survival situation” dear reader and you had better get your head in the game before you need to. Because trying to work out how to perform first aid with no equipment, or worse, with no equipment or training, is the wrong head space to be in. People may die and you now have to live with the knowledge that your lack of preparation, your inability to think about these concepts, led to another human’s death.

So, as you read this, look about you.

• What is in your pockets, handbag, briefcase, purse and what the hell are you wearing on your body and feet.
• Are those gorgeous six-inch open toed stilettos ideal for traipsing through the wreckage of a car accident with the sharp objects and leaking chemicals associated with the average motor vehicle?
• Can you tear the sleeve of your sleeveless singlet to use as a bandage in the event of major bleeding?
• Are you going to be warm enough if the weather takes a dramatic change for the worse after lunch?
• Are you going to be able to put that small fire out in the engine bay of the car after an electrical fault on your way to work?

These questions and so many more are things that 99% of the western population never think about and unless you are a survivalist, prepper, military or first responder, I can safely wager small sums of cash that you probably have never ever thought about them before reading this.

“EDC”… it actually is important and it is time we all started taking more notice of what we have on hand at any given moment of the day. Trust me, things can go dramatically wrong in less time that it takes you to read this sentence. Being prepared is about being a good neighbour, romantic partner, good parent; hell, it is about being a good human being.

Now, get off the internet go enjoy your day!