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5/21/14

EDC Bag Dump Contest: EdWood's Kit

From Ed:
 
Hey. I'm loving the contest and gear reviews and advice as always. Just wanted to share my small backpack and what's in it. 

BACKPACK:
It's based around my job and I went for a traditional two strap backpack because it's just easier to run and jump over things with it on ( if you have ever had the need to get under a car or get out of one with a pack on you know why I went small) . This has E&E elements to it comes with a gray rain cover to make it blend in better if I had to move with it in a crowd to get less attention.

The bag is a T3 100oz Reload Hydration Backpack. It's made by a great company owned by former SEALS and is built to last. It's compact and it has its main advantage in being low profile and making you take only the essential gear you need for day to day with you. For a long time I suffered from over doing it with large backpacks with loads of redundant gear that only weighed me down. After some experience, both training and real world, I scaled the size down to this. Went with black (carpe noctem); it's easy to hide and inside a car placed flat on the floor it doesn't attract to much attention.

FIRST AID:
The fist aid kit I have in it is built on a ready made REI Fist aid kit. Made for a single person. I tried to keep this as small as possible.

All contents are packed together in a zippered nylon case; clear fold-out compartments let you easily find the items you need. Includes a smaller removable kit that can be used on day hikes.

-Assortment of adhesive bandages, including 1 in. strips, 0.75 in. strips, knuckle bandages, fingertip bandages and butterfly closures.
-For larger wounds, the kit also includes an assortment of gauze pads and rolls of gauze, larger wound pads, sponges and a roll of medical tape.
-For injured joints, arms and legs, the kit includes an elastic bandage, a wire splint and a triangular bandage
- Care for injuries with antiseptic towelettes, triple-antibiotic ointment, iodine wipes, antimicrobial wipes, sting-relief wipes, burn cream, hydrocortisone cream and aloe gel.
-Medications include antacid tablets, ibuprofen tablets, acetaminophen tablets. allergy-relief tablets and anti-diarrheal tablets (very important in a 3rd world country); kit also has electrolyte packets and pill vials.
-Equipment includes safety pins, latex-free medical gloves, bandage scissors, splinter forceps, an irrigation syringe and a resealable waste bag

EXTRAS I ADDED:
Israeli bandage
CAT tourniquet
QuickClot
Glow sticks
Duct tape
Super glue
NiteIze zipper pull lights to illuminate the contents (I have these on all my packs and gear)
Suture kit
Scalpel

SURVIVAL KIT:
I carry it all in a Pelican 1010 Waterproof Case:
-Swiss Army Knife (features blade, nail file, scissors).
-Fox 40 Rescue Howler Whistle.
-SUN 20mm Button Compass with Luminous Markings.
-Photon II Lithium powered MICROLIGHT white flashlight.
-Five Survival Matches.
-"Spark-Lite" Fire Starter from Four Seasons Survival.
-Five "Tinder-Quick" Tabs.
-Mini Rescue Flash Signal Mirror.
-Stainless Steel Commando Wire Saw.
-Chlorine Water Purification Tablets.
-Two 4" Zipties.
-Heavy-Duty Canvas Sewing Needle.
-Three Safety Pins.
-Scalpel Blade.
-One sheet of Aluminum Foil (12"x12").
-One Sterile Bag with Zipper Seal (Water Container).
-12 feet of Stainless Steel Snare Wire.
-1 foot of Electrical Tape.
-Flosscard (contains 36ft. of dental floss for sewing, lashing, fishing, snares, oral care, etc.).
-Fresnel Magnifying Lens.
-Bullion Packet. (Gold and silver pieces)
-Thirty feet of 15lb. test line.
-Kevlar cordage.
-Six Nylon Lanyards.
-SERE hacksaw and blade
-Fishing kit

TOOLS:
Leatherman Wave
GoTube Paracord grenade
Fenix mini light (backup)
Light my Fire Spork
Clothing repair kit
Eye glasses repair kit
SAR eclipse mirror knife
Compass
Small telescopic mirror
Monocular (to see far)
Cellphone charger
Nexus 7 tablet
Nexus 4 phone

E&E ELEMENTS:
Fake mustache
2 homemade cherrybombs with a twist.
Emergency money
Alternative ID cards
Fake prescription glasses
2 high capacity magazines for my Glock
2 hidden blades on the outside of the bag.

EXTRAS:
Wetones disinfectant wipes
ChapStick
Kleenex
Black trash bag
3 snack bars

ON MY PERSON:
Most days a carry a Glock 40 S&W in a custom ZZZ inside the waist band holster and one spare magazine.  

Customized Emerson Persian and a Lagrife as blades and a carbon fiber ventilator pen is always on hand. 

A hidden GoTube with:

Hope you like and can give me some feedback on it!

Alex's Comments:
First up, big thanks to EdWood! We're lucky enough to have him stop by and contribute every now and then, and it's always a good time. Ed's day job is fighting drug cartels south of the border. He teaches knife fighting on the side. He's a bad ass and an all around good guy.

Most readers won't have need for, say, and E&E kit to the extent of Ed's...at least not in current times. Kidnapping and hostage taking is all too common in Mexico, and an LEO like Ed would likely not fare well at the hands of unhappy cartel dudes...in his shoes, I'd roll heavy on escape and evade gear, too.

Give us a few years and some bad luck, and we might not be too far off from Mexico or worse. Take notes on this stuff, tribe.

Ed's got a really good example of a compact, yet well organized and capable kit. I can't find exact specs on the capacity of the pack, but rough math gives around 600 cubic inches of storage.

That is a very small pack, but there's a lot of capability packed into that space.

There are lots of little pieces, but everything is grouped together into subloads for organization, ease of access and to grab a component and bail if necessary. Organization can make or break a setup like this. Ed's got it down.

Some other good stuff I want to call out about the kit:
  • Ed's packing Extended mags in his bag, not standard capacity. If you're going to carry backup mags in your bag, they might as well be 'happy sticks.' If you burn through a full mag, plus your spare and have time/opportunity to get to magazines in your bag, you're in some deep crap, and an extended mag would be preferred. Also, you save an ounce or two with 1 extended mag versus 2 regular mags.
  • Layers of redundancy that make sense. The main bag has full sized stuff, the survival kit has smaller, redundant versions of items (lights, cutting tools, multitool, etc.) -- both standalone.
  • Outside-the-box thinking. Big ol' firecrackers. Monocular. A mirror. E&E kit contents. Ed's got unique circumstances and has applied some creativity in his risk mitigation gear. Cool stuff.
Now, some things to consider tweaking/adding:
  • I don't see a Bic, though I'm going to guess there's one there.
  • Lots of little backup lights, but given your line of work, I'd want something that could kick out a blinding wall of light during a search or when approaching an unknown subject. Maybe I'm missing that.
  • A small headlamp may be a better backup than the little single cell Fenix light - Petzl, Zebralight and the Streamlight Sidewinder would get a look from me.
  • A backup battery for the electronics. Add a USB light like this and it becomes hand-free task lighting.
  • Water, though I'm guessing you use the pack's hydration capabilities.
  • Something like a Battle Systems MPIL would give both some added signaling capabilities and ability to camo the bag to blend in with natural surroundings.
  • Cotton - a bandana, shemagh. Lots of uses - supplement that QuickClot if needed, etc. I might drop some of the first aid kit items to fit one in.
  • Along similar lines - personal protective equipment; gloves, glasses, ear plugs, maybe even an N-95 mask given your line of work.
  • Not sure if a burner phone would be useful, but it comes to mind.
  • A backup pistol would likely be more useful than the 2nd extended magazine.
  • If you don't have one, the extension for the Leatherman bit driver is awesome. Lets you use regular hex bits, too.
That's it from me! Wicked kit.

Stay safe!

Tribe - thoughts?