Not Another EDC Article, by GuerrillaLogistician

I know… I know you think this is all about what knife, light, pocket tool, cool weapon, or cheesy James bond device you should carry.  I am sure you have tossed good money at gadgets, carried extra crap you eventually sluff off due to it being more annoying and rarely useful.  Yet you are expected to trust some internet author who you haven’t talked to in person or even knows why you should listen to him.  Maybe this will be an article that is cleverly a promotional ad, and we all know how many we get hit with daily.  Just like the god awful caliber debates the only people reading these tend either to be new people, or those who already think they are an expert.  Well, I am not going to sell you anything but an idea.

In my travels I have found two things that were an absolute must for every human, and one you probably have with you.  I went from a world traveler to a purely USA traveler having become tired of being overseas.  Yet anywhere you go people have one thing in common, people wear something on their feet sometimes with footwraps, sandals etc.  People forget that our feet are super important especially when things get dicey.  Those who have rucked miles and gotten blisters that turned their boots into blood soup know what I am talking about.  So, what on earth can I tell you about footwear, or what shoe am I selling?  I am not telling you to buy any brand or hot new tactic cool shoe, only what you should wear when headed out and why.

(A brief aside for socks) This is a footwrap video just in case you run out of socks someday.  No I don’t think you should wear these over socks, just a little back up logistics.  Especially if socks become slim, you will like this.

Don’t go out anyplace without lace up shoes.  No you don’t have to buy Danner Elk Hunters, or the USMC Rats.  These boots will last you a long time but wearing them in corporate America doesn’t fit.  You don’t need a combat boot, but what you need is laces.  Also, no you don’t need to replace the laces with special Kevlar lace, unless you really want to.  What you need is the ability to run.  Yes a lot of EDC is setup to fight, and defend family.  That said make sure your wife and family wear lace up footwear instead of just sandals.  It is far easier to get out of an area quickly then it is to risk your ass and fight it out with a chance of someone getting killed.  You may not want to learn from a group like Antifa, but if a bunch of people you think of as soyboys have put down there Birkenstocks for something else then maybe you should as well.

As you can see from the photos above their shoes differ, but they are all lace ups.  I used to run old GSG-9 and let my pants cover them in the 90s early 00s.  Nowadays I wouldn’t recommend them, not because they are bad boots, but the fact is shoes need to fit you.  The more you run around in this world, and get chased the better your shoes better be, you may even need insoles.  If you do anything make sure your footwear for every day is in good repair, and your insoles support the form of your feet.  Even a good pair of lace up dress shoes will do just fine in a pinch over sandals.  Hell, even the Chinese PLA boot will do you just fine and they come in generally under 20 bucks to your door.  So go ahead and spend tons on a special combat boot some navy seal recommends or spend a little on an off brand just make sure they are lace up.

The second is something I carried religiously overseas, and ended up lazily giving up when I came back to the US for good.  100-200 dollars cash in 5s or 10s.  When I was in countries where the US dollar was less powerful I would carry 100 in US and 100 in local currency.  For the foreseeable future cash is king, even beyond gold and silver.  While gold and silver will retain value and make a good investment, the reality is during stable times its harder to use. Even if things start pulling apart the mighty dollar will still have value for most people.

Why cash and why 100-200? It is easy to carry, untraceable, and it doesn’t have to be traded by the person easily.  This also includes US currency in other countries.  The median weekly income for an employee in the US is about 1000 dollars.  If I walked up to you in a parking lot gave you some story, and said I will give you 10-20% of your weekly income to take me some place, would you consider it?  It works better in poorer nations because the value of the USD is higher than most local currencies.  The USD also holds a higher value to people psychologically than it should.  If you are traveling to other nations like Dubai, etc carry 100 US and 100 in that nation’s currency.  Why in 5-10 bills?  Because if I need a favor and it’s a 50 dollar favor, I have some left for other needs.  Also pulling out a wad of cash visually looks like a lot more than one 100-dollar bill.  It’s a seriously good psychological effect.

Why not silver coins?  Coins are heavier and make noise, and people think of paper money as the higher value item in almost every location in the world.  Silver also must be converted into local currency to be used. Well you might want to say, “I don’t have XXX dollars in my bank account and I work paycheck to paycheck!”  Cool so start saving now, and don’t spend it.  Save a 5 or 10 dollar bill here and there and stack them up.  Keep these nicely secured on you, and sooner or later you will have that cash.  The big issue will be not spending it, so remember this is an emergency item only, and not a good sale savings plan.  When you need this cash you will need it, and that cool trinket will mean nothing to you.