With All The EDC Threads...

[JK Knives]

What would be the minimum gear you would always carry with you to survive, whether it be urban or in the woods? Be creative, and list what purpose each item would serve for you. I`m not talking long term survival, just what would make life bearable for 2 - 3 days.

[Rockywolf]

Lighter, SAK, fire steel, flashlight, water bottle. I think the items are self explanatory. I can use the clothes on my back to collect dew/or water, drink out of water bottle or filter/boil in it. SAK for a ton of uses, flashlight to get around in dark or in dark places (cave, heavily wooded area, buildings), fire steel and lighter as backups to each other for producing warmth or heat to cook with...

Fun to get my rusty mind going! Good thread.

[KYenglish]

What I would chose to carry if I had options and was being purposefully minimalist would be similar to rockywolf, who knows a good deal more then me after all. But if i had to change something I might try:

Lighter, SAK, firesteel, fishing line and durable plastic poncho/bag/tarp.

The line is fairly obviously for snares, fishing and general binding tasks (to help make some place to sleep etc) and the tarp/poncho can still be a container for water but can also be a roof to sleep under...I guess I'm just assuming it's going to rain on this trip

[outdoorsfan]

I guess if you really wanted to pare things down to bear minimums, I would want

1) a reliable way to make fire
2) a way to carry and purify water
3) a knife
4) a smartphone
5) for urban, I might say money for this one but for the woods possibly navigation tools

There are many more things that would make a few days bearable, but with this I would say survivable.

[mbeebe]

I'd include clothing as part of my gear selection; you have to be deliberate about what you are wearing, depending on environment of course. Assuming anything from arid/semi-arid to broadleaf/subtropical, for a couple three days, to make life most bearable with bare-minimum gear I'd carry:

Lighter
Knife, preferrably 3 to 6" fixed blade/Firesteel
steel water bottle
Wool clothing, especially socks, base-layer (I think people underestimate the importance of clothing/fabric in making life bearable, and even if acknowledged, wool is too often overlooked. Manmade/synthetic doesn't cut it!)
Leather footwear