An EDC Journey of Discovery

[Grateful]

It was my understanding at the time that the owner thought that he could attach the cords to what was left of the exhaust system hangers themselves as opposed to directly to the soon to be hot exhaust pipes and then jam the cord hooks into the underside of the body somewhere.

Ok that makes more sense. I definitely agree that having a few basic tools and a bit of common sense can solve many of life’s little challenges.

 

[Blades of Glory]

I've purchased so many gadgets and tools over the years. As has been communicated there are different EDC needs for different scenarios and geographical locations. I started thinking of EDC like this and feel it can be applied to most situations. Have enough on your person to be able to assist you in the daily tasks you may encounter but also what may assist you in getting to your EDC bag should you be away from it (as in a work environment) small multi tool, knife, keychain flashlight, etc. Have, in your bag, what will assist you in getting to your car. Have, in your car, what will assist you in getting home. Skies the limit as to what you may have at home. Living along the Gulf Coast and regularly riding out storms and/or evacuating I've had to test my EDC quite a bit. My family and I decided to ride out Hurricane Zeta (mistake). But one good thing that came of it...my wife said that she now understands why I have so many flashlights and will stop rolling her eyes when I buy EDC gear.

 

[Blades of Glory]

Also, I've learned that Dollar Tree (hardware aisle) is a great place to grab "stuff" for throwing in your car for those just in case moments. Works well enough to get you out of a bind and don't have to worry about leaving it behind or giving to someone in need.

 

[Harry 1440]

Living along the Gulf Coast and regularly riding out storms and/or evacuating I've had to test my EDC quite a bit.

When we initially moved to our present home the town had 5,000 people and covered 56 square miles. It now has 15,000 people and still covers 56 square miles. The general atmosphere out here was that one was expected to take care of their own problems because there were only 2 cruisers available at any given time and each cruiser was staffed by just 1 officer. We quickly learned that in the event of major storms you had to be prepared to address any issues at your home pretty much by yourself as outside aid would take a noticeable amount of time to arrive.

The power was going out constantly and we bought a small generator to provide basic electricity to keep our well and pellet stove operational. Some folks wondered why we made this purchase as they felt that in the event of problems the "powers that be" would of course rush right out so you would not be inconvenienced by their dinner going cold due to a lack of power. These same individuals apparently believed the saying that "I am from the government and I am here to help you" was in fact a truism. The concept of self reliance was and still is considered an unwelcome foreign idea better not spoken about in polite company in many sections of this area.

Hurricane Irene hit us badly on August 28, 2011. The damage to the heavily forested parts of the landscape is still in evidence now 10 years later. This sort of weather is unusual in this area and folks were caught unprepared and off guard. I volunteered to go with a crew that my then employer put together to travel to one of the hardest hit local areas and help clear the fallen trees so people could actually reach their homes. The first home we arrived at had downed full size timber that was stacked up to the level of my chest blocking the drive way entrance......and I am over 6 feet in height.

When I returned home from a first hand view of this devastation I informed my wife that we needed to increase our ability to be more self reliant in case we were to get slammed by another visit from Mother Nature. We decided to buy a larger generator that would power pretty much the majority of the house and horse barn electrical circuits and afford us the ability to have water for showers and heat in the house. We hired a electrician who specialized in the installation of stand by power plants for hospitals to assemble the various bits and pieces and scheduled an appointment for the installation. He finished the installation on Saturday October 21, 2011 at 5.00 pm.

One week later on Saturday October 28, 2011 at exactly 5.00 pm we were slammed by the Famous Halloween Nor'Easter that made the August hurricane pale in comparison. The leaves were still on the trees and we had a lot of trees on our property. The maximum winds of 69 MPH combined with 21 inches of wet extremely heavy snow completely sweep thru this area and left a path of damage and destruction that most folks had never seen or believed would be possible in this part of New England. Not surprisingly the power went out due to the extensive damage to the power grid infrastructure. I immediately started our new generator and then went out to see how bad the tree damage was.

I was scheduled to go to work the next day and was concerned about keeping our 1/10 of a mile drive way open so I could actually reach the main road. Two trees had fallen and blocked the upper portion of the drive so while my wife held a flashlight I cut up the trees and moved them enough that I could get the truck down to the main state highway. Three hours later 6 more trees came down on the middle section of the drive entangled with power lines and completely blocked any passage to the state highway. We had no landline telephone service and erratic cell service but I was still able to get a call thru to my employer to inform them that I could not come to work as I was unable to physically leave my home.

It took me the better part of 2 days to clear the drive and cut the trees off the house roof so that I was finally able to show up at work the following Tuesday. The power company was totally useless and kept lying about when they could get equipment out to start rebuilding the power grid. The town said that before any power was reconnected the town electrical inspector had to inspect the house. There were 2 inspectors and one had just left for vacation so getting somebody to actually show up at the house was problematical to say the least.

Most homes here have wells so the loss of power was more than a minor inconvenience. There were many news reports of people trudging thru the snow drifts going thru the woods carrying buckets to get water from small streams so that they could flush their toilets. Friends would contact each other when they had their power back on and invite each other over to their homes to use the shower and laundry facilities. We were one of 2 homes in about a 2 or 3 mile stretch of road that actually had power working and were able to have heat and water available without restriction. Those without power went off into the woods sacrificing small furry animals in unrestrained pagan rituals as they waited for the government to save them from this mess.

The power was off for 8 days. I was at work when my wife called me to inform me that a power crew from Canada had arrived at the house and inquired if she wanted them to restore power to our home. My first question was if they were from the French speaking part of Canada. She asked me why I wanted to know that. I said if they did not speak English then they may not be aware of the requirement to have a town electrical inspector sign off on the restoration..... said requirement being printed on fliers that were posted on every immovable surface everywhere around town. We had a better statistical chance of seeing a herd of unicorns than actually seeing a living breathing inspector and as it turned out we STILL have not seen one 10 YEARS LATER. She replied that they were from Nova Scotia and spoke English quite fluently. I told her to thank them politely and inform them that as much as we enjoyed spending $40 a day on gas for the generator we really would prefer that the power arrive at our home in a more conventional manner. They restored our power and we experienced our first evening of sleeping without benefit of the generator droning in the background.

Folks who live in the South and Mid-West have to have a well developed sense of self-reliance because the weather in those areas is noted for it's capability to be deadly serious. Those who live in other areas such as New England normally never experience at first hand those type of storms and as a result many individuals have never given much thought to how they would survive in the event of a serious incident where the government would not be available to shoulder the response to Nature's sense of humor with any degree of immediacy.

EDC is not just about what one carries in their pockets or bags on any normal given day to address potential small personal difficulties. Rather it is a mind set that I am going to meet any issues head on that threaten the comfort and security of me and mine to the best of my ability. The process starts with carrying a Swiss Army Knife and arrives at learning the finer points of keeping a generator alive and well for those moments when the thin veneer of civilized life is peel back just a bit.

When individuals inquired how we survived the storm my usual reply was that upon arriving home from work to a warm house I took a hot shower, had a decent meal and then parked myself in the Big Man Chair in the living room and watched a DVD on the flat screen. When their facial expressions looked like those of a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck I gently added that it was not all peaches and cream as I had to turn up the sound on the TV a bit to block out the noise from the generator.

Harry