Today, we’re going to take a peek inside Steven Johnson‘s “Mini Go Bag” that he keeps in his car for emergencies. Courtesy of Everyday Carry.
His mini-bag is actually an Alpha Tango Sling bag.
In it he’s got his S&W M&P EZ .380 pistol. It is an outstanding pistol for folks with limited hand strength, by the way. He also carries two spare magazines, but no holster. Steven: Get a holster. Carry your gun in a holster. Even if it’s an emergency, you’ll need a way to securely carry the gun and rolling around inside a sling bag would not qualify as secure carry.
So, for the record, I carry a go bag in the car too. It’s a coyote brown small pack that weighs about 15 pounds last time I weighed it. Just the basics. The (fail) boat of foolishly packing around a 35-50 pound bug out bag long ago sailed. The epiphany was when I put my 50-odd pound pack on and went for a walk. Not even half a block later, my back hurt. A block later my legs and hips hurt. By the time I got home, I wanted to take a nap.
What else does Steven carry in his? First aid, a compression bandage (I recommend the Israeli Battle Dressing, aka the more sheep-friendly “Emergency Bandage” because if its incredible versatility), and a power bank. He’s also got firestarting gear, a small Bushnell flashlight, two multi-tools (can you find them?), more firestarting gear and it looks like a can of pepper spray unlabelled on the pack itself. And a sniper’s veil.
Looking over his stuff, one thing I see glaringly missing in his pack is a compass. I’ve got one in my go bag, and I’ve got a smaller Maxpedition day back for short hikes. It has a little compass as well.
So Steven: Get a holster and a compass and you’re likely better prepared than 99.44% of the sheep out there.
And I know that comments on the EDC posts have become a catch-all for comments on any of the topics of the day from news, or whatever. Got no problem with that. In fact I sort of like it. So, pre-emptively I’ll say, yes, we know Ruth Bader Ginsburg has Pancreatic Cancer.
