By Krieger
When I began a draft to address the question that I was asked what I carry and why, I started by providing an explanation based on experiences from my life. What occurred to me, however was that I’d written a lot, yet not answered the question. That seemed like a waste.
So, I’m going to do my best to briefly answer the question, with a bit of supporting information, of what I carry and in subsequent posts, I’ll provide the ‘whys.’
SITUATIONALLY DEPENDENT
In order to effectively provide the answer to the question of what I carry, it’s important to make clear that it all depends on the situation…and the threat…and the restrictions (which are probably the biggest modifier), and the equipment available, and the profile under which I am operating and the mission.
Each of these factors (and more) have an effect on the items, the amount of ammo, gear and equipment that I want and try to carry.
THREAT LEVELS, RESTRICTIONS, AND ACCOUNTABILITY
If I were to graph these factors, I could visually demonstrate the decision making process that I apply when selecting my arms and equipment. It has never occurred to me to create an actual “Levels Of Threat” type matrix or graph from which to base my carry. In the past I have simply examined the situation and then made decisions on what and how much to carry.
That’s pretty ambiguous and I don’t want to leave you with ambiguity. So, in this first post I’m going to define what I carry based on an identified low threat level and no restrictions. In subsequent posts I’ll discuss what I select based on the modifiers such as increased restrictions and or increased perceived threat.
LEVEL 1
A. No immediate threat; Potential for criminal activity is extremely low as is terroristic threat
B. No restrictions regarding arms, ammo availability, or supporting equipment
The situation above describes the every day norm in the area where I live. While crime in this area is extremely low, it does exist and at any moment one could find himself in a life-or-death situation involving firearms and or multiple assailants. That’s the reality of living in the modern world.
CARRY CONFIGURATION LEVEL 1
A. Handgun and Ammunition on my person
- 1 x GLOCK 17 Semi-automatic handgun
- 1 x GLOCK magazine in the gun
- 5 x GLOCK magazines in a mag carrier on my belt
- Total GLOCK magazines on my person: 6 (each with a 17-round capacity, 102 rounds total)
B. Edged, Improvised, Stabbing, Crushing weapons on my person
- 1 x Spyderco folding knife
- 1 x Cold Steel, Tanto edged, fixed bladed knife
- 3 x improvised stabbing/crushing weapons
C. Medical Equipment and Asset Locating equipment
- 2 x medical kits
D. Signal and Asset Locating equipment
- 1 x flashlight
- 1 x handcuff key
- 4 x equipment for identifying my location and providing to higher
- 3 x equipment for identifying asset’s location
E. AVAILABLE IN A (STANDARD, NON-MISSION SPECIFIC) BACK PACK
- 1 x pistol caliber carbine
- 2 x soft body armor
- 1 x enhanced medical kit with advanced trauma management items and equipment
- 4 x GLOCK 17 magazines (17 rounds each)
- 1 x (30-round) GLOCK magazine
- 1 x (solar) cell phone charger with emergency numbers, Android and iPhone charging cables and mini flashlight
- **Other items not listed due to sensitivity in nature and propriety
E. AVAILABLE IN A FANNY PACK
- 2 x GLOCK 17 magazines
- 1 x solar powered cell phone charger with Android and iPhone charging cable
- 1 x trauma med kit
F. OTHER AVAILABLE EQUIPMENT
**These items are not listed due to sensitivity in nature and propriety
TAKEAWAY
In short, I don’t have a single EDC that fits every bill. Rather, my EDC varies widely based on many factors. I attempt to address them and modify what I carry based on these factors.
WHY I CARRY WHAT I CARRY
Although they say that you’re not supposed to answer a question with a question, each time I am asked a question about a tactical situation, unless previously provided with the situation, I ask, “What’s the situation?”
In every situation there’s a “wish list” of the things, people, weapons and equipment that we’d like to have with us. In my experience, the greatest modifier to this list is the situation.
Given any number of tactical situations I would love to have the resources of the 82nd AA infantry, 325 PIR or even a Battalion of Rangers. But 99.9% of the time, I’m relegated to making do on my own.
During these situations, I’m also often required to appear as though I have no offensive nor defensive weapons. It’s even better if I can look like I have little to no knowledge of unarmed self-defense techniques.
With that in mind, I am going to add a category that I hadn’t addressed earlier: Manner of Dress.
LEVELS OF THREAT, RESTRICTIONS AND CARRY ACCOUNTABILITY – THE “WHY”.
Again, Level 1 was defined as: (1) An identified low threat level and (2) No restrictions.
LEVEL 1
A. No immediate threat; Potential for criminal activity is extremely low as is terroristic threat.
B. No Restrictions regarding arms, ammo availability nor supporting equipment.
I am going to modify the idea of “No Restrictions” to the following:
1. No visible weapons permitted.
2. Minimal printing of pistols, knives, magazines or equipment permitted.
3. In a support vehicle: Ballistic helmet, body armor, and rifle are permitted to be carried, but not visible.
CARRY CONFIGURATION LEVEL 1
I stated that I carried the GLOCK 17 as my primary weapon along with 6 GLOCK 17 magazines.
WHY THE GLOCK 17
Since I began carrying a handgun, I have opted for the GLOCK 17 for my personal carry. In fact there has only been one time that I didn’t carry this particular firearm and that was in an extreme case.
I carry the G17 because it has a long sight base, a full grip, carries 17 rounds and it fires when I want it to without additional bells and whistles that might induce a stoppage under stressful situations.
The only other weapons that I would considering carrying as my everyday carry is the GLOCK 45 (GLOCK 45) which is a crossover handgun combining the (longer) frame of the G17 with the (shorter) slide of the G19.
While the reduced slide length would diminish accuracy the increased concealability this weapon affords would more than make up for that.
WHY 6 MAGAZINES
I traditionally carry six magazines. I carry that number for a variety of reasons.
- PRIMARY WEAPON RELOAD CAPABILITY I’m an advocate of the “One is responsible for every round fired” principle. At the same time there’s something to be said for having access to a “suppressive fire” type capability. In the event that I encounter a hostile force, knowing I have the ability to leverage overwhelming suppressive fire as I (and maybe others) maneuver provides a level of comfort.
- MALFUNCTION CORRECTION We typically think of having spare magazines in order to reload our guns with a magazine that has ammunition in it should we run “dry.” However, one of the most important, yet least mentioned reasons for having spare magazines is that spare magazines allow you to clear a malfunction by dropping or stripping the mag from the handgun and discarding it without worry as you have extra magazines available.
- SECONDARY WEAPON RELOAD CAPABILITY I also carry the Keltec SUB2000 which is a 9mm “collapsible” carbine that accepts GLOCK 17 magazines. Should I be faced with having to “hard-point” (take up a static position) in a defensive posture, my personal tactics, technique and procedure (TTP) is to employ my SUB2000 and to holster the GLOCK 17. This TTP allows me to engage hostiles at an extended range. Carrying the G17, GLOCK magazines and the SUB2000 allows me to conduct both tactical reloads and correct malfunctions utilizing multiple G17 magazines from my belt as opposed to having to dig for a magazine from my Go or Get-Home bag.
- CROSS-LOAD CAPABILITY One of the reasons that NATO adopted the 5.56mm round was to ensure that all forces within NATO had and employed a standardized round. That intelligent decision increases NATO’s ability to provide cross-load support to all forces involved in combat operations from all other forces within NATO. That’s something I understand and support within the armed forces and within other institutions, such as my own family and friends. It’s with this idea in mind that I recognize that if members of my family and I were involved in having to defend ourselves utilizing our firearms, I would be able to provide at least one reload magazine to myself and four other people just with the magazines that I carry on my person. If I include the magazines I carry in the rifle bag, I’d be able to provide another four people with one more reload mag apiece or I could provide the same four persons with two each reload magazines apiece.
- POST CONFLICT DEFENSE One of the few things that I’ve seen mentioned or written about, is armed self-defense post initial conflict. In many parts of the world where I’ve deployed, the TTP of assailants is to initiate conflict, inflict injuries, and cause the defending force to expend an inordinate amount of ammunition in an attempt to repel the initial attack. The attacking force then conducts a pre-planned withdrawal and then re-attacks knowing that the defending force has expended a substantial amount of its ammunition during the initial conflict and will now be judiciously managing its remaining ammo. This change in defensive posture then allows the attacking force to use overwhelming firepower in its attempt to subdue the defenders. Carrying six magazines would, in theory, increase my ability to repel attackers in an initial assault and maintain enough magazines to repel a secondary attack as well.
SUMMARY
While the likelihood that you, as a law-abiding citizen will ever have to defend yourself against an armed assailant or assailants is minimal, that possibility is non-zero. Not only does the possibility exist, it is increasing.
Awareness and preparation are keys, though they don’t guarantee that you will be successful. Success is ultimately increased by employing many pre, during and post-attack TTPs.
The selection of the handgun that you use and the number of magazines that you elect to carry on your person could be the deciding factors in how well or poorly you negotiate armed conflict in your defense or the defense of others.
Krieger is a former Special Forces Green Beret, former personal protective security specialist, and Unconventional Asset Recovery Agent. He is an instructor with Hybrid Tactics Security. Hybrid Tactics is dedicated to providing its customers with the highest level of security available, whether that comes in the form of personal protective details, shooting courses or cybersecurity awareness and training.
