What’s In Your Wallet?
If you’ve read the How to Put Together the Ultimate Survival Kit article than you know how I stress the importance of always carrying a survival kit with you (a first-tier kit). This is your fall-back kit — what your left with if all you have is what’s on you right this moment. Could you survive?
Going along with that, I wanted to briefly lay out what I happen to have with me at this moment in time:
Keychain
Besides my keys, what you’ll find on my keychain is the following:
- Firesteel fire starter
- Lockpick set
- Pinch light
- Mini compass
The obvious worry when having all your items on the keychain is losing that keychain. That’s why, if possible, it’s important that you carry the most important items on yourself — either wearing it or having it integrated with your clothing somehow.
Wrist
On my wrist, I carry a little over 10 feet of 550 paracord: very strong and very useful cordage that can be used in a multitude of survival situations.
‘SmartCarry’ Holster
My favorite concealed-carry holster is the SmartCarry. It’s a simple concept, being essentially a pocket that wraps around your waist, is concealed under your pants and is held together with velcro.
While they make different versions, mine has one larger pocket that holds up to a full-size pistol and a smaller one for an extra clip. Instead of the clip, I like to fill it with important survival gear. Here’s what my SmartCarry holds:
- Pistol – This is typically a Walther PPK (as pictured below) but sometimes I’ll carry my full-size Glock 22 (.40 Cal) depending on what I’m wearing. I think everyone should carry some form of personal protection device (knife, mace or gun).
- Firesteel firestarter – This isn’t a typo. While I do carry one on my keychain, I also have an extra on my self. I’ve mentioned the importance of redundancy. Since fire is such an important survival tool, having multiple ways of creating it is always a plus.
- Lighter – Again redundancy. The firesteel is more of a long-term fire source, but a lighter is great if you require a quick flame.
- Leatherman Wave Multi-tool – Multi-tools are great for survival and all-around daily use. Plus it serves as a backup knife for me (again redundancy).
Waist (belt)
Right now, the only thing I keep clipped to my belt is my folding knife – a Doug Ritter RSK M1. For me, the knife is my most important survival tool. With it I can make many of the other tools I would need to survive directly from nature.
I’m still slowly working on finishing my paracord belt (a new design). Once that is done, I’ll have over 100 feet of usable 550 paracord.
The Complete Package
Looking at the picture here you can see there are quite a number of articles that can be carried on yourself without effecting your mobility or appearance. All of these items combined comes to just a hair over 5 pounds and most of them are concealed (people only see the bracelet).
What’s in your wallet?
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