THE EDCs OF STREET-SMART SURVIVAL ITEMS

We live in uncertain times and have been thrust into a way of life where criminals seem to have more rights than the victims they perpetrate their evil on! Crime is rampant throughout the country right now, and YOU need to be safe. Suddenly, walking out YOUR front door has become a Survival Situation, and YOU need to be ready!

Whether you are trying to get to work taking the subway, grabbing lunch at a fast-food joint, taking your kid to school, shopping, or almost wherever you are going, just trying to live an ordinary everyday life, the situation has gotten out of control.

We have; “Defund the Police,” soft on crime leaders, straightforward criminal sentencing with revolving prison doors, and criminals emboldened without fear of prosecution with soft City DAs!

So, what’s an everyday citizen supposed to do? Survive With EJ is here to help YOU with your EDC (Everyday Carry) Street-Smart Survival defense items so YOU CAN…Stand Your Ground!!!

It all starts before you head out your door. Mindset is everything in any bad situation. You need to take stock of yourself and prepare. Ask yourself what actions you take if you become a target of a criminal. Preparedness comes into play here, and this is where it starts, like all survival or emergency planning.

I suggest that most people take some introductory self-defense courses, and a lot of communities offer them at low cost and, in some cases, free, and if you like what you did, expand it by taking further lessons with many of the fighting art gyms out there no matter what your style or preference may be.

 Whether it’s Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, karate, wrestling, MMA, or some other martial art, any of these will help you defend yourself, give you confidence, get you in shape, and give you a better fight chance at surviving an attack. You don’t need to be Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Rhonda Rousey, or even Tim Kennedy, BUT you do need to become a Lion and think like one, and if you are targeted, be ready to fight with all you have, as if your life depended on it, because it may.

Next, look at what you wear; you will find that what you wear can aid you and give you a better capability to gain an edge. If the weather is bad outside, you will dress accordingly for whatever weather conditions, right? Dressing for Street Survival is no different, as they say, “Dress for success!” right?

What you wear can aid you; for instance, I like to wear steel-toe boots to protect me from someone stomping and breaking my toes to a low-striking weapon when I kick that will do serious damage. You can wear gloves designed to do the same, as they make tactical gloves that fit tight and have a reinforced molded knuckle (many warfighters use these) that protects your hands from breaking if hit with an item or when striking an aggressor, not to mention the added impact it adds to your punches.

There are also Leather SAP gloves that come in cut and heat resistant and have 8 ounces of lead in the knuckle area and do about the same thing. Wearing a plain ball cap allows you to slightly hide your gaze to keep watch (adding sunglasses helps more), but you can stash a few hidden items in the hat band to help you out, like a folding knife.

Lastly, a good belt can also aid you no matter what it is made from, whether it’s a leather or nylon belt. In the Blackout Survival Kit I offer on my website, you will find a Cache Cap with all kinds of added hidden pockets to put not just EDC but also survival items.

Now that you are dressed, we need to look at some things that you can carry or have with you that will give you a fighter’s chance, even up the playing field, and ensure that the assailant fully understands that YOU are not the prey they’re looking for!!!

These items are things that can be carried openly in your hands inconspicuously, like everyday items, to something you can have hidden on your person or in your pocket, or readily available to you in your purse or backpack. The types of items that can quickly spring into action and become an ally for you against a criminal assailant. Items that can be used as deterrents, distance, and close-in.

Here is a list of the items by category and use:

Deterrents: used to cause an assailant not to want to hopefully not engage.

• Whistle – Blowing draws attention that help is needed and can hurt eardrums.
• Mini Siren – pull the pin, and an annoyingly loud sound omits till it’s put back in.
• Air Horn – A loud blast that alerts and draws attention.
• Tactical Flashlight – used to spot an assailant and can temporarily light blind and is carried openly or in a pack.

Distance: used to try and keep the assailant at a safer distance and incapacitate them.

• Pepper Spray – when the trigger or button is pressed, it can shoot from 12 to 15 feet. It will render an assailant incapacitated, temporarily blinding and burning the eyes and irritating the nose and mouth. Some spray IR Dye as well as marking the assailant. They come in many sizes and complexity. Belt, pocket, or pack carried.
• Taser Gun – this taser shoots out darts with wires attached that will incapacitate an assailant with an electric shock. Belt, pocket, or pack carried.

Arm’s Length Plus: is used at the distance of arm’s Length plus up to three feet and keeps an assailant at bay.

• Cane – comes in wood and metal and can be used as a striking weapon.
• Walking Stick – similar use and carry as the cane.
• Retractable Metal Striking Baton – is carried compactly in a pack or on a belt, deploys quickly, and is used for striking.
• Steel Water Bottle – carried openly or in a pack and can be used as a club. You can increase striking distance and velocity if you attach a cord or strap to it.
• Tactical Flashlight is used as a club and comes in many sizes and lengths, with some ends having jagged-like ends and being carried openly or in a pack.
• Blackjack or short club – used for striking.
• Monkey Ball is usually disguised as a key chain but is made of a tight paracord wrap with a steel ball bearing and is very painful upon impact.
• Tightly Rolled Up Magazine – hit them with the news by rolling up a magazine tightly and taping it with electrical tape.
• Sock with Coins – is a makeshift blackjack that, when swung, has incredible velocity and impact on an assailant—carried in a pack.
• Tape Roll with Paracord – take your electrical tape roll and run a 12 to 18-inch doubled piece of paracord thru it for striking with velocity.
• Belt – can be swung with a metal buckle on the end of it for striking. The belt can be used as a strap or in combination with another item.

Close Quarters Level 1: First level of force and least damage impact.

• Hands, Feet, Elbows, Knees, and Head – all open and bare, but if it’s all you got…FIGHT!
• Tactical Gloves and Steel Toe Boots – worn and used for striking and protecting you but cause more damage to the assailant than you.

Close Quarters Level 2: The next level is elevated to cause more damage.

• Brass Knuckles – made of metal and fit over your knuckles for painful striking.
• Plastic Polymer Animal Strikers – look like keychain décor but, when placed on the hand, fit over two knuckle joints and have protruding points that strike very painfully and are also the proper distance when striking the bridge of the nose to hit the eyes.
• Tactical Pen – a small working pen made for striking with but is blunt.
• Battle Striker – a small pen-like apparatus made for striking with but is blunt.

Close Quarters Level 3: Next level to cause more serious damage.

• Pepper Spray also works closely, but be cautious not to get yourself with it.
• Handheld Taser – this type of taser has electro pins and is hand use only and will incapacitate an assailant with an electric shock. Some come with a bright flashlight that can temporarily blind or disorient an assailant. Belt, pocket, or pack carried.

Close Quarters Level 4: Next level to cause more critical damage.

• Tactical Pen – a small working pen made for striking but also has a hidden small switchblade knife hidden inside that is quickly deployed.
• Folding EDC Knife is used as a defense weapon to cut, slice, and stab an assailant.

Close Quarters Level 4: Next level to cause mortal damage.

• Firearm – any handgun you are licensed to carry should be the last resort!

Now that you are dressed for success and have your desired Street-Smart Survival item ready to go, it’s time to head out the door and be on your way with the confidence that if the unthinkable happens, you now have a fighting chance. Staying focused, calm, and calculating are significant assets to keep you from becoming a target. But let’s talk about another thing that now comes into play that will also aid you as you travel along your day.

That is Situational Awareness or, as we say, in the Military, your SA! SA (situational awareness) is being aware of your surroundings and what’s happening. You need to act as if you are in a war zone, so you don’t become a victim. Pay attention to your surroundings, who’s around you, where you are, and what’s happening around you.

You see people cluelessly walking around with faces in their cell phones or talking on them, earbuds in listening to music or whatnot, all with no care in the world, just blindly and deafly going about their way. One should live their life as they choose to and enjoy it, but the days of being able just to prance down the street are sadly gone for the moment. You want to watch who’s around you and how they are acting. Are their individuals acting out of sorts?

Are there individuals oddly staring you down and examining you? Has someone been following you along your route? You need to think about how you move from Point A to Point B now. Do you take the same route all the time? Stay away from routes taking you to dark or isolated places. Do you enter a public restroom that is not well-trafficked? SA is something that will aid you greatly and help keep you from becoming a victim.

Now I have talked to you in great detail about how you can help yourself and feel safer and ready to move about in your particular community with more confidence in a seemingly mad world. You need to be prepared and act as if help isn’t coming because it may not be.

How many times we have seen on the news victims being beaten by groups of punks, being assaulted by a crazed axe-wielding individual, or being dragged to be thrown in front of a subway train while people just stand around in shock and doing nothing or just filming it with their cell phones hoping to get a viral video for themselves. It’s just sickening. I haven’t provided this information for you to become the next Batman either, but to defend yourself.

You also need to check your local, state, and federal laws on the legal carrying and use of anything I have mentioned here in this BLOG and for proper and responsible firearm carrying. I am just mainly informing you of what is out there and available to you, BUT it is ON YOU to ensure what’s legal to use where you reside. I AM NOT an authority or legally knowledgeable of the laws in every state.

So, prepare yourself before you head out that door with your SA switched on, the right mindset, and your EDC Street-smart Survival Items ready to go should a criminal cross your path with ill intent. Survive On! ~ EJ