October 2016 EDC Updates
Here’s an update on my primary EDC bag and its contents.
I continue to carry my Adidas Rydell sling bag the vast majority of the time (98%?). It’s starting to show signs of wear, and I will do a post about this in the future. However, it still does exactly what I want to do, and is pretty discreet.
Bag Contents
- NFA registered Mini Draco vSBR AK47
- 3x AK “tanker” magazines (20 rounds, 7.62×39, 123gr Federal Fusion)
- Trauma kit
- 6x nitrile gloves
- 2x SOFT-T Wide tourniquets (flat-packed)
- Shears
- 2x glow sticks
- 2x Sharpies (medium)
- Tension Pneumothroax decompression needle
- 1/2 roll stretch bandage, flattened
- Olaes bandage
- 4x 4″x4yd sterile gauze
- 2x 8″x10″ combine pads
- Halo chest seal (set)
- Office accessories kit
- Surefire EP4 earplugs
- Amazon 5600mAh USB battery pack
- 1x Zebra F-402 ballpoint pen
- 3x USB thumb drives (4GB – 8GB)
- Eyedrops
- Coast G10 flashlight
- 6ft retractable tape measure
- Allen wrench for the Primary Arms red dot on my AK
- 2 slot USB car charger adapter
- 1x battery for my Sony RX100 Mk3 camera
- 1x USB-to-microUSB cord
- 2x CR123 batteries
- 2x AA batteries
- 2x AAA batteries
- 1x CR2032 battery
- Microfiber cleaning cloth
- 1x MagPul G17 GL9 magazine (17 rounds, 9mm, 147gr Federal HST)
- 10x GotPrint SBS business cards
- Luggage lock
Current Thoughts and Experiments
Rifle
I’ve rotated back to my Mini Draco for now. I really enjoyed shooting it at the AIM Precision team tactics class. I’m running 3 20-round mags for now, but may switch the two spares out for a single 30-rounder. Due to the interior pocket of the Rydell, stacking two mags side-by-side makes them easier to access. A single 30 will flop horizontally in the pouch. This is fixable with more effort.
Trauma kit
I’m not 100% sold on keeping my trauma kit in a gallon sized Ziploc bag. I keep some of the smallest items inside of another bag, but for the most part everything is floating around. I have stacked items I believe are more likely to be used at the top.
I am surprised that the items don’t shift too much inside the bag. I think this is due to packing the items in a single layer as flat as possible, and the tightness of the “flappy pocket” I keep it in. Gloves and tourniquets are at the top, with the chest decompression needle, markers, and chem lights at the bottom.
I want to run a trainer version of this kit through a trauma class. I much prefer the organization of the med kit I was using before, but it was much bulkier and made the backpack look far larger than it does now.
Accessory kit
Over the years, it has been proven very helpful to have the office accessory kit in my bag. The accessory kit and med kit go a long way to answering questions about what’s inside the bag, or why I bring it with me everywhere. Oddly, I use the tape measure a lot.
Potential Addition
I might put a headlamp inside the bag. This would be helpful in an administrative situation, such as packing up our truck in the dark. We recently helped a friend change the tire on their truck at night, and a headlamp would have been more helpful than the handheld lights we have.
In an emergency trauma situation, a headlamp would leave both hands free.
About the Author: Short Barrel Shepherd
Short Barrel Shepherd is a regular guy and works to make Web sites and mobile apps easier for people to use. He spends his free time attending fight-focused firearm, knife, and combatives training, motorcycling, writing, and playing games. His daily carry is a Glock 19 pistol and an AR15 .300 Blackout pistol in a backpack. 
Great article as always. If/when you get a new bag, would you plan on adding a muzzle device to your draco? Lastly, do you think you will still go with the “common style” bags or something more built to hold a rifle (especially in a separate compartment)?
Hi there! Thanks for reading and commenting, it means a lot to us.
A muzzle device has some advantages for sure, but it also adds at least an inch (usually more) to the folded length. This puts some additional constraints on the bag I carry. For example, the Rydell is borderline too big for true EDC, and anything over 16.5″ is pushing it.
Putting a typical AK muzzle attachment on the Mini Draco would push it over that limit, and may force me to get a bigger bag.
I always learn from your shared experiences. Your embracing of the concealed SBR concept, is indeed prescient – and the way of the future. You are blazing a trail for many people. Short Barrel Shepherd, indeed! Thank you.
I would suggest a pair of lightweight/thin general purpose gloves be added. I like the UnderArmor summer gloves for this kind of thing. Having even a light cover over hands and fingers (when you have time to put them on, of course) is not a bad idea if you have to work through a troubling environment.
That’s an interesting idea. I really like the Strong Suit gloves I wear during fall/spring here, and they double as training gloves. I bet I could stuff a second pair in there without issue.
Thanks for another article in this interesting series. I would like to know the weight of the bag, when loaded with all the tools and equipment that you routinely carry.