“People are being cheated, robbed, murdered, raped. And that goes on 24 hours a day, every day in the year. And that’s not exceptional, that’s usual. It’s the same in every city in the modern world. But suppose we had no police force, good or bad. Suppose we had… just silence. Nobody to listen, nobody to answer. The battles finished. The jungle wins. The predatory beasts take over” – Asphalt Jungle by John Huston, 1950
The pros and cons of living in a metropolis are quite obvious to many of us. What a big city can offer in terms of amenities (museums, theatres, cinemas, live music shows – well, before Covid-19 arrived!) and public transportation is quite a good counterbalance to what a big city can steal from you.
Specifically, I am talking about security. That is also the reason why a lot of people are moving away from huge urbanized areas. The constant threat of being robbed, assaulted, or even worse is much higher than in any normal rural situation. This makes living in a metropolis hard to deal with. For many individuals, this turned to out be unbearable.
Statistics on violence
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” – J.F. Kennedy
According to CBSNews, the FBI reported “[…] 366.7 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in the United States […] among murder, non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault as violent crimes […]”.
It may seem impossible that in the Worldwide pandemic, the crime rate decreased. A study conducted by John H.Boham and Owen Gallupe, in fact, demonstrated that “[…] Compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, crime – as measured by calls for service to law enforcement – has decreased markedly. However, there are multiple indications that the crime drop is being driven by decreases in minor offenses which are typically committed in peer groups. […] The most common metric of these reports is police calls for service (911 calls). Probably due to the fact that 911 calls are concrete events which are easily trackable over time, major news outlets like The Washington Post (Jackman, 2020), USA Today (Jacoby, Stucka, & Phillips, 2020), and CNN (Waldrop, 2020) have all used this as the metric for determining that crime is down across the U.S.[…]”
If on one hand, this data is encouraging, on the other, your level of situational awareness should not be turned down or neglected. In a world of constant change, our alertness and, consequentially, our preparedness should always keep us on track.
Even the most comfortable and apparently easy situations can hide threats. It could be a catastrophic, natural event, a minor accident, or an encounter with ill-intentioned people. Far from being a remote possibility in a world where social distancing has already increased in us all a surprisingly high level of awareness connected to physical risks, let’s start considering also mental ones.
- Clamshell Design - Closed by double zippers with pulls, allowing you open up completely to the bottom. It has paracord inside which can be adjusted to either allow for a chest mounted "desk" platform or for fully open. Of course, you can remove it if not needed.
- High-Visibility & Moisture Resistant - 1,000-D Military grade fabric coated with DWR (Durable Water Repellent), reversed for protection and waterproof
- Two ways Zipper - High duty two-way zipper allow you quick open in an emergency.
- Dimension - 24 *19 *5cm / 9.7"L * 7.5"W * 2"T
- Stay Organized - Elastic Loops with Various Size (20 small + 6 medium + 2 large) for various handy gadgets, tools, devices.
Preparedness: a matter of body and mind
As I outline in my previous articles, the gear you chose is nothing without a solid mindset.
Our brain, in fact, needs to be trained as well as our body.
Get your Body ready
Your health and physical fitness are one of the most important aspects of your survival. What if you need to run away from a dangerous situation? Or to climb, or jump from one spot to another? No one will do that for you. You can’t rely on the presence or assistance of good people to help you.
You might find yourself alone and this is the very first thing you need to consider when you start to dedicate yourself to a specific training and diet. By accustoming yourself to physical fatigue now, and by adopting a balanced lifestyle, you will gain instant benefits in your daily life, way before than you may need them in an emergency.
The advantages of this will amaze you and will also determine your personal selection in your EDC gear, as we will soon discover.
Get your Mind ready
A Behavioral Analysis Program (BAP) could be extremely useful in training your brain, enhancing your judgement skills towards people. Developed by the FBI, this program focuses in providing remarkable tools to understand – and to verify – the reliability of people, and, even more important, to predict their actions.
In an urban and high-density suburban context, having these skills represent a consistent aid if combined with situational awareness. Reading people’s minds surely requires patience, perseverance, and experience, but the benefits you will acquire are immeasurable.
Think, for example, of being a hostage. By reading the mind of your kidnapper, and by predicting his/her actions, you could find a way to escape taking advantage of a moment of distraction, maybe triggered by a weak point. A lot of cases ended up that way. History, as always, has a lot to teach us.
“Sizing people up“, by Robin Dreeke is one of the best books I have personally studied on this topic. Sizing people up doesn’t make you someone who is “too judgmental”. Rather it protects you
- from disappointments
- from threats
- from dangers
It does this by elevating your inner focus and increasing your rationality, reducing emotionality.
In a worst-case scenario, which could take place in a city, no one wants to be an easy target. Being too emotional brings you directly into this. Being rational, instead, helps you to keep yourself at very large.
Last but not least, it helps you to set your EDC in a proper way.
Refining the perfect EDC gear for female preppers
Before I explain the items that go into the best EDC for female preppers, I would like to stress out how important the knowledge behind every single piece is to your decisions. Too many times, in fact, I ran across women who actually carry Pepper spray, but they don’t know how to use it and, even worse, how to maintain it.
In the precise moment an emergency situation requires you to put it into action, you don’t want to find yourself unprepared!
Additionally, it’s mandatory to know the local laws in your area related to self-defense weapons. In Europe, for example, not all Countries allow you to carry a foldable knife. Even if you are a woman and your purpose is just self-defense.
By saying that, be informed, compliant, and respectful of laws because they all play an essential role when you are setting up the perfect EDC.
The perfect EDC should answer to the following requirements:
- Personal defense
- Survival
- Comms
- Tools
- Docs
- Nutrition
- Medikit
What’s inside my EDC
I will take each item, point by point, as some items may appear odd but they definitely worth adding to your normal EDC gear due to their purpose or multipurpose.
Personal defense
- A Pepper Spray Gun
- A sharp shaped ring
- A sharp bracelet
- A keyring made of paracord with a steel ball wrapped in
- A foldable knife as a necklace
Survival
- A firesteel
- Some windproof matches
- Some cotton as tinder
- Duct tape
- A Lighter
Comms
- A mobile phone
- Charger (even better to have a solar panel)
- Earphones
- Data card
- USB Keys
Tools
- Paracord bracelet with flint, compass and whistle
- Multitool
- Gloves
- Measuring device
- Iron wire
- Sewing kit
Docs
My wallet contains also a small paper reporting all the essential phone numbers.
Nutrition
- High protein meal ready to eat
- Jerky
- Canteen
- Bars
Med kit
- Containing personal meds, bandages, Tourniquet, et cetera.
- A multilight flashlight.
- A watch.
Where to carry your EDC and maintaining it
Every time you move from one bag to another don’t forget to transfer all the items contained in your EDC. In compliance to this, I warmly suggest to adopt just one pouch to keep the pieces together.
A molle pouch is indeed a good option, as it is consistent with any tactical backpacks and bag.
Resistant and durable, it won’t let you down even if overstressed. Any other tough bag will work, anyway if your goal is not to drag too much attention on you because you are too much “tacticool”.
The periodical checkup of all the items in your EDC is highly recommended. This is more than true for your Medikit.
Remember that some pieces could get ruined by excessive heat or humidity, so be careful where you store them and, even more important, where you put your bag or backpack at home.
Conclusion
Our EDC follows our personal improvement in terms of:
- attitude
- situational awareness
- skills we gain and master
- technology’s increasing
By that, do not let your EDC fall into oblivion, stranded somewhere in your bag or backpack.
Check it, test it, reconsider part of it is a good practice.
Be prepared and meticulous and do not let bad habits like laziness take over your responsibility on your EDC: it may save your life, one day.