More Online Resources and Bug Out Bag Retailers

Sometimes, you think you've tapped out all the available information about a topic, and then you hit a new breakthrough that opens up a whole new wealth of information. Last week's discovery was the post over at Ferfal's Surviving in Argentina blog about the EDC Forums (EDC = every day carry), a group of people who pay a great deal of attention to what particular items they carry with them every single day, and how they carry them.

As if that community wasn't awesome enough, it yielded a harvest of great new sites carrying preparedness gear:

General:

Survival Resources - nice online emergency gear store.

First Aid:

Rescue Essentials - great first-aid items, with "modules" specialized for different purposes -- foot care, bandaging, wound care, airway management, trauma, pandemic, immobilizing, wound prep, etc.

Red Flare Kits - more great first-aid kits and general survival gear.

Minimus.com - carries individually-packaged single doses of medications and other items.

Bags and Backpacks:

County Comm - reasonably priced "tactical" (or is that, "tacti-cool"?) nylon bags, featuring MOLLE (Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment) attachments to endlessly customize your bag, and lots of internal compartments to organize your emergency gear. Don't miss the EOD Utility Bag, Bail Out Bag, and Diplomat Pocket Organizer.

Maxpedition - the great granddaddy of all tactical nylon (with prices to match), this company makes rugged, well-nigh indestructible survival packs in all shapes and sizes, some of which include concealed-carry compartments. I particularly like the FR-1 Pouch for first aid kits, Neatfreak Organizer, EDC Pocket Organizer, Multi-Purpose Bag and Tactical Attache series (small ("last resort"), medium ("operator"), and large ("aggressor"), see picture at right).

Spec Ops - more tactical nylon. I've got my eye on the Pack Rat Organizer (see picture at left).

Mil Spec Monkey - has some very nice tactical gear like the Stealth Utility/Admin Pouch, but I really love it for its morale patches. Time to dress up that bug out bag! (Not Safe for Work; some of the patches contain adult language/content.)

Bags for Professionals, Urbanites, and Girly-Girls:

Tom Bihn - great selection of preppy, colorful messenger bags and laptop bags that don't scream "Survivalist!" See especially the Cafe Bags (see picture at below left) (small, medium, and large) and the Imago laptop bag. The Cafe Bags don't have as much internal organization as the "tactical" bags, but you could customize them to suit your needs, or you could simply stick one of the pocket organizers or smaller pouches from Maxpedition, County Comm, or Spec Ops into the bag. The Imago, on the other hand, has plenty of pockets and dividers to spare.



Waterfield - the Cargo, Cozmo, and Sling Bags are definitely worth a look. Waterfield also carries a great selection of small "gear pouches" for your sensitive electronics, like iPods and digital cameras.

Some of these bags are expensive, so it's worth checking out eBay to see if there are any deals (there frequently are).