Autumn

Autumn

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

The Things We Hump

I don't clearly remember the circumstances but do recall it was late Fall when the light of day fades within a heartbeat. There were perhaps four or five of us standing around outside some big-box  business and one of the ladies was bent over examining a plant. I remember her asking my wife what it was and Sweet Wife said she couldn't read the label in the dark.
Without so much as a second thought I reach and withdrew my Surefire and hit the button allowing my wife to the read the tag on the rosebush.

Then, "Where in the heck did that come from?"  My wife, "Oh, Stephen carries all kinds of stuff, his pockets are full of junk."

Sadly, she was correct, I do carry a bunch of stuff. Many years ago a friend of mine asked why I always wear boots and dress just so and why in the world do I carry this or that. I replied that I wanted to be ready to help myself in case of any natural or man-made emergency. Sounds silly but it's the truth. I will not be caught with my pants down, so to speak.

A couple of days later this same man came into my shop and whipped out his newly purchased pocket knife. All proud and stuff.....and said he was following my lead. I smiled and said that's great, keep it up. As he was leaving he yelled back, "Hey, where can I find a folding saw?"

There are limits.

It isn't that big of a deal. As you are aware I do carry a handgun, with a spare magazine of ammo. I try and keep things simple. There is the Surefire flashlight, my knife, emergency cash along with my normal pocket  money (change in a leather drawstring bag) bandanna, my notebook, and a few other odds and ends plus my Blackberry. It takes a while for me to change my pants.

Hey, you never know when that folding saw will come in handy....as Martha Stewart said, "It's a good thing."







Okay, let me hear from you....what do you hump? Oh, if I fail to mention the notebook pictured above, my niece will shoot me. She bought it for me in Paris a couple of years ago and I love it...thank you Hannah.

8 comments:

  1. Your pocket contents remind me of my husband's...minus the gun most days. For right now, I'm prepared for anything that could happen revolving around my 4 kids- it's amazing what will fit in a diaper bag! ;)

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  2. Michelle, I'm sure many of us guys carry far too much. Your husband should reconsider packing his gun; it's dangerous out there. Thanks for the visit and please come back, I don't bite.

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  3. Well let's see, Glock 23 with 2 13 round spare mags. Taurus TCP 380 with spare mag. Survival bracelet, first responder folding knife, lighter, cash and Motorola Atrix smartphone with navigation and satellite images preloaded on phone. Also have my get home bag in the truck with numerous goodies in there.

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  4. Joe, we do hump a bunch. Thanks for reminding me about my survival bracelet, my wrist wouldn't feel the same without it, and since I make them let me know when yours get too dirty to wear and I'll weave you another. Maybe this time I'll go all out and weave you a nice big King Cobra pattern. Let me know.

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  5. Mine is still holding up pretty good. Whenever you get bored and start making them again, I would gladly accept a King Cobra, you know my favorite color. Yes we may carry a lot, but I would rather have too much than nothing at all.

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  6. Joe, King Cobra under way. OD and Digital Camo?

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  7. My Dad was a mechanic, and before EDC was even a gleam in someone's eye (and before metric was so popular), he always had a few tools on him no matter where we went. He always had a 3/8, 7/16, and 1/2 wrench, a small flat tip screwdriver with a magnet on top and a small pair of awesome Snap-On pliers. That's not including the usual pocket knife, etc. I can not tell you how many countless times he got us or a stranger out of a jam or fixed someone's car. I couldn't have been prouder the day I watched him fix an old WWII Duck, for the Chattanooga Duck company, that had stalled with a load of tourists at a riverside festival with his pocket tools. They were duly impressed as well as the tourists.

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  8. Hillbilly, your father was much like my father in law, now deceased. He carried small tools to, and more importantly, had the skill to use them. Even had a miniature crescent wrench on his key-chain.

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