Willfully Incapable People

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David E asked for some stories about some chore performed with an EDC. Here is mine.

3knives.jpg


The Camillus Stockman in the middle of the picture was given to me by my father in 1950 for my 13th birthday. I've carried it ever since and have used it for thousands of chores. Perhaps the most unusual one was when I was in the Army long ago. (So long ago my issue weapon was the late, great, M1 Garand rifle.)

When I was stationed at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, my platoon sergeant, a career soldier, was a former combat vet. He had the CIB from WW II, European Theatre, and Korea. He had three Purple Hearts.

At that time we were not forbidden -- at least in my company -- to carry pocket knives. A number of guys in my squad carried them. (I don't know how it is now but I've heard stories....) Sgt. Moore knew I had that very sharp Stockman pocket knife. Unmarried, he lived in the Sergeant's rooms in the barracks. Two or three times before Taps he'd come to my bunk, where I was sitting polishing boots or brass, etc. He would be wearing his tee shirt and shorts, holding a bottle of rubbing alcohol, some Band Aids, and some cotton swabs.

He'd say "Leanwolf, get out that pigsticker you carry and hit these two little pieces of shrapnel on the back of my thigh. Damn stuff keeps working their way up to the skin and I can't reach them." He did not want to go to the infirmary for such a "minor need."

I would open that clip point blade and just lightly touch the dark gray bumps on the rear of his thigh with that very sharp point and a tiny piece of steel shrapnel would pop out. He'd rub some alcohol on it and I'd put a Band Aid on the tiny cut. He'd say, "You want 'em?" I'd say, "No Sarge, you keep 'em. You earned 'em."

That happened several times as he had a lot of old shrapnel in him.

I've also used that same tip of the blade to drill several holes in my thumbnail when I mashed it in elk camp several years ago. Did a great job and relieved the pressure and pain.

So that's my unusual story about my EDC old Camillus Stockman. It is in my pocket as I type this. It will be with me until I die.





L.W.
 
skoro, I was one, too. When hurricanes come about, I don't have to rush to the store to stock up, I'm already ready. And no, that isn't a bunker mentality but rather just having what I need when I need it. I keep a Wenger Tradesman in my pocket, on my keychain is a p38 can opener, and in my Jeep is a tool kit that includes mini-maglight, socket set, wrenches, pliars, and screwdrivers (I'm partial to Williams USA tools and NAPA screwdrivers).

I have found the difference truly lies between the rural and urban mentality. The rural person (male and female I have discovered) is generally more capable in this regard than the urban. That is not to insult urbanites, but the rural man or woman knows where food comes from, knows how to perform maintenance (particularly farmers - my great grandfather and grandfathers were farmers), do repairs, and solve any kind of problem they encounter. Of course, these people may not be wizards with the computer or with creating financial products (the latter sure helped get us into the current mess, though) and can be naive when it comes to navigating the urban jungle or in the variety of cuisine they eat - they will not be able to discuss what fusion means in a culinary sense - but when it comes to taking care of themselves, they are way ahead.

After Katrina, the rural Mississippi and Louisiana took care of itself. Sure, you know of the madness in New Orleans, but you heard of none of that in Amite, Bogalousa, Franklinton, LA or similar southern Mississippi towns. People there just took care of things in my town, which was without power for two weeks to more than a month in places, the only looting was done by two baddies from New Orleans (real bright guys who got caught almost immediately).

The urban man (and woman), who Steve Lee describes as a "modern new-age mate who flocks like plagues of rabbits to the shorelines of our states," is far less capable and often proud of that fact. I don't disparage those who do live in urban settings. You likely make far more money than I and many of you are solid, self-reliant men. But you know of the men I describe, too.

Robert Heinlein said it best through Lazarus Long "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
 
I get caught with any size knife in an adjacent city and I get to be a guest of the city in it's jail for a month.

That's what they say they will do. It takes quite a bit of legal system to get you to that point.

And the first thing is they would have to have a reason to even know.

Many laws aren't enforced on a minute by minute basis.

How many people with a CCW leave their gun in the car when they stop by the Post Office to pick up their mail from their box? I know what the law says, I know it's posted, I know for a fact that a lot of folks see no reason to bother. There's no metal detector, the lobby is frequently empty, armed robbers aren't likely in wait, the Postal Police are too busy watching the employees for drug and valuables thefts to bother. They have bigger fish to fry.

Laws are meant to prevent misbehavior - how many adults are being arrested for actually carrying a pocketknife? Do the cops shake down people entering the malls to catch them?

If a local law seems oppressive, do something about it. 1,000 knife owners getting arrested, booked, and incarcerated is exactly how the term "civil disobedience" is defined.
 
I hear ya, Ash. All of us with normal mental/physical capacity should have some degree of preparation, "just in case." Even the often cited 3 day supply of essentials would go quite a way towards getting folks out of a tough jam due to weather, floods, power outages, etc.

This whole JIT (just in time) logistics philosophy works for businesses (and some people) when everything is normal.

Unfortunately for millions of otherwise capable individuals, normal sometimes disappears for awhile and they're caught like rats in a trap.

Me?

I try not to be a trapped rat.
 
That's what they say they will do. It takes quite a bit of legal system to get you to that point.

And the first thing is they would have to have a reason to even know.

Many laws aren't enforced on a minute by minute basis.

How many people with a CCW leave their gun in the car when they stop by the Post Office to pick up their mail from their box? I know what the law says, I know it's posted, I know for a fact that a lot of folks see no reason to bother. There's no metal detector, the lobby is frequently empty, armed robbers aren't likely in wait, the Postal Police are too busy watching the employees for drug and valuables thefts to bother. They have bigger fish to fry.

Laws are meant to prevent misbehavior - how many adults are being arrested for actually carrying a pocketknife? Do the cops shake down people entering the malls to catch them?

If a local law seems oppressive, do something about it. 1,000 knife owners getting arrested, booked, and incarcerated is exactly how the term "civil disobedience" is defined.



The characteristic that separates honest people from criminals is that honest people attempt to follow the laws even when they're not being watched.
 
I always carry a few essentials with me flashlight, gerber 600 series, and some other odds and ends. Mostly the gerbers get used. I have several i keep around for various tasks with some of their more specialized tools. At work i carry a regular 600 and there are many things come up i use it for. Pulling splinters and fixing air hoses mostly. I live in a rural area and most everyone does have a pocket knife of some sort, but i have always generally been the kind of guy to carry that little extra for those "just in case" moments.
 
Honestly... I carry a handkerchief. This is something that amazes people today because they think they are unsanitary.

However..

#1. My huge Semitic schnoz needs maintenance at least once or twice an hour.
#2. You can use it as a dressing in an emergency.

And yes, I carry a small Swiss Army Knife, and a cigar lighter.
 
skoro, I was one, too. When hurricanes come about, I don't have to rush to the store to stock up, I'm already ready. And no, that isn't a bunker mentality but rather just having what I need when I need it. I keep a Wenger Tradesman in my pocket, on my keychain is a p38 can opener, and in my Jeep is a tool kit that includes mini-maglight, socket set, wrenches, pliars, and screwdrivers (I'm partial to Williams USA tools and NAPA screwdrivers).

I have found the difference truly lies between the rural and urban mentality. The rural person (male and female I have discovered) is generally more capable in this regard than the urban. That is not to insult urbanites, but the rural man or woman knows where food comes from, knows how to perform maintenance (particularly farmers - my great grandfather and grandfathers were farmers), do repairs, and solve any kind of problem they encounter. Of course, these people may not be wizards with the computer or with creating financial products (the latter sure helped get us into the current mess, though) and can be naive when it comes to navigating the urban jungle or in the variety of cuisine they eat - they will not be able to discuss what fusion means in a culinary sense - but when it comes to taking care of themselves, they are way ahead.

After Katrina, the rural Mississippi and Louisiana took care of itself. Sure, you know of the madness in New Orleans, but you heard of none of that in Amite, Bogalousa, Franklinton, LA or similar southern Mississippi towns. People there just took care of things in my town, which was without power for two weeks to more than a month in places, the only looting was done by two baddies from New Orleans (real bright guys who got caught almost immediately).

The urban man (and woman), who Steve Lee describes as a "modern new-age mate who flocks like plagues of rabbits to the shorelines of our states," is far less capable and often proud of that fact. I don't disparage those who do live in urban settings. You likely make far more money than I and many of you are solid, self-reliant men. But you know of the men I describe, too.

Robert Heinlein said it best through Lazarus Long "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
Hi Ash,

The main difference is the rural resident knows all to well that be it national disaster or blizzard they are on their own. The urban resident goes merrily on secure in the mistaken knowledge that "someone" will be there to take care of them no matter what happens.
 
I swear I don't get it. People willfully making themselves incapable and nearly helpless. I see folks wearing pajamas and slippers to Walmart. Frequently.
Hey..

I do wear pajamas and slippers to Walmart.

And a S&W airweight 642 in a IWB holster. Plus a Saber spitfire pepper spray in the pocket.

Deaf
 
100 year ago women wore their hair longer and kepts their hats in place using needles that were about the size of knitting needles.
I wear a Utility Belt-Minimaglite in holster,Leatherman or other multi-tool,folding knife. I graduated high school in 1967, carried my Boy Scout knife on a belt lanyard in my pocket. Nowadays I'd be locked up for that.
 
Hey..

I do wear pajamas and slippers to Walmart.

And a S&W airweight 642 in a IWB holster. Plus a Saber spitfire pepper spray in the pocket.

Deaf
Hope you have a drawstring waist and never have to run or fight in those slippers.

Hard to draw when your waistband fell down to your ankles!

.
 
I keep a p38 can opener on my keys and it has saved several cookouts. Including one at college with a bunch of engineering students that couldn't even figure out how to light a gas grill. That cookout caused me to lose a lot of faith in my generation.
I also have a p38 on my key ring and a story. I was headed into a court house to deliver some paperwork with my daughter (order of protection/divorce) and had to send everything through the x-ray machine at the entrance. I had emptied my pockets of all dangerous weapons while in the car and thought nothing about my key ring. There were two police officers attending the scanner a young buck and an older fellow. The young kid almost jumped pointing at the screen... Knife!! ... The older gent picked up my keys as they came off the belt and looked them over carefully pausing at the p38. He handed them to me and turned to the kid to saying he needed his eyes checked... looking back my way he said "Semper Fi". I'm thinking he too recognized it as a tool no one should be without. Oh, two other things I have on my key ring are a key sized screw driver and a handcuff key.
 
You can't fix a flat, although you can call AAA and wait for help (which is fine, because 90%+ of people these days can't read the owner's manual to find the jack, let alone actually change a tire themselves). Also known as being helpless.

(snip)

And so goes our civilization...

One of the most irritating commercials I've ever seen was out in the late 90's (I think) and was for On-Star or something like that. The voice-over of the commercial was something like this:
"You have a flat tire and your roadside service is only a phone-call away. Unfortunately, the nearest phone is an exit away. What do you do now?"

My wife learned to change the channel as soon as it came on because I'd always answer the question correctly and very loudly: Change the tire yourself!

I carried a pocketknife and a pair of slip-joint pliers almost all of the time when I was growing up. I didn't carry a lighter much, but every truck we had contained at least one box of matches, tons of baling wire/twine, at least one water bottle, and epinephrine (my uncle was deathly allergic to bee stings.)

Today, I always have a phone, gun, knife, small flashlight, and cord of some sort on me. I usually have duct tape and pliers either on me or very close by.

I usually don't make a habit of cutting other people's foodstuffs with any of the knives I carry because they get used to clean fish quite often. :)

Matt
 
My Dad insist that I (among other things) know how to change a tire and a fan belt. His lessons were thorough and informative. However, it was my older sister that taught me how to change a tire without breaking my nails!

Seriously, how can people claim to have pride in ownership if they are dependent on others to do the basic maintenance?
 
Hope you have a drawstring waist and never have to run or fight in those slippers.

Hard to draw when your waistband fell down to your ankles!

.
Oh yea the draw string is snug, and I am very very fast with it (the gun, not the drawstring.)

Plus being a 5th Dan Taekwondo black belt, Krav Magaist, and boxer I will give as well as I get.

Deaf
 
To answer the OP, my Spyderco saved the day when I had to cut a seatbelt to get a lady out of her car that she had just wrecked (nearly went head on into my pickup too...I shudder at the thought of her Honda CRV hitting my Chevy head-on whilst I'm cruising along at 45mph).

She was so overweight that she was trapped in her seat because of it. I didn't want her to be stuck in the car in the middle of the road so I asked her if she wanted me to cut her out. The best part was I had the only knife and my dad had to stand idly by while his son set the example of preparedness :cool:

In my father's defense, he was only recently converted to "pro-gun" after being raised in a very anti family. He's never carried any kind of tool regularly unless he's at work as a photographer or general contractor. Go figure!

Always have a knife!
 
"The urban resident goes merrily on secure in the mistaken knowledge that "someone" will be there to take care of them no matter what happens."

That sums it up better than any other example I have read or heard.
 
---jailbroken iPhone 3GS (clock, camera, light, Word, Excel, text and voice comms, access to several GB of files and all the world's libraries in my pocket)
---Streamlight Microstream (brighter light)
---Swiss Army knife
 
I do have all the common tools and a basic bugout bag in any working vehicle I own. Knife, water, purifying tablets, firestarters, so on. Basically the basic stuff that makes it possible to part and start camp if need be. Never needed to, thankfully.

Currently I'm stuck on two wheels and my own power (car snapped a timing belt), and the pack I wear in there permanently has tire tools, slip-joint pliers, and an adjustable wrench or two. Haven't had to use them on the bike on the road yet, but they've adjusted brakes in the garage, stopped a leak from the air compressor at work, and helped me repair a pallet jack.

Not a day goes by I don't use my pocket knife, but the only time it did anything potentially lifesaving was when my shirt got caught and start dragging me into my lathe. I was getting ready to cut at it with one hand, but caught the emergency stop with the other in time.
 
but I was once again struck by how many people, male and female, don't carry very basic tools with them.

Some folks don't feel the need to be Tim Allen either. I'll carry a pocket knife but I have no need for the rest as I do not get myself into those situations where either a phone call or similar solves the issue
 
Nobody plans on breaking down in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday evening.

I was frankly glad I could change out my failed compressor on my Jeep Cherokee on a Sunday afternoon in the parking lot of an Autozone while on my way to vacation. An hour-and-a-half lost travel time sure beats waiting a few days in middle Alabama. There is no reason NOT to carry a small, good quality socket set in your car, or jumper cables, or an air pump. A small tool kit can be the difference between making it home or waiting it out a few hours then staying in a motel until the next day, or the next after that, until repairs can be made, plus towing costs etc.
 
I carry a pocketknife with me every day. It is one of the most useful things one can have on them. I do not carry a flashlight on my person although I do keep a very bright 3D cell flashlight in the truck & I have a LED headlamp that I keep available when I am at work. I always carry a lighter but unfortunately I am a smoker. As for tools. I keep one of the old craftsman rally style tool boxes in the lockbox on the back of my truck that has a pretty basic set of metric & standard combination wrenches, hammers, screwdrivers, torx drivers pliers, and 1/4", 3/8" & 1/2" drive ratchets & sockets. The tools are there for 2 reasons though. I drive a 14 year old truck with over 340,000 miles on it & I am a construction worker & occasionally I run into a situation where I need a tool I don't usually keep in my bag. I know I'm not prepared for everything but I try to be for the basic stuff.
 
One cannot prepare for all things, you prepare for most things. Then, you don't dwell or think about them, you get on with life. You think about the jumper cables when you need them, you think about the socket set when you need them, etc.
 
One cannot prepare for all things, you prepare for most things. Then, you don't dwell or think about them, you get on with life. You think about the jumper cables when you need them, you think about the socket set when you need them, etc.
I carry a soft sided tool bag packed with about 20 lbs of carefully chosen tools and a comercial grade jump pak with built in air compressor. I'm on the road a lot, frequently out in sparsely populated areas where help isn't close.

My trusty tool bag is amazingly versatile considering the limited tool selection and has gotten me out of many jams. As was written above, you can't be prepared for everything, but you can be prepared to handle many things. You have to strike a balance.
 
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