Your Toolbox

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This thread is about one assessing themselves.

Being honest, I and some others really do not want to know exactly what your tools in the toolbox are for staying safe in your daily affairs, at work, school, business, and travels.
It is honestly none of my business.

The reality is, some folks due to work, are issued certain tools, and have to follow protocol.
Some of these folks such as LEO, Fire Dept, and EMTs run toward situations, whereas civilians are not required to run toward situations.

Sure some Professionals would prefer some tools, still have to use what issued and stay within Department Regs and Protocols.

Some folks do Undercover work, and again these folks have to do what they do to blend in, and their privacy, confidentiality, and security dictates they cannot share some things.

Others work in NPE (non personal weapon environments).
Some are under legal ages to CCW, some in restrictive areas of the USA and other Countries, some work or attend campuses where metal detectors, and being subject to search is part of ADLs (activities of daily living).

We have members that are physically limited, either temporary from injury, disease, flare ups of arthritis, surgery, to those permanently limited.

Bear in mind, everyone is different, folks differ in environment, concerns, and what tools they may choose, or should consider choosing.

Rigorous honesty in how one chooses to go about choosing tools for ADLs is what this thread is about.

Remember, THR does not condone or allow postings of anything that is, or suggests illegal activities.

Is your tool box dependent on Physical Tools, or does your toolbox also consists of Mental Tools.
Software, or Hardware and which of these do you have the most invested in?


Again, I really don't want to know , instead this is for folks to assess themselves.
 
I travel a lot for what I do, most of the time internationally. Up to 1/2 of my life can be spent overseas (or in airports), this has been before during and after 9/11.

Since I usually have to live out of a carry-on and a backpack (check-in takes too long), I have spent countless hours going thru what I really need & what is expedient for SD anywhere I am.

Mental tools are #1 priority, from preparation to situational awareness wherever you are. I have been in really nice places as well as 3rd world lawless border areas, if you don't know what's going on, you look like it, and sooner or later, some sort of predator is going to find you.

Second are my physical tools. I have successfully carried the following items thru airports such as Heathrow, Paris CDG, Tokyo Narita, JFK & LaGuardia, LAX, CHI, SFO, DFW, ATL, Hong Kong, Shanghai, etc. Been thru plenty of other airports but their security tends to be more lax.
Surefire flashlights, Rotring pen, comtech stinger, kelly worden kerambit, Hinderer pen/kubaton, Jones Bros stylus, a pair of aluminum chopsticks, various lengths PC tubing (baton), Atwood Prybaby. There really is quite a lot of stuff that you can comfortably travel with.
 
Awareness
Thinking ahead
Not being there when the fight starts (I don't belong to a volunteer fire department any more; I don't generally run toward trouble now)

Particulars:
There are places that I don't go.
There are things that I don't do.
There are people whom I don't spend time with because they show habits and life choices that tend to attract "difficulties" of one kind or another.

We and our neighbors are within sight of each other's houses. We watch. Some of us have good dogs. Lights in the yard; good locks; other things that "enhance our calm."

There aren't any safe places: John Dillinger once drove right past this house, and a murderer once slept in the barn here. Both events happened before I was born. Neither man came to the house, but everyone here was taught in childhood that it was possible.

Physical tools make it possible to use the mental tools more effectively, or more efficiently. Most of mine are simple: small knives; good flashlights; pencils, pens and things to write on (tablets, 3x5 and 4x6 cards); a Zippo and plastic lighters; more fire extinguishers than one might expect; cheap polycarbonate shooting/sunglasses (clear and tinted); extra boots and gloves in the car.

Using the physical tools regularly in ADLs means that I know how to use them well if there's some kind of problem to solve.
 
I was going to state that my mind is my most important tool, but that would not be accurate - my spirit...my heart is.

It is the will to win that has seen me through many encounters.

The physical tools I cannot comment on due to THR policies.

Biker
 
My most important tool is my vision. Not my eyes, my perception. So many people go through life without seeing what they're looking at because their egos, their petty concerns get in the way. It's like they've got blinders on.

Example:

One type of person will get up, get dressed, and head to an important meeting. Get on the highway, get in a traffic jam, sit there and get stressed, cursing and fuming.

Another type will anticipate the traffic, leave a little early and get to the meeting on time.

The last type, the one I strive to be, will already be there, waiting, when the others arrive.

The world is plain and simple. We make it too complicated. Having a few tools that you know how to use well is better than having all the latest and greatest tacticool gadgets in the world. The most important tool is the one between your ears.
 
I work in a convenience store at night. I have a little fort that I work in. It is hard to breach, but there is an open entrance. It is not closed off.

If somebody comes in with a gun, I'll hand over the money. Sometimes however, people with knives or clubs will just come behind the counter and lay into you. I have a can of pepper spray and a 24" aluminum baseball bat. At one place where I had worked before, a fellow came in wearing a mask and carrying a huge wrench. He went right behind the counter and ordered the clerk (not me, I was no longer there) to open the safe and register.

It is part of the reality of my job that drunk, distraught, injured or mentally unstable people will sometimes come in for a visit. For that reason I keep these non-lethal weapons at hand.

I also have a NAA Mini-Revolver in my pocket at all times. We recently had a knife robbery at a donut shop where the clerks were led into a walk-in cooler. I won't go there.

That is my "Tool Box" for the work that I do.
 
Mental tools: Awarness, planning ahead for different situations, instinct and the ability to improvise.

Physical tools: A good pair of boots, 2 knives; gerber folder and folding razor knife, hankerchief/bandanna (for bandage, weapon, or whatever), .357 or 9mm depending on day.

The boots I have always been glad to have, the knifes come in handy fairly often, and I am glad to never have needed to use the sidearm.
 
Remember what you have - diverse strategies are necessary for diverse circumstances. Some places you're not allowed the knife, some the gun, some places it's illegal and others it's just against house rules.

Don't neglect the ubiquitous ballpoint pen, the kick to the shin, the sacred running shoe.

More importantly - be prepared to fend for yourself, but don't neglect the possibility of human backup (having worked in NPE's where human backup is the most powerful tool you have, I put it highest on my list where it's available.)
 
Good stimulating subject worth discussing SM.

Is your tool box dependent on Physical Tools, or does your toolbox also consists of Mental Tools.

Both

Software, or Hardware and which of these do you have the most invested in?

I have my adult life invested in both software and hardware. It was the nature of the beast as work dictated I be well rounded or probably get my ticket punched one day/night working the streets.

In getting me to think along the lines of your question, I would have to think that the hardware skills helped keep me alive long enough to understand the software tools needed to be upgraded constantly and compliment the hardware tools.

The software toolbox just developed out of necessity [ or you didn't last long ]. You aren't prone to be in the white zone when it's 3am, you're alone in a bad area, and asking the wrong questions, finding the wrong people, etc.

Brownie
 
Dismantler,

Be careful, but enjoy the show. Who needs TV, right? If I may, I'd like to encourage you to keep up the situational awareness, do your drops, and do whatever you can to build a rapport with regular customers like security guards, EMTs, cab or limo drivers, etc so they'll want to hang out, talk about their day, and drink your free coffee. (The more witnesses, the less attractive your place will be to the bad guys and girls.)

Oh, and if you need to use the bat, please don't swing it. Stab, jab and poke with seriously bad intent. I aplogize if you've heard this all before, but I know that it works.

Take care
 
Awareness of one's surroundings is paramount, along with trying to avoid situations you cannot escape from.
Glad I live where I have lost or at least don't find the need for most of those old learned skills, but they sure came in handy a few times
 
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