It’s that time of year where most guys are wondering what the hell to buy their wife, girlfriend or significant other for Christmas. Depending on what they do on a daily basis for work or commuting you may want to consider getting a few items for her to have on hand in an emergency. Not necessarily a go bag, but a few items to increase her safety and survivability. Here are a few products I’ve selected to increase safety and survivability.
Small handheld flashlight
A small handheld flashlight comes in handy more often than not. It’s useful for both finding your keys in the dark or for temporarily blinding a threat, giving you a few valuable seconds to get away and call 911. The Streamlight Protac 1aaa is not by any means a high lumen tactical light, but what woman wants that. The Protac 1aaa, as the name states, runs on a single AAA battery which is common everywhere and puts out enough light (115 lumens) to disorient someone in the dark.
First Aid Kit
A first aid kit is going to get the most use day-to-day versus a trauma kit. If she is shuttling around kids chances are someone is going to need a band-aid. There is a multitude of pre-built kits available, but the one I have found to be the best bang for your buck, as well as practical, is the Ouch Pouch from Dark Angel Medical. It is compact enough to be thrown into a purse or diaper bag. The contents are all organized into small zip lock type bags and easy to find and access.
Small but practical & durable folding knife
A small folding knife that is partially serrated is what I would recommend. Why partial serrations? For urban environments chances are more likely that you’ll encounter a medical situation such as a car accident than you would an assault. Folding knives aren’t meant to be used for personal defense, although with training and practice you could push it into that role. You may need to cut through a seat belt to rescue someone else or extract yourself from your car. If you’re rendering aid to someone you may need to cut clothing to exposure the injury in order to stop the bleeding. Serrations make cutting through these materials and many other much easier, safer and quicker. For these reasons, I recommend the Spyderco Delica. I’ve owned one for several years and it has never failed me.
Glass breaker and discreet impact weapon
Being that vehicle glass is tempered it can be hard to penetrate unless you have a rescue tool or something along those lines, but let’s face it, who has those tools readily available? We’ve covered the importance and effectiveness of a steel barreled pen, but those do not have the ability to break auto glass in an emergency. The Discreet Stabbing Tool takes the steel barreled pen to the next level by having a Tungsten tip on one end which is great for breaking glass to get yourself out of your car or rescue someone else from theirs. This tool can also be used as an impact weapon to create space between you and your attacker so that you can escape.
A bag to carry it all in
If you’re wanting to go all in and get her a bag as well to carry her emergency kit in along with other daily essentials, then I would suggest taking a hard look at the Vertx EDC Transit sling bag. For a review of this specific bag from a female perspective, check out our review HERE.
The key here is to build one tailored to her daily habits and routine. You could also include other smaller items such as a lighter, whistle and Ibuprofen. A good resource (and gift idea) is Clint Emerson’s book 100 Deadly Skills.
