I had a conversation with our fill-in Warrior Life Radio host, Buck Greene, the other day, and he told me a story that, I’m not gonna lie, kind of hit me “right in the feels,” as the kids say.
It was the story behind one of the everyday carry (EDC) pocket items he has on him, something that is a legacy from his father: his Swiss Army Knife.
(Let me warn you, though: If you’re the kind of guy who has to pretend not to cry at the end of that Bruce Willis movie Armageddon, you might not want to read this!)
“My father always carried the biggest Swiss Army knife they make, the Swiss Champ,” he told me. “I remember him using that knife to open packages on Christmas morning. Or he’d use the tweezers to take out splinters I’d get as a kid.”
The story, though, doesn’t end there, and it was this next part that might choke you up a little (especially if you’re a parent like I am).
“So when my daughter was very small, maybe five or six,” Buck went on, “We were playing in the park and she picked up a splinter from one of the old park benches. I stopped to think, ‘How do I get that out of there?’ and I remembered I had a Swiss Army Knife in a small survival kit in the car.”
And that, Buck told me, is when it hit him:
“I had this moment,” he said, looking down at his Swiss Army Knife, “where I realized, ‘Oh wow. I’m the Dad now.’ And I put that SAK in my pocket and never left the house without it ever again. Because now it was MY job to be able to take care of someone else.”
Whether you’re a parent or you’ve never had kids, we can all agree that being prepared for emergencies — being a prepper, being a survivalist, being a warrior — is all about anticipating the unknown.
Multitools are great for that, because you never quite know what tool you might need.
Most multitools are heavier than most Swiss Army Knives, though, which means you might be tempted to leave them at home.
A medium-sized Swiss Army Knife, though, feels like almost nothing in your pocket… and gives you all kinds of options for dealing with problems big and small.
(Including realizing that there’s nobody there to look out for your family, warrior, but YOU.)
I thought that story was worth passing on for a Toolsday.
I figured you would, too.
But now, I want to hear from YOU.
What tools do YOU rely on for EDC?
Are any of them a “legacy” like Buck’s?
Let me know in the comments!
