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A field kit?

H

Hatfield

Operator
Founding Member
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Do you have a field kit? This is nothing more than a clear plastic box rubber o-ring sealed. It holds the necessary gear when things go bad and you can just hand it to your unarmed friend.(I have no friends that don’t shoot) what’s inside? a kahr CW .45 with a loaded clip and NOT one in the the pipe, two spare loaded magazines in a belt carrier, a 750 lumin flashlight, a cold steel spartan, a box of 20 rounds and of course desiccant. The boxes are available in the camping section of wal-mart for $20.00 the orange rubber holder locks into the corners of one half of the box to hold the gear in place while you open it. I’m looking for a leather holster that fits the kahr to add to the kit. Just wondering, do you have gear set ups for your rifles, pistols and shotguns? Go bags count also, just looking for photos and descriptions of how you build your grab and go gear.
 
I need to budget for the next 5 yrs. to get something like this together, but this would not be a half bad idea for your vehicle on trips either coupled with a small first aid kit.
 
The holster was an idea I was going to bring up with you, given the nature of your post. :)

I'm somewhat leery of leather for storage, even with stainless steels, I've found that it's a matter of when more than if, even with dessicant and surface-protection on the steel. Ironically, the flip side of that is that leather holsters are also oftentimes the most form-fitting, which is, of-course, excellent for storage.

Would you consider moving a size up in terms of the container/packaging and going with modern thermoplastic holster? Blade-Tech used to carry IWB and OWB options for the CW45, but I think they discontinued them (although I believe that new old-stock is still readily available from some retailers). I'm sure that most of the Kydex-folding shops still have these molds, though.

In answer to your follow-up question:

The handgun for my go-bag is actually my range/training full-sized XDm9, which allows me the ability to share common magazines with my EDC (XDm9 3.8 Compact). Much like your setup, it is in a dedicated container of its own.

This handgun bag is slaved to my go-bag in a removable manner. The reason for this is because the go-bags for our family are configured not for the zombie apocalypse, but rather for the more likely natural disaster evacuation. Given that municipal shelters are not likely to allow weapons, the ability to quickly and discretely cache the gun without the need to dig through the main bag is something that I had to consider, no matter how unappetizing that thought might be.

I don't have a picture of my setup, but it is quite simple. It's just that gun in a PHLster Floodlight IWB (w/Surefire X300U attached), 19+1, supplemented by three more 19-round magazines. The rule in our house is that holstered guns are always ready-to-rock as soon as they clear the rig, versus unholstered weapons, which require chambering. As a result, the ability to store the gun in a holster was a big consideration for me.

Our bags are a bit unconventional in that it's designed as a family unit, with only basic but common (i.e. identification, communications/power and lighting, self-defense and basic multitool, trauma/first-aid/individual meds/hygiene, navigation, money, water purification/fire/food/shelter) individual gear supplementing each bag. This allows us to be able to have a lot of shared resources as a family unit - for example, a part of my wife's pack is dedicated to more advanced medical resources because she is a physician, while that space in my daughter's pack is alloted to extra food to sustain all three of us - while still giving each individual the ability to get by for a shorter time period, should we be separated.
 
My wife and I each have a drago rifle bag ready to go on a moment's notice. Each has an AR with at least 6 mags and a pistol with 3 mags. The wife knows to grab them if the situation ever warrants it.
 
Tsiwrx, I appreciated the well thought out idea of a holstered gun is always ready to rock. I’m going to adopt that and retrain. These are give away kits meant to hand out to neighbors and friends. (notice I didn’t say family, the Hatfield clan is well set up) I haven’t found a bigger box yet and these have limited space. I will probably cut back to one spare mag with carrier, put in a smaller knife and add spare batteries to make room for a kydex holster and try to add more ammo. I post these things to get better ideas and hopefully help others. There is wisdom in a multitude of counselors.
 
Hatfield said:
There is wisdom in a multitude of counselors.
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That's where I'm at, too. :) It's why I love communities like these - I get to share, and in-turn, I also get to receive. :) Most days, I take, so I'm really truly happy that you were able to take something away from my post, here...it makes me glad to have contributed instead of having again taken! :)

I can't take credit, though, for the "holster = ready" idea.

That was something that I took from another Forum member in another community, when I first started seriously going down the route of armed self-defense.

Keeping ready handguns holstered initially attracted me due to the ability to then safely stage fully-loaded and chambered handguns in small "reach-in" handgun safes. When my daughter was younger, this allowed me to stage my primary defensive weapon, my handgun (as I wanted to have a second hand available, since in such circumstances, I'd more than likely to have been holding her with my other, etc.), "blind" in the safe, allowing me to safely reach in to retrieve the weapon without worry of inserting a finger where it should not go.

[ It's easier now that my daughter is older - I can now simply stage the holstered handgun on the "go-belt" setup in the safe-room. ]

This expanded also to my EDC setup, which I keep in my study. At the end of the day, I take the entire gun/holster off my belt, en masse, which saves one interaction with the weapon.

I do make a habit of both dropping the magazine to verify full-load and to press-check the chamber the next time I put on my EDC, though. I subscribe to the somewhat old-school of thought that once a weapon is no longer in-view, the owner no longer knows the condition of said item, and thus needs to re-verify. Needing to draw the weapon to check-status also allows me to get in that (at least) one practice draw-and-presentation, which is always value-added. :)

The biggest problem with this kind of setup is that it requires more space. I really love your idea of using such a small case for a pass-off, but holstering the gun makes this harder to do, as it requires a bit more space. Similarly, finding or making anchor points for static-cordage for minimalist trigger-guard covers can be an issue with certain types of quick-access safes as well.
 
Hatfield said:
Tsiwrx, I appreciated the well thought out idea of a holstered gun is always ready to rock. I’m going to adopt that and retrain. These are give away kits meant to hand out to neighbors and friends. (notice I didn’t say family, the Hatfield clan is well set up) I haven’t found a bigger box yet and these have limited space. I will probably cut back to one spare mag with carrier, put in a smaller knife and add spare batteries to make room for a kydex holster and try to add more ammo. I post these things to get better ideas and hopefully help others. There is wisdom in a multitude of counselors.
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Do you hand out any of these to the McCoy's? :)
 
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I updated a couple of field kits based on this threads advice. I less magazine each, smaller knives, more ammo,and now there are holsters. Just need to pick up a single mag holder and batteries.
 
If you're going for AA/AAA batteries, spend upfront for lithiums, like the Energizer Ultimate.

They'll eliminate the specter of potassium hydroxide leakage from Alkaline batteries, will store longer, as well as will work better at lower temperatures. As a side-benefit, they're also marginally lighter than Alkalines: that's not likely going to make much of a difference for you...I think that light in the bottom/second kit can take a cartridge of 3 AAAs, right? - but this may be a worthy consideration if you plan to either carry spare batteries or if you utilize a light that requires a bunch of AA or AAA cells. :)
 
Tsiwrx, your posted videos on the other thread about flashlight candela and lumins was extremely helpful with my thought process and ability to transfer info to the people I am helping. Sorry for the run on sentence.
 
Hatfield said:
Tsiwrx, your posted videos on the other thread about flashlight candela and lumins was extremely helpful with my thought process and ability to transfer info to the people I am helping. Sorry for the run on sentence.
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I'm honored to have been of-help!!! :)

I'm a flashlight geek, so I'm always glad to help spread the gospel! :)

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Shamrocker said:
Thanks for the battery tip. I have been having lots of problems with Duracells leaking and ruining my stuff lately. They used to, back in the "old days", guarantee against leakage and would reimburse for any damage their batteries caused. You had to jump thru hoops to make a claim but they would pay out. That, to me, justified the higher cost of their batteries but if they ruin my stuff just like Chinese cheapies...why bother? I will try the Energizer Ultimates next time.
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That's a hard-learned lesson for me as well, with the same kind of experiences you've had.

I still use Alkalines in some "everyday" gear (although to be honest, rechargeables really are taking over, even in the AA/AAA context) where such leakage is likely to be caught early enough to mitigate damage.

The lithium Energizer Ultimates are an up-front investment, but either for expensive electronics or for items which are stored for emergencies, I am willing to eat that cost for some peace-of-mind. :)
 
So I have an old backpack I use as my go bag. It has my firearm and spare mags, a trama-kit change of clothes, spare batteries, 2 two way radios, a bright flashlight, a tactical axe/shovel & a fire starter kit. Took about 3 years to build it like I wanted it. It’s literally in my truck at all times unless camping then it’s in my tent or with me. I recommend keeping tabs on expiration dates and changing out batteries every 6 months. Also if possible bring inside and out of weather as often as possible.
 
Hatfield said:
View attachment 373I updated a couple of field kits based on this threads advice. I less magazine each, smaller knives, more ammo,and now there are holsters. Just need to pick up a single mag holder and batteries.
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Ever thought of doing the same thing but with a vacuum sealer like for food storage? Doing this would remove all the air from the gun, ammo and any other things in your kit. Plus it shrinks up any unused space and can be stored for a very long time. Lastly, it is 100% waterproof.
 
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