Everyday carry (or E.D.C.) denotes what you carry wherever you go. It is a niche preparedness culture that is lately becoming mainstream; amid the groundswell, it has been called a ‘‘movement,’’ a ‘‘mindset’’ and even a ‘‘philosophy,’’ for it also connotes a heightened consciousness about what you carry and why. The objects in an individual’s E.D.C. may be as unremarkable as keys, a cell phone and a wallet, but might be as various as a brass marine shackle or a tourniquet, a seatbelt cutter or a small multipurpose tool that looks like a seahorse, a reclining monkey or a gaping tyrannosaur. E.D.C. sites are awash in lovingly curated still lifes of all this — a murse dump with occasional Glocks.

A little something from the NY Times (“Pravda On The Hudson”) about the ‘trend’ towards EDC gear. Nothing really substantive or new in the article, but the fact that it is even there is whats newsworthy.

Interesting link to a very slick and professional looking examination of the various military rations in the US military.

I’m especially interested in the Unitized Group Ration – Express. I’m rather fascinated by the concept of a cardboard box of rations where you open it up, pull the rip cord, and a half hour later you and your squaddies have a hot meal.

Anyway, interesting link and worth a read.

$149 for a Magpul’d complete lower? Yes please.

And then there’s this:

Like swallows returning to Capistrano, this is a sure sign it’s an election year.

ZURICH (Reuters) – Friction between Switzerland and the European Union over the bloc’s plans to tighten gun control following a rise in militant attacks could turn into another serious snag in ties already tested by Swiss efforts to curb immigration.

The proposed directive, which applies to non-EU member Switzerland only because it is part of Europe’s Schengen open border system, has raised hackles among the Swiss, who resent intervention from Brussels.

Christoph Blocher, a leading voice of the Swiss right and a eurosceptic, says Switzerland should consider abandoning Europe’s Schengen system of passport-free travel if the Swiss people rejected the proposed measures in a referendum.

Drafted after militants killed scores in attacks in Paris last year, the EU plans on gun control aimed to curb online weapons sales and impose more restrictions on assault weapons.

But the initial proposal provoked an outcry in Switzerland because it meant a ban on the long Swiss tradition of ex-soldiers keeping their assault rifles.

I absolutely love some of the things the Swiss do in the name of national sovereignty and preparedness. Sure, they do some things I don’t like, but any country that encourages folks to keep their military guns, doles out ammo for a national shooting festival, and has survival bunkers dotting the landscape….plus, women in dirndl dresses…gets my seal of approval.

One of my bucket list items is to go to the big Swiss shooting festival they have each year.

The Brits have already walked from the EU and the world didn’t come to an end. The Swiss, as best I can tell, don’t really get anything out of membership so perhaps they’ll be next.