Kid’s Everyday Carry Bag Considerations
Preparing your kids
Before assembling your child’s EDC, let’s first go over some basic skills to teach your children. Early elementary children should have their home address and phone numbers memorized. Teach your children the routes home and to emergency/alternate meeting locations or the nearest relative or close friend’s home. Kids should know street names, landmarks at major cross streets so that they can self-navigate if needed. Lastly, have a family password. This is important. Teach this password to your child. If at any time an adult approaches your child claiming to be a friend of mom or dad and has been sent to help, instruct your child to ask for the password. If the adult is unable to provide the password, this adult should not be trusted and the child needs to get away from this person as soon as possible.
Documentation
The most important component for any child’s EDC is documentation. As adults, we carry a photo ID and other forms of identification as well as other important documents with us at all times in our wallets. It’s just good sense to create a similar ID and document wallet for each of your school-aged children as well. Most schools issue a school ID which typically include a photo of the student and the student’s name. Make a laminated contact card with your name, home address and telephone numbers. Make another laminated card with the contact information for your designated emergency contacts. If possible, consider including maps and/or directions to predetermined safe meeting places.
Suggested Everyday Carry Items
Everyday carry bags are very common for preppers so it only makes sense to ensure that our kids are similarly equipped when they are away from us. Unfortunately, many of the common items we consider as essential for emergencies and survival situations are prohibited in schools so we may have to make some compromises when selecting gear for our kids.
Essential emergency items to consider packing in your child’s everyday carry bag include a water bottle and/or a life straw, extra protein or granola bars, trail mix and hard candies, a small flashlight, a couple of glow sticks, emergency blanket and poncho, emergency money, whistle, small first aid kit and extra feminine hygiene products for menstruating daughters. You may also need to consider your child’s personal medical needs such as allergy medicine, asthma inhaler, Epi-Pen and diabetic medicines. I would advise you to check the school policies in regards to medication and use your discretion with these items. Your kids should also be aware that these items are not for playing and should only be used or opened when and if necessary.
Special Considerations for School
For school age children, special care must be taken when selecting the emergency items. Backpacks are already weighed down with books and other school supplies and space can be very limited. We also want to keep operational security in mind to avoid scrutiny of school officials and having the kid’s be labeled as crazy preppers or our families as extremists. Additionally, the items chosen must comply with school regulations. The trick is to provide kids with the necessary basic needs, keep it light, compact and unobtrusive and contains no items that could be classified as dangerous or as weapons.
I believe that everyday carry begins with the clothes we wear each day. School age children’s clothing must also comply with Dress Codes. As per Washoe County School Dress codes, these are things to consider: no gloves, hats, bandanas or head coverings are allowed to be worn inside the building. Jewelry or chains that can cause injury and metal spiked or metal studded accessories are not allowed. Make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the season and have a good pair of walking shoes, either on their feet or an extra pair in their locker.
A cornerstone to every prepper’s everyday carry items is a pocket knife. Unfortunately, Nevada Revised Statutes and Washoe County School Board Policy strictly prohibit the possession of any weapon commonly known as a knife, blackjack, slingshot, billy, sand club, sandbag, metal knuckles, explosive substances, dirk, dagger, pistol, revolver or other firearm or dangerous weapon. A person in violation can be charged with a gross misdemeanor. If you have a teenage driver that drives to school, possession does include in the vehicle and vehicles on school property are subject to searches. The law also permits school authorities to search students, their personal possessions, desk and lockers under appropriate circumstances.
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