I – Prepare

Checklist: Categories and Their Items for Every Day Carry (EDC)

Browse EDC items at AmazonPreparedness is a vital element of SemperVerus mindfulness. One act of being prepared is to be intentional about selecting specific practical items to keep with you in your pockets, purse, belt pack, day pack, or vest as you travel through your day.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, SemperVerus and the Noble Foundation of Scouting ]

Everyday carry (EDC) is the collection of useful gear you consistently tote on your person to help you overcome simple everyday problems and to anticipate unexpected and possibly dangerous situations. Your selection of tools you consider to be essential is a personal decision. An item you think is vital may not even enter the mind of someone else. But that makes it no less important for you. You need to balance practicality and preparedness with weight, bulk, and comfort. Each component of your EDC should serve a purpose or have at least one specific, useful function.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Prepper Survival, Travel, Leadership, Reader Apps ]

Every day, your EDC essentials prepare you for the worst and empower you to do your best.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Questions to Ask Yourself ]

To help you think through your own EDC, here’s a list of major categories to consider and item ideas for each one. You decide what and how much you want to carry every day.

Read More…

Practical Knot Tying

Adventurer Bear Grylls provides instructions on learning how to tie the most practical knots you can use for everyday needs:

  • reef (square) knot (tying two rope ends together)
  • reef knot with two hitches (to prevent slippage)
  • overhand knot (tying two rope ends together that won’t unravel)
  • clove hitch (securing the rope to a post)
  • clove hitch with additional hitch or two overhand knots (to prevent slippage)
  • clove hitch using loops (securing the rope to an open pole or stake)
  • clove hitch sliding the loops together (securing the rope to a carabiner)
  • Italian hitch closing the loops on itself (to belay a person down a cliff)
  • stopper version of a hitch (to trap the rope )
  • bowline knot (for tying a rope around your waist)
  • figure-of-eight knot (for tying an adjustable loop or handhold)

[ Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Devotional Insights on Courage by Bear Grylls ]

Read More…

Concealed Carry Daily Prayer

More than two-thirds of Americans pray and a majority pray every day. According to a 2014 Pew Research Center survey, 55% of Americans say they pray every day, 16% say they pray weekly, and 6% pray monthly: add them together for a total of 77% of USA citizens say they talk to God in prayer.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Spiritual Fitness in the USA Military ]

And according to a LifeWay Research survey, most Americans who pray (83%) think at least some of their prayers are answered. Their topic of prayer focuses mainly on their family and friends (82%) or their own problems (74%).

Chart: What People Pray For

Depending on God for guidance and protection are common themes of everyday prayer. And since carrying a firearm for self-defense is such a high responsibility, it makes sense to turn to the highest power to request divine care in properly meeting that commitment.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Jeff Cooper’s Principles of Personal Defense ]

Here’s a prayer by SemperVerus® you may want to say when you arise every morning:

Concealed Carry Daily Prayer

My Father in Heaven, your will be done.
 
I pray today that I will love you with all my passion, character, intellect, and muscle and that I will humbly love the people with whom I come in contact.
 
Help me to be a disciplined peacemaker—a wise discerner of good from evil—proactively alert and aware of my spiritual and physical surroundings.
 
I pray I will never be forced to use my weapon. But if I must as only the last resort in self-defense, make me courageously fast and accurate to stop the attack.
 
Amen.

(Concepts for this prayer are taken from Matt. 6:9-14, Mark 12:30-31; Heb. 12:14; Phil. 1:9-11; 1 Pet. 5:8-9; and 1 Cor. 16:13-14)

ALSO READ:
•  A Prayer for Church Security Team Members

•  What to Take to the Shooting Range—Including a Prayer

Invite SemperVerus® to present its 5 main strategic principles—prepare, aware, be, know, do—to your organization to inspire and motivate your members.

Join the SemperVerus Brotherhood™!

A Directory of Firearm Podcasts & Video Channels

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Self-Defense Training Directory ]

Invite SemperVerus® to present its 5 life-changing success-generating components—prepare, aware, be, know, do—to your organization to inspire and motivate your members.

Join the SemperVerus Brotherhood™!

Checklist: Matters to Consider When Deciding on a Handgun

If you’re thinking about becoming a handgun owner, you may be wondering how to begin. Perhaps the thought of walking into a gun store makes you nervous. Or confused. The extreme variety of firearms from which to choose can be daunting and baffling.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, The 4 Basic Rules of Gun Safety ]

Click the image below to enlarge this PDF document created by SemperVerus to help you narrow the options to your specific situation. Download, print, and take it to your gun store to work through the choices with a knowledgeable and helpful firearms retailer.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Self-Defense Training Directory ]

Checklist: Matters to Consider When Deciding on a Handgun

[ Read the SemperVerus article, The Process of Becoming a First Time Gun Owner ]

To help you compare how you handle different firearms, see this list of worthwhile items to evaluate compiled by TacticalProfessor Claude Werner for testing and deciding what gun is right for you. Also see his Pistol Evaluation checklist.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Stay Legally Informed With Concealed Nation’s Interactive Concealed Carry Maps ]

You may find A Glossary of Gun Terms by AmmoMan.com, Gun Glossary For Women Shooters by Carrie Lightfoot at The Well Armed Woman, USCCA’s Terminology Guide, Pew Pew Tactical’s Handgun Training Terminology You Should Know, and USA Carry’s Firearms Terms for the Beginner to be useful in your personal firearm education.

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of INTRODUCTION TO FIREARMS ]

Also see TheTruthAboutGuns.com for “Guns for Beginners” articles, GunMagWarehouse.com for A Beginner’s Guide to Buying a Handgun, and Pew Pew Tactical’s Beginner’s Guide to Guns.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Learn the Basics of Ammunition with Winchester® Educational Infographics ]

And learn about USA state gun laws at

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A Directory of Holster Makers ]

Invite SemperVerus® to present its 5 life-changing success-generating components—prepare, aware, be, know, do—to your organization to inspire and motivate your members.

Join the SemperVerus Brotherhood™!