I have in irrational fear of cans. What's your dreaded contingency?

[ElevenBlade]

I can never have too many can openers. 

I have a can opener on my EDC SAK.  I've practice opening cans with the Vic combo tool, just in case I'll need to do that. I've made sure that my backup MT has a can opener on it. I carry two of them on me when I go to work. I have a P-38 attached to my crockery kit, it's been there for 20 years and it's rusted, and I'll probably get a new one the next time I go camping.  When I go camping... I've got 3 on me, at least. 

I've saved dinner multiple times with a can opener.  Most recently was on a group camping trip where chili was on the menu - 3 cans of beans and two cans of tomatoes later, we were dining like kings. 
I helplessly stood by twice when there was food inside cans and not in our bellies.  It's been a while.... but it feels like yesterday.

I don't think I'll ever get over my irrational fear of cans.  I'll have a can opener on my every day, even in the retirement home. 

What about you? What tool do you need to have in your setup, and why?  What event caused you to have a "must-have" tool? 
Why do you always carry scissors, a file, or magnifying lens?  When did you use it in such a way that you can't bring yourself to leave it home?

 

[Sazabi]

My can opener at my apartment lives within a Silvertech Climber; I've even learned how to do triangle piercings with it for evaporated milk.

[pipedreams]

I have to be carrying at least a couple of sizes of screwdrivers. The opener layer of the SAK o’ the Day will suffice, but if I’m not carrying a SAK I’ll still find a way to carry a couple of ways to deal with screws.

[Valkie]

In 50 years of carrying a SAK I have never used the can opener, not once.

The only time I have ever used the bottle opener was when I was in the UK in 2016.

But the screwdrivers are used fairly consistently.

The most commonly used tool, other than the knife, is the scissors.

But the can opener??    I might have to use it one day, just to see if I can use it.

[Sos24]

A flashlight.  It is not necessarily a tool in some people’s mind, but to me it is one of the most important items in my everyday carry.

I know many people don’t bother with flashlights nowadays, because most cell phones have flashlights built in.  But I was raised before cellphones.  Even since there are certain environments where cellphones are not allowed or practical.

Growing up in a rural area with no streetlights or ambient light, if you went playing in the woods and didn’t make it back by dark, you were stumbling home very slowly without a flashlight.  Or driving with car trouble in the middle of nowhere.  Pitch blackness does not help to figure out a plan.  Flashlights were not as small or bright as the ones we have now, but I still frequently carried one.  Then the Maglite Solitaire came along and I have had a flashlight on me every since and usually two (a primary and a keychain back-up).

The lights.have changed for brighter, longer runtime or more modes; but there still is always at least one.  Even as an adult, I couldn’t say how many times a power outage or something else unexpected has left me glad to have my flashlight.  As for the cellphone flashlight users, you’ll be surprised how quickly that battery goes when you are trying to us it as both a phone to call for assistance and a flashlight.

[Alan K.]

I agree about having a flashlight.  I know there's supposed to be emergency lighting in public buildings but if there's a power failure or a fire I know I'll be able to find my way out because I have my own light with me.  Can openers are not quite so important until you don't have one.

[Hevy (CT-782)]

A flashlight.  It is not necessarily a tool in some people’s mind, but to me it is one of the most important items in my everyday carry.

I know many people don’t bother with flashlights nowadays, because most cell phones have flashlights built in.  But I was raised before cellphones.  Even since there are certain environments where cellphones are not allowed or practical.

Growing up in a rural area with no streetlights or ambient light, if you went playing in the woods and didn’t make it back by dark, you were stumbling home very slowly without a flashlight.  Or driving with car trouble in the middle of nowhere.  Pitch blackness does not help to figure out a plan.  Flashlights were not as small or bright as the ones we have now, but I still frequently carried one.  Then the Maglite Solitaire came along and I have had a flashlight on me every since and usually two (a primary and a keychain back-up).

The lights.have changed for brighter, longer runtime or more modes; but there still is always at least one.  Even as an adult, I couldn’t say how many times a power outage or something else unexpected has left me glad to have my flashlight.  As for the cellphone flashlight users, you’ll be surprised how quickly that battery goes when you are trying to us it as both a phone to call for assistance and a flashlight.

I grew up in a farm, before celphones too!
And I know how valuable is a flashlight.
I have a flash light near the bed, one in the car, two on my Edc
My brother too. He also gives a great value to a flashlight in hands when needed.

But I really can't live without bottle openers. I carry everyday, at least 3 with me. And have much more around the house.
Oh the irrational fear of bottles with bottlecaps.

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[ElevenBlade]

I agree about having a flashlight.  I know there's supposed to be emergency lighting in public buildings but if there's a power failure or a fire I know I'll be able to find my way out because I have my own light with me.  Can openers are not quite so important until you don't have one.

That's a hilarious comic!   

[ElevenBlade]

A flashlight.  It is not necessarily a tool in some people’s mind, but to me it is one of the most important items in my everyday carry.

I know many people don’t bother with flashlights nowadays, because most cell phones have flashlights built in.  But I was raised before cellphones.  Even since there are certain environments where cellphones are not allowed or practical.

Growing up in a rural area with no streetlights or ambient light, if you went playing in the woods and didn’t make it back by dark, you were stumbling home very slowly without a flashlight.  Or driving with car trouble in the middle of nowhere.  Pitch blackness does not help to figure out a plan.  Flashlights were not as small or bright as the ones we have now, but I still frequently carried one.  Then the Maglite Solitaire came along and I have had a flashlight on me every since and usually two (a primary and a keychain back-up).

The lights.have changed for brighter, longer runtime or more modes; but there still is always at least one.  Even as an adult, I couldn’t say how many times a power outage or something else unexpected has left me glad to have my flashlight.  As for the cellphone flashlight users, you’ll be surprised how quickly that battery goes when you are trying to us it as both a phone to call for assistance and a flashlight.

 

I've moved around quite a bit, but locally... that said, I'm in an area where the city and country are just a few hours apart. 

As you and I have discussed, I used to EDC a flashlight.  I haven't for a couple of years... until about a month ago.  Now I keep one in my coat pocket again.  Even though it's a C&C freebie, I couldn't be happier with it.  It's the lightest keychain light I've owned and is brighter than the single LED lights I'd been getting.   When it crumps out, I'll probably get another one like it.     I've got an adequate supply of mid-sized lights for my emergency kit and my camping gear. 

These days, with less roaming around, I need it far less, as there's plenty of ambient light from the street.  Even my bedroom isn't pitch black in the middle of the night.  I think the darkest place I've been recently is underneath my computer desk, searching for a dried cranberry that I dropped.   

I didn't start with this cell phone business until a bit later than most, and so, in hindsight, even recent memory with a flashlight as EDC is pre-cell-phone.  I was living in a place that didn't have many street lights, and I would always need the flashlight to get in through the back way. 

Then there's my mom's stories of random power outages, that have vicariously made me wary of that sort of thing. 

So I can certainly see how a flashlight can easily become a must-have tool... particularly based on experience. 

 

[Aloha]

I also like to have a can opener handy.  I got a P38 a little while ago but haven't used it, maybe its time to test it out?  I seem to always have a 91mm with me so cans don't stand a chance.  I've opened many cans as not all have the pull top.  I much prefer the can opener vs the combo tool but I can manage with the combo tool. 

As for contingency?  I guess if pressed I can use my fixed blade tho I haven't had the need. 

[Swiss Guy]

I agree with those that have said, "flashlight." Although it isn't the most used tool I have--far from it--it is the one that came to be necessary out of a traumatic event.

In this case, it was a power outage in the interior of a building with no window. Pitch. Black. This was before mobile phones were common and the cool guys carried pagers. Fortunately, we had smokers in our area and the lighters came out and we made our way outside.

Ever since then, I carried a small flashlight with me. It has helped me on numerous occasions like spending too much time on a hiking trail and not getting back to camp before dark, finding my dropped keys at night, helping someone change a tire in the dark... and many other times.

Other than the flashlight, scissors are my next necessity. Cutting tags/string off clothing for my wife has been the prime use for scissors which makes them a necessity. Happy wife, happy life.

[Aloha]

I'd have to agree a flashlight is something I tend to need more than I realized.  Just tonight I had to change my tire and the light I had in my truck was exactly what was needed.  Without it I would have struggled a bit.  Cell phone could have worked but IMO a dedicated flashlight is best for me.

[Zephon]

I have this fear of being in an evacuation center and the only food available are canned food. That’s why all the MT’s I teach my kids to use include a can opener and I let them try using it once in a while. It thankfully hasn’t happened yet and the nearest thing we had to living off canned goods was during the first Covid lockdown which lasted for only a couple of weeks.

Before Covid when the kids still went on-site for school, I made sure their keychains with house keys had a small flashlight. A small, cheap LED light is better than stumbling in the dark. It’s mostly used for finding stuff under chairs, tables and what have you. Made my wife keep one as well.  It’s especially helpful when walking to and opening the gate when going home at night.

Then there’s folding scissors. Nothing fancy like a Micra but something that works, and the kids can dangle it on an ID lanyard without attracting attention. Ironically, we got them in Don Quixote in Osaka - I wasn’t confident in walking around with the Micra then.

For me, I’ve been carrying a Micra since late 2001. Scissors, more than anything else. At home, practically every room at every floor has a SAK. I guess it’s the scissors and screwdriver more than anything.

[pomsbz]

I started carrying a keychain flashlight as part of 'edc chic' rather than any particular need, it was a Prometheus Beta which made up for some rather lacklustre specs by being aesthetically pleasing and having a QR. Well it was the QR which failed on me, I lost it on a bike home, found my keys dangling out of my pocket and the flashlight gone. Oh well back to my trusty Maglite Mini. That is until I had to use it for an extended period. I'd gotten used to modern light. The 20 lumens or so from the Maglite simply didn't cut it. I ordered a replacement for both the keychain and the Maglite that evening. Fast forward a bit more and we had a really nasty snowfall one year. I had been in the UK for my sisters wedding and we came back from the airport to yard high snow, no electricity, nothing prepared, etc. I had a couple of flashlights but they were AA lights and that power cut was almost a week. Luckily we had plenty tea lights but these days I have enough 18650 lights, lamp attachments and batteries for every room in the house and we've had to use them all often. The electricity here in Jerusalem fuses every time it rains hard.

[Sos24]

I have this fear of being in an evacuation center and the only food available are canned food. That’s why all the MT’s I teach my kids to use include a can opener and I let them try using it once in a while. It thankfully hasn’t happened yet and the nearest thing we had to living off canned goods was during the first Covid lockdown which lasted for only a couple of weeks.

Before Covid when the kids still went on-site for school, I made sure their keychains with house keys had a small flashlight. A small, cheap LED light is better than stumbling in the dark. It’s mostly used for finding stuff under chairs, tables and what have you. Made my wife keep one as well.  It’s especially helpful when walking to and opening the gate when going home at night.

Then there’s folding scissors. Nothing fancy like a Micra but something that works, and the kids can dangle it on an ID lanyard without attracting attention. Ironically, we got them in Don Quixote in Osaka - I wasn’t confident in walking around with the Micra then.

For me, I’ve been carrying a Micra since late 2001. Scissors, more than anything else. At home, practically every room at every floor has a SAK. I guess it’s the scissors and screwdriver more than anything.

Scissors are probably my most used tool and most desired to have.  A good set of scissors like on a 91 or 93mm can be used for so many edc tasks.  Though scissors are not as versatile as a knife blade, there are just some occasions where the scissors are easier to do the tasks or better received.

[Sos24]

I started carrying a keychain flashlight as part of 'edc chic' rather than any particular need, it was a Prometheus Beta which made up for some rather lacklustre specs by being aesthetically pleasing and having a QR. Well it was the QR which failed on me, I lost it on a bike home, found my keys dangling out of my pocket and the flashlight gone. Oh well back to my trusty Maglite Mini. That is until I had to use it for an extended period. I'd gotten used to modern light. The 20 lumens or so from the Maglite simply didn't cut it. I ordered a replacement for both the keychain and the Maglite that evening. Fast forward a bit more and we had a really nasty snowfall one year. I had been in the UK for my sisters wedding and we came back from the airport to yard high snow, no electricity, nothing prepared, etc. I had a couple of flashlights but they were AA lights and that power cut was almost a week. Luckily we had plenty tea lights but these days I have enough 18650 lights, lamp attachments and batteries for every room in the house and we've had to use them all often. The electricity here in Jerusalem fuses every time it rains hard.

Having plenty of batteries is important.  Also, a nice thing about 18650 is that with some chargers, they can be used like an emergency power bank to charge other small items like a cell phone.

[Etherealicer]

A journal to keep track when I last used a can-opener... it was in 1815 just before the Battle at Waterloo and the tin was made of tin.

For me, the absolute essentials are ID, keys, insurance card, bank card, some cash and due to the current situation a mask/hand sanitizer.
While I wouldn't categorize smartphone (From looking up stuff to navigation and public transport card, everything is on the phone), knife and a backup mask as absolutely essential, I never leave house without.

[Jothra]

I used the can opener on my Fx a week ago, when a family member's fancy novelty crank opener completely failed to open a can of salmon.

This is why, when I'm in my kitchen, I still bank on my 20-year-old Swing-A-Way can opener. That thing looks lightweight, but what a beast!

[pfrsantos]

Pants.

[pomsbz]

Having plenty of batteries is important.  Also, a nice thing about 18650 is that with some chargers, they can be used like an emergency power bank to charge other small items like a cell phone.

I do have a little charger like that albeit these days there are so many power banks around the house that I don't really need to fall back on that solution except in a longer term situation.

[ElevenBlade]

Pants.

Were you once in a situation where you needed an additional pair of pants?  Did your primary ones fail?

[pomsbz]

I used my can opener today for what it does the most after screws, being used as a metal finger nail, a sharp thin pry bar for delicately getting into a tight space and wiggling it open. In this case it was to remove a tightly wedged rubber washer from the inside of a door handle prior to installation.

[pfrsantos]

Were you once in a situation where you needed an additional pair of pants?  Did your primary ones fail?

More than once...

 

[Hevy (CT-782)]

More than once...

 

Can't even imagine...

Maybe partying with Fuzzy?

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[pfrsantos]

Can't even imagine...

Maybe partying with Fuzzy?

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Nah, no problems there. Nor pants.

 

[pomsbz]

I was a wedding photographer some years ago, I once caught my trousers on a nail coming out of a fence while taking photos, ripped my trouser leg from waist down to knee. Luckily it was a couple of hours from the end. I gaffer taped the trousers back together and carried on shooting. Us photographers survive due to gaffer tape.

[Steelej1976]

A flashlight.  It is not necessarily a tool in some people’s mind, but to me it is one of the most important items in my everyday carry.

I know many people don’t bother with flashlights nowadays, because most cell phones have flashlights built in.  But I was raised before cellphones.  Even since there are certain environments where cellphones are not allowed or practical.

Growing up in a rural area with no streetlights or ambient light, if you went playing in the woods and didn’t make it back by dark, you were stumbling home very slowly without a flashlight.  Or driving with car trouble in the middle of nowhere.  Pitch blackness does not help to figure out a plan.  Flashlights were not as small or bright as the ones we have now, but I still frequently carried one.  Then the Maglite Solitaire came along and I have had a flashlight on me every since and usually two (a primary and a keychain back-up).

The lights.have changed for brighter, longer runtime or more modes; but there still is always at least one.  Even as an adult, I couldn’t say how many times a power outage or something else unexpected has left me glad to have my flashlight.  As for the cellphone flashlight users, you’ll be surprised how quickly that battery goes when you are trying to us it as both a phone to call for assistance and a flashlight.

Yep flashlight is number 1 for me too.  After I dropped and broke my phone I got an AAA Streamlight Microstream.  Number 2 would be a cell phone, number 3 a knife. 

[nate j]

I agree with a lot of what has been said in this thread already:

• Can openers - I've saved the day on more than one camp out with my SAK can opener.  I'm generally carrying two can openers:  one on whatever 91 mm or 93 mm is my primary SAK that day, and one on the backup Alox Bantam in my wallet.
• Scissors - I use them mostly for personal grooming tasks like trimming unruly moustache hairs and broken or jagged fingernails, but good scissors (91 mm or 93 mm SAK scissors are my choice) are just too useful and used too often not to have.
• Flashlights...
  - I've worked several places where the emergency lighting was either inadequate or non-existent.  If the power went out, you ran the risk of being stuck where you were until the power came back on or someone came looking for you, unless you had a flashlight to find your way out.
  - Once a friend of a friend went hiking, and apparently misjudged his pace or the distance, because the darkness caught up with him while he was still in the woods.  He didn't have a flashlight, and continuing to walk in the darkness without one would have been too dangerous, so he was forced to spend an unexpected night in the woods.  Fortunately, he was none the worse for wear, but other hikers who have been caught in similar situations have not always been so lucky.
  - For the "I'll just use my cell phone" crowd, it's already been noted above that using the flashlight function on your cell phone will drain the battery quite quickly.  Consider also that:  a cell phone light is a poor substitute for even a key chain size modern flashlight in terms of performance; cold weather will probably cause your cell phone battery to die even more quickly, whereas modern disposable lithium or cold-resistant rechargable batteries will fare much better; good quality modern flashlights are generally fairly resistant to water and to impact, they can be soaked in a downpour, dropped in a stream or puddle, dropped on a rock or on concrete, and most likely continue to work, but can you say the same of your cell phone?
  - I always have at least a 1xAAA flashlight on my key chain.  If I'm hiking, camping, or just planning to be out and about after dark, I generally add a mid-size flashlight and sometimes a headlamp as well.
  

And I'll add a few more items that I'm not sure have been mentioned yet (apologies if I missed them):

• Knife - Whether it is opening boxes or blister packs, cutting zip ties, trimming cigars, preparing food, making tinder, or freeing people from jammed seat belts after an accident (I have not had to do this personally, but there are multiple accounts of it happening), the knife is one of man's oldest tools and still one of the most valuable.  I'm usually carrying 2-4 knives, which I'll admit is overkill (I got by for many years carrying only one), but I enjoy it.
• Lighters - Whether lighting my cigars, camp stoves, camp fires, birthday or other candles, or melting the ends of paracord, being able to quickly and easily have fire on demand is a valuable thing.  Since every lighter will run out of fuel at some point (and Murphy dictates this will be the least convenient time), and because I have a habit of loaning out the cheap ones and not getting them back, I'm usually carrying 2-3 lighters.
• Tweezers - They are handy for personal grooming, but really important if you need to remove a splinter or an embedded tick.  I started out with only SAK tweezers once upon a time, but upgraded to carrying sliver grippers on my key chain quite a few years ago.  They are objectively better tweezers than the standard SAK tweezers, and this arrangement also allows more flexibility in what SAK(s) I carry.

[greenbear]

Many years ago I worked for the UK emergency services (as an emergency call handler) and that has left me with an irrational fear of having a house fire/burning to death. As a result I always ensure all electrical items (the cause of many UK fires) are off before I go to sleep at night.  I always have a powerful torch by the bed to aid escape.

[comis]

On SAK, besides the usual openers and blades, I think scissors and metal file/saw are my 'must haves'.

Scissors because there are times I need to cut something inside a moving vehicle, and I always fear the vehicle would stop abruptly and scissors is much safer to use in that regard.  Metal file/saw because it has once saved a long haul trip by cutting open a luggage lock, and another fear of mine is to be trapped inside a building/high rise on fire, while the exit is locked up with a pad lock/chain.  I don't know the metal file is good enough to cut everything, but at least there's a possibility they would work.