The Iranians Are Coming! The Iranians Are Coming!

So, it looks like there have been at least four domestic terrorism events which have happened since the U.S. decide to finish a war that was started over 45 years ago. I have been hearing about “Iranian sleeper cells” in our midst for at least a dozen years, and on a scale of 1-10, they rank about a 3 for me. There’s too much of a “Black Swan,” panic surrounding this potential threat for my liking, so this sort of thing has not been high on my hit parade.

However, one thing I have noticed is that while convention crime rates are going down, there seems to be a lot more expressive  violence these days. Transactional violence (“Give me your wallet or I’ll kill you!”) is down, but violence for violence’s sake might be going up.

This sort of thing is not dependent on any overseas action by the United States. So what am I doing in response? How am I altering my everyday carry to adjust for this altered threat?

Well, I’m not doing a lot, quite frankly. This is my current EDC:

Clockwise from upper left:

1. A Sunshine Safety Brik BRD with a pair of trauma shears and a Snakestaff EDC tourniquet.
2. A Galco Concealable mag pouch with a 17 round spare magazine.
3. My take on Paul Gomez’s trauma pouch, with Celox, a triangle bandage and a short length of duct tape.
4. Nitecore MT1A Pro 800 lumen flashlight.
5. POM pepper spray.
6. CRKT CEO Flipper folding knife.
7. NEXTool Silver Blade multitool.
8. A Smith & Wesson CSX E-Series 3.1 with a Gideon Optics Valor Mini sight carried in a Falco holsters leather AIWB rig.
9. A handkerchief.
10. A Bic lighter.

And it’s been my EDC for about six months now. If I need more than this, I have either my FEAR bag (Forget Everything And Run) or Modern Urban Survival Kit in my car if things get really hairy.

What I am doing is paying a little more attention to my surroundings. I’m on my phone less when I’m in public. I’m paying attention to how people are congregating and what they’re wearing. All the things I should be doing anyways, I just have more reason to do so now than before.