This is not intended as criticism of anyone or any organisation, I wanted to get that out the way first.

I’m usually quite cynical of a lot of EDC opinion, as it often seems rooted in a desire to be Rambo or Macguyver and divorced from reality or practicality.

My girlfriend and I just had a few days away by the sea. Our hotel was right next to the sea with a concrete harbour about 600m away. One evening we decided to walk to the end of the harbour. We got to the end and sat for around half an hour. When we turned to go back we realised that on the way out we had used harbour and hotel lights to silhouette our walk along the wall. The way back was facing the beach and in the shadow of a dune which put the entire wall in pitch darkness. There were no railings just a 15ft drop onto rocks and incoming waves on either side. The entire wall was about 50m long. We took our time and made it on to the sand but right at the end my girlfriend walked into a concrete bollard. Luckily no bones were broken, just a small graze.

My EDC at the time was a Gerber Dime, homemade pry bar thingy, car keys and a wallet. Neither of us had taken a phone as it was going to be a short stroll within sight of our hotel.

This experience has prompted a re-evaluation of my key chain. I normally have a pocket torch when in the “outdoors” but usually use the light on my phone on a daily basis.

My other re-evaluation is what should be my minimum carry. Any light or phone etc would have sufficed no matter how small, even if it only reached 1-2 metres.

I wouldn’t say we were in immediate danger of falling off the wall as we knew there was an edge somewhere and moved cautiously. If one of us had fell off, the situation would have been quite serious. Just trying to get out of the water to the beach in complete darkness would have been difficult. Plus, it would be too much to suggest that broken bones were a real possibility. Even if it was a just a broken toe near the beach.

I’m a keychain kinda guy and I can already hear the shouts of derision that I didn’t have a torch on there. So that is being fixed.

My cynicism for those who would suggest I’d need a 60lb pack of gear to undertake a short stroll after dinner has lessened slightly. I genuinely couldn’t see a problem occurring while taking a walk that both of us have done many times before. It’s not the problem that you can predict that causes the trouble. It’s the one you can’t.