My EDC

What I regularly carry either in my pockets or "man purse"

One of the things I have been noticing is the prevalance of the concept of EDC or "Every Day Carry". EDC items.com is a fairly comprehensive website on the theory and practice of EDC in the United States. It's not a particularly new concept, people tend to have a common set of tools which they deem useful to their everyday life and this set is a constantly changing arrangement of things which tells quite a bit about a person and the life they live.

In my experience EDC usually involves some active or retired military guy going through his gear which often includes a gun (and a backup gun) They tend to be fairly frightening looks into the mind and mentality of many Americans I and I worry if this is a part of a growing trend. Just hearing Nutnfancy talk about the piercing power of his EDC bullets is wincing.

One of the things about growing up in Virginia is the Open Carry allowance for all Virginians. For the most part, Virginians are allowed to carry a handgun with no permit and few restrictions. Which sounds good in theory, but their is nothing friendly about the sight of a big guy with a pistol out on his belt at the Red Lobster.

This to me is a part of nerd culture which is not often understood as nerd culture. It's a "masculinitized" form of gadget geekery, show and tell on the internet, and promotes and reinforces a mindset of being in battle everyday. Who is the enemy in which one is in fear to carry two guns to go to Arbys? Is this a part of the military culture in the US bleeding into the civilian culture? Is this a part of Barry Glassner's "Culture of Fear"?