Dave Canterbury has returned with another EDC, this one for a short day hike, courtesy of Everyday Carry.

Canterbury writes, “This would be a full complement EDC for a short day hike or tramp into the woods.” I think I envy him for having a place where he can hike through the woods with a long gun, even if it’s obviously a survival rifle.

In my not-so-gun-friendly state, some special snowflake would call the police. If the regular po-po couldn’t cite you, they might summon the fish cops to come cite you for some violation of some game code regulation.  Because, you know, you might be shooting a yellow-breasted mattress thrasher or the spotted dingbat while out enjoying nature.

I like the leather gloves, the knives, the canteen and compass. Given how thorough this Canterbury character portrays himself, I’m surprised he doesn’t have at least a few pages out of a topographical map. After all, as one sage friend told me, “if you don’t know where you are, it’s hard to figure out where you want to go.”

I like the hatchet too, even though he calls it a Rooster Mod Chicken Hawk. If you follow the Everyday Carry link like I did on that item, you’ll probably roll your eyes and get a chuckle too. Heck, you might even buy one as a joke.

Given Mr. Canterbury doesn’t carry any extra ammo for his .410/.22 combo M6 Scout survival rifle, that must mean he’s a pretty crack shot. That or he doesn’t encounter many rabid ground squirrels in his tramping around in the woods.

 

 

 

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

61 COMMENTS

  2. I happen to know via three independent, blue-check-mark, anonymous sources that Mr. Canterbury is an avid flosser.

    And I don’t see any floss there, boy-o.

    -10 points.

    • That’s what the bank line is for. He flosses with it, and/or has also used real dental floss as cordage. He is all about multi-functionality. He always says that if a thing doesn’t have three different uses, he won’t carry it.
      Almost everything he’s about is in this one seminar:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-P9jueLQ64

  3. Wish I knew where the day hike was taking place. Could better comment on the gear. Still looks like quality stuff. I would have a hard time leaving behind a center fire handgun of some description with a couple of reloads. One question. Why would you carry an M6 without carrying a little grub before you had to fall back on it?

    • First off, Dave definitely is experienced and knows what he’s talking about. Having said that, for a day hike I always Wonder why anyone would need a hatchet, saw, or extra ammunition. Dave doesn’t live far from where I am, southern Ohio. I lived in Colorado for 12 years and hunted most of the larger ranges and prairies there. It was very difficult for us to ever find a spot in the state that wasn’t within five or six miles of a public road. Let alone anywhere in Ohio. The largest day hike that I am able to find in Ohio is less than 20 miles, and that’s on a public trail network. I’m not hatching anything or sawing anything, and especially in a survival scenario would I ever want to exalt energy into a saw or a hatchet. In fact, I want my pack to be as light as possible typically but still cover the main necessities. A good knife accomplishes anything those items will. And in all my week long backpacking adventures I have still never needed a saw or a hatchet. If I was bugging out into the wilderness to start a village, then maybe I would rethink it. Luxury items, I get. And also hatchets and saws are just plain fun. Luckily we live in a region of the country where we don’t have to worry about many wildlife threats, possibly a rabbid coyote if we get “lucky.” Don’t get me wrong, I highly respect Canterbury and I understand he is running a business. It seems to be a very good one at that.

    • I’ll use GPS on the road with an atlas for backup. Grouper fishing because I know the shore is due north. In the brush I’ll take a topo map, a lensatic compass, a protractor and my pace count.

      • That’s what Canterbury does. He, like me, does not like anything that takes batteries. Years in the bush has taught me that anything electronic always fails. Murphy applies in that the more desperately you need it, the more likely it is to fail. When you know exactly where you are and where you’re going, the GPS will work every time. But the minute you’re lost and hungry, that’s when it fails. But a map and a pace count never fail.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vF9hci4-pw&list=PLZLagqylZ3j6b1S3sEWkq2_i2ouZmwjT8&index=2

        • My uncle used to make the same point about GPSs. However in almost six years sailing on the ocean, I never had any of my 3 GPSs fail even once. Two were handhelds that occasionallly went ashore with me and suffered abuse. I did keep a sextant and its tables though and usually plotted position on a large chart, never needed it though.

        • Vic. Exactly my point. Since you never really needed it, and always had backup for it available, it never failed. The first time you were caught lost w/o your charts and sextant, and relied on the tech instead, then it wouldn’t function.

        • Vic:
          I had better make clear, I’m not anti technology at all. Esp. in cases like yours, by all means use the tech to make your life easier. GPS is way easier than celestial navigation. Just don’t forget the charts and sextants the next time you go to sea, that’s all I’m saying. Use the tech, but always have a backup available. Then the tech WON’T fail, and your task(s) will be made easier, and your life better. But still use the sextant and charts now and then to keep your primitive skills sharp.
          Basically, exactly what you’re doing already.

        • Do you consider yourself superstitious?;-) Regardless, I do understand why you posit this and I am not inclined to say you’re wrong:-) I even carry a satellite text messenger, when I hike. I too am very good at imagining problems and have a very low ‘risk tolerance’.

        • No, In fact I consider superstition to be ridiculous. The stars control your life and a red bandana will cure a sore throat and throwing a virgin into a volcano will stop it from erupting, etc. Balderdash.
          Yet, I’m not willing to say that things don’t have feelings. Mythbuster’s clearly showed that trees and plants react to human thoughts about them. A vacuum tube polygraph hooked to the plants showed it clearly.

  6. Decent compass.

    Not sure I’d want to be out and about around Urbana with a rifle though. Plenty of woods for sure but also plenty of local Ohio LEOs who don’t know/care about Ohio allowing OC.

    • I’ve lived nearly my entire 42 years in Southern Ohio and have yet to encounter any cop outside Cincinnati and south of Columbus who cared at all what you were carrying openly, and with shall issue CCW having been a big thing here for, what, about 15 years, they pretty much just bobble their heads when you declare you’re armed while they get on to whatever it is that they wanted to talk about.

      What would stress me is encountering game wardens while carrying a long gun in the woods, that has lead to some hassle in the past. It has even lead to hassle when the gun in question was a tricked out AR leaning in a camp site. I’m fortunate to have enough private land to play on to have not had to deal too much with the wardens, but they can be problematic. That said, Dave Canterbury is something of a celebrity and it would be tough to imagine any LEO down here giving him trouble over anything that wasn’t just blatantly illegal.

  7. “Given Mr. Canterbury doesn’t carry any extra ammo for his .410/.22 combo M6 Scout survival rifle, that must mean he’s a pretty crack shot.”

    It memory serves, (and it may not), the Scout has compartments in the stock for a few extra rounds of ammo.

    And now, this evening’s Nano – sized ‘Digest’ –

    “Facebook: No one reported NZ shooting video during 17-minute livestream”

    “Facebook says a livestream of last week’s New Zealand mass shooting was viewed fewer than 200 times during its live broadcast and that nobody reported the video to Facebook while the livestream was ongoing.

    “The first user report on the original video came in 29 minutes after the video started, and 12 minutes after the live broadcast ended,” Facebook VP and Deputy General Counsel Chris Sonderby wrote in an update posted yesterday.”

    Facebook. Celebrating the ‘inhuman’ condition…

  8. I took a short hike today shed hunting . Water bottle ,pocket knife .DW 22 revolver ,oh and a bandanna. 4 hours .

    His loadout I’d take for a week end .

  9. Geoff PR: Again, sir, you have said what I was going to say before I had a chance to say it (re: extra ammo). 🤨

      • Hey Geoff PR. This comment is only directed to you, but others are welcome to reply as well. A few days ago when we were discussing .300 BLK I commented on the fact that a deer was lost on the farm to .300 BLK. You made disparaging remarks about my ability to track. I responded, but it was late in the thread and I didn’t hear back. Just in case you didn’t see it. A .223 blown out to .30 caliber for big game? Really? First of all a big game animal has to die within a reasonable distance, like on the 1000 acres we’re hunting, to be found. If it’s dead at all. I ain’t Daniel Boone, but I can track a hard hit deer. Sixteen shoulder mounts hanging on my wall. Not counting all the does killed for venison. After all, why shoot a young buck? All you have is some meat and a little set of antlers that don’t impress anyone. In fact, I’ve started letting the mature bucks walk. Just sit and read a book with a rifle so I can call it hunting. Of course, these deer were shot with .308, .30-06, 7mm Mag, .270, T/C Encore MZL and Matthew’s bows, not some cartridge that people are already forgetting about. But, hey, what do I know about deer hunting? Only killed my first one 46 years ago. Dropped in his tracks. No tracking. Sorry. Besides, rather shoot quail today. The dog finds them.

        • The deer wasn’t lost due to the cartridge selected, it was lost due to poor shot placement, using the wrong bullet type or shooting beyond the limits of the cartridge. Can’t change my mind. This is after the DTR and I taking 9 deer in 4 years using the Barnes 110 Vor TX, on big bodied MI deer.

  10. Looks like a good setup for Idaho/Alaska/someoverseasnotsoniceplace.

    I took a cellphone, a G19, and my keys… while mucking around outside today.

    • Lol I can guarantee you if I’m doing Alaskan hiking I’m doing it with more than a .410/.22 combo rifle. That thing is a popgun.

      Would be fine for KY, but I prefer my 6″ .357 for the woods.

    • A pistol, cell phone, and keys are typical for my day hikes too (which, to be fair, are more like walks in the woods). Even when I do a more intense day hike, like 10+ miles in the Adirondacks, I never heft in all that much. Prefer to pack light.

  11. Walking stick. I always have a walking stick for excursions into the boonies. Handy bit of kit, that.

  13. The spare ammo is under the door on the top of the stock. And he is quite lucky for a back Easter(unless you happen to call Ohio “out west”). His personal house and land adjoin a State wilderness area of several thousand acres. Its right in his backyard, even though he doesn’t own it.

  14. that’s cool, but why carry a full survival kit for a “short day hike”? Serious question. when I hear “short day hike” I think of a pistol, a bag of trail mix and a bottle of water.

    different strokes different folks I guess

    • Mr. Canterbury has a shitload of blog posts and youtube videos explaining his choices. It’s what he does for a living I think.

  15. Ah yes, hiking guns!

    Never owned an M6 but when I was 13 I paid $5 for a Garcia Bronco .22 skeleton frame rifle, imported by FIE I think. Still have it, though the rear sight blade is somehow gone missing.

    https://www.gunpartscorp.com/pub/schematic/GarciaBronco_Models_schem.jpg

    For a while carried an Iver-Johnson top-break revolver in .32 S&W, also a US Revolver Co shrouded hammer model in .38 S&W Long. Sold those eventually.

    Next was a Harrington & Richardson 649 six shooter with the .22WMR cylinder. At times took long backpack trips (two or three days back then) with that revolver and my Ruger 10/22. Still own both, killed snakes with both, and some small game too.

    Mostly tho, for the most years and miles it was S&W 59 in a holster on the belt of my backpack. Or hidden when in a group that had a rule against guns. Always figured what they didn’t see wouldn’t bother me.

    Specific times called for other implements. A Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt and a Mossberg 500 with 12 gauge slugs while accompanying some folks looking for a problem bear. Did not meet up with the bear that time, which was fine by me.

  16. Where would he be from that would require all this for a day hike? The Yukon territory…in 1679

  17. I’d like to find a tomahawk with real hickory handles, all you get is “genuine hardwood handles,” can be most anything. … don’t like them squeeze triggers on those survival rifles. I also use a compass, topo and if I get lost at least I did it in style. A nice survival mirror also helps, it’s handy to look at yourself and notice that worried “Oh fck I think I’m lost” look on your face.

  18. Almost all rescues start with someone who was just “taking a short day hike”. Mother nature is a hard teacher. No calling do over, no second chances. I’d carry a couple of whistles, multiple ways of starting a fire… and more water.

    • I did SAR work for a lot of years. You are absolutely correct, heck of a lot of people that get into trouble do so in the most innocent ways. Just a little preparation, a small amount of planning and a lot of trouble could be avoided.

    • And yet very few short day hikes result in the worst case scenario. Almost none of them, actually. And the ones that do, the people who got into trouble usually had multiple chances not to get into trouble by making smart decisions – like turning back at the first sign that things are heading away from “normal,” or admitting that it’s really too cold out to do this one today, or not abandoning the trail because you’re looking for a shortcut, or recognizing that sneakers aren’t the right choice for a mountain climb in March, or keeping an eye on the weather, or simply doing some research ahead of time about the trails (or lack thereof) that you’ll be on…

      The CPU between your ears is the most important tool you can bring on a hike, but you need to be willing to use it.

  19. If an anti-gun person were to visit this site, every step forward for them with reasonable articles would be met three steps back with most of these idiotic EDC pictures, making it seem like the average gun owner thinks he needs to bring three pistols, a hatchet and a tactical pen & notebook every time he walks his dog in suburbia. This clickbait series actually does a disservice to 2A folks.

    • When you are attacked by ninjas, you’re going to be right sorry that you don’t have three tactical pens on you, buddy.

    • A person that looks at these pictures and says ‘the average gun person’ is too dumb to breath without directions. So naturally they’re anti gun. And too dumb to change.

    • Most of the EDC collections depicted are quite modest. Mr. Canterbury, a bush-craft blogger/instructor/enthusiast, likely does carry such a load for day hikes. There is only one modest and very light survival rifle in the picture not three pistols.

  21. I looked that tomahawk up, the Rooster Mod name actually a company (from what I can see on Facebook). Not the worst woodswalk stuff I’ve seen. I mean, I’d have roasted it big time if he was sporting a Barrett .50 for a quick outdoors day.

  22. Leave the rifle at home: you will die of exposure, then dehydration before you starve. And don’t bug the animals, and they won’t bug you. Also skip the hatchet: that’s why you have a saw and a knife. Learn to baton. You need to add a method of water purification and a few more means of signaling.

    • This guy would out survive you without any tools.

      Leave the rifle at home? Do you hike through the public mall? Here in Montana, you better not go into bear infested backwoods without some stopping power and bear spray. Even an Elk will fuck you up.

      • I happen to have grown up in Montana. I would take day hikes daily. Now that you mention it, bear spray is a nice thing to have. But why carry a survival rifle, when you could carry an actual one? One that can actually hit something at range.

  23. Here’s another question about the nice little rifle: What is a .410 good for that a .22 rimfire isn’t? And vice versa?

    Otherwise, I go along with the no battery thing. I don’t wear a watch, don’t have a cellphone, don’t carry a notepad, pencil, etc., etc. There are a few things I do carry, though. And except for water and lunch, I’ve never, ever, used any of them, which is okay. I used to carry a regular first-aid kid but I realized that it was useless for something really serious and unnecessary (though still handy) for what it was good for. I now get by on an army field dressing for a really bad cut or puncture. I worry most about falling down somewhere in the woods and I don’t know what kind of first aid stuffy you’d carry for that. But all my bad falls have been at home. It’s safer in the woods.

Comments are closed.