A USMC Veteran's Affordable Everyday Self Protection Solution

When it comes down to personal protection and general everyday preparedness, two items come to mind – a quality knife and flashlight. If you find yourself in a non-permissive environment and cannot carry a firearm, generally these two items will be all you have.

When I was a young kid growing up I always remember seeing my dad carry his swiss army knife and small mini maglite almost everywhere he went.

Not long ago, I wrote an article on Family Safety and covered the basic concepts of security for yourself and family, and what gear was available at your disposal. In today’s day and age there are so many choices when deciding on what knife and/or flashlight to purchase. For those of you just starting out with the EDC – Every Day Carry – concept or if you’re looking for more of a low profile EDC, the two items discussed here will be good starting points.

Both the Spyderco Delica 4 and Streamlight Protac 1AA are proven names in the industry, quality made, and won’t break the bank. In fact, both can be purchase for no more than $100 out the door – shop around and you may find a better deal.

Spyderco Delica 4 Folding Knife

Construction – For its weight, some people may think this knife is flimsy and cheap. The Delica 4 has skeletonized stainless steel liners sandwiched between the handle scales and blade. Those liners keep the Delica rigid during heavier field use. The textured, fiberglass reinforced nylon scales are highly durable and increase the level of grip in your hand. This is a good knife that can take a beating. Even though this is a smaller sized knife it has a full sized handle. This is a proven design from Spyderco that started in the early 1990’s and has evolved into this current model.

Lock – The ‘lock back’ style locks are tried and true and rarely fail. The one downfall could be an actuator that rises above the height of the knife spine, which can be accidentally pressed during use. This is not an issue with the Delica 4. Spyderco has done a great job of trimming that actuator down, making it level with the frame and then going as far as to notch it out in the middle for added security.

Blade – VG-10 Stainless steel with a Rockwell rating of 58-60. It will keep an edge and is highly resistant to rusting. Spyderco chose to keep the blade thin. This particular model has a sabre grind. This type of grind is very strong and resilient to abuse.

Maintenance – The Delica 4 can be easily broken-down in the field or at home to be cleaned or fixed with a Torx tool. The pocket clip and frame use a T6 torx and the pivot uses a T7 torx.

Streamlight Proctac 1AA Flashlight

Construction – The light is equipped with a steel pocket clip that clips onto the light’s barrel body and is removable. The lamp bezel is a low profile strike bezel and can be used as an improvised impact weapon for defense purposes if needed. The body is a durable anodized aluminum construction, IPX7 waterproof to 1 meter for 30 minutes, and 2 meter impact resistance tested. Also included is an unbreakable pocket clip.

Light – Impact-resistant tempered glass lens.

HIGH – 70 lumens; 1,450 candela peak beam intensity; runs 2 hours
LOW – 5 lumens; 125 candela peak beam intensity; runs 32 hours
STROBE – runs 4 hours

Power Source – It uses a AA alkaline battery (also accepts one AA lithium battery for extended run times or cooler temperatures). I’ve been in places where every person around had a ‘tactical flashlight’ and every one of them required CR123 3V lithium batteries which at times can be hard to find and expensive. On the other hand, AA batteries are normally in abundance. In most emergency situations AA batteries will always be more available and certainly less expensive than CR123 3V batteries.