What is in your pockets / purse? Every Day Carry discussion

[KnightExemplar]

I researching flashlights and have suddenly discovered the "EDC" (Every Day Carry) flashlight. Intrigued with the concept, I began to think about what things should be carried every day, and how to optimize it.

For me specifically, my every-day-carry kit is:

* Wallet: Cash, Credit Cards, Health Insurance card, Dental Insurance Card, Drivers License.
* Keyring (Car keys + House Keys)
* Wristwatch (Just a cheap, battery-based Casio, upgraded to a Nylon NATO strap)
* Cell Phone
* Field Notes journal (48 pages, super light, fits in back pocket comfortably. I can sit on it all day and not notice) and Bic ballpoint pen
* Harmonica (Suzuki Manji C Actually, been using the Seydel Session Steel C more recently)
* Soon to be added: EDC Flashlight. I'm shocked that there are flashlights only slightly larger than AA batteries.

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My "extended" carry includes a laptop bag (containing a USB-battery bank, my laptop and its charger, extra pens and pencils, my Pathfinder character sheets, my Nintendo 3DS, a spare PS4 controller, a musical tuner, and Benadryl for allergic emergencies).

I've discovered a NIMH-AA charger / USB-battery bank combo however, so depending on how that works, I might dump the USB-battery bank for a 4-pack (or maybe 8-pack) of charged NIMH-AA batteries + the AA -> USB charger instead. The AA batteries would work with both the flashlight and USB devices in theory.

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I know some people carry knives, tissues, band aids... even Epi-pens. But what does everyone around here carry each day?

[plytho]

For me just phone, wallet and keys. From September to March I'll usually carry tissues as well.

[Soupspoon]

Surveying my current contents, not often varying.

* Cash/cards, naturally..
* Id card thing for public transport and/or car-keys, depending on the day (driver's licence and health stuff inapplicable, here, as far as necessary is concerned)
* Two sets of keys (one set my house, one set a rare but occasionally visited other place, so only the first is really 'essential').
* Mobile(/Cell) phone (dumb phone), vital-ish but only occasionally missed (mostly as first go-to for time-telling, rather than a watch, but if absent switch to next line) when slightly more than occasionally left at home, in error.
* Habitually, two separate Android tablets (one with phone function, but never used as such), whose necessity and even possibility of combining functions (mostly leisure vs. mostly work) can be argued over vehemently, I'm sure.
* Usually at least one USB battery pack, out of four possible ones.
* At least one USB stick. Occasionally a handful of them.
* I like to sling my camera (DLSR) about my person, but it's not really a necessity. Until I wish I'd brought it.
* Upon one set of keys' keyring is a small torch (smaller than the one that sparked this exercise, uses 4x narrow button batteries), the mobile phone has a torch function. The tablets can be made to illuminate. I rarely use any of these, even when I traverse the woodlands behind my home on a moonless night, because I am proud of, and value, my night vision and local knowledge. But they're there. For the occasional time I miss the obscure turning by the fiftieth tree on the left...

[Carlington]

Phone, wallet, keys, bus card for me. To the extent that I feel naked/underdressed if I leave any of those items out. Usually with the addition of earphones, but not always.
If I carry a backpack it has water, pens, paper, and whatever puzzle books I've been into lately (sudoku, crosswords,...). A jacket if it looks like it'll be cold and/or rainy later.

[New User]

I like to refer to the things I'm carrying in my pockets as loot. I know it's dumb, but of course it's because I like to think that if an adventurer was to slay me, the slayer's next action would be to loot my corpse, and it's what's in my pockets that they'd receive.

I am rather routine about my daily pocket loot, and have had designated pockets for each item for years. If I'm at home, I typically like to have my pockets empty. If I leave my house, I'll carry my keys in my front right pocket, my cellphone and wallet (billfold) in my front left pocket, and an ink pen inside my front left pocket that's clipped to the pocket (this is a very sturdy ink pen, there is little fear of it breaking). When I'm at work I also have designated pockets for my tools. When I was in the US Army, I also had designated pockets for each item while in uniform.

[Chen]

Phones (one for work during the work week), keys and wallet. Wallet has cash (usually), credit cards, Medicare card, Private health insurance card, public transit pass and grocery store points card (could fit on my keychain but I just leave it in the wallet).

[Zohar]

Phone, wallet, keys are the must-haves. Depending on time of year and length of travel, I add in kindle, water bottle, fan (you know like a Japanese-style open fan thing), thin gloves, or lip balm.

[Tyndmyr]

Keys, wallet.

I travel light.

[SecondTalon]

Work phone. Personal phone. IPod. Keys. Thumb drive. Two pocket knives. Sometimes a knife wrench. Wallet

[KnightExemplar]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bypi7h6WOGg

Adam (from Mythbusters) has a video on his Every Day Carry.

Field Notes is so awesome, glad to see Adam using it too. I somehow managed to basically replicate everything he's got. The only thing I'm missing is a flashlight (which is still being shipped in from Amazon.com).

The one item that Adam carries that I don't is a tiny keychain USB-stick. I personally hate those tiny sticks because of their awful performance. A real USB stick is carried in my laptop bag (Currently: the Sandisk USB 3.0 Extreme 32GB). If I need a flash-stick, its because I need serious performance for reads / writes.

Those shitty $5 USB sticks have like a read/write rate of 5MB/s, its often faster to email stuff to yourself. A real stick however is 260MB/s transfer speeds, and instantly transfers files from SSDs. (Hard drives slow the thing down! lol).

But I do video editing. Its common for me to be copying 4GB+ files from my friends when we are working on video-editing projects. I'm not sure if "normal people" need a 260MB/s+ USB stick.

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I'm intrigued by Adam's pen. Its clearly smaller than my standard-carry Bic pen... and smaller is often better for tight pocket space. I liked how his pen "expands" to twice its length due to the cover design, so it might have a better balance and carrying size than mine. Of course, BIC pens are super cheap (aka: free. I take it from my office's supply closet).

EDIT: Uggghhhh... never mind. $40 for a pen is a bit... high. I'll look around for other small pens however, because the BIC really is just a little bit too long for every-day carry.

[Soupspoon]

I often interface with machines not having USB3 available (occasionally the USB2 are occupied as well but, the mobo going the cheap option for additional slots, there's USB1.1-powered slots). Thus I tend to go for size (or best value per volume) rather than speed. 64GB for <£30 tends to look attractive as a new acquisition, as a rule of thumb, and bigger than some of the HDDs I'll connect with! But I'll check the 128s and see if the display has 256 or more. I try not to check, too frequently, as I'm more likely to add the best value stick to my collection than I should be. (Right now I have an unopened 128GB packet in my back pocket, keeping temptation at bay... It is USB3, apparently. Must have been on a good deal, though.)

Or I skip to the external HDDs to see how cheap the 4TB, 6TB, etc units are. Better value, less handy. Bare HDDs and an existing USB2SATA powered dongle is useful for serious 'industrial' use.

The disadvantage being that that's a lot of data to lose in one go, when lost/damaged. Hence the tendency to grandfather/father/son everything I can, hence the preoccupation with space. And, for the record, at the moment it's mainly map and audio data I'm working with. Unrelatedly to each other.

[KnightExemplar]

I often interface with machines not having USB3 available (occasionally the USB2 are occupied as well but, the mobo going the cheap option for additional slots, there's USB1.1-powered slots). Thus I tend to go for size (or best value per volume) rather than speed. 64GB for <£30 tends to look attractive as a new acquisition, as a rule of thumb, and bigger than some of the HDDs I'll connect with! But I'll check the 128s and see if the display has 256 or more. I try not to check, too frequently, as I'm more likely to add the best value stick to my collection than I should be. (Right now I have an unopened 128GB packet in my back pocket, keeping temptation at bay... It is USB3, apparently. Must have been on a good deal, though.)

USB3 is awesome because it is backwards compatible to USB2. I've used my 3.0 Stick and have gotten ~35MB/s from USB2.0 slots (the absolute fastest that 2.0 can go), and then it hits 200+ MB/s on 3.0 slots. In any case, its a lot faster than the cheap sticks which are again, around 5MB/s to 15MB/s.

Be careful about cheap sticks: they may be USB3.0 but that doesn't mean that they're fast. I've got a few USB3.0 sticks that are only 5MB/s to prove it to you...

Or I skip to the external HDDs to see how cheap the 4TB, 6TB, etc units are. Better value, less handy. Bare HDDs and an existing USB2SATA powered dongle is useful for serious 'industrial' use.

I agree with this usage, although my bare HDD is a 1TB hard drive that I pulled out of a dying laptop. Why spend money when dead laptops exist?

Although, to be honest, I've got a 2TB lying around somewhere that I actually purchased for the task. The "free" 1TB hard drive from the dead laptop is like 50MB/s while the 2TB is 150MB/s, so I didn't really waste money... my friends with video editors all have hard drive docks for file-swapping purposes.

In any case, hard drives are hard to carry and fragile as all heck. So I only carry them when I know I'm going to be using them. The USB-stick is something that is always in my laptop bag, "just in case". I can't imagine using a hard drive as "Every day carry" because they're so much bigger.

[Soupspoon]

USB3 is awesome because it is backwards compatible to USB2.

Both ways. USB2 or less devices work in the few places I need to be where it's a USB3 front-port machine. (I have problems with a W2K machine being picky about its plug-ins, but that's USB driver issues.) But then I'm a bit retro. (Or whatever it is when you've been at the bleeding edge, things work fine, and there's now no reason to slavishly follow that edge quite so closely as it rushes yet further into the future.) Top-end speed isn't an issue for me. If I can play HD video straight from a stick (which I can), it's fast enough...

...back to my pocketses, variants today include a four-colour pen, a small notebook (half used), some spare earphones (with two tablets, might need to listen to both independently at some point, in bi-demi-stereo) and pinned to my shirt's breast pocket, or near as damnit, a freshly bought plastic poppy.

[tms]

The usual.

Is:
* keys
* tissues
* earplugs
* mobile phone
* pastilles (no sugar)
* multitool for bicycle
* wallet with library card
* ballpoint pen
* folder with paper

[somitomi]

Well, the I don't leave the house without these set is just a wallet (and the things you'd expect to find in it) and a phone. Being a universitiy student, I have a backpack with me most of the time, which has the following things in it at the moment (all of which are usually there):

• a clipboard
• some notebooks
• a folder for lecture notes and blank papers (future lecture notes)
• a pencil case (including pens and rotrings)
• keys
• a padlock
• pocket knife
• measuring tape
• headphones

I also wear a watch most days, since looking at it requires less fumbling, than fishing the phone out of my pocket.

[CelticNot]

I will say that before I started my transition, it was pretty much limited to wallet (ID/cash/credit/debit/etc.), keys, and my phone.

Now that I can carry a purse around all the time and not get funny looks, this has expanded considerably:

• A larger wallet (the long kind you could fit cheques in, if that was still a thing anyone accepted). Contents are much the same, but I have a change purse now too.
• Keys.
• Phone, sometimes. This is the one item I still try to fit in my pockets, if ever I have them on my clothes.
• Thin pack of tissues.
• Headphones.
• Lip balm.
• Blood sugar test kit.
• Pill case.
• Compact mirror.
• Folding fan.
• Hair brush.
• Hand lotion.
• Eyeglass cleaner and cloth.
• Painkillers.
• Flossers.

[Zohar]

I really should add flossers to my work bag. One of the minor reasons I like winter (the major one being it's not scorching all the time) is coats usually have many pockets, and I can walk around with all my stuff on me.

[Envelope Generator]

I ride a bike everywhere and all of my EDC is in a saddlebag.

Bag interior: (do notice the Blackadder reference, will you)
- Mini pump
- Shoe covers in a plastic bag, for rain
- British military surplus magazine pocket containing:
--- oily work gloves
--- spare inner tube (belt)
--- patch kit (suspenders)
--- 8, 10 and 15 mm wrenches (I hate multitools, they always fail you)
--- a few hex wrenches, can't remember the sizes
--- two tire levers
--- spoke wrench

Bag inner zip pocket:
- Wallet
- Moleskine staff paper notebook (because it's easier to write over staves than to jot down music on unlined paper)
- Gel pen
- Cell phone

[IceFlake]

Keys, wallet, phone. That's about it for me. In the winter I carry them in my coat pockets. In the summer I carry them in a small purse. I don't like carrying a lot of stuff, so I make sure that my office, car, and home are all stocked with commonly-needed items such as pens, carmex, ibuprofen, dental floss, barrettes, kleenex, etc.

[araprado613]

Here's a list of what can be found inside my mobile home a.k.a my bag:

- A big ass wallet with cash, cards, ids, receipts, and other pieces of paper that seem to pile up by the minute
- Cellphone
- Lipstick and eyevbrow liner (I need help in that department)
- Phone charger / USB Cable
- Pen and my handy dandy writing material "notebook" (I'm a blogger, so I need this for when ideas strike)
- Sunglasses and optical glasses (I don't wear them all the time because I look like a grandma)
- Wet wipes
- Tissue paper
- Sanitary napkin (in case of emergencies)
- Isopropyl alcohol
- Some paracetamol and tylenol
- Mint
- Perfume
- Powder
- Band aids (again, you never know)
- House keys
- Iodized salt, sugar, and creamer all in small packets

[Mutex]

Nothing, I'm just pleased to see you.

[karhell]

Excepting rare circumstances, this is my EDC :

- keys (car, home, and a few others)
- phone
- hanky
- Swiss Army Knife (used to be an Opinel; SAK has broader functionality)
- a D20 (used to carry an entire D&D dice set; abandoning cargo trousers in favour of jeans caused this to no longer be viable)
- a couple of cardamom seed pods (for no particular reason, but their volume is negligible, so I never got rid of them)
- wallet (mainly for cash/ID/driver's licence)
- card holder (credit card + misc frequently used cards)
- ballpoint pen
- small notepad (though less often nowadays)

[teelo]

Keys wallet phone.

[KnightExemplar]

Been carrying the flashlight around... its actually useful in a lot of situations. My mailbox is about 150 feet down the street for example, and the flashlight is useful for looking around my mailbox when I'm picking up mail for example. Although the sidewalk is well lit with street-lights through the night, shining a flashlight into the mailbox or on the mail is useful for sure.

My tires were low on pressure, so I refilled their air. Even with a decent gas-station with good lights, holding the flashlight with my teeth to get some better light onto the Tire Pressure Gauge helped a lot. The shadow of my own car was blocking a lot of the street-lights.

I've come across a few rooms with broken lights, and flashlights are obviously good for that. There was that one time when the power-line was cut due to road work... and the flashlight was useful for getting around the house.

One strange task where it was useful: I helped my sister clean her refrigerator, shining the flashlight on the fridge made it obvious where grease spots were based off of the reflection. This is probably not a common use but kinda interesting nonetheless...

As far as I'm concerned, here are the major features you want in a flashlight:

1. Low-light settings -- Exceptionally useful when walking around when tired. Most lights are too bright and ruin your "night vision", so a low-light setting (0.2 lumens, or 1/5th a candle) is very good for this purpose. Night vision eyes are very good at seeing in the dark, and need very little assistance to see the entire room. Anything brighter than 2 lumens or so is blinding.

2. Tailstand -- When power is out and you need to light up the room, a flashlight that can stand on its tail and light up the ceiling (which "bounces" off and lights up the whole room) is exceptionally useful. This is the 2nd most important use of my flashlight... when power is cut or otherwise room lights break. 50 lumens or so seem sufficient for the task, although the brighter the better.

3. Teeth-grab -- A flashlight light enough to be grabbed by your teeth / lips will greatly aid you when working in dark conditions.

I can understand why some people use a smaller AAA flashlight for this purpose. Flashlights with AA batteries are still large enough that I feel it in my pockets when I'm lounging on a couch, although it never really gets in the way. High-quality AAA lights can get to 150 lumens. (My current flashlight has 300 lumens on its highest setting). The flashlight enthusiasts swear by 1000+ lumen lights however... I'm wondering if those people are fishermen or hiking enthusiasts or something. I barely can find much use for the 300-lumen setting on my current flashlight... but being in an urbanish area with lots of street-lamps probably biases me.

[Snake]

Ok, my purse:
- keys
- phone
- extra phone (for work)
- chewing gum
- eye drops
- small notebook (like to make notes on paper)
- hand cream
- extra gloves (keep forgetting them everywhere)

[KnightExemplar]

I've added a piece of twine to my every-day-carry. At the moment, its Sisal Twine from Home Depot, which is cheap, biodegradable, and strong ($4 for 500 feet spools)... but seems to leave fibers all over the place. It looks like most people who carry twine use 550-lb rated paracord (seems to be around $50 for 1000 feet spools).

I've taken a recent interest in learning how to tie knots. I initially wanted to learn cable-lacing for some electronics work (exactly the knot in the picture btw: a regulation cableman's knot). But upon learning the "Square Knot", I suddenly realized how useful string can be.

So I continued with the four maritime knots: Square Knot, Bowline, Clove Hitch, and Figure Eight. The Sheet Bend is dead-easy to learn once you know the Bowline. Most recently, I've added Monkey Fist (not a very useful knot, but it looks cool and is basically a toy), the constrictor, and the boa knot to the group.

So basically, my string can know accomplish the following:

* Toy (Monkey Fist, Cat's Cradle)
* Temporary binding (Square Knot, which is basically the "shoelace" knot btw)
* Permanent binding (Constrictor Knot and Boa Knot)
* Loops (Bowline)
* Attaching to another rope / twine (Sheet Bend)
* Attaching a rope to a pole (Clove Hitch)
* Tying a bunch of cables together (Regulation Cableman's Knot)

I... don't understand the point of a figure eight knot yet. I know how to do it, I just don't "get" how to use it. Lol, I'll figure it out eventually, lol. I guess I can use the figure-eight knot as memory-device on the piece of string.

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While technically not a knot, the "Butterfly Coil" is also very important. Knowing how to coil a piece of twine without it ever tangling is nifty. The "Butterfly Coil" is somewhat popular, but there are a ton of different coils out there.

If anyone wants to start carrying a piece of string around and actually having a use of it... I suggest learning some kind of coil (Butterfly Coil is my go to), then learning the square knot and the Bowline (aka: the "king of knots"). The square-knot is one of the easiest knots to learn (if you can tie your shoes, you probably already know the square-knot), while the Bowline is one of the strongest knots that unties easily.

[dynastyteam]

i have mobile,wallet and keys in my pocket and sometime some material lists to buy.....

[karhell]

I... don't understand the point of a figure eight knot yet. I know how to do it, I just don't "get" how to use it. Lol, I'll figure it out eventually, lol. I guess I can use the figure-eight knot as memory-device on the piece of string.

From wikipedia :
The figure-eight knot or figure-of-eight knot is a type of stopper knot. It is very important in both sailing and rock climbing as a method of stopping ropes from running out of retaining devices. Like the overhand knot, which will jam under strain, often requiring the rope to be cut, the figure-of-eight will also jam, but is usually more easily undone than the overhand knot.

[pogrmman]

I... don't understand the point of a figure eight knot yet. I know how to do it, I just don't "get" how to use it. Lol, I'll figure it out eventually, lol. I guess I can use the figure-eight knot as memory-device on the piece of string.

From wikipedia :
The figure-eight knot or figure-of-eight knot is a type of stopper knot. It is very important in both sailing and rock climbing as a method of stopping ropes from running out of retaining devices. Like the overhand knot, which will jam under strain, often requiring the rope to be cut, the figure-of-eight will also jam, but is usually more easily undone than the overhand knot.

In climbing, the figure eight know is oftentimes used as the basis for a loop -- the looped version can be tied in two easy, both of which are quite fast. It's also a secure knot that doesn't become too difficult to untie (in decent sized line) -- even after shock loading. You can also do a slight modification and get a knot with two, adjustable loops.

[pkcommando]

At this time of the year:
-Wallet
-Keys
-Phone
-Transit Pass
-Wristwatch
-Music player/headphones
-Also a backpack with:
----Phone/music player charging cable
----Power bank
----Lunch (on workdays, unless I need the cooler pack for errands)
----Current knitting project (alternatively: a book)
----Sunglasses
----Reusable shopping tote
----Pen(s)
----Bandaids
----Umbrella

In colder/damper weather, I'd have a coat, so:
-Gloves
-LED penlight
-Tissues
-Linen eyeglass cloth (sometimes)
-Yo-yo (depending on the coat)

[KnightExemplar]

I'm searching for a writing instrument for my every-day carry. So far, I've been leaving a pen / pencil in my car and office (so my Field Notes get use only because I have a pencil at basically any destination). There are times at like... a grocery store when I remember something and I have to write it down...

The classic "Pentel Sharp P205" is an absolutely excellent mechanical pencil for less than $5, but it tends to stab holes in your pocket and/or thigh. So its not exactly good for "Every Day Carry". Anybody got suggestions? I think a P205 which doesn't stab me is really all I want...

EDIT: After researching this weekend... I grabbed a "0.5mm Pentel Graph Gear 1000", which has a lot of similarities with the Pentel P205. Its roughly the same size, but the mechanism for the clip is more robust, and there is a retractable tip to protect your pockets from the stabby bit. It uses the same extremely small / overpriced Z2-1 erasers and 0.5mm lead.

The main issue I've had is that its a lot heavier than the Pentel P205. The Graph Gear 1000 is fully metallic, and you can feel the heft when writing. It feels like a "serious pen" however, and some of my friends prefer this heavier weight when writing. My pencils are typically wooden or the plastic Pentel P205, so I'm not used to the weight.

The Z2-1 erasers equipped on the Graph Gear 1000 are typical Pentel erasers. If you've worked with a Pentel mechanical pencil before, you're probably familiar with the Z2-1 already... its the same eraser as always. (wayyyy too small, but of pretty good quality with regards to erasing without making any marks). I consider the Z2-1 eraser to be "emergency use only". But for "Every Day Carry", I can live with just crossing out my mistakes... and maybe leave a full size eraser at my desk at home and at the office.

[Ginger]

A list of items in my handbag/purse thingy:

• A tube of pretty pretty pink lipstick.
• Thirty dollars.
• Cover Girl mascara bottle.
• Tube of lip gloss.
• A bobby pin and two hair clips.
• My ID, social security card, insurance card and other cards I need.
• A red lighter.

[AngrySquirrel]

I'm searching for a writing instrument for my every-day carry. So far, I've been leaving a pen / pencil in my car and office (so my Field Notes get use only because I have a pencil at basically any destination). There are times at like... a grocery store when I remember something and I have to write it down...

The classic "Pentel Sharp P205" is an absolutely excellent mechanical pencil for less than $5, but it tends to stab holes in your pocket and/or thigh. So its not exactly good for "Every Day Carry". Anybody got suggestions? I think a P205 which doesn't stab me is really all I want...

EDIT: After researching this weekend... I grabbed a "0.5mm Pentel Graph Gear 1000", which has a lot of similarities with the Pentel P205. Its roughly the same size, but the mechanism for the clip is more robust, and there is a retractable tip to protect your pockets from the stabby bit. It uses the same extremely small / overpriced Z2-1 erasers and 0.5mm lead.

The main issue I've had is that its a lot heavier than the Pentel P205. The Graph Gear 1000 is fully metallic, and you can feel the heft when writing. It feels like a "serious pen" however, and some of my friends prefer this heavier weight when writing. My pencils are typically wooden or the plastic Pentel P205, so I'm not used to the weight.

The Z2-1 erasers equipped on the Graph Gear 1000 are typical Pentel erasers. If you've worked with a Pentel mechanical pencil before, you're probably familiar with the Z2-1 already... its the same eraser as always. (wayyyy too small, but of pretty good quality with regards to erasing without making any marks). I consider the Z2-1 eraser to be "emergency use only". But for "Every Day Carry", I can live with just crossing out my mistakes... and maybe leave a full size eraser at my desk at home and at the office.

For similar reasons I've been carrying around a Penol Jumbo 0.5 for the last two years. It's a bit fat, which is good for my grip, has a rather large eraser, retractable tip (so no hole poking) and is generally a great mechanical pencil all-round. The only draw-back is that the lead-reload mechanism is a bit tricky, but that might just be cause mine is a little bit broken. I am however considering if it's worth investing in an eraser pen, both for precision and less smudging.

I'm also considering if I should track down a 0.3 mechanical pencil (cause I've got a thing for thin lines when drawing), but then getting refills for that is gonna be tricky so again, dunno if it's worth it.

These days for "Every day carry" I go for keys, phone and wallet (and whatever it contains), and usually I bring along a bag with a nuuna note book, the aforementioned Penol Jumbo, two erasers, a home made smudge guard, a Pentel Touch, a brush pen of some sort and if I can fit it some felt pens for inking. I also make sure to have spare pencil leads, my meds and a stick of chewing gum.