EDC. Every day carry.

Over the years, I’ve tried carrying a bunch of different things with me. Over time, I’ve come to appreciate a smaller, lighter weight collection of things to carry with me. If I don’t use something all the time, or it’s bulky or heavy, it’s probably time to find a substitute, or to ditch it all together.

For me, five things have stood the test of time.

  1. Keys: I have as few keys as possible on my keychain and no unnecessary dangly bits. I do have 2 dog tags with my blood type and allergies on them. I could probably ditch them, but I guess I feel a bit like they connect me to my past. The keys are on a medium length of paracord. The original reason for the paracord was so that I could wear the keys around my neck when/if I went running. These days, the paracord is so that the keys can hang round the door to my appartment, so that I won’t forget them and lock myself out.

  2. Money clip: I’ve tried a number of wallets over the years. They work reasonably well with baggier pants, but once I made the switch to more fitted pants, the space in my pockets got much more scarse. It’s not a particularly good money clip, but it gets the job done, as long as the number of cards I keep with me stays relatively static.

  3. Earplugs: I use these all the time. ALL THE TIME. I think the times when they’re really great is when the environment is noisy, but not super noisy. Putting them in turns a library in real life into a library in the movies.

  4. Knife: Kershaw Skyline. This thing is amazing. 2.5 ounces. .73 blade to body ratio. 3 inch blade. G10 handle. Mid-grade commodity steel. $25 on sale. I couldn’t ask for a better knife - it’s probably the best knife I’ve ever owned.

  5. Iphone 5. This is actually the first smartphone I’ve ever owned. Getting used to charging it regularly has been a challenge. That being said, it’s pretty amazing. It’s definitely the right size - 4 inches is probably as big as I’ll ever want to go. In theory it might be nice to have a thinner phone, but it doesn’t seem like the new phones are that much thinner, and my pockets just don’t have space for a 5” phone.