An Update and My Every Day Carry (EDC)

Firstly my apologies at the long absence. Regretfully there has been the recent passing of a close family member, which meant I had to rush home to Dundee. This also came right at the time of my thesis hand in date which meant I was really busy over this last month or so. I am now back in Nuremberg for a week or so to tie up things here before going home to Dundee. I feel that I need to stay home for a while so I have decided to do another Masters Degree in Information Technology and International Business at the University of Dundee. If I get in (which I should) and complete the course, that could be three degrees to my name. A bit overkill and many think I should not be taking this path but rather than staying home and working a Nine to Five I may not enjoy in Dundee i.e. not in my chosen field, I prefer to do this course. Also my stint at iSyst here in Germany has showed me that the Electronics industry is after all a Business, and Business concepts is something I am not acquainted enough with as is all the IT, in terms of software which form an essential aspect of the industry. Thus I believe this is the right step.

Anyway today I would like to talk about Every Day Carry (EDC) objects. As the name suggests these are objects which you have or carry on your person everyday or in Wikipedia speak: “refers to various items, usually small, that are worn or carried by a person on a daily basis for use in everyday tasks from the mundane to the unexpected”. This range from keys, mobile phones, pens, to survival gear and tools.

My current EDC is quite minimalist, I have two mobile phones, one for each front jeans pocket: my main phone, currently a Blackberry Pearl 8100 and my secondary phone a Sagem my220X (Stylishly Black with Gold Rims) shown in below. Apologies for the poor pictures. I left the camera back in Scotland and had to use the Blackberry’s camera.

                      

The main phone changes quite often, it was recently a Benq E72 Windows Mobile Smartphone and will be hopefully replaced by a Nokia E72 later this year. This is my contract phone although not the actual one I got from the contract, long story behind all of that which is not important. The Sagem, I bought for only £5 brand new. It is a bare standard phone – no camera or anything else. I bought it as a secondary phone as it is really slim (10 mm) and in my opinion stylish. Notice the cracked screen due to an accidental drop but it is still usable. I use it with a Lebara SIM card which allows me to send cheaper text messages to Mauritius.

Next, in one back pocket, we have my tattered wallet. It is a leather Card wallet from China which I have had for some years after a long search for a small Card wallet with an additional slot for notes (this has two under the card compartments).

                               

The wallet holds a lot of cards (I have five or six bank card alone and this was a better option as I don't carry much cash). It also has a SwissCard Lite in Ruby as below, which bulks it up a bit. Also although this is a credit card size multi tool with screwdriver, knife, tweezers, light, pen, scissors etc, it is not really suited for a wallet in your back pocket. Mine has cracks and broken plastic bits due to my sitting on it.

                                                         

In the next rear pocket we have a Black & Red notepad (also very tattered). This is pictured with my newest addition: a Fisher xmark Bullet Space Pen, which usually rides in a front pocket.

                            

These two are essential. I lose count of how many time I am left without something to write on or to write with and a great thought, idea, suggestion or other note is lost. The Space Pen is quite expensive for a single pen at £15-£20 but it is the best pen I have ever owned. It is really small, perfect for the pocket but extends to full size for writing as shown above. And no leaks! My previous pens all leaked at one time or another, which is a nightmare for your pockets.

Next we have the Watch and the ipod Shuffle.

                                                       

These are both Product Red items:

The watch is an Product Red Armani AR0567 which is not for the UK market and meant I had to get it from the USA. The ipod is a Product Red second generation ipod Shuffle with Selective Apathy.. engraved on the back. The ipod is paired with white Sennheiser Cx-300 earphones which are great.

Finally we have my keys shown below, with a USB memory stick and of course the Mauritius Keychain. I also carry some change and very little cash in my pockets alongside loads of receipts and bits.

                                                      

However with my SwissCard breaking up I was looking at replacing it with something more solid. After a lot of research I settled on a Swiss Tech Micro Plus 8-in-1. At 45.35 grams and a small size this would be small enough for my pockets. It also has no blade and with the tough UK blade laws, it is just fine.

                           

But this meant no light and although Swiss tech had products with a light all reviews deemed them rubbish and the Swisscard LED light was also rubbish in the first place. So I found a Gerber Sonic LED Key Ring light on sale in Silver. The Gerber Sonic is shown below. These are reviewed as being much better than the similar Maglite Solitaire. I wished they had had a red one in the sale…

                           

Then I decided that I now had too much stuff to fit in my pockets, especially with the Swiss Tech Tool which would probably quickly bore holes in my pockets. So what I would need would be like a Belt/Waist Pack/Pouch/Holster etc. which could hold a good bit of my gear, you know like the phone belt carriers. I did not want one that is too obvious and bulky however but I would want it to hold the multi tool, the light, the Blackberry or any future phone I may have, and also my keys which are another hole creator in the pockets and also the pen. After much searching I settled on a Maxpedition Rat Wallet. Yes it is being called a wallet but all reviews and opinions note that it is not and may even be too big as a Belt Pouch.

                     

                      

                      

I got mine in black and as the pictures above from the Gadgeteer and the Maxpedition website show, it does bulk out quite a bit when loaded, but hopefully it will not be too obtrusive. Hopefully it will also allow me to stop carrying around my own wallet. Now an obvious and pointed out problem with the Rat Wallet is that any loose cards put in it are likely to fall out. So based on some online recommendations I added another purchase – Jimi Wallet.

       

“The Jimi™ wallet is a compact, colorful, and water resistant answer to the stodgy outdated leather wallet. It’s designed to slip into your front pocket, purse, or around your neck on a lanyard.” It is able to hold four credit cards in one side and has a clip for notes and maybe three more cards in the other side. Should be perfect for my needs and should fit in the Rat wallet too.

This has turned into quite a shopping spree. I will hopefully put a post up when all these come together and my thoughts on them, with some better pictures as I will not have my purchases until I return home.

So tell me What are your Every Day Carry objects, what do you think of mine or is there an object which you may not carry every day but can’t live without. Add some comments!