With regards to EDC.
I have tried to carry the equipment that is recomended by members of this forum, and have encountered a number of problems.

1/ In addition to my own house keys, the abrasive qualities of carrying a minitool, pocket knife, mini torch and nailclippers on my keyring has worn holes in the pockets of nearly every pair of trousers I own, not to mention the weight, which drags my trousers downwards.
When I include the off-keyring items such as mobile phone, wallet, hankerchief, pens, loose change and the general debris that accumlulates over time, such as old receipts, fluff, shopping lists etc, the problem just get worse.

I might be abnormal here, but in general I have 4 pockets on my trousers (2 front, 2 back) and maybe a top pocket on my shirt. My jacket I take off as its uncomfortable to work in. I would always carry my keyring and wallet, and anything else of value on me for security reasons

2/ My pockets are so full of gear, it makes it hard to add any day to day items I may wish to carry on me, which begs the questions:
Where does everyone find room for these things? Doesn't it feel phsically uncomfortable?

3/ I feel like Inspector Gadget with a housekeeping problem. Something, some where is going to give, and I have a feeling its going to be my trousers first, followed quickly by my dignity. <img src="images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

By EDC I assume that means it is what you carry ON you, not just WITH you.
Any suggestions, especially from those who work indoors
Martin

I use leather ammo pouches on my belt. The folding knife and multitool are in their sheathes on my belt. That way I don´t have an abrasion problem. My coworkers don´t know about the original purpose of the pouches so the pouches are no problem either.
My trousers have at least 5 pockets which are free for additional items. I always have a shirt with two pockets. Those are occupied with my PDA, cell phone, pen and a mobile disk device. There is still room for my GPS receiver and a small radio.
It feels kind of weird when I can´t carry those items. I use a good wide belt that will not give in too easily.
Feeling like Inspector Gadget would be a real nightmare. I´d hate to be underequipped <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />.

Martin,
I've run into that same problem. I've got my keys in one front pocket, another key ring with a Pulsar 2, Mini Fox 40 whistle, Leatherman Squirt, 36" tape measure, and 12 ft of braided paracord in the other front pocket, my regular wallet in one back pocket, and a Maglite Solitaire and my PSK in a zippered wallet in the other back pocket. The PSK is packed tightly, and unzipping it causes several items to fall out immediately. I don't think I would want to add anymore to my EDC, either. Hopefully I've got everything covered.

I've been looking around for the "perfect" waist/fanny pack to solve my EDC issues. I found one called the Proteus by Maxpedition. www.maxpedition.com Someone else mentioned them recently on another thread about pouches. They also have smaller belt pouches that might work for EDC carry.

Left front pocket:
Keys (Fox 40 and Hot Spark on ring also)
If I am wearing my Leatherman Sideclip it goes clipped in that pocket.

Right front:
Wallet (with fresnel lense, info sheet, Swiss card light, laminated tinder)
Bage wallet (with lock picks)
Benchmade 921-BLK clipped in pocket
Lighter in the mini-pocket.

Right back: Bandannas
Belt Left side: Innova X5
Belt Right side: Cell (camera) phone
Leatherman Juice Pro or Wave (instead of Sideclip)

If I an going into the woods or on a trip I have a small belt case with my Altoids PSK, a black garbage bag, and extra batteries for the X5.

I find it doesn't weight me down too much as long as I am wearing good fitting pants.

Joblot,
I don't carry enough stuff with me, cellphone, pocketknife, multi tool, and about 50 keys. I carry a couple flashlights, whistle, canopener etc. in my jacket; I wear my jacket all the time except in the middle of the summer,
However, when I wear certain pants I have to wear a pair of suspenders to hold up my pants.

Scotland had a perfect system ; kilt, sporran and skan dhub in the sock. See what happens when guys in pants move in ? <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> You might try adding a waistcoat, aka vest over here. Aside from additional pockets, the extra warmth when free arm movement is required is an added bonus.

I've been there. Had some pants with holes in them. Lets see:
First off, not all pants are the same. Some have thicker pockets than others. I started testing them in the store (went to a higher class store where their used to picky odd people) and found a brand I liked and bought a few of those and gave my old ones to a charity.
Second search some backpacking, hiking, and lightweight/featherweight backpacking for ideas to eliminate anything unnecessary.
From my own experience I moved the nail clippers to the truck bob. In a pinch the blade/scissors/file of a leatherman will work.
1/ Do you need a minitool and a knife, can you consolidate both to one tool? I also found things on keyrings don't lay very flat and rub each other too much. I found a small leather key case (rare, not too many use them anymore) and my keys and gear in it lay flat and are held tight by it and it prevents them from rubbing my pockets. I went and bought a new mobile phone and paid a bit more for a slim light one without color screen and camera to help keep the size down. Bought a 4 in 1 pen to consolidate down there (two colors, stylus and pencil). Small leather change purse to keep change under control and don't let receipts collect in the wallet, empty then out each time you remove the wallet when you get home. I made a place to put them before scanning and when the box gets full they go on the scanner.
2/ can be helped with better pockets, lightening and consolidating the gear.
3/ I've been called that before. On top of my EDC gear I have carried an old windows CD pda and handheld scanner (hp capshare) in my pockets before.

Hah - everything I carry now goes into a briefcase, backpack or hip pack, other than a small SAK on my keychain, and a super-thin wallet.

Not ideal, but beats the bulging pockets.

Martin,

Eh, I think I may have more junk, er, things on me than that EXCEPT: the keys. And the keys have for sure been the culprit in the past for me - I had the same problem with worn pockets etc that you describe. I simply do not carry all those keys on my person anymore. One set of keys to my personal vehicle in one pocket and one set of keys to my work vehicle in the other pocket and that's it. I also dispensed with all manner of fobs and simply have a small split ring to keep each set together (although the remote for my personal vehicle adds bulk, it is lightweight and has a pocket-friendly contour).

I have a large set of house keys, including for parents houses, keys to city hall, keys to Scout buildings and lockers, keys to various locked containers at work "with" me, but I do not carry them on my person.

Since ditching the keys, I have completely eliminated the worn pockets problem. Ergo, the number of keys I carried were the culprit.

If stripping down your pocket keys doesn't help, then I have one last word for you: suspenders <grin>.

Tom