Does anyone else notice this pattern?

Alarmed at my appearance and the bulk and weight of my EDC, I strip right back to bare bones. Then one little item gets added. Then another. Oh, and a few of these would be handy. And then I'm back where I started.

Not that I mind. It's great to keep going through my gear.

Here's what I'm currently carrying -- the snapshot. This is just on my person, and excludes about five pounds of stuff in my shoulder bag.

Waistband
- Leatherman SideClip

Left pocket
- 20 ft paracord, bundled neatly
- SAK TrailMaster
- nylon zipper pouch (3.5 x 5 in) with:
- - clean hanky
- - 3 alcohol wipes
- - 1 packet antibiotic ointment
- - 4 bandaids
- - 2 x 2 nonadherent gauze pad
- - 3 x 3 nonadherent gauze pad
- - 3 SparkLite starters

(The first aid stuff is in one small zip-top plastic bag, and the firestarters are in another.)

Right pocket
- Benchmade Griptilian
- bandanna
- carabiner with:
- - Streamlight KeyMate LED flashlight
- - BSA Hot Spark and striker
- - Orion Acme whistle
- - AG Russel ATS34 Pocket Lockback penknife

Shoes
- 2 6 ft lengths of paracord (laces)

I haven't given this a thorough analysis to see how it stacks up against my usual seven categories of gear, but it seems to meet most of my urban-living needs.

Bear

I think it is good when any project like an EDC is a work in progress. It means we are actually thinking about what we carry and why. Times change, requirements change. New products are available all the time. I went through my three stages of EDC/BOB last night and moved, added and eliminated items. The more "what ifs" we do the better off we are.

I'm going to assume you carry a wallet with ID, cash etc. But I'm surprised at the ommision of a cell phone...

TRO

The cell phone and LOTs of other stuff are in my shoulder bag. That bag sits beside me on my desk, rides with me everywhere I travel, and sits beside my bed at night.

As far as is practical for me, the bag is with me at all times. Still, some posters have complained that unless it's actually on my person, I might not have it when I need it.

That's why I carry stuff -- some of it redundant -- in my pockets.

Bear

I tried replacing my shoelaces with paracord once, but I found that it was way too slippery, and the knot(standard square knot) kept coming undone. I had to use a slipped surgical knot for it to stay closed, and even that may have gotten loose(it was a while ago, I don't remember). Has anyone else had similar experiences?

It seems like you're carrying a lot of knives - a leatherman, SAK, benchmade, and the penknife. Also, why 3 sparklites?

yep, now that it's wintertime and I have lots of pockets, the edc has ballooned -- lots of stuff now. I went bare minimum last summer, but now have added a bunch of stuff, will post a picture one of these days, have more gear on the way, waiting for the ups man

Yes, I do carry a lot of knives. I'm a collector, and love to use my knives. If I don't have them on me, I can't use them.

And the SparkLite fire starters aren't the flint part, I'm talking about the impregnated cotton tinder.

I did a few experiments in the back yard and convinced myself that a spark, even with a magnesium rod, wasn't enough to get a fire going quickly with a minimum of effort. So I added the prepared tinder to my pocket EDC.

Bear

I tried using paracord on my every-day shoes and rejected it for the same reasons. I still might use it on my hiking boots since it's not such a pain to double knot those.

Regards, Vince

Seems to me that shoe laces are pretty important by themselves. In an emergency situation I wouldn't want my shoe falling off because I took out the paracord laces for shelter. Perhaps the intent is to take out the internal strands of the cord, then use the remainder and shell as laces again, but you'd have to re-seal the ends, if only to be able to get the cord through the eyelets.

Am I missing a concept?