I wanted to share an experiment in EDC containers that looks promising.

I'd been carrying my first aid stuff, handkerchief, lighter, and pen in a simple, zippered nylon pouch. (The fewer the internal dividers, the slimmer the container.) But the problem was that the hard, heavy items would clump up in the bottom of the pouch, making an awkward bundle.

My new idea is ziplock bags. I divided the stuff up between two snack-sized bags, then slipped these inside a quart-sized bag, side-by-side. (All the zippers are parallel. The first snack bag goes in zipper-up, the second zipper-down, so that their zippers overlap in the middle of the quart bag.)

That makes two pouches about 3-1/2 x 6-1/2 inside a third pouch about 7 x 8-1/2.

I fold the quart pouch in half where the snack pouch zippers are overlapping, and that makes a single pouch about 4-1/2 x 7. That's about as big a container as will fit in my pockets.

Pros:
- The bags can be pressed flat, and they keep things in place.
- I can see everything.
- The bag slips in and out smoothly.
- When I dig stuff out, it can all flop into the larger quart bag until I get time to pack it away again.
- I can refresh the container as often as I like

Here's what I'm carrying.

Left front pocket
- 10 ft paracord with a loop pretied in one end
- the day's "visiting knife" usually a folder
- the ziplock bags

Left waistband
- Leatherman SideClip

Right front pocket
- Survival keychain
- Bandanna
- Defense knife

Subgroups

Snack ziplock 1
- 2 two-packs of ibuprofen
- 4 alchohol prep pads
- 1 triple antibiotic ointment packet
- 1 after-bite packet
- 1 2 x 3 gauze pad
- 1 2 x 2 gauze pad
- 2 3/4 x 3 bandaids
- 4 butterfly bandaids
- 2 knuckle bandaids

Snack ziplock 2
- 3 SparkLite fire starters
- 1 plastic toothpick
- 4 Liquid Bandage swabs

Loose in quart ziplock
- Bic lighter
- Liquid Bandage dropper bottle
- Space pen
- hadkerchief

So I'm putting the loose heavy stuff in one corner -- where it would settle anyway, and using the snack baggies to keep the other stuff from joining it.

Survival keyring
- Orion whistle
- Cold Steel Tuff-Lite folder
- Photon Freedom (white)
- BSA Hot Spark
- Striker
- 12 inches of cotton lamp wick

The lamp wick acts as a fob, but my intention is that it could be shredded and used for tinder.

Bear