Minimalist suburban convenience/comfort kit

I'm looking to weed out as much as I can from my EDC kit.

I live and work in the Philadelphia, PA suburbs. What with a pocket radio, a few flashlights, first aid kit, paracord, duct tape, magnifier, eye drops, eyeglass repair kit, mini-sewing kit, floss, travel mirror, mini-tweezers, SwissChamp, etc., my shoulder bag is getting just a wee bit heavy to tote around.

For all you people who "travel light" and do your thing mostly in suburban environments, what do you carry?

Craig:

A couple of questions.

1. Do you drive yourself to work or take mass transit?

2. Do you work at one location or several?


Chris

Craig,

I actually have a little web page devoted to what I carry, since so many of my friends and relatives seem so intrigued by the concept of "carrying that Boy Scout stuff around." Ha ha. Here is a link to the list and photos:
http://www.roblester.com/rob/edc.htm

Are your concerns about carrying options based on fashion or preference? What I mean is if you wear a suit you can't really carry as much in your pants as you could if you were wearing cargo pants - that is a case of fashion limiting your carrying capacity. OTOH, if you really dislike the feel of a full cargo pocket hanging at the side of your thigh as you drive and don't want gnarly multi-tools hanging off your belt then it is more a matter of preference. I find that with my vest, jeans pockets and belt wear I can carry a whole lot of preparedness items. for example, as I sit here in my cubicle I have on my body the following

4X9 nylon water proof tarp, Emergency poncho, Space blanket, Balacava, lint brush / shoe horn, hair brush / signal mirror, large collapsing duffle - 12"X4"X6", eyeshades & ear plugs, small bottle of No-Doz, Asp saphire lite, double AA Mag lite, Extensible Magnet pick-up thingy, Match safe with compass, whistle, small tube of tylenol, spring-loaded center punch, extra AAA batteries and extra AA batteries, toothbrush, Pen, Mechanical Pencil, PDA, Small chess board, inspirational teachings of the Buddha, Bandanna, Leatherman Wave, Cell phone, Extra Cell phone battery, piezo - butane wind-proof lighter, mini-bic lighter, small sewing kit.

In my fanny pack - which I take off while sitting down, I have; a PSK patterned after Dougs complete with fishing kit, sewing kit, water purification tabs and paracord and all the rest, a FAK, a small monocular, Large baggie of GORP, Food bar (I think that it is a luna this month), Hank of accessory cord, Another space blanket, another emergency poncho, An CMG inifinity light with head strap stolen from a solitaire, mid-range SAK knockoff, Pen multi-tool, Adventure Medicals backpacker FAK hangs on the strap of the fanny pack with some extras added including another Double AA maglite and EMT shears and some airways and a CPR mask (I am EMT-B trained).

When I am in a suit (interview, customer visit etc) the fanny pack contents go into the brief-case and most of the vest carry goes into the suit jacket. The tarp, collapsable duffle, eyeshades and ear-plugs, Mag lite and a few other things get left behind but you may be amazed how much you can carry discreetly in a suit jacket when you get the hang of packing it so it drapes correctly. Also helps to have some extra pockets sewn into the inside. I find that the outside pockets of the jacket should never be used as they cause the drape of the jacket to be pulled out of shape quickly - they are decorations not pockets. The pockets sewn to the liner are for carrying stuff.

I use a Spec Ops Brand " The wallet " to put some of my EDC.

1) Swiss-tech utility key
2) General tools handy pocket screwdriver
3) Sliver gripper
4) Spectacle screwdriver set
5) Benchmade 5 rescue hook

You can even put a signal mirror if you want to <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

For my EDC I always have the following:
1) Buck Odyssey
2) Cell Phone
3) Wallet with all the regular stuff plus a pack of paper matches, and a small push dagger.
4) Cash but not usually a lot.
5) Key Ring Convenience Kit, includes- 2 aluminum pill vials, P-38, safety pins, nail clippers, solitare by mag, Leatherman Micra, and a small Schrade Lockback.
6) Keys on two different rings. One for vehicles, one for locks.
7) Chapstick.
When I travel back and forth to work I also carry a back pack with other meds, work folders, PDA, etc. But on the weekends it stays home

I drive to work, and work from one location.

Well, I can dress casually, in jeans, at work, but I'm thinking more in terms of reducing bulk.

Also, with even bus security increasing, and passengers everywhere being forced to empty their pockets, everyone will know what you have.

There's no being low-key anymore. What's the use of carrying a SAK deep in your pockets when someone will see it and declare it a weapon? Especially since no one will tell you what is and is not a weapon.

I go minimilist. I do have a cell phone and leatherman wave hanging off my belt but that is all you can see from the outside and the wave is smaler than the cell phone so its not really noticable. In my back pocket is the normal wallet, in the left front pocket is a 2AAA minimag. Right front pocket has a leather key case with my truck and house keys and a duplicate of my wife's car key, an ARC AAA, A Gerber Ridge knife with clip removed to make it thinner, a p-38 and a watch band compass. It all folds up to a tiny package that doesn't even buldge my pants.

Craig,

It is hard to reduce bulk in the shoulder bag without making some hard decisions. You may want to prepare additional kits that are staged in your expected spots so that your on-body and carry bag kits are smaller but dependent on these other kits. A car kit, a desk kit, a coat kit, etc each containing either better and more capable stuff then you want to carry, or maybe containing stuff you do not carry.

This time of year my kits increase shelter tools because of our climate (wet). My poncho is still in my shoulder bag, but a tarp, cord and extra plastic bags are in my desk kit along with a good rain hat, fleece pullover, gloves and wool hat. My on-body kit has a storm shelter (tube tent) but I add plastic bags to my vest this time of year in case I do not have my poncho which is in my carry bag. I have a coat kit with plastic bags, hats, gloves, firekit, cord, and hopefully a Sil-Tarp soon.

My car kit is a very well stocked kit, but I park it in a garage that was red tagged at our last earthquake, so I pretty much assume this will not be available to me. My desk kit grows with this season as I am going to evacuate with it hopefully. My shoulder bag contains mostly HAM radio gear and shelter.

I too take the vest approach like MiniMe for my never leave home without it kit. This has evolved over the years to be fairly well balanced with items primarily for shelter and safety. My shoulder bag is communications and better shelter, my desk and coat kit greatly enhances the shelter options.

My urban kits emphasise communications (HAM radio, batteries, antennas) with my family, shelter, water and tools for evacuating or digging in earthquake damaged buildings (gloves, dust mask, goggles, 3' prybar, hardhat) bus maps, city maps, and money.

My wife just passed her Tech HAM license exam....just a few more days until she is on the air for emergency communications both with me and with our local RACES organizations. This was just about the best preparation I could think of for us.

How do you get the safety pins to stay safely on your keychain? I would think they might pop open in your pocket.

If your back pack stays home during the weekends, do you take any of its contents with you on weekend forays? How about the meds?