# Your EDC \[Everyday-carry\] **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 9, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525 "2013-11-09T22:26:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/81 "2013-11-12T00:15:28Z")
When I first moved here from KY, I carried keys, knife, wallet, and lighter as just basic tools. Years ago, we had a non-incident at work where two employees argued and one threatened to jump the other on the way to the parking lot, and the other said she’d use her personal taser if she did. It went to HR, everyone got lectures about carrying weapons, the two people involved were terminated, it was a whole mess. (I was later called in because when a co-worker as me a personal question I joked “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” and someone overheard us. :rolleyes: They were\* that \*touchy.) Though no one knew I carried a knife, I started leaving it in the car. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/82 "2013-11-12T02:38:14Z")
> [@Tully\_Mars](#): > > “Wallet, watch, testicles, spectacles.” – Anthony Hopkins as Burt Munroe in The World’s Fastest Indian. > > Words to live by, I’d say. Ahem. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/83 "2013-11-12T02:41:41Z")
Magnifying glass, phone with flashlight, disposable lighter, case bone peanut, spyderco endura in zdp 189. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/84 "2013-11-12T03:09:56Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > When I first moved here from KY, I carried keys, knife, wallet, and lighter as just basic tools. Once at work I was using a tweezers out of my Swiss Army Knife to pry something loose for one of the doctors on a bit of equipment, and he asked why I carried a Swiss Army Knife. I literally did the raised-eyebrow look and told him it was because sometimes I need it. :dubious: He got the irony, thank goodness. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/85 "2013-11-12T06:44:06Z")
Generally, just wallet, watch, glasses, keys, phone, a pen, and pocket change. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/86 "2013-11-12T12:01:39Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > When I first moved here from KY You once lived in jelly? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/87 "2013-11-12T13:42:31Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > 45ACP 1911, one of several > Keltec [P32](http://www.keltecweapons.com/our-guns/p-32/pistol/)or P3AT > Benchmade [AFO](http://www.sogknives.com/flash-ii-tanto-partially-serr-black-tini.html) > SOG [Flash II](http://www.sogknives.com/flash-ii-tanto-partially-serr-black-tini.html) > Leatherman [Squirt](http://www.leatherman.com/91.html) > [Whistle](http://www.campsaver.com/40-micro-emergency-whistle) > Butane lighter > Handcuff key > Sharpies > Pens > Small notepad > Green laser pointer > Surefire E2D [flashlight](http://www.surefire.com/illumination/flashlights/e2d-led-defender-ultra.html) > ASP baton with [BAC cap](http://www.bustacapinc.com/) > Nitrile gloves > Wallet > Comb > Cell phone Do you carry it all in a tactical fanny pack? ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/88 "2013-11-12T13:56:14Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Twice I was very glad to have a loaded gun in my hand. Never had to use it, thank God! > > As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I seldom have a gun on me. Just so happened…when I most thought I might need one…I had one. Yikes! Your and **Silver Fire’s** stories are scary! I can think of one situation I was in where I would’ve been glad to have a gun, though it wouldn’t have done me much good (I imagine it’s hard to draw a gun when one is held to your head without getting a bullet in said head). Still, I don’t think I’d feel comfortable having one on my person or in the house. I guess it’s easy for me to say, “No one needs a gun,” but I suppose that’s only in an ideal world. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/89 "2013-11-12T13:58:07Z")
The essentials are a validated color copy of the front page of my passport, a fully charged cellphone, and a bit of cash ( USD and KWZ ). The only real threats to expats are malaria and food poisoning so bug spray and Imodium are my weapons of choice. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/90 "2013-11-12T14:45:14Z")
My EDC, based on a usual day of going to work: Wallet with the usual cards, ID, and money; Keys Big pocket knife (3" blade) Paracord bracelet Watch Cell phone Ear buds Urban Altoids kit, containing: [INDENT]$1.50 in quarters $60 in bills pre-threaded sewing needles couple of buttons 1 days worth of my prescriptions imodium and benadryl mini flashlight p38 can opener wallet survival tool button compass floss pick Sting swab[/INDENT] The urban Altoid kit is less about actual survival than it is about stupid situations in public or at work, like sudden diarrhea or ripping your pants. I have another Altoid kit that I will also carry if I wander more than 20 miles from home dedicated to actual jam situations. I also have a boot knife that I will carry in unusual situations. The more vague regarding that, the better. ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/91 "2013-11-13T00:10:22Z")
Wallet Tissues Keys Book or magazine Glasses and sunglasses Lip balm Watch iPhone iPod Water bottle I’m going to work I’ll pack a lunch and bring a hat and work t shirt. If I’m biking add a bike lock, bike pump and patch kit. Ages ago a friend gave me pepper spray because she was worried about me living in Brooklyn, but the only time I ever felt like it was necessary to have it ready to use was when I was driving alone late at night in upstate New York and a really creepy guy was hanging around the rest stop I had pulled into (nothing happened). I stopped carrying it because I was more afraid of the NYPD somehow finding out I had it (random subway search for example) than actually being in danger. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/92 "2013-11-14T02:45:40Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Do you carry it all in a tactical fanny pack? 😃 Tactical fanny pack? That’s so 80’s! Now it’s Tactical Pants! Tru-Spec 24/7 with scads of pockets. I have about a dozen pair in different colors, as well as shorts for summer. Except for church and funerals, it’s all I wear. They’re the only thing that carries all my crap. The dedicated [knife and magazine pockets](http://qaued7qs506x2d1g.zippykid.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/050913_0033.jpg)are the best. I can’t believe someone did this, but [here’s a review!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osSM1xfs18U) ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/93 "2013-11-14T03:56:39Z")
You want tactical pants (and shorts, and boxers, and dresses, and jackets, and all sorts of cool stuff) check out the [Scottevest](http://www.scottevest.com/)site. You can carry around half your freakin’ _house_ in some of this stuff! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/94 "2013-11-14T14:52:26Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > No, I’m not a weirdo. (Well, yes I am, but not the kind that carries a gun and extra ammo and grenades everywhere I go.) It’s not clear to me what “weirdo” means in this context. It could be a simple statement of numerical observation – any conduct outside the average, or within a couple of standard deviations of the norm, is “weird,” and the practitioners thereof “weirdos.” Or it could be more of a personal attack, a pejorative, in which you’d deny that male-to-female transsexuals, Cirque du Soleil performers, or Ren Faire costume wearers are weirdos – but continue to insist that people who legally carry firearms are weirdos. Can you clarify how you’re using the term? ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/95 "2013-11-14T16:08:33Z")
My fists and my brains. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/96 "2013-11-14T17:28:10Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > My fists and my brains. “I call my right hemisphere ‘Lightning’ and my left hemisphere ‘Thunder’!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/97 "2013-11-14T17:35:54Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > My fists and my brains. It’s nice to have have both on you, but if you’re good with one, you rarely need the other. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525/98 "2013-11-14T18:33:08Z")
Two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers. Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls, but only when I head to Vegas. Seriously, a cellphone, couple of keys, and a small billfold…but it’s a tactical billfold. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-edc-everyday-carry/673525.md?page=4)