I wondered how many Afterworders have succombed to the burgeoning EDC craze? I dare you to look it up on You Tube. It’s where the doomsday preppers meet the tech nerds in the Venn diagram of socially awkward men.
I like the idea of having some useful stuff with me and, having stumbled onto some you tube videos – I decided to start. I bought a little wallet sized pouch thing (Alpaka Pouch) and have shoved a multi tool, some pain killers, some tape, some antiseptic wipes, spectacle wipes, a tiny sheet of phone numbers, bank cards , drivers licence, a credit card sized tracker and some cash in it.
I’m quite pleased with myself (especially the phone numbers thing – the rest of my family wanted one). But I am also clearly quite ashamed of it (only my son is aware of the stuff in it – he is impressed). I don’t dare tell my wife – waiting more for that moment where my mini scissors, gorilla tape and pain killers are useful (use you imagination) to quietly and herically save the day in front of either Mrs LB or my daughter.
Anyone else doing this? Or are you too busy looking at mini discs forums and discogs?
I always carry a Swiss Army Knife with Barbie sized scissors. I use it nearly every day for something. My laptop bag has part used rolls of electrical tape, glasses cleaner, tiny Leatherman, paracetamol and indigestion tablets. I suspect it’s a lot heavier than your bag though and it has other work related items too. I have an old fashioned wallet for bank cards, they are on my phone but I’m not really used to using them in that way. I also have a modest Peli wheeled case for other work shite which I only take if I’m driving to site. I hardly open it but it’s comforting to know I have a selection of Get Out Of Jail Free items.
Let me introduce you to the Nextool Mini Flagship. Behold decent scissors and a set of pliers in a tiny tool….
Got one of those.
But more importantly always carry a travel fez.
I assume putting it on your head makes it a travel fez?
Packable in a case or pocket.
Better scissors than my knife but not as pocket friendly.
I carried a small (custom) Swiss army knife with me for years, it doubled as a key ring. However it was confiscated at Toronto city airport at security and never seen again 🙁
I’ve had one for decades. I h9ave one to my dad who carried it for years and after he died i reacquired it. It was confiscated at a German airport and I never saw it again. I still have one to this day and just it most days.
My leatherman used to live in my laptop bag, along with a small craft knife. Then I flew to Amsterdam for work. Guess the rest.
My Leatherman Micra was confiscated by airport security. Ironically, it was given to me by Swissair.
See above. Some bastard who works for Group4 must have a cupboard full of the things.
They’re probably selling them on Ebay.
Perks are what you need, with that kind of job.
It came up during a meeting yesterday that I am the only one who has an emergency pack of Hula Hoops (original flavour, i.e. Ready Salted) in their car. I was the only one with an IBD.
There’s usually at least one half-used reel of gaffer tape, too. Just in case, like.
Have you been tempted by self almagamating tape? Not for the IBD (although it may be able to do a job) but for the insulation and waterproofing abilities? It was a new one to me.
I’ve got a 30-year-old reel of that from when I had to repair a TV aerial cable at my folks’ house. It was sticking to itself back then, gawd only knows what it is like now. I bet I can’t find the end.
Had an amusing discussion about finding the end of sellotape rolls, with the barman at Karamel in Wood Green on Thursday evening. He wanted to tape up a notice or something but couldn’t find the end of his roll of sellotape. It reminded me of a YouTube clip (I think? Might have been something on TV.) that I recently saw.
Two inept miscreants want to tape their captive to a chair, to prevent them from escaping, but struggle to find the end of the tape.
I only found out recently that carrying a pepper spray is illegal in UK but legal here in Italy.
I carry a beard comb. A dap and some iems. I pride myself on getting the priorities right.
I left out the obvious stuff such as keys and a wallet although I pay for most things with my phone nowadays ’cause I’m a modern. Tissues, lens wipes, prayer beads. When I used to travel further afield I’d always carry a messenger bag and throw most of this clutter along with pencils & pens along with a sketchbook and my kindle or whatever book I was currently reading into that. Now I don’t go anywhere anymore it’s just the basics.
As an adopted Bristolian one dap sounds very odd indeed
As a North Walian I can only concur.
I like to carry an emergency bag of red onion flavour mini cheddars and a bar of Cadbury’s fruit and nut at all times. When Putin / Kim / Trump* drops a nuke I’m not sure a multi-tool and antiseptic wipes will be much help, but at least I won’t be hungry when I’m vaporised.
*other nutters are available
It would be a question of which finished me off first: the nuclear blast/fallout, or the onion powder.
As I always say, too few people properly understand the strategic role of Mini Cheddars in the post-apocalyptic marketplace
@boneshaker
Do you mean Red Leicester?
@Freddy-Steady No, the red onion Mini Cheddar is a new flavour. Very moreish and definitely up there with the Red Leicester variety.
Yikes @boneshaker
I love the Red Leicester ones so will search them out. Where do you get them from?
@Freddy-Steady
Available from Sainsbury’s and all good retailers. * UPDATE – initially only available at Sainsbury’s but now in other supermarkets. Limited edition, so may not be around for long.
Grrrr! I’ve just back from the weekly shop, mainly at Aldi but I popped into Sainsbury’s too. Next time I’ll try and pick some up.
Keys wallet mobile. I’ll be toast within half an hour of the zombie apocalypse.
This assumes that the zombies will be dropping nukes. You’re more likely to be mince than toast.
It would be amusing, in a gallows kind of way, for your last words to be “tartare” I would imagine.
I carry keys, a (now small) wallet and a phone. If that gets to 5 items through say, a passport and headphones then that is my limit. If I go above 5 I will forget or lose something
Wallet, keys, phone, and fags All in the pockets of whichever coat or jacket I choose to go out in
Drivel head had EDC sorted 30 years ago.
I may live in an isolated country cottage, but the only thing resembling ‘preppedness’ in my house is the deep stack of tins of confit de canard – you can never have too much, you know.
I’ve got manbag (so called) which I put all the bits in – sunglasses, wallet, tissues, keys, USB cable, lip salve etc etc. Had one stolen in France once which was a disaster as it also contained the car keys so I always have it round my neck
God, its’ nearly 4.5 years since I posted this – time just whizzes. I could have sworn it was last year
I still have the penknife, coin pouch (a bit knackered now). Both phones replaced by newer, but not better models, the pen is replaced with a smaller Kaweco Sport model and I reduced the keyring to the minimum number. The grinding stone goes in the pocket of my Barbour biking jacket with whatever stone I’m currently working on.
2021 – Moose and Rob C were still posting. Hedgepig had an Acme folding diesel-powered industrial woodchipper, and Leedsboy said this:
I guess some things change, some stay the same,..
It’s the very change that I was signalling. I have swapped a credit card wallet for a slightly bigger pouch (my wife calls it a purse).
I still always carry a hanky and keys in a keysmart key holder – although it’s a smaller variant now. And my phone. And, if I need a pen, my Kaweco sport comes along.
That Kaweco Sport – fountain or biro?
Fountain. In aluminium. In a cheeky little leather sleeve that can secret a spare cartridge. I seriously love it.
Very nice. I have a green plastic Kaweco Sport and an aluminium Kaweco Lilliput. Both fountains and they write like dreams.
You chaps might be interested in the HongDian M2 – Chinese company which used to be called MoonMan. The M2 has a metal body, Kaweco Sport sized, very nice nib – I got an EF and it’s smooth as silk, not scratchy at all…
Immediately goes off to Google……
Oh. My. God.
Mine arrives tomorrow
I’ve chanced my arm with one from Ali Express. The reviews were good and it came in a £6.82. It is from China after all….
Will let you know in about 10 days.
What colour?
Space Grey. Medium nib. Converter fitted.
£16.99 from Jeff Bezos.
I’ll let you know tomorrow 😁
I got the Army Green, black EF nib, converter fitted.
Very nice – but a superb writer. I liked the MoonMan eyedropper pens – they also had excellent nibs for the money.
Same colour here (god we’re dull). That is if it is the real thing.
I was intrigued – a better quality version of Kaweco Sport in metal casing with nicer nib? Sounds attractive. I chose a blue model with fine (not extra fine) nib, also from Ali Express(.de) – 7.50 Euro – quarter the price of the Kaweco.
It will be with me when I arrive back from trip to UK for Easter. Nice to have something to come home to.
Thanks for the recommendation.
I want one. Does it use standard cartridges? I have a couple of lovely pens which use proprietary refills which cost a bleedin’ fortune.
Uses the little standard international cartridges, comes with a nice converter for bottled ink.
(I’m not on commission – just very impressed with it!)
I have one of these. Army green with a medium nib. It’s a nice little pen. I use mine to draw with as well as write. It’s very pleasant to use for both.
The Verdict:
It’s lovely.
Sturdy and weightier than the Kaweco Sport, and pretty much of the exact same dimensions. The Sport being plastic this is not a surprise.
It all works. The screw on cap is tight and the nib draws well. It’s a smidge rougher then the Kaweco but only infinitessimally, registering to nerds only.
The converter takes some trying to fill fully and it popped out from the pen with no effort. Very little friction to its seating within the barrel. Will this cause leaks? Will it fall out of its own accord? I doubt it but we’ll see.
I’m very happy. It’s a beaut of a little pen. £16.99 well spent.
Nope, no leaks. All tight as a drum. Very well put together little pen.
I might get another with a broader nib just for a bit of choice. Well pleased with this. Keen to hear from @Leedsboy and the others.
I will certainly update when (if?) my Ali Express order arrives. £6.82 for a nicely made, good to write with fountain pen seems to good to be true. And I know a saying about things that look too good to be true…
If you like it, I shall claim the credit for alerting you to its existence. If you don’t, I shall cry caveat emptor and run for the hills…
I think the only risk is me buying it from Ali Express. If it is the real thing, then I think I will be delighted.
@beezer well the £6.82 M2 arrived. No tin – just some bubble wrap but excellent in every way. Fills nicely and writes very well in some fancy ox blood ink from Diamine.
@Leedsboy. Delighted to hear it! They’re rather cool little things aren’t they. Anodised aluminium and that.
The nib on mine smoothed out almost immediately and I think it’s on a par with the Mighty Kaweco.
Much happy note taking to you.
Always gratifying to bring two people together…🙂
Thank you @fitterstoke for the recommend!
It’s a doozy.
I know @leedsboy of old. We’ve been in the AW Mingle and Thames Valley Curry trenches together. We have the medals.
The holy trio of wallet, keys and phone every time I leave the house.
Additional stuff for work trips.
You’re all weird. I hate carrying surplus stuff around with me. The less the better. Unseemly bulges in my jeans, no thanks. I’d leave my keys at home if I could.
You need a Keysmart if it’s unsightly key bulge you’d like to reduce.
Let’s be honest, at our age, unseemly bulges in our jeans are to be celebrated not reduced.
Depends if it’s the front or back of the jeans.
I now do leave my keys at home – we just had a Yale digital lock installed which is operated by either fingerprint, passcode, RFID tag or the phone app.
With my credit card and ID card being on my phone, that’s all I take out these days (exception being car keys when needed)
This came up on a Facebook page. Surely that’s all you need.
Survival kit for Apollo 11 crew. It includes water containers, beacon, spare batteries, sunglasses and sunscreen, water desalinator, flashlight and machete in case of landing in mangrove forests or jungles.
Looks like viewmaster toy for 3d images in that collection. Essential survival equipment of course.
Being a woman, I am required by law to carry around a huge bag at all times.
When that doesn’t suffice I carry a second, larger bag as well.
We are all Moomin Mamma. We are prepared for anything.
Also; there are stuff in it that I put there ten years ago and have forgotten all about. I will find them the next time I have to buy a new bag. Then I will transfer them to my new bag, despite not using them for the past ten years. That is the law!
Is that you, Mrs F?
Is that you, Mrs Beezer?
Back in the days of when I was working I always carried a man bag which was very old but I loved it – box of paracetamol, spare reading glasses, assorted pens, battered old address book ( which I hardly ever used ) spectacle wipes and phone charging cable . Now I go out with just a phone with my cards in it , glasses and keys. Still got the bag somewhere in the garage.
I have a bag which hangs from my shoulder (fjäll räven). It contains my lunch, a tool for reversing the spikes on my boots depending on whether it’s icy or not, currently not required. I have keys and mobile in there also. No separate wallet needed in a cashless society. Cards go inside telephone cover. I have a card for getting into the council offices also.
And yet unsightly bulges in my trousers prevail despite empty pockets. What to do?
Ummm…stop snacking on Viagra? 😉
Wise words.
Yes, I’ve seen some EDC vids on YouTube. Most of the ones from the US feature a small hunting knife and a torch. Every day? Bloody hell. I’d have no use for those on a normal day in the Home Counties.
Like most here what I carry daily is a phone wallet and keys. The key are in a folder thing so they don’t smash against my phone screen if they’re in the same pocket or swing out and hit my watch.
I have a small Swiss Army knife but don’t take it out the house because of the bulk of it. There is though a slim credit card size version of the same. All the tools of said knife slid into a flat plastic holder that you slot into your wallet. That’s tempting but it includes a tiny fixed blade knife so would be likely confiscated at an airport.
I am struck by how many people commenting still carry a wallet. One of my jobs is working in a supermarket with a very wide variety of customers of all ages and various ethnicities, albeit mainly not affluent. Probably 25% max have a purse or wallet in addition to their phone, or physical cards which they keep in a phone cover.
I always carry some cash, as some smaller shops still don’t take cards for a payments under a certain amount, and as I work in technology, I always expect a failure at some point.
Just before Christmas I was in Waterstones in Covent Garden. I was about fourth in the queue, and the assistants were trying to sort out some issue with payments. After a couple of minutes, one of the assistants said they were having problems with cards, but could take cash if anyone had it. I glanced round, and the queue was about 20 long, but I was the only person who stepped forward. I got a a few looks from others in the queue as though I had somehow cheated. I keep my cards in a wallet so a few notes don’t add much to it.
Always an emergency tenner in my wallet just in case.
Kebab Van up the road has succumbed to card payment, but Oxfam Music remains steadfastly Cash only.
Funnily enough there are probably more than 25% that carry cash, but very many of them, especially the men, don’t keep it in a pocket or purse.
Coins go in that tiny little square pocket within the right pocket of your jeans, don’t they? It’s no use for anything else.
Anyway, if you put loose change in your regular pocket, it will just fall through the hole made by your keys.
Here’s a good song about loose change.
Originally used for a pocket watch, if I put change in that pocket I could never get it out when needed.
Is that little pocket not for storing something for the weekend
Again difficult to extract when needed.
A decade between uses should be sufficient time.
You could never get a bottle of single malt in there.
Bloody useful for plectrums. Also AirPods.
I made a cash purchase* the last time I visited a town centre, a couple of weeks ago. I got a cash discount, too.
(*) records, lovely records…
Ah, could be another thread, what’s in your wallet? In my wallet I have credit/debit cards, my Ontario health card, CAA membership card and driver’s licence, plus maybe some cash. It’s pretty much obligatory to have health card and driver’s licence with you at all times here just in case
I do have credit/debit on my phone but like above, no way I would completely trust the technology. I used to pay for most things in cash until the pandemic, I could budget better doing it that way. Take out a certain amount and it has to last the week
Here in Sweden we have swish, an app that enables me to send a payment to another using their telephone number or you can scan their QR code if they are a seller like at a market. Useful if running a stall and cannot take card payments. Also if having a collection for someone at work. You can pay for everything with it, online shopping, whatever. Only now with risk of a crisis/conflict, have they started telling us to have a bit of cash put aside, in case it all breaks down. 🤠
My pal with a soul/funk covers band has a card reader for taking audience contributions (£5) at pub gigs.
I like to keep a couple of £10 notes in my wallet (right rear pocket) for emergency use.
No coins in my pockets since lockdown. Buskers and beggars must be feeling the pinch these days.
They, too, have card readers but the vast majority do not
I was always up for buying the Big Issue, until never, too, carrying cash. In fact, whenever I have my “no cards” haircut*, I visit a cash point, often spending the residual on a Big Issue and a coffee.
*£20, Sassoon trained, Jake’s in Brum, in the jewellery quarter/St Paul’s Square. Recommended. Ask for Colin. Likes to talk music.
I had a no cards haircut and beard trim today, $25 (£11.97 at today’s rate). Low rate because, quote, my beard wasn’t much work, unquote. I have decided not to be insulted by this.
I don’t ever take my pouch/wallet out – I always use my apple watch to pay and my phone stays safely in my pocket. Cards are in the pouch because they fit, don’t way much and I am the type of person that likes a back up. I have only started carrying cash since I restarted football coaching in a league where both teams have to pay the ref and ref’s only take cash.
Okay, here’s my sensible response. When I was working I carried a bulging man-bag style of briefcase, but took much delight in setting fire to it on the day I retired. These days I carry a small credit card holder recently downsized from my wallet. I can’t remember the last time I bought anything with cash (or indeed visited a shop, as I’m one of those online shopping millennial style OAPs responsible for the death of the High Street). I never go anywhere without my phone since someone decided that phone boxes were more useful as garden ornaments than communication devices.
I’ve got a TEEHON wallet which holds all my many cards comfortably plus travel passes and a notes clip. Very good and not at all bulky. Probably Chinese, but then we will all be eventually.
Amazed nobody has fessed to poo bags always in their pocket. (For the dog!!)
They’re back pockets which don’t count.
Relieved to discover this thread isn’t about guns, which was my first thought on seeing the title.
I’m a phone, hanky, wallet (minimalist Bellroy), keys, AirPods and reading glasses kinda guy – thank god for cargo shorts I say.
I’ve been told I need to carry my puffer with spacer at all times, so I’m in the market for some sort of man bag. I’m being bombarded with ads for them after I made the mistake of saying the words within earshot of my phone, but any suggestions welcome. Hate bumbags.
If it’s a modern, hard wearing fabric type thing, Alpaka stuff is very well made and not ridiculously expensive.
https://alpakagear.com/
And…just like that, having consulted Mrs thep, I’ve bought one. Thanks for the tip.
Which one?
This one.
https://alpakagear.com/products/flow-satchel-2l?variant=45385867002018
I was looking at those the other day. They look excellent.
I asked Mrs LB if these looked good. She said it looked excellent so one ordered. I was warned away from the green one though – not sure who is duller – me or Mrs LB.
Stop posting things I don’t need but wish to order immediately.
I always check the weather report and that I’m dressed appropriately and that I have my keys, wallet and phone with me, before I leave home. My wallet contains some cash, my bank card, my bus pass, an Oyster card, driving license and my blood donor card which shows my blood group.
I keep a warm waterproof hi-viz coat (with a hood), an umbrella, hat and gloves, in-car phone charger, both clean and oily rags and a couple of strong carrier bags in my car, plus an old hessian sack and a strong plastic sack*, a tow rope, a set of jump leads, a good wheelbrace and jack and an electric tyre pump in the boot.
*For kneeling on in the wet if I need to change a wheel.
Hamper for Leedsboy – now, the problem of how to fit the contents into a flow satchel…
I have an aluminium card holder that was made for cigarettes, keys, phone, hat. Always a hat of one sort or another. Reading glasses hang round my neck.
I have a ‘get you home’ pack, which I carry on the bikes. Contains a leatherman-type multi-tool, a folding set of bike-sized Allen keys, puncture repair kit and a couple of lengths of wire.