#Microblog Monday 261: EDC
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I just learned the term EDC–everyday carry. It’s the stuff you always have with you when you leave the house. Though I realized that I have a core EDC and then an extended EDC. Like if I’m just running to the library, I have my core stuff with me, and if I’m going to a restaurant, I have my core and extended with me. But I think of it as something deeper than “what’s in your purse?” Because some items in my purse change, depending on the day. My EDC is always the same.
So my EDC is a book (almost always a paper book, but for small outings, I may only have an e-book on my phone), lip balm, tweezers (useful it so many different situations), wallet, phone, Tylenol/Tums (again, so useful), band-aid, extra tampon (am I the only person who constantly encounters women in public restrooms asking if you have an extra tampon?), bullet journal, library card.
I also have my library card memorized in case I’m ever in an emergency library situation where they can’t scan my card but I can check out a book if I know my number.
Priorities, people.
What is your EDC?
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16 comments
Good grief, I’m amazed at how little your EDC is! Fortunately, my phone has reduced mine considerably – I no longer need to carry books, notebooks, diaries/calendars, maps, etc. All of that is on the phone. But I always have tissues, medication, lip crayon/gloss (depending on the season), sunglasses, wallet, loyalty coffee cards (any others are stored on my phone on Stocard app), wipes for my glasses, lip balm, a tiny packet of hand sanitiser, more tissues, nail files, a small folding hairbrush, and a myriad other stuff I can’t remember (rereading your list reminds me of at least one – bandaids) but probably would panic if I didn’t have.
If I go out for dinner, sometimes I throw caution to the wind and take only tissues, credit card, phone, and lip gloss. It does NOT feel right.
This post has made me realize how deeply I’ve pruned my EDC in the last 5 years. I’ve gone from the one who always had what everyone else forgot to just carrying wallet, phone, and keys. There will be a book and a pen, too, if I’m going to an appointment, but otherwise pretty minimal. I blame the TSA – once I had to take my Swiss Army knife out of my purse, it was all downhill!
I’m with @FinallyMyLinesNow — keys, wallet, phone. Usually also collapsible reading glasses. All those fit in the pockets of 4-pocket jeans/slacks/skirts, so I can keep my hands (and shoulders) free. Our library will let us check out books with our drivers license, so no worries there (though I do carry my license, insurance card, 2 credit cards + 1 debit card, Costco card, $20, and bus pass in my wallet).
Hmmmm…it’s changed over the years. Always something to do while waiting (book or reading app), tissues, keys, some medicines (like benadryl), wallet.
And of course my phone. Which replaced a planner that was part of my EDC 2 decades ago. And added a camera and some “things to do while waiting.”
My library knows me, so I don’t ever use my card. 😁
My purse has wallets (gotta have my work ID and driver’s license in my official wallet, in case I get pulled over. It comes in handy. But it doesn’t have a change holder, so I need another wallet), pen, notepad, lip balm, and all the receipts I’ve accumulated lately. Then I also have keys, sunglasses/case (because my glasses are progressives and my sunglasses are single vision, I can’t just have one), and phone. I generally have the smallest purse of anyone I know, though.
Books are in my extended group – I usually have one on my phone, but if not, there’s always Facebook and blogs.
If I can count everything in my wallet as 1 item: As in cash, bank cards, library card, frequent shopper cards— Then just wallet, keys, portable phone charger, phone. tissue, pen, business cards That’s all I can identify off the top of my head. All of the other stuff is just miscellaneous crap like old receipts that I don’t dig in and throw out often enough… Notice I didn’t put any writing paper on my list to go with my pen. That’s where the old receipts come in handy.
My EDC includes my wallet (which contains my driver’s license, some cash, credit and debit cards, frequent visit punch cards and a dose of migraine medication), lip balm, tissues, the key to my office, a pen or two, and my iPhone. I can get by on weekends with just my wallet and its contents.
Ok. If I’m only making a quick trip, like school drop off then it’s just my keys, wallet, and phone. I have two wallets…one has my basic, most used cards and insurance stuff. The other is all my overflow library cards for different counties (although this isn’t necessary anymore) all the club cards and business cards and extra credit cards. I take both wallets with me if I’m going shopping or will be away for a while and might need something from there. I also have a coupon holder, carmex lip balm that is always with me, a big water bottle, hand sanitizer, notepad and pen, sometimes a large notebook for my shopping lists, car and walk chargers with extra cords, and changepurse. I hate that I have all that stuff but there isn’t any other way to be prepared. My biggest fear is my phone being dead. I use it for everything. It’s my lifeline.
On one trip to NYC we were out all day and because I was using it for navigation it ended up dying and I hated that feeling. I couldn’t take pictures, I couldn’t check in with the rest of our group, I couldn’t navigate, I couldn’t call an Uber. The worst. So now I have extra chargers in every bag.
I also have a huge book bag for work that is separate. Besides dropping my wallet in there, everything else stays in, and it has allll of the things from home, from flossers to cough drops to Tylenol and nausea meds, lotion, pens, chargers, work-specific items, full size box of tissue, lots of tubes of carmex, nail file. That bag stays packed. I also have a locker that I keep spare tampons in.
Speaking of tampons…I never encounter anyone who needs one, but I have been the person who needs one.
My EDC is wallet, phone, keys, wipes for glasses, chapstick, eye drops, and now my planner.
Stuff I always try to have is phone, wallet, keys, sunglasses, hand cream and lip balm, and something to carry them in (purse but a pocket can serve: sometimes I feel like being like a man). I have extras in the car if I forget. Obviously if I have my kid(s) with me the list increases exponentially. But I tend to be a minimalist when I can get away with it.
Pre-Noodle my EDC was a big bag containing phone, book, notebook, pencil case, earphones, and one hundred and one other essentials.
Now if I’m out with him, it’s the nappy bag. I tend to keep my bank card in my phone case and take that out with me wherever I go. I don’t even always have a book at the moment, though there’s usually something on my phone to read.
Cait @ Of Needles and Noodles
My EDC is basically my wallet, sunglasses, keys, and phone in the minimal version (I have a wallet that fits my phone and has a wrist strap). Fortunately, my library card is actually a key tag, so it goes with me all the time. If I’m carrying my actual purse, it’s all the prior plus tissues, small snacks, period supplies, sometimes my e-reader, and a pen.
Purse items = EDC, for the most part. I did a purse inventory post a few months ago… dh thought my purse was too heavy, but he went through my purse himself & agreed he didn’t think there was much I could do away with, lol.
https://theroadlesstravelledlb.blogspot.com/2019/04/pvd-updatepurse-inventory.html
I did manage to pare down my stack of loyalty cards by putting a bunch of them on a phone app (Stocard). But there are still some that I carry in my wallet.
If I’m travelling, I subtract the mini-scissors & put the lip balm, eye drops & Purell in a plastic baggie to pull out when I go through security. And add my passport (we don’t need it to fly within Canada, but I often bring it with me when we’re visiting my parents, in case we want or need to make a quick trip across the border — my mother grew up in a small town in Minnesota about an hour & a half from where they now live, about 20 miles south of the border) and boarding pass/printout of flight info. (It’s also on my phone, but just in case…!) And sometimes my e-reader, although I will often put that in my computer carry-on case.
https://theroadlesstravelledlb.blogspot.com/2019/04/pvd-updatepurse-inventory.html
Well it depends on whether it’s weekday or weekend. Both purses will have my wallets (yes two—one with vitals like drivers license, insurance card, debit and credit cards, second has reward cards (grocery stores, Kohl’s, etc.), library cards, etc.) which I move between purses, along with my phone and keys. Then each has its own hairbrush, lip ointment, small bottle containing both acetaminophen and ibuprofen, a few tampons, flushable wipes, pens, eyeglass cleaning cloth, a few throat lozenges. A few hair elastics for kids and me. Sample size hand lotion. A few tissues. Nail clipper.
Work purse additionally has badge to scan in my building, keys to my building, plus badge to scan in another building, business cards. Safety pins. Plus a few documents or receipts I need to deal with (e.g. a medical bill I have a question about, and I need to call during business hours). A lipstick. Always a few misc. kid things like small toys I confiscated from backpacks, a paper from school, etc.
Weekend purse often has a shopping list and emergency snacks for kids.
On the very rare occasion we go out for something like date night I can streamline to just a few things. I have a very small wallet that holds only a couple cards that I sometimes use.
For a walk usually just house key, phone, tissues.
Youngest is now fully potty trained and has figured out how to not fall in, so it recently got cut down a lot. Mine is keys, wallet, cellphone guaranteed plus Tylenol (and migraine meds for my DH), epi-pen if oldest is there, and a vomit bag (because oldest is also sensitive to heat and/or excessive excitement) depending on who’s coming with me.
Besides the usual–IDs, insurance and debit cards which I carry in a wristlet–camera, a journal, phone, and lately a pouch with colored pencils, a black pen, and 4×6 cardstock for drawing and doodling.