The first time I heard the phrase, everyday carry, I was certain it must be a term of endearment used by gun aficionados to describe a favoured firearm. But no, there are actually entire online communities dedicated to what they lovingly label ‘EDC’, or the eclectic assortment of objects and tools that men choose to stuff their pockets, pouches and satchels with.
Now, the subject of bags is a delicate one for men, and one fraught with mortal peril. My father made clear to me early on that anything actually attached to your waist, whether it be a phone or God forbid, a purse — was a very bad idea indeed. Yet common sense or sartorial style hasn’t stopped most guys, myself included, from curating a wide of variety of items seemingly essential to survive the day. Search the web for everyday carryand you will find some of the more popular inclusions: pocket knives, torches, bits of string, notebooks, pens, laser pointers and other tactical tools.
A good EDC list is less a reflection of necessity than aspiration. You never know when, or in what form, the call to adventure may arrive: a bear attack, a bottle that requires opening, a band aid applied or a paper form to be completed. For the would-be Macgyver or Bourne, preparedness is everything.
That said, my own list would, I’m afraid, leave me quite unprepared for an unscheduled zombie apocalypse. My daily items are largely designed to stave off boredom and to capture ideas.
At the risk of ridicule, here they are:
- A Leica MP film camera, loaded with either Kodak TMAX black & white film or AGFA Ultra. Film is an odd choice, I know, especially for a purported futurist, but I enjoy the more reflective pace of shooting analog. Anyway, there is something about natural film grain that digital filters just can’t get right.
- A Leuchtturm1917 notebook, a brand I’ve discovered to be far superior to a standard Moleskine. With 80 GSM paper, fountain pen ink doesn’t bleed through, pages are numbered and there is a blank index that you can fill in.
- An Astell & Kern music player and Japanese Fitear headphones, loaded with my entire ripped CD library from my childhood and more recent 24bit DSD recordings.
- A Kindle Voyage with my book collection organized by subject.
- A canvas Billingham camera bag to carry everything around in.
As I finished compiling this list, I started to wonder whether this strange Bedouin-like behaviour might also apply to our digital lives. When it comes to physical objects, even for those brave enough to sport utility belts and cargo pants, there is a physical limit on what you can carry.
Constraint forces choice, and choice requires curation.
Yet our phones and devices offer us an almost infinite number of apps and services, not to mention access to the entire world’s library of streamed content and media. Do we carry all of this with us everyday, or do the handful of apps we choose to populate our home screen with, represent our 21st century daily carry?
It would be strange, but not entirely unpleasant if we could, for example, choose to go out to dinner and bring our GPS and camera application, but leave Facebook and Snapchat at home for once. In a way, for all its unlimited options, the digital world gives us far too few choices.
