Everyday Carry

A few weeks ago I was looking around to shop a small utility knife. Went on youtube, searched for some reviews, there are really lots of resources.

In the end, I didn't buy anything, I went to a local shop even but nothing I saw looked like something a normal, decent human person would really carry without shame. And maybe that's for the better, because I spent already enough money in my past collecting fountain pens and cameras, I don't really need another compulsion.

In all this search though, I learned quite a bit about knives and steels and blade shapes. And about the average knife-carrying person. One thing that seems to be popular is to create an "everyday carry" or EDC "system". A collection of things that a person comfortably carries with him everyday.

Now on the internet most of these are about guns (usually a pair, just to be "safe") and knives (a pair there too) and other "tactical" stuff, I guess these persons really need to compensate for something (Intellect? I bet they also carry a very small penis).

But I also found that this EDC stuff is interesting, because when we carry something everyday it really tells a bit about us. It tells who we are and what we need, and who we would like to be and what we think we need (but we don't).

Now I'm fully aware that no one will car, but I started this blog for myself and I still keep it that way, so I thought it would be cool to have a snapshot of this aspect of me at thirty. Here it is, my current EDC :)

• I usually wear a nice jacket (if the weather permits) and a pair of running shoes. In the picture the jacket is from Armani Collezioni and the shoes are Reebok Realflex.
• Why? I've always liked jackets and casual look, and I love House :D
• Eyeglasses. My current red "Harry Potter" looking ones are from Armani and they are photocromic.
• Why? Because I need them. My eyesight it not bad and I still play sports without glasses. I never tried contacts and I don't care to try them. My father bought me this pair last time I went to Italy. They look a bit silly but I like them, and the photocromic stuff works really well (unlike the early attempts at that tech).
• A cloth bag.
• Why? Because under my sink I have too many plastic ones, so I always try not to carry home more of these.
• An iPad (first gen). 
• Why? It's the single most important gadget I've ever owned. It replaced the big and heavy mess of printed paper and magazines I used to carry around everyday. I use iAnnotatePDF and Reeder everyday.
• A Rhodia notebook.
• Why? Writing on the iPad is a pain and I like scribbling and drawing. I also carry another less fancy notepad from some company, I found it in my mail. The Rhodia is cheaper and better (quality paper) than a Moleskine.
• Pens and pencils. Currently: a red Sharpie, a red medium point Pilot liquid ink and a Bic pencil that I stole from EA pink Uni KuruToga pencil a very fine red japanese pen I got from my girlfriend, a big Faber-Castell eraser and a Griffin iPad stylus.
• Why? Because I collect them, and I love writing and drawing. I don't really use them often (as I don't use often the pad) because at home and at work I have more writing instruments and pads and sticky notes and so on. The iPad stylus works decently but it does not make writing on the iPad really enjoyable and even drawing does not feel great. I used to draw a lot on my old winCe phone with a small stylus and a very simple drawing application, somehow the iPad feels worse.
• A tin box with various cables.
• Why? The battery on my phone does not last long so I carry its USB cable, I also carry some decent Plantronics phone earbuds that I don't use because I don't really talk much on the phone when I'm around, and at work I have better open can earphones for music and so on.
• An Axiom seat bag for my bike.
• Why? It fits my EDC camera well and it was cheap :D
• A super-cheap ParkTool hex wrench set.
• Why? You might always need to tune something.
• My 3DS
• Why? Because I bought it. Because it had 3d and it was cool. So far I never played with it. The best game there is is Zelda and I hate it, I hate Nintendo for making a cheap port and cashing all the money with zero effort. I'll probably sell this sucker.
• A Lacie USB key, 64gb. Similar to this one.
• Why? I always need to transfer stuff around and I like to carry some programs and pictures always with me. This USB key is terribly slow so I recently purchased a small pocket harddrive for when I need to transfer bigger amounts of data. The nice thing is that it's all metal, it does not have an usb connector soldered to a board that can easily bent (happens to me all the time with conventional usb keys)
• My "small" digital camera. A Panasonic G1 with a Leica 20mm 1.7.
• Why? I love photography and this camera is really great (especially paired with that lens, with the standard zoom one is half as good). I have an adapter to mount all my older Leica lenses with it. Unfortunately it's too big to fit my bag so I carry it with my bike, which is bad as really the best camera is the one you always have with you!
• A Samsung Galaxy S t959 Android phone.
• Why? I don't really mind phones much. I used to when I was a teen but when I relocated to Canada I just bought a very cheap (40$) prepaid one. The problem with that is that prepaid plans are stupidly expensive here, so when Wind came with an incredibly cheap $40 all-unlimited plan I switched. And now I had unlimited internet, so I needed a decent phone to use that. This is a T-Mobile (US) phone that works with the frequencies Wind use, and I found that Android is really better for phones than iOS. I had to work on it quite a bit but now I really like it!
• A Leatherman Squirt P4 pocket tool
• Why? It's very cool, with a small knife and pliers it's really the most useful tool of that size I've found.
• A Tucano bag.
• Why? After I bought my iPad I started carrying way less stuff with me (magazines, papers...) so I bought this bag to replace the small backpack I used to carry before!
• And of course my wallet, home and bike keys.