Recently a member of our team shared a survival kit video with me, and was laughing because he was pretty sure that I everyday carry most of the items in the kit – and in fairness, he wasn’t far off the truth. So I thought I’d share a little bit about my everyday carry (EDC) kit here and why I carry what I carry. First of all I should note that for me, there’s a big difference between a survival kit and an EDC kit. A survival kit is something that I’d have prepared at home, or in my truck, in a go bad in case things go bad. I’d also likely carry it when I’m out on the mountains – but I’m not going to carry it in the office.

My EDC on the other hand, is the items that I carry every single day. It’s the stuff I rarely leave the house without.

I should also note that I likely carry a little more than most in my EDC because 99% of the time I’m carrying a shoulder bag, so I’ve got space and I’m not trying to cram it all into my pockets.

The first thing on my EDC list is actually my glasses. They’re a little bent out of shape these days but they’re still good. Thankfully my eyesight isn’t so bad that I can’t operate without them, but I do often get headaches if I don’t wear them for long periods. Interestingly, I don’t actually tend to wear them when I’m out in the mountains because the weather tends to impair them – but day-to-day I do. I also carry a spare set in my truck.

Next up is my wallet, nothing complex here but a simple 5 card metal slimline wallet, I’ll probably look to upgrade this to a wallet that can fit an AirTag at some point, but for now it fits my payment cards and ID and takes up very little space.

Personally, I do EDC a torch, and I use it a surprising amount even in the summer. From finding things I’ve dropped under the drivers seat in the car, to adding a little extra light when fixing small items. I’m currently carrying the Fenix E35R, which is maybe a little big for some people so you might prefer the much smaller Fenix E18R instead. I’m not a big fan of “micro torches” and wanted something that would fit my hand well, plus something that I could charge without removing the battery. I also wanted something that I could carry spare batteries for, if needed.

For a notepad I carry a Rite-in-the-Rain notepad and waterproof pen. I’ve tried a lot of different combinations of notepad and pencil/pen for taking notes in adverse weather and I’ve been pretty dissatisfied with most of them. Based on experience I needed two things, a pad small enough to quickly stuff into a pocket and a tool to write on that pad even in direct rain. I’ve tried non-permanent markers which are great for writing on waterproof maps but they suck in the rain. I’ve tried stone paper with pencil and those are pretty good but I find you can rub pencil off which is annoying. So I’ve settled on this combination because it just seems to work for me.

I also carry a sharpie, I’ve actually got those of those – one in my EDC, and one in my IFAK. They’re great for marking things such as labelling items and I find myself using it a lot – although I’m tempted to swap it out for a finer tipped version than the standard that I’m currently carrying, for a little more versatility.

One item which I carry but feel like I rarely use, is a lighter – it does come in handy occasionally – such as cleaning up cut paracord and lighting the Burco at race meets. But I still carry it because it weighs practically nothing.

Instead of a multitool, I carry a knife and a small ratchet bit driver. The ratchet bit driver is a Topeak Rocket Lite DX, which is designed for bicycle maintenance – but it’s been a super useful tool for fixing small items around the home and office. It comes with mainly hex bits plus a #2 Philips, if you’d rather swap a couple of pieces out for something else, then iFixit sells a selection of individual 1/4″ bits, so you can customise your carry.

For my knife, I’m currently carrying a Kizer Sheepdog Mini, which I absolutely love. I’ve got quite small hands and so I find the mini is a good fit for me, but there are larger versions available if you prefer. It’s got a 154CM steel blade and an interesting blade profile. I should probably swap it out for something like a Leatherman Signal or a Leatherman Skeletool, for versatility reasons – but I really do love the Sheepdog. Plus I get a lot of utility out of my ratchet bit driver. I guess I could add a Knipex Cobra XS if I really needed some lightweight pliers.