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You never know what can happen in everyday life. It’s important to be prepared and have everyday carry items that will help you overcome life’s obstacles. In this article, we’re going to discuss 15 things you should keep in your everyday bag. These are the best everyday carry items that every person needs!
What is everyday carry?
Everyday carry is pretty self-explanatory. Everyday carry is a list of things you need to carry with you every day. Every EDC, no matter how minimalistic or complex, has three purposes: (1) they are tools to help you survive an emergency situation (2) as well as daily usage, and (3) pleasure items to help you during your day.
Everyday carry essentials
Everyday carry essentials are critical to your daily life. A good EDC can help you out in many situations and a bad pick could even get you killed!
Some people carry a ton of gear and stuff with them though they hardly use most of them. And some people carry the necessary items and lessen the things that they carry with them.
So it is better to plan for that beforehand. And to help you with that, here are all the everyday carry essentials that you need to carry, or at least need to consider to carry with you.
Essential every day carries items for beginners
For beginners, you should not carry tons of items with you. You should carry only the necessary items according to your needs.
- Mask
- Cash
- Wallet
- Wristwatch
- Mobile phone
- Pen
- Lighter
Best everyday carry items in 2021
1. EDC Mask
Considering how 2020 went, it is no surprise that we kept the mask in our everyday carry list. The recent covid-19 situation altered or brought change to almost everywhere. And to what it brought more change than to our everyday carry items?
Recent studies have stated that using a mask makes it significantly less possible to widespread the covid virus.
And even before or after the pandemic, you should carry a mask with you.
Here are a few reasons to carry masks in your everyday life-
- Depending on where you live, the air might be polluted, and there could be all sorts of harmful substances in the air. So, it is better to wear a mask.
- If the air is full of dust and other allergic substance, wearing a mask can reduce the allergic reaction (i.e., sneezing)
What mask you should buy?
Here is a good collection of masks. You can buy any of these masks. Each of these does its job pretty well.
2. EDC Hand sanitizer
This one is another addition to our everyday carry list. As we all know, thanks to the recent pandemic situation, keeping our hands clean is a must, especially from harmful germs and viruses.
Nowadays, hand sanitizer is a key item to have in your EDC. It uses the natural properties of alcohol and essential oils to cleanse your hands, kill bacteria, and leave behind a pleasant aroma.
And hand sanitizer is the perfect option to do that. That is why we kept this on our list. If you are going on a tour, you should and must keep a hand sanitizer with you.
3. EDC Knife
A knife is perhaps the most common item on everyone’s EDC list. Why? Because there is no shortage of ways that you can use a knife in your everyday life.
Though it is handy to carry a knife, people also hesitate to carry a knife with them due to legal reasons.
Indeed, different regions have different laws and regulations. Heck, the regulations differ even through different states. So it is wise to get to know which knife you can carry with you with no legal issues and which knife you can’t, according to your local law enforcement agencies.
What knife you should pick for your everyday carry?
Best overbuilt folding knives recommendations.
Read this article about why you should carry a knife everyday.
4. EDC Wallet
Do we even need to describe why you should carry a wallet?
It is, of course, to carry your cash and credit cards. You can also carry identity cards in your wallet.
A pro tip here.
Do not carry any extra things in your wallet that you do not need. Sometimes, you think you need this and that, but you don’t need them in reality. You can’t remember even using one of them.
So, in that case, bring everything out of your wallet, and ask yourself which items you have come to use in the last three days.
Keep those things, and remove the rest. Or you can keep those not useful things in the wallet. And move the useful things to a new slim wallet which you will be carrying from now on.
And you can keep the previous wallet in your car or at home if you want it that way.
But whatever you do, keep your wallet slim and useful.
What wallet should you pick for your everyday carry?
There are so many wallets to pick for different styles and color preferences and budgets. We will describe that in a different post.
Here are the top wallet recommendations with a detailed review for you that you can add to your EDC list.
5. EDC Cell Phones
One of the essential items on our list is mobile phones. Nowadays, it is said that there is almost nothing that a smartphone can’t do that other electric devices can do.
That is why it is removing other necessary electronic devices one by one.
For example, you do not need a professional camera to capture a picture anymore. Smartphones come with extraordinarily high-resolution cameras that you can take pictures with.
You can now record audios with your phone, which would take an audio or tape recorder to do so in the early days.
It allows you to send and receive calls, text messages, emails, and a lot more from anywhere.
Which mobile phones should you carry?
It is totally up to you. Since there are almost countless mobile phones of various brands, and different budgets and specific features, you would be wise to choose for your good.
6. EDC Wristwatch
Many times, we come across this question, do we need a wristwatch?
Well, to know what time it is, you can check your phone. Mobile phones have been an essential thing for our everyday life.
Like most other things, it also replaced the need for a wristwatch for most people. But wearing a wristwatch is not all about the need to know the current time. It is more than that.
No formal getup is complete without a fair wristwatch.
What wristwatch should you pick for your everyday carry?
There is a variety of wristwatches and their categories out there. It comes to your preference, style, and budget. It will take an entire post to write about wristwatches in great detail. For now, here are 3 of the best watches you can carry with you every day.
Top 9 Best Kids Casio G-Shock Watches: The Ultimate Guide
How To Replace A Quartz Watch Battery? DIY
7. EDC Hank
Handkerchiefs are another EDC item that you should carry with you. Why should you carry a hank? Well, there are many reasons to carry an item like this.
Reasons to carry an EDC hank
- You can clean your mobile screen with it.
- Use the hank to clean your knife.
- Using a hank will save you from using tissues now and then.
What Hank you should pick for your everyday carry?
There are plenty of hanks that you can carry with you. Here are a few good EDC hanks that you can find on amazon. Choose the one you like.
We have a detailed review of the best EDC hanks that you can buy. Check that out if you are interested.
8. EDC Keychain
You have to carry all sorts of keys with you. Your house, car, bike, personal cabinet, and many other places need to be locked- carrying all of their keys is a bit troublesome. It is a bit painful to manage all of these keys without a keychain.
Why do you need a keychain?
Organizing all of your keys in one place so that you do not lose them and find them quickly is the sole reason to carry a keychain. Another reason is that it is much easier to carry them in one place.
What keychain should you carry?
To organize all of your keys in one place, you can carry one of these keychains, and they are very good at keeping your keys organized.
We have an article on the Best EDC Key Organizers for the money in 2021. Feel free to check it out.
9. EDC Lighter
Up next at number 9, we have lighter. Lighters are handy when you need to start a fire at times. And fire is unbelievably useful. As we all know, human civilization grew upwards at an unbelievable rate.
Lighters are flammable portable objects used to ignite a flame. They contain an oxidizer or other material, usually liquid, but sometimes solid such as in piezoelectric lighters.
Even now in modern days, a fire still is evermore useful like it was before. So, keeping a lighter in your everyday carry list does make sense.
What lighter should you carry?
Well, we recommend a zippo for that. But there are other great brands too. You can pick up any of the following lighters.
10. EDC Flashlight
You may never know what situation you will get into. So keeping a flashlight to yourself can come in handy. Suppose you find yourself in a place where it is dark, and there is not enough light.
What flashlight should you carry every day?
There are many flashlights out there in different categories. Pick one according to your need. If you are searching for a great flashlight to buy, check out our review of the 10 best EDC flashlights and choose one that will suit your needs the best.
If you want a flashlight to carry around with you, then I recommend the Streamlight Nano. It is small enough to fit on your keychain and takes up almost no space in your pocket.
11. EDC Pen
Do you need a pen? Yes, you do. But do you need to carry one every day? Well, that depends solely on you. If you are in a job that requires writing in the office or at your workplace, you should carry a pen.
So which pen should you have?
The most important thing to consider when purchasing a pen for pocket carry is the length of the pen. I recommend getting a retractable pen so there is less danger of losing it. The next thing you want to look at is the weight and balance while writing. I’d recommend a Fisher Space Pen for everyday carry. It’s not too expensive and it’s reliable.
12. EDC Notepad
This one is almost identical to a pen. If you like and think you need to, you can carry one with you. And if you do not feel you will need one, do not carry one.
From our personal experience, keeping a notepad helps us with our work and creative works. So it solely depends on what types of work you are doing and how you want to manage that.
A small notebook is great for carrying around in your pocket or purse. It’s a good idea to make lots of notes and record any ideas that come up, because you never know when inspiration will hit.
Which notepad should you carry every day?
There are normal notepads, and there are waterproof ones too. We prefer Rite in the Rain Weatherproof Top-Spiral Notebook over other notebooks.
13. Cash
You tell me, do you need cash? No? Why not?
Jokes apart, who does not need cash, right? There is no shortage of things that you can do with money. And of course, there are situations where you need to spend money, and you need to spend it immediately.
Sometimes you won’t be able to use your credit cards. You have to use cash. So it would be best if you carried cash with you every day. Cash is a must carry thing for every day.
How much cash should you carry every day?
It depends on your financial situation. If you have, keeping 400$-500$ in your wallet will get you through a typical day. Then again, it solely depends on how much money you have. Some of us spend around 500$/600$ or more, and some of us can’t earn that much in a whole month.
14. Credit card
Suppose you are going shopping. You do not have to carry hundreds of thousands of dollars in your pocket. You can use a credit card or any other sort of payment cards.
The main benefit of using a credit card is that you can spend money to buy anything even though you do not have that much cash with you as long as your bank account allows you to spend.
15. Sunglasses or eyewear
This one depends on your sense of style, eyesight, the place you are going to, or the environment you are in. If you like to wear sunglasses or a place where you will have dust in the air, using sunglasses or eyewear is a good option.
Protect your eyes with sunglasses, especially during the day. Too much exposure to sunlight can cause serious eye problems later in life.
And of course, if you have bad eyesight, you should use specs.
FAQ
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Everyday carry is ever more popular. More and more people are becoming conscious about what items they carry and what they should. Since it helps you carry only the necessary things with you, u003ca rel=u0022noreferrer noopeneru0022 href=u0022https://everydaycarry.com/u0022 target=u0022_blanku0022u003eeveryday carryu003c/au003e makes people’s lifestyle more effective. And of course, it also involves your sense of style.
Conclusion
Every day we carry many things that we need and some of the things that we do not need. These everyday carry items are some of the essential items that you can carry with you. Pick the ones that suit you. And of course, at the end of the day, it depends on the person. You should add or pick only the items you will need.
