EDC refers to “every-day carry”. For me, I will carry a small leather pouch holding:
Mudita Kompakt
Small Journal & Pen
Pocket Knife
Deck of Cards / Solo / 2-Player Game
Physical Cash
Orthodox Prayer Book
Considerations:
Mini Oil Paints
Physical MP3 Player
Instant Camera / Film Camera
Seperate E-Reader
USB drive
What will your EDC be?
I’m replying, even though I won’t have the Kompakt 
I just like to read other people’s EDC.
My EDC:
Light Phone 3
Keys (along with a bottle opener & Resqme Car Escape tool)
Lighter
Mini cardholder w/ cards & physical bills
Hand sanitizer spray or wipes
Sunglasses
Glasses in eyeglass case
Pen
Mini memo pad
Mini “toiletry” bag: Lip balm, Lip tinted moisturizer, hand lotion, travel-size perfume, hair ties, compact mirror, painkillers/meds
Nimble portable charger, 2 travel-size USB-C to USB-C cords
Mini hot sauce bottle and/or hot sauce packets
Simply Gum
Mini first aid kit: bandaids, Neosporin
Considerstions:
DAP & earphones
Physical camera
Physical book
Whistle
Garmin watch
I try to keep my EDC minimal.
The pictured notebook is very small, A7 format. Fits in the pant’s front pockets, so it’s comfortable to carry.
Also has some emergency cash inside, really saved me on vacation once.
The notebook is an established EDC standard for me. Digital note-taking on the phone doesn’t have the same chronological effect as a paper notebook. I can flip through the pages and there is a clear development of events and thoughts, it is not so apparent in a phone notes app.
Into the notebook, I write down tasks and things I want to remember. Ideas, thoughts, lists, places. Very short text, nothing fancy.
I realize that many people add a dedicated camera, ebook reader, and maybe music player to their EDC.
I’ve considered these options and even tried to adopt some. My experiences were as follows:
Ebook reader: I have a compact 8” model, but I only use it at home. I do not feel like reading when outside. For airplane/train rides it came in handy. That’s not an everyday occurrence though.
Dedicated camera: considered to buy one, but reconsidered when I realized that I don’t even take many pictures with my smartphone. I just wouldn’t use it enough to justify a purchase.
Music player:
Have one and put 1 TB of storage inside. Tried to have an offline music collection instead of streaming. The problem is that it’s just too much storage and music. I feel like I ended up in a weird zone where there are too many choices, but still sometimes not enough (when the song you really want to hear isn’t on the storage).
Concerning music, less is more for me. I listen to the same 2 albums in my car all the time. I have only about 8 albums on my phone’s storage and they gave me great satisfaction in solitary moments.
On Spotify, I keep returning to the same ~30 songs in the huge favorites pile.
And with the car and phone’s storage already mentioned - I just do not require the DAP when I leave the house. So it ended up like the ebook reader, a device sitting at home.
Other things which could be EDC but aren’t:
Pocket knife:
I manage to get through my days without carrying one.
Garmin GPS:
It was supposed to replace navigation when I experimentally switched to a dumb phone. But the GPS device is too bulky. That was before smartwatches though.
Now, I haven’t tried a smartwatch yet. I think I might like it a lot if it has offline navigation and plays a small music collection off the storage.
I despise how almost all smartwatches must be used together with a smartphone or otherwise synced. I’ll wait until smartwatches become smart enough that they can be used standalone.
Fountain pen:
Like to write with them, would like to get a specific model that is compact and safe enough to carry ink in the trouser’s pockets, but I have so many ballpoint pens lying around at home so I have to use these instead.
Flashlight:
I have one of those that have the hyped LED emitters. Very nice light color, compact, lasts a month on one charge. Still too heavy to carry when the phone’s flashlight is good enough in 99% of the times.
So in the end, what it comes down to is me, a man disappointed by the promises of modern society and consumption, with his paper notebook, a phone to call his friends, and an automobile to meet up with them. I do wish to do this every day, so this EDC fits my everyday needs.
wallet and iPhone not pictured.
