Everyday you have your pocket essentials: wallet, keys, cellphone, etc.. My every day carry also includes a pocketknife and sunglasses, but yours doesn’t have to.
With EDC items, I want my options to be as minimal and essential as possible. If it’s non-essential or if it’s bulky, then it needs to be eliminated or minimized.
My wallet will either be a slim leather front pocket wallet, or some sort of phone case wallet combining the two into one. My keys will be either on a carabiner clip-on keychain or this slim key organizer that I can clip to the inside of my pockets (this greatly depends on if the inside of my pocket already has a clip committed to it from my pocketknife). In general, if it’s something you actually utilize everyday, then it should be in your EDC. Right by the door before you leave or the night stand where you dump everything.
If it’s not an essential for every day (like a pocketknife, or a specific store card) find a place to store it where it’ll likely be utilized or easily accessed, like the office, vehicle center console or glove box.
I’ve seen some EDC posts about guys who are essentially carrying everything an on-duty police officer would – flashlight, keys, wallet, cell phone, knife, gun, watch, compass, pen, flint/steel, … do these people really think that any day they’re going to be dropped into the wilderness and asked to survive the apocalypse on whatever they have on their person? That’s called a bug-out bag for those doomsday preppers. I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the essentials of every day, not the essentials of being a boyscout on a camping trip.
Now, in my examples I’ve shown a pocketknife and that’s something youll have to decide for yourself if it’s considered essential. But for me, you never know when you’ll need. Not for self-defense mind you, but for opening boxes and letters, cutting off loose strands of clothing, or cleaning your nails. Your EDC needs to be what you find to be essential. But in order to declutter and minimize your lifestyle, I’ve found that it’s most important to keep the EDC essential by downsizing your wallet and your keychain first (see my post The Wallet for more information on minimizing and simplifying your EDC lifestyle).
My EDC: