What’s In My EDC Bag?

Following my ‘How to pack an EDC Bag‘ article, it’s time to take a look at what I carry – I get this question a fair bit over on The Perfect Pack.

I won’t be talking so much about the actual bag itself, but my current everyday carry bag is an Alpha One Niner Chio – I’m trying something a bit different, and so far I’m pretty stoked. I’m a traditionally big EDC guy, I’m used to carrying a liter of water, food, lots of “might use” items and a bunch of “will definitely use” items.

After moving to a much smaller shoulder pack purely by chance (long story short I got sent one and I tried it once and now I can’t stop) I have severely cut down my carry.

Let’s break it down by bag compartments.

External Velcro-lined pocket

2x ANKER USB-C / USB 3.0 cables

1x ANKER Micro-USB / USB 2.0 cables

2x Nite Ize Gear Ties

1x ANKER PowerCore Elite 20000mAh powerbank

1x Olight M2R

My partner and I both have USB-C phones, so the ability to charge both, with a port free, is super important in my powerbank choice. I chose Anker because of fast output, great warranty and fantastic reputation.

The Olight M2R is the best EDC flashlight I’ve ever had, I haven’t left home without it since it was released. The magnetic charging actually makes charging your flashlight fun.

The gear ties come in handy for damn near anything. So far they’ve been used for:

• Holding phones for movie / Netflix viewing
• Organizing power cables neatly
• Wrapping up earphones to stop pocket gremlins
• Temporarily blocking a garden hose
• Towel hanger in a dodgy hotel
• They’re an item I never forget to add to a pack.

All of these items are nicely held on with Velcro. Powerbanks don’t come with Velcro, so a handy adhesive strip of ‘hook material’ does the trick.

Cables and gear ties are held in a custom organizer made by High Range Outdoors.

External vertical zipped pockets

These are nifty little pockets tucked in behind the previously mentioned Velcro pocket.

In one, I have my stock earphones that came with my phone. They do the job, the inline mic never fails and they’ve taken a good beating.

The other pocket has a small ziplock bag, with business cards and stickers.

External horizontal zipped pockets

These two are on the opposite side of the bag to the previously mentioned pockets.

Spread across the two pockets are:

1x Tom Bihn Clear Organizer Wallet

1x Rite in the Rain Notebook Cover

Inside the Tom Bihn Organizer is:

1x Sandisk Ultra Dual Drive USB Type-C

1x USB-C to Female USB 3.0 OTG

1x Tom Bihn Ultrasuede Cloth (discontinued)

Inside the Rite in the Rain cover is:

1x Lamy Safari Ballpoint

1x MIG Bolt Action Pen

1x Sharpie permanent marker

2x Rite in the Rain notebooks

Those two organizers fit super nicely in the external pockets, providing quick access if the bag is on-body, or on a desk. It just works!

Main compartment

I’m a huge fan of pouches, there’s all different kinds and you’re guaranteed to find something that will suit your needs – and then you can just take it to each bag you use. Pouches are forever.

The pouches in my main compartment are:

2x IKEA FÖRFINA Pouches (with DIY zipper pulls) – I know, I know, what am I doing with IKEA pouches!? Well, these little things are absolute gold. They’re dirt cheap, and can be modded for even more modularity.

I use a red pouch for a first aid kit, and a black pouch for general small stuff I want to keep together. Everyone has different first aid needs on a daily basis (some people may have none!) so I won’t bother going through my list. The black pouch has some small goodies like:

1x humangear GoTubb with basic medicines inside it

1x BOgear Shrapsac containing chapstick, Leatherman bit kit, BIC lighter, old loyalty card wrapped in Gorilla tape and a Boker VAT

1x Sea to Summit Dry Sack

1x Clif Bar

1x Stanley 2M tape measure

Hanging 210D ripstop nylon pocket in main compartment

Inside this little pocket we have:

1x BOgear Shrapsac full of mints (discontinued product)

1x Buderim Ginger Bears

3x Moist towelette for grubby hands

I’ve also been known to throw my wallet in here occasionally.

For a bonus, my general on-body carry is a Fused Goods Bifold,  Gear S3 Frontier with a custom Fused Goods watch strap and a Leatherman Charge TTi in a custom leather holster.

My carry isn’t perfect, but it’s what works for me – I routinely change bags and carry, but when I’m not reviewing a bag the Chio will be my go-to. My total commute to work is 900 meters / 0.5 miles so right now the Chio just works, and my loadout for it hasn’t let me down yet!