The Silentist

kiyoshimartinez:

On the topic of things in my pocket, here’s what I carry with me everyday:

• Shirt chest pocket: Day planner and Zebra G301 pen
• Left pant front pocket: 4sevens Preon 1 flashlight, chapstick
• Right pant front pocket: Keys, Swiss Army Knife and money-clip/cardholder
• Interior jacket pocket: BlackBerry

Not pictured: Business cards — I put 4 in each of my suit/blazer/sportcoat interior jacket pockets so that I always have them on me and don’t have to remember to carry a business card holder.

Overall, this is a fairly lightweight setup. I know some people like to combine their keys, knife and flashlight all onto a keychain, but I’m not a fan of that because anytime you want to use one of those things all the rest are attached and you don’t have independently operating items. Plus, all that bulk just doesn’t sit well in a pocket together, especially dress slacks.

And on the topic of dress slacks, I really wish more of them included coin pockets, which used to be extremely common but now are rare finds as companies find ways to cut costs on their garments. At most, you’ll find slacks with an open-ended pocket, which doesn’t provide much security from things getting lost. The best ones have a single button-down flap. I’m not sure if it’s possible, but I’m thinking about asking my tailor if he could modify a pair of pants to include one.

Here’s my EDC. I want to add a few comments in regards to how this all functions in relation to what I actually wear everyday.

Typically, I wear some sort of jacket to work each day as well as dress slacks – if not a suit. Also, since I work in an government office, I definitely am not going to be “murdered out” in terms of my knife or flashlight. In general, I don’t want to carry items that look like I’m going for the whole “tactical” or “ex-military” look.

So, I carry items that retain function, but also fit within my personal style and my job. I don’t have heavy cutting tasks and city regulations in Chicago won’t let you carry a knife with a blade over 2.5". The Swiss Army Knife covers what I need to get done on a regular basis quite nicely.

The flashlight isn’t so much for use while at the office, which has lights that literally do not turn off 24 hours a day, but for when I have to be outside for something in my car at night.

Because I wear dress slacks, I hate to load up my pockets with heavy items. I worry about what it’ll do to the lightweight fabric (as opposed to heavy denim) over time. So, no excess keychains or keys. A combo moneyclip and card holder holds the bare minimum I need to always have with me (cash, transit card, ID, credit & debit cards).

You could argue that carrying the day planner is redundant if I have a smartphone with a calendar built in. But having carried a phone for years that could do calendar functions, I never used and subsequently forgot a lot of dates. This year I opted to write everything down in a day planner and carry it constantly. Since all my dress shirts have pockets, this works quite well.

As for carrying other things, I put them all in my briefcase, which I take everywhere with me, unless I’m going out in the evening or on weekends. The only thing I add to my EDC is my asthma inhaler when I am going out, which I put in my jacket pocket.