It’s been a few years since my last update on my daily carry. As kids entered into the picture, I found myself shifting my carry a lot and a lot more frequently. Particularly at really young ages when bottles, blowouts, and pacifiers / comfort objects were critical. But my kids have leveled out a bit more, and I’ve been able to find a streamlined carry system depending on the situation.

The Bag

For my current EDC bag, I’m currently carrying the a special limited production bag from Evergoods and Carryology: The Griffen edition of the Civic Bookbag 22 (CB22). This is a brand new bag from Evergoods and there are no current indications whether they will add it to their regular line of products. It’s been a really fun bag for me to get into and re-think my daily carry with an eye towards minimizing and hauling less with me. It has no water bottle pockets, so I need to make room inside the main compartment for my water bottle (a bummer in my view), and wet umbrellas have to be carried in hand or dangled freely from a carabiner on the exterior (another bummer). I also wish there was dedicated external access to the laptop compartment and a slightly bigger yoke pocket (just enough to fit their CAP 0.5). But otherwise this is a great bag.

Inside the main compartment and front quick access pocket are several pouches and a few free floating items:

  1. Peg and Awl Pencil Case holds my comms (communications) kit.
  2. Incase Tech Pouch holds my kid emergency kit.
  3. CAP1 is my tech / everyday carry (EDC) kit.
  4. A ThinkTank Mirrorless Mover 10 usually sits in there with my basic camera kit with one lens. If I plan to bring more, I’ll bring a Tenba BYOB to hold multiple lenses (I have a couple sizes depending on the kit I plan to bring).
  5. An Owala FreeSip 32oz or 21oz depending on how much room I have in my bag on a given day.
  6. A knit hat, gloves, Outdoor Research Neoplume, and Outdoor Research Helium for inclement weather.
  7. My iPad Mini 7 with Apple Pencil and Zugu case.

Inside the yoke pocket I generally throw everything that would be in my pockets if I ever left my backpack behind, and the interior organizing pockets, hold some other quick access essentials:

  • Face masks for myself and the kids
  • Pens
  • Snacks
  • Keys
  • Wallet
  • AirPods Pro 2
  • Acebeam Pokelit AA
  • Convey S21E (this will rotate with other lights depending on the situation)
  • Bellroy Slim Sleeve
  • Leatherman Juice C2 (also will rotate depending on what I’m up to that day)

So that all brings us to the individual kits in their respective pouches.

Tech/EDC Kit (CAP1)

This is my current everyday carry, tech kit. It’s on the heavy side, and I’m still working on my ideal lighter sling carry, for which I plan to have dedicated EDC and tech items that will live in it as I probably won’t throw this whole kit in there.

  • Evergoods CAP1 in Burnt Orange is the pouch for this kit.
  • Apple 3m USB-C cable (for charging)
  • J.Create USB-C cable (for data)
  • Apple braided USB-C to Lightning cable (until I replace my phone)
  • Nomad Slim 65W charger
  • Apple Airtag
  • Lens cleaning solution and microfiber cloth
  • Fenix HM50R
  • Hair tie (or two, dual use, backup for my daughter, and can turn my Pokelit into a headlamp by attaching it to my glasses)
  • Another pen
  • Nail clippers (can’t say how many times a split nail has driven me crazy all day)
  • Leatherman Style PS
  • Snowpeak Titanium Spork
  • B&O wired earbuds
  • Anker USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet adapter
  • Apple Lighting and USB-C audio adapters
  • Yubikey
  • Portapow USB-A to USB-C
  • Sandisk MicroSD card and reader (emergency backup files)
  • Anker USB-C to USB-A adapter
  • USB-C power meter (I go back and forth on carrying this, but it’s so convenient to confirm a USB device is charging properly, so many times I’ve plugged something in only to discover it didn’t charge due to a power mistmatch)
  • Trezor 5 (largely for experimentation, but also doubles as my hardware security key)
  • Emergency credit card, debit card, checks, and cash.

Comms Kit (Peg and Awl Pencil Pouch)

For my InReach and a ham radio. Most often this will contain:

  • Garmin InReach Mini 2
  • Yaesu VX-6R with antenna and clip
  • Programming cable
  • USB charging cable

However, if I’m traveling or know I want to play with digital, I’ll switch it up with my Icom ID-50, which uses USB-C for programming and charging. You’d think this would make the kit more compact, however, I don’t trust my Icom’s robustness as much as my Yaesu so it goes in a compact camera case for protection, making the kit bulkier than above.

Camera Kit (Think Tank Mirrorless Mover 10)

I’m a hobbyist photographer, and I’m always shooting something, especially with kids in the picture. There are many different configurations I might bring, but since this is a daily carry post, I’ll focus on my very basic kit here and maybe share more of my camera load outs in another post.

Inside a ThinkTank Mirrorless Mover 10:

  • Fujifilm X-T4, pictures with a Small Rig grip, I sometimes leave that behind for a lighter carry
  • Fujifilm XF 18mm f/2 (a nice lightweight lens, old but I still love it, alternatively sometimes I’ll bring the 35mm f/1.4)
  • Peak Design Slide Lite (my lighter strap, I also use and love my BlackRapid strap)
  • Peak Design Hand Strap
  • Apple USB-C SD Card Reader (for importing to my iPad)
  • Extra NP-W235 battery

Kid Emergency Kit (Incase Tech Pouch)

Welcome to parenthood. This is my minimal, out for a bit, in case of emergency kit. I am prepared for an unexpected accident or diaper change and some snacks, but it’s not intended for a full day out. I’ll usually just throw some wipes in a plastic bag, a diaper for my youngest, a change of bottoms for my oldest, and some snacks.

Kid Day Kit (Evergoods Transit Packing Cube)

If I’m out for a whole day, however, I’ll bring my larger kit, which takes up much more space but effectively covers me for the day.

I won’t go into specific detail here, but will list what I bring generally:

  • Snacks, lots of snacks
  • Emesis bag (my eldest gets motion sick like me)
  • Minimal first aid kit, mostly bandaids as placebos
  • A very small lack towel for drying things (swings, slides, faces, etc.)
  • Full sets of jammies and socks for the kids (effective as backup clothes, generally much thinner and easier to pack, and great for if we are out late and we expect the kids to fall asleep in the car on the way home)
  • Diapers/pull ups as needed
  • Baby wipes, always baby wipes (kept in the exterior pocket for quick access)

Alternate Bags

Although my CB22 is my most common carry, I do have three other backpacks that I’ll rotate through for various reasons:

  • Evergoods CTB26 is a bigger bag, with water bottle pockets that is useful when I just have to carry more gear. It also provides better organization for teach heavy carries.
  • Evergoods CHZ22 (burnt orange) is small and mobile like the CB22 but with water bottle pockets. This frees up a lot of space and allows me to carry one of the kids water bottles, or a wet umbrella, on the outside as well. It’s also generally the bag I use when the conditions are going to be dirtier (muddy, outside, etc.) as the half zip design is easier to access things without having to lay the bag flat.
  • Boundary Supply Prima System is a bag that I would have loved to love more. I do still, and have hung onto it for various reasons, not least of which is, I just plain like it. It’s a cool looking bag, and has a nice external camera access when your bag is not too stuffed (when it is stuffed, space competes and makes it hard to get the camera in and out). It’s more flexible, however, it can attach more to the exterior, I have various accessories that go with it, and it’s harness system allows me to carry more weight more comfortably and use the Trail Magik child carrier that otherwise is only useful with my hiking packs. It’s a great tool in my arsenal when it’s needed.

Office / Work Days

Once a week and on other occasions, I need to go out prepare to work. For these occassions, I bring some combination of this extra gear, which otherwise usually lives on my desk or a briefcase I haul around the office or in the car on road trips.

Sometimes it will just be adding the MacBook and mouse, other times I may want to setup a fully independent workstation that I can comfortable work at for an extended time. It just depends on the circumstances and what I expect the day to hold.

  • MacBook Pro 14″ M4 Pro
  • Protoarc Folding Keyboard
  • Logitech Triathalon Mouse (with USB-C chargeable AA battery)
  • Anker Prime 100W three port charging brick
  • Apple USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable
  • Roost Laptop Stand (and earlier model)

Wrapping Up

So that’s it, the various every day carry items and setups. It flexes depending on what I’m doing, but at the moment, I am really loving my not so minimal, but certainly lighter than I’ve been doing setup. It covers me for a wide range of situations for a day out and about.

Hiking with Camera