I’m not really an “EDC” guy. But, while talking to Huckberry about this trip, I realized that “not being an EDC guy” doesn’t mean that there isn’t stuff I carry every day. I’ve just never thought about it. The interesting part (to me) is that what I carry every day while I travel is a little different than what I carry around when I’m bumming it at home. So I thought I’d give a quick rundown of what I’m packing with me - and, because I wonder it all the time, what I actually use the stuff for. It’s particularly strange to make a list, because I usually think of myself as carrying nothing at all - wallet, phone, keys, sunglasses - but I guess when Styleforum duty calls, the list grows a little bit.


  1. Canon Rebel T3i + lenses
    This one should be pretty obvious. I carry it for you, Styleforum! Why the kit lens? Because I won’t feel bad it it gets destroyed in my luggage or lost along the way, and I suck at taking pictures so it doesn’t matter. When I’m working, I also bring Canon’s $99 50mm workhorse around with me - it takes great portraits, and I worry even less about it than I do the kit lens. For fun, I have a Tamron wide-angle that I don’t really know how to use but sometimes takes cool pictures of my dogs.
  2. Camera Battery
    Because, like, duh.
  3. Randolph Engineering Aviator Skull - 58MM, courtesy Huckberry.com.
    I’m from Colorado, where sunglasses (with UV protection) are an absolute must. I have three old pairs in my glovebox, so that I’m never caught without. This pair from Randolph Engineering ticks all my personal boxes: the aviator style is one of the few that I think looks OK on my face, and they’re super lightweight, which makes them easy to tuck into a pocket.
  4. Machine Era Co. Machined Aluminum Slim Wallet, courtesy Huckberry.com.
    I’ve carried a money clip since high school. I don’t like bulky wallets, simple as that. When I’m traveling, I don’t carry much - three cards, ID, cash. If you’re a back-pocket kind of guy, this one’s made from solid aluminum, which means your cards aren’t gonna bend, either.
  5. Extra business cards
    I carry these separately, in a small wallet made by Styleforum’s very own Zissou (you can get one at his Etsy store). I keep a couple in my regular wallet, but on work trips I pack a lot (a lot) of extras and carry this little stack of them in my bag.
  6. Kaweco Aluminum Liliput Fountain Pen, courtesy Huckberry.com.
    I do carry a pen or two every day, and it’s usually a fountain pen. One of them is this Kaweco pen, the other is a Parker Frontier. Call me old fashioned, I guess. But I like to take notes, scribble, or just fuss around with a notebook, which leads me to…
  7. Moleskin notebook
    I’ve had this particular notebook since I was in undergrad, which means it has seen a lot of places. It’s full of non-sequiturs like “UNIVERSAL SIGNIFIER” and the peculiarities of French romance. I bring it everywhere I go, regardless of whether or not I end up writing in it. Oh, and no work notes here - this notebook’s for personal musings only.
  8. Iphone 4S
    Yeah, I have an old phone. So what? I like that it’s smaller than the newer iPhones. It, uh, has had a rough life. But it mostly works. Mostly.
  9. Otterbox
    I mean, did you see the phone? Last weekend I was thigh deep in a trout stream when my girlfriend called, and I almost dropped the stupid thing in the water while pulling it out of my waders.
  10. MyCharge pocket charger
    One of the great things about having a beat-ass iPhone 4S is that the battery doesn’t last a full day. So if I’m traveling, I get to carry this little guy, which is extra great because I am also constantly lost. That means I use GPS a lot, which uses a lot of battery, and…you get the idea. Running out of phone battery means, essentially, that I am completely fucked.
  11. Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lip Balm
    Seriously. I carry this everywhere, every day, and always need it. It is really dry out here. It doesn’t have to be Burt’s Bees - I also like Badger’s cocoa butter lip balm. But you can get 24-packs of Burt’s on Amazon, so that makes it a winner.

There you have it. Obviously that doesn’t include my other travel bits and bobs (Headphones, ear plugs, toothpicks, computers, tablets, whatever), but that’s what I carry every single day when I’m working. I guess it seems like a lot when it’s all written out, but it doesn’t take up all that much space. It also makes it sound like I’m really fixated on “preparedness,” but generally if I have my phone, wallet and keys I’m good. So mostly it’s “some stuff that goes in a shoulder bag,” which means that when I’m old and have back and shoulder problems, I’ll know why.


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