I got annoyed recently when I wanted to leave the house and noticed my bag was half full just with stuff to deal with weather. In Tokyo, I usually carry an umbrella with me, maybe sunscreen, sunglasses, a mini towel etc. Others have fans, “neck fans” (not sure how they are called). Maybe a water bottle also counts.
All of this is “weather stuff” for me. I asked a friend what she carries around, and we started to think about some other categories as well. So I wondered how much of the stuff we carry around is actually about the thing we want to do wherever we go, and how much is just to cope with the environment? Also, I would be curious how this looks like in other places around the world. Things probably vary by gender, age, season as well.
Some categories are:
- weather stuff
- personal hygiene stuff
- safety stuff
- not being annoyed by others stuff
- infrastructure fail stuff (e.g., preparing for when trains get delayed)
Since I’m in the US where public transportation is next to nonexistent outside of maybe 5 cities, I (and the overwhelming majority of Americans) are cheating since we can EDC a hell of a lot of things in our cars. My pockets have 3-4 items max, but I consider my vehicle my home away from home, and if I’m away from home more than a night I pack her to the gills.
Keys, right pocket. Wallet and phone, left pocket.
Done.
Correct
Uhhhhh.
Keys, wallet, and phones. Is all I do. Unless it is actually winter then I have gloves too.
This, except also a quarter for an Aldi shopping cart.
That’s in the wallet.
As an American who drives a truck, this is moot. I have a full set of clothes, winter outer wear, a jug of water, a canister of peanuts, a blanket, a shovel, trauma sheers, a leatherman, a sun hat, to walking poles, a Midwest level scraper/brush, an air pump for my tires that plugs into the lighter, full spare, spark plugs, an extendable magnet, 10k lumen light that plugs into the cigarette lighter to charge if need be, tweezers, nail clipper, eyeglass repair, a paper book of maps for all 50 states, and a spare toothbrush.
Probably forgot some things. My truck is essentially my purse.
That should keep you safe on the way to Walmart.
Bro’s got the whole Walmart in his truck.
Lol, it’s not a dodge RAM. To be fair, I travel for work sometimes. And I do haul in my truck, complete with added trailer which is a piece of rural living. I’ve never rolled coal or gunned it on a residential street.
it’s not a dodge RAM
They said Walmart, not the liquor store.
I also drive a truck with the same stuff as you under the back seat. I use it to haul stuff and work around my buddy’s ranch on occasion. It’s not diesel so I couldn’t roll coal with it if I wanted to (nor do I want to).
I need a trailer rarely enough that I’ll rent one if I’ve gotta haul more than will fit in the bed.
We have all of this in a Honda HRV, the smallest Honda you could buy at the time.
I also haul wood in it with the seats down and hatch tied down.
No qualms if you use your truck, they have a purpose. Just want non-Americans to realize we don’t all go down that road.
This is one thing I miss about having a truck. All the room for bugout equipment. I downsized recently, and had to greatly downsize my kit too.
It really depends on mode of transportation, especially if a car is involved or not. I suspect a number of people in this thread are folks who drive most/all places and aren’t including all the stuff they have stashed in their cars, available if needed. Also, driving means minimal exposure to the elements, so even less stuff is needed to stay comfortable/presentable than if you are walking, biking, waiting at transit stations, etc.
As a former Tokyo resident I’ll also add that I used to carry a folding fan around with me in summer when I lived there, but I have no need in the US where air conditioning is so prevalent (to the point of overuse). I also stopped needing a fan so much, regardless of temperature, when living in less humid places.
Also, shocked more people aren’t mentioning a water bottle. I bring a reusable water bottle with me any time I have to leave the house for more than a couple of hours, especially if I’m cycling somewhere but even if I’m driving. How are y’all staying hydrated sans water bottle???
As little as possible. The only things I always take with me are my phone and my keys. I generally look at the weather report and only take an umbrella with me if there’s a chance of rain. I only take my wallet if I’m going somewhere where I might buy something etc.
None. The secret to dealing with other people is to live somewhere where there really aren’t other people around.
infrastructure fail stuff
Living remotely induces one to already have solutions in place. I pump my own water from a ground spring. No water bill to speak of. Electricity is always at risk of outage, so I run a generator regularly, and with lots of battery fail-over devices.
If something happened out in clown town that caused a national grid failure, I would just assume it’s just another outage from trees getting pruned by mother nature.
Spectacles, testicles, wallet, and watch. Well, and a pocket knife. But that’s likely because I drive everywhere, and am currently in America.
To chime in, when I spent a few months in Osaka, I definitely carried more. Backpack, hand towel, change holder, plastic trashbag, pen, paper, deodorant (as to not offend Japanese folk, being a Westerner not used to the humidity), etc.
So maybe it’s very much a locale thing?
I guess it’s local, it only became so apparent to me some time after moving to Japan. It’s also interesting how the types of things to prepare for change. In Japan, I think it’s mostly about weather. No need for safety measures, food and drinks everywhere and cheap, clean and reliable infrastructure (toilets, trains, everything, basically). People are also mindful about the noise they make, so even earplugs are not necessary.
In Germany it’s different. Weather is not so much of a concern, but I used to carry a basic pack of stuff with me in case I crashed at a friend’s place. This doesn’t happen here very often, and cheap hotels or manga cafes often have basics like toothbrushes etc.
In Japan, I think it’s mostly about weather. No need for safety measures, food and drinks everywhere and cheap, clean and reliable infrastructure (toilets, trains, everything, basically). People are also mindful about the noise they make, so even earplugs are not necessary.
Things like this make me really want to move to Japan. But then some basic things like not being able to carry a pocket knife turn me off of the idea.
If you haven’t visited, you definitely should. It’s really an amazing country, and you will hardly miss your pocket knife.
I definitely want to visit! I subscribe to a few Japan travel channels on YouTube and have been itching to go for ages.
Don’t underestimate the weather, though. It’s terrible in summer, unless you’re up on some mountain or at the Russian border. Spring and fall are great, though.
What’s up with the hand towel? Both you and OP had one in Japan.
Public restrooms typically don’t have paper towels or hand dryers.
Same, Ive reached the point where I’m almost always leaving the house with water umbrella sunglasses and towel. I used to be careless and leave with nothing… I feel old now
Keys (house, car, bike), phone, wallet,… swiss army knife, handkerchief.
And during the pandemic a fabric face mask.It all fits in my pockets
Then dependent on the weather I will bring sunglasses or an umbrella.
I check Buienradar (Dutch rain forecast app) to see whether I’m going to need that.And sometimes, depending on what I will be doing, earbuds
I’m in the mountains, so just a waterproof down jacket. A 15C day can drop to 2C in a couple hours after sunset, or if bad weather rolls in.
When I live in cities, I hang headphones around my neck, otherwise just the usual keys and phone.
Rain doesn’t bother me and I don’t find it hard to be resourceful when needed. I hate carrying stuff around with me so just don’t.
Swede living in a suburb to Stockholm, 36 year old man, living alone.
Weather stuff:
I put an unbrella in my backpack during autumn, I wear a hat during winter.
I have sunglasses in my car and my new pair in my backpack, I wear regular glasses all the time.
If it is really hot I carry an insulated water bottle, on special occations I have carried a thermos flask with hot mulled wine (glögg) when it is around christmas, very cold and I won’t be driving.
Personal hygene:
Nothing really, well I have some paper towels in my car for emergency nature calls in the woods…
Safety stuff, nothing really, if I am going for a long trip, I will get some supplies, gloves, band aids, dressings, disinfectant, stuff like that.
Oh, as a bit of a planespotter, I allways have ear defenders in my car, as well as a big pack of extra ear plugs for any friend going with me who forgot their own hearing protection.
Annoyance filter, during autumn, winter and spring I allways carry my Bose QC35 II, suring summer I switch to some IEMs, currently using my Jabra Elite 3. I allways have my iPhone with me as well.
Infra fail stuff:
I carry my work phone to advice my work about delays, else my phone has all apps I need, finally I have biked from the suburbs to the center of Stockholm and back again, so I know my way around, should all public transport fail and I can’t get a taxi, I would just start walking.
It would probably take 3-4h to get home, but I’d get there
Very far north in Scandinavia:
Keys left pocket. Phone right pocket. Earbuds right pocket. Wallet (debit card and ID really) right leg pocket.
I check the forecast in the summer, if rain during the day then put on jacket. Peak temp 20°C or above use shorts.
In the winter I check temperature. +5 to -15 thin gloves -15 to -30 thick gloves. -30 to -40 carefully consider if I have to go out. -40 or less: take a picture of the thermometer and send it to people in the south to make them feel better about their life choices.
Phone wallet keys.
There’s an umbrella in my car but I use it like once a year.
Same, but I pared my wallet down to my just DL and one card. I don’t like carrying shit around for no reason anymore.
Looking at the majority of the replies I see some meme potential (no offense):
Dude irl: “I only carry the minimal”
Dude in games: “This is my 5000 ton backpack with 50 health potions, a bunch of plant leaves, 2 axes, 3 bows, 4 swords (1 of them cursed), a few scrolls and runestones; some bread, cheese, milk, apples, glasses of beer; and a map”
