This is a reference and guide to the essentials of the EDC or Every Day Carry. An EDC is a series of items that you carry everywhere, EDC Kits can range from an Altoids Tin to Hip Bag to Backpack. After reading over 100 lists and compounding the most common items that appear in over 50 percent of the EDC Kits I have found. When an Item is shown in over half of the 101 EDC Kits, 33 from each section with some carry over, it gets added as staple item. I will be breaking these kits into function and size due to the lineups I took inventory on, and if you can combined several tools into one unit such as having a phone with a flashlight feel free to remove items. I will also be listing Additions to prevent redundancies in the lists these can be mixed and matched to give a personal touch. But this should be the basic building blocks in each use case and should be built bottom up, from Daily to Urban to Wilderness. Before getting started with the lists I would recommend looking at bags before anything, attempt to find a bag that has a array of pockets for organization and is able to cover your items snugly while still allowing some free space in order to adjust or add items.
This EDC is the every-mans EDC for your commute to work or average day. This list should cover basic tasks you would face throughout your day and can fit in you pockets or on a belt loop.
This EDC is also called the Grey Man. This list is to cover an Urban Survival Environment such as a city to get you home or survive On Grid. This should fit in a small bag or Hip Bag.
This EDC is the Off Grid Solution for those camping or leaving the Urban areas allowing you to survive for 2 to 3 days. This will be a medium to large Backpack.
This completes the EDC listing and I will be providing my EDC from the 3 sections that I carry Daily.
This is my daily urban carry. Due to my job I have to walk often and be ready for the little daily inconveniences. This covers all my bases thus far.
Due to my job I am alone at night in rural areas quite often and need to be sure that in the event of an emergency I can survive for at least 2 days and call for help.
This concludes the listing section and example. With the lists provided you should be able to build a functional EDC for each tier pending on your personal experience and want.
