The question has to be, what tools do you carry on your flash drive? Have you found a set of utilities that are particularly useful when visiting a friend/relative who upon your arrival suddenly remembers their computer is broken or slow and sets you the challenge of fixing it? A utility belt within a utility belt?
Totally with you on smart phones being the last gadget you’ll probably need to buy. Mine’s replaced a USB Skype headset too.
I don’t carry a smart phone. I am a phone killer. I carry a Samsung B2100. It is water resistant and mil-spec. It even has a flashlight. It also acts as file storage via blue tooth.
I still carry a USB drive, though, because you can’t boot from blue tooth. I also always have a Cowon D2+ which is a media player, USB drive, and SD card reader all in one, plus it sounds better than an iPod, and the video is gorgeous.
For tools, I carry a small lock blade knife (CRKT M16-10KZ $20)with both smooth and serrated edges, so it cuts boxes and rope. I used to carry a multi-tool, but the Phillips screwdriver died, and it eventually ended up being the property of the TSA when I forgot that it was in my backpack.
You all carry knives and USB drives? Why?
Victorinox makes a Swiss Army Knife with a built-in USB flash drive:
I carry a comb and a Swiss Army Midnite MiniChamp. I use the flashlight only occasionally and like that it’s a red led and I use the pen surprisingly often.
On the belt:
1- Buck 110 or Buck 110 Switchblade (Can’t carry the spring loaded knife in the states, but here in Iraq it’s ok)
2- Gerber multitool
3- Benchmade folding half serrated knife (good for cutting cable)
In the pockets-
1- Keys
2- Wallet
3- Zippo
4- Surefire E2D - (burns through batteries like crazy, but it’s bright as hell)
5- Reflective belt (No streetlights on the base)
I used to carry a Swiss Army knife, but for my uses the blade is just not big enough or thick enough to be of use.
-Sometimes a tiny box cutter. It comes in handy a lot.
-Phone. Which functions as watch and flashlight.
-Audio Recorder, for the times when someone has something important to tell me.
-PNY 8GB flash drive.
-Pen
-a piece of Paper
Your EDC list looks a lot like mine at the moment, although my keychain is only for keys.
In my wallet, rarely needed but always available, is a tiny 4gb Kingmax Super Stick. It’s one of those painfully slow ones, but I rarely use it for large files.
In my pocket, along with my (dumb) cell phone and keys, I’ve always got a knife of some sort, and a flashlight. The knife varies day-to-day, depending on my mood. It’s usually a Gerber Trendy, although sometimes I’ll go for the Leatherman Squirt or an old-school pocket knife.
The flashlight is a 4Sevens Quark CR2. I used to have a Fenix like yours; I’ve found that the short, stubby Quark fits in my pocket just as well, and its much-beefier CR2 battery allows it a lot more punch than the LD01.
"You all carry knives and USB drives? Why?
Victorinox makes a Swiss Army Knife with a built-in USB flash drive:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/ad41/
jdege on August 13, 2010 8:56 AM "
It’s not good to have your USB UN-detachable. Remember you need to cram it into the little cramped USB slots. Plus that thing must have some weight.
On a second look at the article it turns out the USB is detachable. And also “Flash drive is USB powered, no external power supply required”!
Got keys and cigarettes.
Nothing on my belt aside from a carabiner with car keys, but in my pockets, I have:
Leatherman Skeletool - got this as a Christmas present, and damn do I love it. Light enough it’s not a bother, and has all the things I need. Beats the crap out of the generic multitool I had previously.
3ft tape measure - you’d be surprised how often I use this
4 GB Corsair Flash Voyager - large enough to keep a dvd-image linux install on
and then some keys, including a drum key. I’ve gone through several small pens, but don’t have one currently. Used to carry a mini Maglite, but that died and I haven’t gotten a replacement.
My phone makes phone calls, and that’s about it. As a student, I can’t afford a heavy-use smart phone plan, so I keep it simple until I can.
I second the 4 Sevens lights, I just got a Quark MiNi123 in warm white (rather than the normal cool white, which is bluer, and doesn’t show color as well) http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_310&products_id=2292 , which about the same size as yours, but brighter on high, dimmer on low (you can use it in a room with night adapted eyes and not blind your self), a longer run time, with a tritium dongle on it (find it if I drop it when off in the dark, only $10) from http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6830 .
I also have a SOG Powerlock multi tool (you can switch out blades, and the compound leverage pliers are great), a collection of flash drivers, the best of which is a OCZ Throttle 8GB (they are out of the market now though), fastest I’ve used by a fair bit, and some misc USB cables.
Frankly, everything but my keys, money, bank card, and phone are in my bag most of the time.
Watch: Casio F-84W digital watch.
Keys: house and bike. Add 2 office keys on work days.
Geeky tyvek wallet with about 10 cards, $100 cash, wife & kid pic.
Victorinox Compact Swiss army knife. I carried the smaller Ambassador model for more than 15 years, but I find the larger scissors on this one more useful, and the small pen is very convenient to have. I do wish it had a Phillips blade, though.
Zebralight H51 flashlight (200 lumens on a single AAA cell, a low-low 0.2 lumen level, and several useful levels in between, plus no stupid strobe or SOS modes). I ordered this one last week and I expect it to replace my good old Arc AAA for daily carry.
Ben Nanonote handheld computer. “Is that a Debian distro in your pocket, or…”.
Dead-tree pocket diary with a retractable pen.
Small dodecahedral die, just because.
No phone.
When at work…
- Leatherman Wave
- LED AA Maglite (these used to be very poorly made but seem ok these days)
- HTC Desire
- 4G USB disk velcroed onto the back of my access card
- Clearcom Freespeak wireless comms unit when I'm on call, ear plug with clip on throat mike when needed, really useful in noisy server rooms!
Thanks for the link to the small carabiner. That seems a bit more practical than my “normal” sized one, considering mine is basically just an empty ring of metal taking up space in my pocket.
- Keys, house
- Keys, car
- Leatherman Wave (the old model...the new one isn't as good)
- Phone, dumb, RAZR
- AA Maglite (no not the LED kind)
- Fire or the materials with which to make fire. Usually a Zippo, or Bic Classic lighter. No human should ever be without the ability to make fire at a moment's notice. In event of societal collapse, civilization can be restarted with a knife and fire. :)
- I used to carry a nice USB drive on my keychain, but I kept breaking them. I actually still have one attached, though it doesn't work, as it makes a nice keyfob.
I use a SuperTalent Pico C USB drive. It feels much less breakable than any other USB drive I’ve encountered and has happily survived my pocket for over a year. Instead of being retractable or having a cover, this drive uses a somewhat nonstandard, fully exposed connector. The micro-connector has the nice advantage over standard connectors of not needing to be retractable, being immune to lint, and even some level of water resistance. However, as with every micro USB drive, this device is difficult to plug into the back of a tower by feel.
Like you, Jeff, I love my (blue) Leatherman Squirt P4.
My keychain is quite minimal - no fancy fobs or jangly giblets, save for a very handy little stainless steel pill container that carries a few days of 2 maintenance meds that I need to take mid-day when I usually nowhere near my bathroom or desk. I’ve carried this economical little gem (sans interior vial) for over a decade and it still keeps my pills dry:
Most of the above:
Squirt, Droid, Kahr CW9
Leatherman micra.
Small CRKT pocketknife (don’t even know the model now)
Fenix L1D (sometimes I swap it for my Nitecore D10)
iPhone 4.
Various and sundry handguns, when legally possible. Usually at least a Glock 19.
I also sometimes carry a tiny container of dental floss. I hate it when restaurants don’t carry toothpicks.