Things that never leave my purse (though some probably should – never use that lip gloss anymore!).
Everyday Carry Item Breakdown
- Tactical Pen
CRKT James Williams
> Read our review of the James Williams Tactical Pen - Folding Knife
Opinel No. 5 - Hand Wipes
Clinell Antibacterial Wipes
Thomas just wrote up an article about properly cleaning cuts; good reason to carry these, besides the whole my-hands-are-a-mess-and-I-need-to-eat thing of course. - Lip Balm
L’Occitane Shea Butter Delightful Rose
Again, should probably take this out of my purse since I never use it. - Chap Stick
Nivea Original Care
Should never take this out of my purse since I constantly use it. - Coin Purse
Elephant Coin Purse
Stolen from Thomas’ grandmother (who has a bunch of them & didn’t mind). Carry a few points cards in it, some change, and a bill or two. - Folding Shopping Bag
Wilko Folding Shopping Bag
Folding shopping bags have been a godsend in my life since moving to the UK. Carry two in my bag at all times, and that’s pretty much all I use. They get dirty or the tab rips off – no problem, throw out and replace since they’re so cheap. But better than having to pay for bags every time & obviously what am I going to do with all those plastic bags (that usually have holes in them. Love these.
I do not understand something about this weekly ‘purse dump’. What happened to the stuff you were carrying last week (and each week before)? Do you each week put a whole new set of ‘stuff’ in your purse, regardless of how good the old stuff was? Very simply, why does the contents change each week?
I do monthly dumps. Last week was Thomas’ dump, so maybe that’s why it feels like I’m showing different things every week?
I either show what I’ve been regularly using at home or in my purse over the past month, though I call both “purse dumps” and call all of Thomas’ EDC posts “pocket dumps” even though sometimes we show what’s in his EDC bag instead of his pockets. I do this so that you can visually tell which are mine and which are Thomas’ posts from just the title, though I guess this is not very clear.
Basically – my purse doesn’t change very much. I do sometimes add or change out things but you’ll see the same items repeat usually when I share what’s in my purse.
What I use at home changes a lot more, as everything is easily within reach. Both Thomas and I like switching up our use of knives regularly – we have the knives anyway; might as well.
But we also like different knives to for different purposes. For instance, I don’t cut cardboard with my Sage 2 because I like to make sure that doesn’t go dull quickly, but I will happily cut cardboard with my Pingo. I have specific knives I prefer for cutting herbs with, so if I do that a lot in a month, I’ll take an EDC photo with that knife in it. If I get a new knife, I usually like using it because it’s new and so I’ll often go out of my way to make uses for the knife. Other times, it’s just what happened to come in my hand that I’ll use regularly.
And finally, there are times where I stop taking pictures of a specific item because it’s in way too many of my dumps and I feel it gets redundant to show the item yet again. Like the chap stick, which I use every month and I constantly carry & use – out and about and at home – or my hair elastics, which I often forget I even have in my purse because they’re in another compartment. I don’t want to show the same pen every month, though I use it daily, and the same goes for any other piece of gear I use/carry religiously (keys, mini flashlights, writing pads, the list goes on..).
Hope this helps!