Over time, what someone uses as their every day carry (a.k.a. EDC), will evolve and change. Gear and necessities will be added, modified, and removed based on daily requirements, past experiences, and anticipating future needs.
Whether you carry items in your pockets, a briefcase, backpack, shoulder / sling bag, or purse (or some combination of the above); the chances are pretty good that what you have in there today, and how it is carried, is vastly different than a few years ago.
And that ongoing change and improvement is a good thing — it means you’ll be better prepared the next time you need something! Below are some photos depicting this sort of evolution. Some things have remained constant (flashlight, writing gear, spare lithium batteries), while others have been enhanced (first aid kit), and yet others removed (spork, battery charger, monocular, small tripod).
Here is one of the first EDC bags I used, a Maxpedition “Nucleus” attache bag. These were briefly offered by County Comm, but are no longer being produced. Lots of organization and adjustable dividers inside the main compartment.
From there, it was time to downsize the EDC a bit, and everything got consolidated into a Spec-Ops Brand “Pack Rat”. This is a great drop-in organizer to put in another bag, but not so good for standalone carry.
Eventually, a few more items were added back in, and I switched over to backpack carry. In my opinion this is preferable, as you can keep your hands free, and the weight distribution is much more comfortable over two shoulders.
At first, I went with larger backpacks in the 22-26L range, such as the Camelbak Mil-Tac HAWG and the GORUCK GR1. These worked well for traveling, but for around town use they simply wound up being too large. When you have extra room, you tend to fill it. So it was time try and downsize, yet again.
The current pack/bag being used for EDC duty is a Goruck Bullet 10L. This a great combination of size and built-in organization. Small enough to force you to pack light, but large enough to carry the necessities (click here to see its contents).
Cascadia Recon 