Everyday Carry. What essentials do you carry on a daily basis?

Does this make sense? Is there anything I’ve missed?

I mean, what you carry depends very much on your particular situation. I can't see as how it'd be possible to review that.

I can say what I would carry, relative to you, but what I would carry is, well, what I'd carry, and you'd expect it to differ.

I carry a multitool, but a tiny one, on my keychain. I rarely use it, and having a tiny one is usually good enough for whatever problem I hit, but the thing is less hassle to lug around than a full-size one. By far the most-commonly used tool is a Philips-head screwdriver. Second-most is the flathead screwdriver, usually to pry things. Everything else sees minimal use, so this is arguably overkill.

I carry a tiny knife, also on my keychain, same reason for being tiny. I don't know why you carry a separate multitool and knife, but I do because you can take non-bladed multitools on flights, but not knives; I just need to leave the knife behind if I'm flying.

It doesn't have a bottle opener, but given that there are a bunch of ways to open bottles without one, I wouldn't call it an essential. Last time I got a crimp-top bottle, I found a nearby wood sign and gave it a good whack downwards and it knocked the top off. There's always something handy to open a bottle.

I don't carry a blanket with me, as you do. I do keep one in my car. In general, if I'm on foot, I'm not likely to be far enough away from my car to need a lot of this gear.

I have, but do not carry, a flint starter. I think that the likelihood that I will exhaust the butane in a lighter in any realistic scenario away from home isn't high.

I keep one butane lighter in the car. The ability to start a fire easily is useful in some emergency situations, and it doesn't take much space.

I don't carry a keychain flashlight. I used to do so before I carried a cell phone. Now I have a much larger and brighter flashlight everywhere. I also keep two backup flashlights in the car, plus several other devices that can emit light, given power.

I don't carry a notebook, as I have a phone. I do keep a pad of paper and a pen in the car.

I don't carry a lockpicking set. IIRC, some states get twitchy about having one in various scenarios.

I carry one 100 Wh battery bank in a backpack, plus several devices that can provide USB power in a pinch. I have more -- including a bank with solar panels, a ~350 Wh bank, a hand-crank generator, and the ability to convert a cigarette lighter to USB power -- in the car. The 100Wh battery bank I definitely make use of; I'm not always near an outlet, and being able to charge any other electrical device I have is really helpful.

Things that you haven't listed that I carry:

• A laptop. A lot that one can do with one that one can't easily do with a phone.

• A few USB cables (USB-C-to-USB-C, USB-A-to-USB-C).

Things that you haven't listed that I keep in the car (and might consider carrying if I didn't want to use the car)

• A USB key drive. They're cheap and small and every now and then I want to grab a file from someone or transfer a file to someone else.

• A mild NSAID painkiller. This doesn't take up much space, and if you -- or someone else -- has a headache or otherwise gets hurt, it's handy to have.

• Loratadine. If you run into something that you or someone else is allergic to, it's nice to have an antihistamine on hand.

If I were carrying the above drugs on my person, I'd probably put them in some kind of small, waterproof case, and label them.

• Ethanol-based hand sanitizer. This one's a legacy of COVID, but I decided that I liked having it with me, and will use it after, say, pumping gas or before eating. A few less diseases in my life, maybe.

• A bottle of water. This is probably the most-actually-useful item in terms of legitimate emergency use, and it's convenient to have for non-emergency situations. Doesn't even need to be for you -- if someone gets heatstroke or something, having water available is handy. Don't know about the weight and volume for being carried on foot, though. And if you're in the UK, you aren't going to hit that many places far away from civilization, anyway.

• A hoodie. I probably wouldn't carry this outside of the car, but it's convenient if one gets unexpectedly cold somewhere. Have considered keeping a full spare change of clothes in the car -- maybe someone gets wet or needs to unexpectedly spent the night somewhere -- but haven't done so.

• A knit cap. I might carry this. It's compact and can do a lot to reduce body heat loss.

• Alcohol wipes. Convenient for cleaning off hands when not near a sink.

Things that I don't carry on my person or in my car, but have seriously considered carrying or putting in the car (and might be interesting to you if you're looking for ideas).

• A small folding magnifying glass. Permits looking at small stuff and theoretically could permit starting a fire.

• A compass. In the event that the phone's battery dies, might be nice to know which way is which.

• A small amount of specifically emergency cash. I normally have some cash with me, but I know that some people specifically have some amount that they keep separate for "emergency" cash that doesn't get spent, to be sure that they always have some small amount available.

• A first aid kit. I have one that is largely-useless in terms of actual emergency use -- mostly Band-Aids and the like. I don't presently have it in the car, but I used to. I've only needed it when it was in the car once, but I was glad I had it -- I stayed the night at a friend's out-of-state farm for his birthday, and a bunch of us slept in a barn. This was the middle of summer, and the place was loaded with mosquitoes. Everyone got chomped and was miserable and itching. The kit happened to have hydrocortisone, anti-itch cream, so instead of spending the weekend miserable and scratching, we basically just slathered it on and ignored the mosquitoes.

• Speaking of which, insect repellent is also probably handy; you can get that in little foil packets. I don't carry it myself.

• A tube of superglue.

I might have sunscreen in there too, but if you're in the UK, probably unnecessary.