Lets see, unique things
* Oxygen bottle (It's come up twice, never me fortunately)
* Epipen (I have serious allergies)
* Mask rated to filter pollen (I have serious allergies)
Ask HN: What do you carry in your backpack?
21–30 of 67 posts
Re: Ask HN: What do you carry in your backpack?
#22Keys, wallet, phone, pen, sunglasses. No pack needed. If it's night I probably won't have the sunglasses and might have a separate flashlight instead.
Re: Ask HN: What do you carry in your backpack?
#23I'm a minimalist so I don't have an EDC backpack, but when I travel I have a small manbag (tagged with an AirTag).
1. Umbrella
2. Sunglasses
3. Wipes
4. Anker battery
5. USB cables with different connectors (Micro-USB, Lightning)
6. Pen and notebook
Nothing too unusual. I stash my AirPods Pro, passport and other bulk items in it when I'm traveling, but otherwise it's very light (under 2 lbs). This makes it possible to move cover lots of ground in big cities easily without getting tired. Anything more than 3 lbs is a pain if you're walking all day (I average 23,000 steps/day when I'm out and about).
Re: Ask HN: What do you carry in your backpack?
#24On carabiner : * backup / secondary wedding ring (different style than primary):) * usb stick * flashlight Right small pocket: deodorant, mints, toothpick/floss/toothbrush Left mesh pocket : change, 5cm charging cable Left small pocket : wired headset that came with phone, packet of Kleenex / tissues Outside compartment * lip balm, allergy pills, ricola/halls, tums, cialis, ibuprofen, tylenol, Gravol (small cutouts o…
“backup / secondary wedding ring”
NikolaNovac’s primary ring is lost to freak metallurgical catastrophe
Lusty singles close in
NikolaNovic: NOT SO FAST!
Re: Ask HN: What do you carry in your backpack?
#25I've always worked properly remote (since pre school of the air in the early 1970s) and of all the things I always travel with the one I like the most and have relied on more than once is my signalling mirror (proper thick near unbreakable glass with sighting hole in centre).
Still works in the absence of digital comms.
Re: Ask HN: What do you carry in your backpack?
#26Another, smaller backpack
Re: Ask HN: What do you carry in your backpack?
#27Wallet, laptop w/ hdmi dongle, notebook, pen, keys, water bottle, earbuds, power cable, random receipts that I stuff in there and forget about, and the occasional business card from an Uber black driver that would prefer I ring direct.
Re: Ask HN: What do you carry in your backpack?
#28In terms of actual "EDC" I don't carry a backpack. I mean, yeah, I have a backpack I sometimes carry, but I think of it mainly as my "laptop bag" and I don't always go out carrying it.
EDC stuff I carry in my pockets or on my belt or whatever. Briefly, the list is:
1. Keychain with my car / home keys
2. Wallet
3. A small LED flashlight
4. A carbide tipped glass breaker
5. a Leatherman tool
6. A folding pocket knife
7. A USB thumb drive
8. My phone (Moto G7)
On a selective basis, add:
9. A Keltec PF-9 9mm pistol
10. A Gerber fixed blade knife
On a seasonal basis I also add
11. A ferro rod
12. A small block of magnesium
When it's cold enough to wear my heavy winter coat (which it rarely is) I have a few things tucked in my inside pockets:
- an Altoids tin filled with cotton balls dipped in Vaseline
- a box of waterproof matches
- a couple of "space blankets"
- an Altoids tin filled with small chunks of fatwood
- probably a couple of other things I don't remember offhand
As far as my backpack: there's so much random shit in there I couldn't even begin to list it all. Besides the actual laptop and charger, there's a USB hard drive, a yellow rubber duck, a pencil roll, a plush stuffed white rabbit, all sorts of USB cables, an extension cord, an RTL-SDR dongle and accessories, a couple of notebooks, a TI-89 calculator, a Bluetooth trackball, reading glasses, headphones, a couple of bottles of Coke Zero (usually), etc., etc., etc.
Re: Ask HN: What do you carry in your backpack?
#29Chapstick, ibuprofen, allergy pills, lighter, retractable USB-C charger, Airpods. This covers most minor annoyances I encounter in the city.
I almost always carry my iPad Mini. It replaces a book/notebook. Unlike my phone it's a quiet, distraction-free device.
If I intend to work, I bring my MacBook Air. It replaces a much lighter Macbook 12" which I loved to bits. It's heavier, but it's much faster and has insane battery life.
I usually travel by bicycle. I usually pack a water bottle. If it's nice outside, I'll pack a picnic blanket. I hope from place to place, doing a bit of work here and there.
I have an Ortlieb Vario bag that is both a backpack and a bicycle bag. It's waterproof and big enough to fit groceries. It's great for quickly getting on/off the bike.
Re: Ask HN: What do you carry in your backpack?
#30In terms of actual "EDC" I don't carry a backpack. I mean, yeah, I have a backpack I sometimes carry, but I think of it mainly as my "laptop bag" and I don't always go out carrying it. EDC stuff I carry in my pockets or on my belt or whatever. Briefly, the list is: 1. Keychain with my car / home keys 2. Wallet 3. A small LED flashlight 4. A carbide tipped glass breaker 5. a Leatherman tool 6. A folding pocket knife 7…
Where do you go to need a knife, a pistol, a glass breaker and a fire starter?