Welcome Wednesday: What's the Holy Grail of your every-day carry kit?

[Dave LIAO]

👋 Happy Wednesday, Atlassian Community peeps, hope everyone's been well. (And yes, it's Wednesday in Australia right now!)

It's time for another Welcome Wednesday (see past posts), a chance to opine on topics every Wednesday. For this week, we're chatting about every-day carry musts.

Ever heard of an every-day carry (EDC)? An EDC is a collection of things you carry when out and about. For some, that'd be a wallet. For others, a keyring. And so on.

Is there a single item in your EDC you'd recommend to folks on Community?

For me, it's a coiled USB C cable (photo below). Why?

• It's a wee cable!
• It's easy to find the cable while rummaging in a pouch/bag (no looking needed)
• ⚡️ I can connect different USB devices to my power bank while on the go

 What's a must have item in your EDC? Sound off in the comments!

Above: My curly cable! And ducks.

[Barbara Szczesniak]

Nice ducks, @Dave LIAO! And the cable too, I suppose. 😀

I work from home and don't travel for work at all, so my EDC may be different than others. The item I carry and use most often is a pair of reading glasses—in case I need to:

• read a menu in a restaurant
• read a label on a food package or find and decipher the sell-by date stamped (somewhere) on a loaf of bread
• keep score while playing cards
• write down the answers at trivia
• etc.

[Anne Saunders]

That's a super-handy cable! In ye olden days, I had a short lightning-to-usb cable that was meant to be worn as a bracelet for similar reasons.

I think the least common item in it is a glass nail file. My nails only seem to break and be ragged when I don't have one handy. 

[Matt Doar _Adaptavist_]

• Right pocket: phone with cards, handkerchief
• Left pocket: lipsil, cough drops, medication tablets, ear protectors, eye glasses, car keys

Maybe I should balance the load a bit better :)

[Dave LIAO]

Haha the glasses and keys being in one pocket make me nervous 

[Henry Collins]

For me it’s a small power bank. It’s saved me too many times when I’m out and my phone or earbuds are about to die. Simple, light, and basically removes that “low battery stress” completely.

[Wendy Farmer]

 I love this chat - brightened my day for sure... especially your picture Dave of your wee cord and little duckies.  

I work at a sit/stand desk in an office cubical so my EDC is simple.  It contains my metal water bottle along with my lunch.  I don't leave home without my water bottle.  It's so handy.... It fits in a car cup holder.  It's metal so it's easy to clean.  And, it was inexpensive too! 

Best part.... it's gingham pink and white and covered in stickers!

[John D Patton]

Great question, Dave — and the wee cable plus ducks made me smile.

My EDC answer is probably less romantic but very real: AirPods Pro. They’re the thing I notice immediately if I forget them.

Calls, quick voice notes, focus time, walking the dogs, waiting rooms, travel — they turn all the odd little gaps in the day into usable time. I have even forgot to switch to my over-the-ear headphones on flights as the AirPods just worked so well. 

Back in the day, though, I had a really nice woven USB cable with a leather strap — very much in the spirit of your coiled cable. It felt like the rare tech accessory that was practical and had a bit of character. I miss when cables felt a little less disposable.

So my official answer is AirPods Pro, but my sentimental EDC vote goes to the “nice cable era.” Dave may have just brought that back.

Also: strong bonus points for the ducks glamor shot 

[Dave LIAO]

My EDC should include earphones, occasionally I do forget them when I leave my home 

I take public transit a lot, so it's a bit annoying to be forced to "enjoy" the sounds of other peoples's phones 🥲

[Varsha Joshi]

Depends on the destination :-) but most of the time they are : my phone, sunglasses, water bottle and coffee.

[Jimmy Seddon]

I love this question @Dave LIAO!

My answer depends if I'm heading out with the kids or not. 

With kids, wet wipes, because they will need them.

Without the kids, wallet, phone, sunglasses & ball cap.