A Victorinox Manager. It contains a small blade, a bottle opener with a magnetic Phillips screwdriver, a pen, a nail file, scissors and tweezers, all in a very compact form factor.
I was gifted a tiny refillable keychain lighter. I didn’t think I needed it at first but it’s turned out invaluable to always have some fire handy. I don’t smoke so I don’t normally have a lighter with me otherwise.
They make belt buckles that double as bottle openers for roadside Topo Chico and tacos, or beer (not roadside, don’t drink and drive).
I have a tough little metal USB drive with a size A jack on one side, whatever fits my phone on the other, and firmware to be able to plug into said phone.
Musicians ear plugs in a tough metal keyring pill case.
Streamlight is good but pricey. I’ve got one of their rail-mount lights and it is great.
I found an excellent pocket LED flashlight on eBay called “Boruit” for under $20. That little bastard will blind you on max brightness. Also has other lights on it and a magnet to mount it on things
Certainly similar. Major difference between the two is that the Gerber has pliers in place of my scissors, and your scissors are in place of my tweezers.
The pliers would be nice to have, but I definitely use the scissors quite a lot. Surprisingly super strong. I’ve never used the tweezers before.
I was the guy with all my keys and fat wallet with all cards and phone + Multitool knife.
Then I got inspired by my sister that travels a lot and tries to optimize for what she REALLY needs.
First I realized that most of my wallet is useless. I started carrying a smaller flip style one with my most used cards and some cash.
Then I reduced my keys to a carabiner with sorted keysets on keyrings, so I carry only the needed ones. Home + bike + cellar for daily use. Home + family keys for vacations. Home for going out. Added a very small key knife and a bottle opener that is part of my daily driver but left when not needed/forbidden.
The current setup is a phonecaee with space for 4 cards and maybe 3-4 bills. And my key setup. Yes you have to remember to take some Special thing. But usually I have my old wallet in my backpack when traveling or when needed.
I actually use an Orbitkey holder to keep things neat and less bulky. Strongly recommend adding their multitool to that too, which I find super helpful.
I have a Secrid Miniwallet for cards and some cash, but usually I just use Google Pay so rarely even have that with me now.
Everything on that list was added because I needed it and didn’t have it on multiple occasions. There have been plenty of other things that I would love to carry, but found too bulky to justify.
A note to everyone recommending condoms: they do expire, and can wear through if carried in an environment with friction (wallet, pocket, etc). I prefer to play it safe and make a stop at a drug store should the need arise.
I actually fit it all in my blue jeans! I have a pocket organizer that holds the small stuff and it all works out spacewise. Heavy though, have to wear a belt to keep everything in place.
This feels less like a pocketable list and more solidly in purse territory. Not that there’s anything wrong with carrying a purse, but I would struggle to fit all this stuff in even my most pocketed cargo shorts.
I have an awesome pocket organizer thing I was gifted that holds all the small stuff. So I’m really only putting like 5 things in my pockets when I’m getting ready to walk out the door.
I don’t know about pockets, but my bag usually has(besides the usual stuff) a tiny sketchbook with a pencil. I use it as an alternative to browsing my phone whenever I have time to kill.
Mostly because I feel I spend way too much time on this thing… like now…
How often is that bootable Linux drive useful to have on hand though? I can’t imagine it being useful more than once a year or so, but maybe I’m not thinking creatively enough.
It’s nice to have when a system breaks, to test stuff or when I’m at a new computer but want to use my current distro of choice. But yeah, I don’t use it on a daily basis or anything.