ave / edc

Every Day Carry

The term “everyday carry” refers to stuff you always bring with you when you go out, and for most people starts and ends with phone and house keys. Historically, it has changed a lot (hats being an obvious example, a simple knife was also very popular throughout most of history). Being a full-fledged weirdo, I carry a lot more than people usually think to pack, to the point where most people I interact with seem to think I have a sort of hammerspace in my bag/pockets. To dash those unfounded beliefs (and maybe be an inspiration to some), here’s an attempt to list all the shit in my pockets.

First off, historically, people changed shirts/socks/underwear etc, but wore more or less the same outer layer - get 20 shirts for cheap and invest in a really good jacket, since it’s the jacket people will be looking at. Same here - except unfortunately the jacket was not much of an investment, and I’m suffering the consequences of that.

Hat

Ah, yes, the noble hat, a headwear no gentleman/lady/bastard/weirdo/linux user can do without. It did originally start as a joke (and/or me trying out fashions of yore to see what works), but after it worked out shockingly well through sunglares and rainy days, I decided to do like we used to and wear a hat outside (also it looks cool af).

There were multiple iterations to this. The original was a cowhide cowboy hat from Australia, which, while fancy and authentic, was too precious to just wear outside every day - what if I forgot it?! I tried out a tophat and a crush hat from the carnival store (a crush hat is essentially a tophat, with a neat contraption on the inside which enables it to be folded flat when not needed, and then extended without a wrinkle afterwards), however both looked terrible on account of me not being an oil baron. A cowboy hat from the same was a much better fit (and much more comfortable), but was egregiously over-the-top, so I now keep it only for weird mods that I want to try out before I deface one of the others. And finally, my current beau, a felt cowboy hat, with a minor mod for a cord for stormy weather (or to hook it up when people are audacious enough not to have a hat stand), holding its own against rain, and folding comfortably under the arm when not needed. I am considering adding ventilation holes so it’s more bearable in summer, but haven’t yet figured out a way to do it that won’t ruin the vibe and/or material.

In addition, I have a chaperon that I originally made for an adeptus mechanicus cosplay that ended so well that I am considering remaking it for regular wear. I also have plans to sew an ushanka, for when the weather is too cold even for my facial hair.

Cane

Ah, my dear Midnight. Handmade walking cane, a meter long, lacquered black. The body is a 2cm metal pipe with two coupling nuts hammered in at both ends as attachment points, the lower one blocked with an appropriately cut screw. I did make an estoc to hide there instead, though I don’t usually keep it there - no need to get that mafia about it. Leather grip, braided in paracord, with a gentle red vein running through it. The top was supposed to be an 8ball for an extra Midnight Crew look, but I still haven’t found one, so it’s still just a plastic ball I spray-painted appropriately.

Shoes

Classic pair of old converses with rainbow lacing (that I haven’t gotten around to adding yet). I am still weirdly proud of them, because it is astonishingly bad to find cool and durable shoes in my size.

In more extreme weather, I do also have a pair of sports boots that are falling apart after just a year of use. I have long been on the lookout for good military boots, however, on account of my feet being a bit fucked (clinical term), the standard military design really does not work well on me. I’m almost considering making them myself as well - though that has its own set of complications that will be a bit harder to circumvent.

On the weirder side, I am still a few weirdly specific hinges away from wearable anthropomorphic legs for that extra weirdness factor.

Cloak

Cheap black carnival cloak that looks about right and is kind of waterproof but not really. Will post more when I remake it into something halfway decent.

Denim jacket

Got it at a second-hand store at the beginning of the plague, and it is now riddled with pockets and patches and holes and embroidery (specifically, Mollymauk’s tattoos) (also some copper couching which has not held well). I also added two loops to carry it as a backpack during summer when it’s too warm even for its hole-ridden fabric. I am considering remaking it from scratch: it has served me well, but it was not made to last this long or be used this much, and I have fancy weird ideas on what to incorporate into a new one.

In the jacket we have:

Pants

This one is entirely self-made. As a teen, I had always wanted more punk shit in my life, like waist chains or tripp pants, and as an adult, I have always wanted clothes that don’t fucking rip apart after three months of wear. Those esires culminated in me ripping apart an old ikea couch I found on the sidewalk one evening, and making a pair of pants from the scraps (plus a notebook jacket, see below for that). It’s got extra fabric gathered at the back (in case I need to resize them later on), and red stitches around the plethora of (mostly decorative) pockets for that extra trippy look.

Bag

Ho boy here goes the hail mary. I was used to carrying around a school bag (and later postman bag) with a notebook, drawing implements, and the odd knickknack in my teenage years, and found that to be a useful habit in general. Unfortunately, most commercially available bags suffered from the usual shitty fabric, design, and lack of pockets that is to be expected, until I eventually caved in and made my own.

It’s made from canvas cloth, found on the street as tradition dictates (I believe it used to be a curtain?), and has a removable, resizable webbing strap (which has done wonders for the holes on the shoulders of my jacket). It required some clever warping to sew it right-side-out, which unfortunately makes it really hard to draw a schematic for it. It is white and suffering from a lack of pins, as those tend to damage the fabric over time. I am considering sewing an extra denim patch onto it just for those, but it’s hard to coordinate with the front pockets and to figure out how to make sure the pins don’t actually damage the fabric underneath.

Flap:

Side pockets:

Inside, front pocket (with the zipper):

Middle pocket:

Innermost pocket (the big one!):

Notebook

At this point, you will surely be shocked to find out that I bound my notebook myself as well. It features even more pockets and weird gazebos, and some neat bookbinding tricks that you probably haven’t seen before.

General structure:

Jacket:

Additional contents:

(written 24042024)