- keys: very handy for when you need to unlock the door to your apartment. If you add car keys you can also drive somewhere which is very helpful. I use mine pretty much every day
- cellphone: it’s like a multitool with a camera, flashlight and a phone. If it’s a smartphone you can all use it to access internet. Saved my life many times when I was bored and had to look at some videos online or check the news
- wallet: great for carrying cash, ID and credit cards. It’s good to have your ID with you when people ask for your name but you live in a foreign country where no one speaks Polish. You can use cash or credit cards to buy other stuff you need like a bottle opener
Multi tool wallet or include a multi tool credit card in the wallet. I have a wallet that is two pieces of metal with a rubber strap holding it together, with 2-3 cards in between. The wallet has a frequently used bottle opener and a pointy bit meant for screws that I use to cut tape.
Keys for opening doors, driving etc. Also for defense…My brother got jumped by a group of teens in college. They came up behind, shoved him down. To defend himself, he pulled out his keys and slashed one in the face. They didn’t expect him to do that and took off running. They only got a cheap phone from the ordeal and not his backpack which had expensive books and a laptop in it. I always have my keys on me now.
Earplugs
Can’t go anywhere without mine now. Movies, sporting events, bars. Just way too loud without earplugs
For OP and anyone into this thread - If it’s not on lemmy already, there was a dedicated subreddit for this called EDC (every day carry).
That’s the one I’ve been using, not the most active but seems decent.
Back to the OP. I carry a Rovyvon A8x flashlight and yubikey on my keychain.
A towel.
A hardware security key, a knife and some pepper spray is usually what I have, plus my phone but thats a given
Edit: I live in a bad area haha
I didn’t realize that even good areas are bad areas until I was homeless. Got jumped by a preppy-looking frat boy in a nice part of Boston.
Now I carry the knife everywhere because it all feels dangerous to me now.
Damn sorry to hear that. I got mugged when I was going through my photographer phase. Recommend pepper spray since its a lot more effective and gives you distance to run. My knife is more for everyday use in my case
I couldn’t get pepper spray without a license, so I went with the knife.
That law has since changed in MA, and I hope that my telling that story to Elizabeth Warren helped change it.
I was utterly horrified to discover I couldn’t get pepper spray. I couldn’t even keep myself reliably enrolled in Mass Health, as awesome as it was.
No license needed for a knife so I got that instead. Now since a knife can’t actually stop an attack very well, I had to use it as a deterrent.
To do that I had to promise myself I would give anyone who attacked me life altering consequences. Once I had that established, I stopped getting fucked with.
Before I armed myself, after the attack, it was like I had a crack in my aura. Predatory people could smell the fear on me. Had a few weird run-ins that almost turned into fights. One time a guy just put his hand out and stopped me. It was terrifying.
The thing that hurt really bad about the attack was the way the guy stumbled drunkenly away, probably forgetting about me, having zero consequences. So at least I can prevent that from happening again.
Its a method of 2fa that uses a physical “key” a yubikey is an example if u wanna search it up
