Zombie Squad

I started a new job two weeks ago within walking distance of my apartment. I've had an EDC for a few years now, but nothing more than what was in my pockets or on my belt. I had a sort of murse that I used when I went downtown or to run errands, but it wasn't part of my every day life. With the new Job I wanted to carry a few more things with me, so I decided to put the two kits together into this.

First off is the bag, it's a PacSafe Metro Safe 300. I bought it earlier this year for traveling, but I couldn't justify the coin on a bag to only get used when I'm out of the country, so it makes sense to use it at home too.



Some of the bag's features (from the PacSafe website)

Pacsafe wrote:• eXomesh® slashguards
• Slashproof carrysafe™ strap
• Smart zipper security™
additional features
• Padded 13" laptop sleeve
• Large main zippered compartment with 2 organiser pockets
• Front zippered organiser pocket with 2 padded electronic gadget pockets
• Back zippered pocket with concealable zipper pocket
• Removable backpack harness which stores in back pocket
• 2 water bottle / compact umbrella side pockets
• Headphone port
• Card slots / pen holder / key clip

Here's a closeup of the lock on the shoulder strap



The bag also has hidden backpack straps. They're not great, but they allow me to change the weight distribution if I overfill the bag. I suppose I could swap them out for the set of spec-ops super straps I just got in the mail





The bag itself isn't huge, but it holds everything I need on a daily basis, These Items are;

Small umbrella
Water bottle
Lighter
Pen
Sharpie marker
Pocket change + City transit tokens
Sea to Summit Pocket soap
Aquatabs purification tablets (just added these to the FAK)
Current novel
Sunglasses
USB Drive
Battery backup for iPhone (this also has a 2GB memory built into it)
First aid kit
Tissues

And with everything packed in ...



While packing things up, I decided I could fit a shemagh into one of the inside pockets. Here's everything packed up, including my laptop for reference. There isn't much room left when you include the computer, but it's enough for any errands I would run without my car.



Changes and upgrades I plan on making:
Smaller umbrella, this one is usually in my car, I stole it earlier this week because it was raining.
Eyeglass case to protect the sunglasses.
Encryptable memory stick for security.
Adding a flashlight, even a keychain led.

Outside of the bag are a few items I keep in my pockets daily,



Wallet
Leatherman Wave
iPhone (used to take photo, holster pictured)
Headphones (for iPhone)
and keys (not pictured, but nothing special)

For some reason, my thumbnails are coming in upside down, click the links to see the pictures right side up.

Nice looking setup. Is it pretty much full, or do you have room left over for more stuff?

That's a sexy murse! How easy is it to get to the various stuff's while you have the bag slung - do you have to do much rooting around, or are items fairly well organized?

Lone wrote:Nice looking setup. Is it pretty much full, or do you have room left over for more stuff?

It's not as full as it looks in the picture with the shemagh. I can fit my lunchbag in there, and maybe room for a long sleeved shirt too.

squinty wrote:That's a sexy murse! How easy is it to get to the various stuff's while you have the bag slung - do you have to do much rooting around, or are items fairly well organized?

Everything's pretty easy to access. Often I walk to the bus and forget to grab a transit token from my apartment, so I dig out the little box with money and tokens from the front zippered pocket. The hardest part is doing it one handed or blindly due to the large flap covering that pocket.

Nice kit. I would add a folding knife and an MRE or some energy bars or something to eat. And one of those emergency ponchos or blankets. They pack super small and would give me piece of mind for shelter. I know you are just going to and from work, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared to be away from your stuff for 24+ hours.

I like that the main cargo pocket is accesible without opening the flap. It looks like a really well thought out design, very nice.

So, I've been thinking about putting a spare key to my apartment in the bag, in case something happened I lost my keys, locked them in my car somehow, etc. My concern is having anything in the bag with my address, or something that makes my address easy to find. For example the USB key has copies of drivers license, and a resume. In the event I lost the bag or it were stolen, someone would then be able to access my apartment, especially if they moved quickly enough that I wouldn't be able to change out the locks.

So one thing I need to do is update the USB key to something that is encryptable, but is there any other precaution I should take if I go ahead with putting a key in in the bag?

BullOnParade,

Wow, you are asking about data on a USB key. Let me say this, I have found more people using their Smartphones for this very thing. For a few reasons:

1. If it comes up missing, the data is somewhere else. I.E. carbonite. You can now get a app if your phone is stolen, you can have the data erased.

2. A USB is pretty small and able to be stolen or lost pretty easy, and should only be used for misc. information.

Those are just my thoughts I have on this. I love the EDC Murse, you have a great set up. Congrats

If you want something with encryption try these.

https://store.ironkey.com/personal

I have a friend who loves his.

Utah_ZHunter wrote:If you want something with encryption try these.

https://store.ironkey.com/personal

I have a friend who loves his.

$60 for a single GB??!!!11!!ONE!

Your friend knows 4GB Encrypted sticks can be had for less, right? For $60 I expect the thing to walk itself back to me when lost.

So on the weekend I happened by Staples Business Depot and took a look at a few memory sticks that were on sale. One was a verbatim 8GB slider($12.50) the other SanDisk 4GB "Blade" ($12.99). I ended up going with the 4GB stick for a few reasons, including smaller overall size, more robust design, and password protection worked on Mac as well as Windows. I doubt I will need to carry more than 4GB of data without having access to my phone so I don't mind the smaller size.