DIY EDC measuring tape

A little bit ago, I found myself wanting to install new garage cabinets.  So naturally I tended to wander into stores looking for new ones.

Of course, I didn't carry a measuring tape or anything.  So figuring it out was a little harder than it should have been.  I wanted something for measuring I could keep with me.

I checked all of the usual EDC forums and found this as the best suggestion:

This is an ordinary tailors tape.  You can get these nowadays at the dollar store.  But this was too big for me.

Other suggestions included carrying a proper, albeit small, measuring tape around.  Most were just as big or bigger than the blue sucker above.

If you crack open the tailoring tape, you'll find half of the space is taken up by the spring that retracts it for you.  A waste of space, in my opinion.

So I went ahead and created this:

This is the cloth measuring tape from the tailoring tape wound around a common sewing bobbin.  This fits quite nicely in the coin pocket of my jeans with plenty of room to spare.  It's been cut to 28" to fit the bobbin; a small rubber band holds it together.

Size comparison:

Total cost was $2.

 Since I actually carry it, I'd say it's a winner.  Though I haven't needed it yet, so I might stop carrying it.

Hope this helps someone out there who wants an EDC tape measure that's actually small enough to carry.

Update:  OK, after about a year, I've used it possibly three times.  Which, if we're honest with ourselves, is pretty much on par for most EDC stuff.  I use my pocketknife a couple of times a week, on average, and everything else is pretty occasional.  But I still carry it daily, it's still invisibly small, and it works, so it's still a winner for me.

Altoids tins suck - get original already

OK, Altoids tins don't really suck, I guess.  Altoids themselves are pretty OK in my book, and the tins are admittedly an extremely handy item.

However, EDC seems to be all the rage these days, and every EDC proponent wants to start with an Altoids tin for their first aid / survival / whatever kit.

To which I say: Why???

I got a tin of Altoids.  That tin is HUGE!  Seriously!  It doesn't fit in my pocket, so how am I supposed to carry it with me?  I don't believe for one second that most people who claim this to be their "EDC" actually carry this tin around daily.

Sure, maybe in a pocket of a bag or backpack, which you "always" have.  OK, fine, I guess. 

The point is, it bothers me a bit that the standard "Altoids tin" kit has become such the de facto standard that nobody even thinks to question it anymore.  Sure, you need to start somewhere, and maybe that tin is what you want.  Maybe it's not.  How about sparing it a thought first?

Regardless, I wanted a first-aid kit - I don't NEED one, but I wanted one, so call me strange or whatever.  Probably comes from traveling quite a bit lately, plus having young kids prone to scrapes and whatnot.

And something actually pocket sized that I could carry, since having it where I was not was obviously a waste.  Band-aids in the car are no good when we're in the middle of the park.

So I wander into Starbucks one day, and happen to glance over to the side of the till to see this:



Hey, thinks I - that' ain't bad.  Maybe I can do something with this.  So I pony up the $4.99 or whatever ridiculous price it was, just to see.

(By the way, I don't recommend the gum.  Their mints are better, but the tin is more square, so I ended up not using that one.)

Turns out that this tin fits pretty nicely in my jeans pocket, next to my money clip, because it's thin.  Altoids tins are, comparatively speaking, fat as all hell:

(I put the binder clip on the Starbucks tin just to get it to stand for the picture - I don't carry it that way.)

 As you might note from the beat-up appearance of this tin, I've been carrying it about daily for over two years.  And while you hope to never have to use it, it has been handy on those occasions when such a thing is necessary.


The other thing that bugs me is that - for whatever reason - none of the first-aid kits I can buy where I live have actual medicines in them.

Now, I don't know about you, but if I'm on the road, or on a plane, or camping, or whatever, it seems to me that actual good-old non-prescription drugs are the thing to cure many common ills.  Sure, scrapes, breaks and all those things occur, but headaches, tummyaches, indigestion and colds happen a whole hell of a lot more often (at least, in my life).

So I want actual pills in my first-aid kit.  Obviously.  Which I can't get in a commercial kit, so it's DIY all the way.


Turns out I can fit quite a lot of stuff into that weenie little tin:

And to prove it, here it is all spread out:

I'll refrain from the inevitable list since everything is obvious, aside from the little packet on the bottom-right (that's antiseptic) and the thing that said "bandage" (that's a medium large butterfly closure).  The antiseptic is half-used because my 6-year-old got an infection on her foot via a scrape while camping.

Here's a closer look at the meds:

 OK, by now, somebody is going to be saying that my kit is pretty useless, because it doesn't include x, y or z.  In the last 2 years I've needed it only 5 times and only once for a serious injury - the rest were all needs for medicines, including a pending allergy attack that required the Benedryl.

On the occasion of the injury, my great-aunt sliced her ankle open down to the tendon on a boat prop in the middle of the lake.  This kit was enough to put her back together and keep her comfortable for an additional two hours on the water, a 1/2 hour ride to the hospital and whatever time she spent there.  The boat was brand-new and the owner had forgotten to put a first-aid kit on board. So it has been useful, whatever anyone else might think.

(I will say that on that occasion, I only had a small butterfly closure in the kit at the time, as medium ones are not widely available here.  I replaced it with a medium large from a big package I bought later.  The medium large can do what a small can do, but not the reverse.)


So, please, people - let's get some of the creativity back in our EDC-kit-making.  For example, start with something other than an Altoids tin.  There's lots of possibilities around, like these:

In case anyone reads this far, here's a few things I found useful while putting this together:

-  Double-sided tape from the dollar store is your friend to make thin, flat items stay put.  I taped all the band-aids and such into the bottom of the tin.  They're easy to rip out if needed but won't fall out every time I open it.

-  I tried to tape the pills in place but that does not work well.  So my advice is to forget the organization.  Instead, put a few of the pills into the tin and half-close the sliding cover.  Then just stuff the rest of the pill bags into the tin via the opening.  They'll fit, and you'll still be able to find them later.

-  The pill bags I used are 1x1" bags I got from eBay or somewhere.  Usually you have to buy a ton of them to get any.  (You can buy meds in little two-pill packs but they cost a fortune, relatively speaking, and the packages are not re-usable.)

-  Labels are from a Dymo labelmaker, cut to size, but you could use anything.  I bought 1x1" labels later. 

-  Put in what you're likely to need first, then what you might want, then what others might need/want.  In that order.  If you have heartburn, put in the Zantac first - an EDC kit is just as much (or more) about comfort as anything else.

-  Pick items with more than one use.   Tylenol works all kinds of pain plus fever.  Benedryl is good for severe allergic reactions, rashes and contact dermatitis, general allergies, and hay fever.  Pepto-Bismol ain't sexy, but cures a lot of GI problems. And there have been times I would kill for a multi-symptom pill like Tylenol Cold.

-  Don't bother writing down doses, or buying pre-packed meds just to get the doses.  Every OTC pill ever has the same dose:  1-2 pills every 4-8 hours.  Start with 1, take the other if needed.  (For kids, go with 1; small kids, 1/2 of one.*)

-  I figured if a serious injury occurred, I'd just dump the whole damn kit out and clean up later.  Which I did, and it works.


I also admit I have a slightly bigger kit stashed in my travel briefcase.  It's contained in a plastic Sucrets container:

I only have this one because it was the first one I made, and it's fine for my bag.  It's not what I carry all the time, though.  It's too big!  (Especially too thick.)

Also:  why a TOWEL?  Because I sometimes want one while I'm on a plane, and I never had one.  Now I do.  It's really a plane-survival kit, I guess.  At the time I was taking a lot of flights.

I plan to see what I can fit in the Smalls tin next.  I dare you to beat it.


*  Disclaimer:  The author is not a medical professional and nothing in this post shall be taken as constituting medical advice.  Consult a medical professional for guidance.