Digitally resilient everyday carry (EDC)

Updated June 13, 2021. By Dr. David Wild. MyDigitalResilience Blog

It's time to expose what I have in my backpack! What does it mean to have gear in your backpack that supports digital resilience while you are away from your home? Here are some notes on my goals for a digital resilience backpack, and what I have in mine. I will go into more detail in a companion podcast.

Backpack Goals

The goals for my backpack are threefold:

  1. Provide comfortable work and personal environment when on the road
  2. Be self-sufficient for 24 hours (food, power, connectivity, toiletries)
  3. Be prepared for common medical/trauma issues (bumps and scrapes, headaches, heartburn, stings & bites) with some preparedness for extreme medical/trauma (bleeding, heart)
Note that this covers more than digital resilience, but digital support is a big part of it. Also this is not meant to support an planned overnight stay - things like clothes and toothbrushes - for which I would pack a small suitcase.

Choosing a backpack

What kind of backpack you use is a matter of personal preference. I have tried many kinds of backpacks over the years, from the minimalist Fjallraven Kanken through to large packs meant for hiking. My current critera are that a pack should be tough, plain color, lots of pockets, two wide water bottle holders, not saggy, light and comfortable to wear. My current pack is an Ogio Axle.

Gear for a comfortable work & personal environment

  1. MacBook Air Laptop and power supply
  2. Bose QuietComfort noise-cancelling headphones with phone adapter (Lightning/USB-C)
  3. GL.iNet Slate mobile router
  4. Notepad, pens
  5. Electronics/Cables: USB-Micro, USB-C, Apple Lightning, Ethernet, USB-wall adapter, USB-vehicle adapter, USB hub, spare headphones, HDMI video adapter for computer.
  6. USB flash drives: PNY 512GB with encrypted recent backup of files; PNY 32GB with bootable Ubuntu Linux; PNY 16GB empty to give out.
  7. Powecom KN95 face masks
  8. Tissues & wet wipes
  9. Lotion, hand sanitizer, sun block, bug repellant, ear plugs, eye mask

Self-sufficient for 24 hours

  1. 24,000mAh solar power pack with flashlight
  2. Netgear Nighthawk M1 LTE Mobile Hotspot
  3. Backup phone (unlocked) with new Mint Sim card
  4. Food pack: granola bars, nuts, forks, tuna fish pack
  5. Two water bottles
  6. Ultrafire AA Flashlight
  7. Lipstick Flashlight/Power pack
  8. Eyeglass repair kit; sewing kit, cable ties, ziploc bags (quart and sandwich size), 4x AA batteries
  9. Survival items: Gerber Dime, whistle, duct tape, water purification tablets (Potable Aqua, Chlorine Dioxide)

Medical/trauma

  1. Modified Adventure Medical Kit 2.0
  2. Band aids, gauze, bandage, 4x4 gauze
  3. Tylenol/ibuprofen (incl childrens), Tums
  4. Baby Aspirin
  5. Benadryl spray (for bites)
  6. Antihistamine tablets
  7. Loperamide
  8. Trauma shears & tweezers
  9. Tick remover
  10. Ointments: Dynarex triple antibiotic, hydrocortizone, burn
  11. Tourniquet & Quikclot

Other

  1. Gift for kids - playing cards, stuffed animal
  2. Door stop
  3. Uniden BCD436HP Radio Scanner
I hope this was helpful for some of you. If you enjoyed this blog post, please check out The MyDigitalResilience website. All material is (C) Copyright 2020 by David Wild. This website is designed to be simple and accessible, and does not contain any trackers of any kind. Suggestions and corrections should be emailed to info@mydigitalresilience.com.