Bag check: Spring 2026 edition

There was a cool feature that I worked on at one point as a journalist, where I interviewed a bunch of creative people to see what they carry around day-to-day and to glean some insights into their creative process. (I'm particularly thrilled with the ones I did with Adam Savage and Simon Stålenhag.)

It's a neat concept, and I've thought about doing a version of it here with various people, but I haven't had a chance to really do anything with that. (Let me know if it's something you'd want to read!) I did my own version back in 2020 and 2019, and I realized the other week that I changed a lot of what I carry, but there are also a bunch of things that haven't changed. So: time for an update.

The Bag

For a couple of years now, my main day-to-day bag has been the EDC-One from Savage Industries. It still gets my wholehearted endorsement: it’s something that I still frequently use. But it holds a lot of stuff, and earlier this winter, I decided that I wanted something that was a bit more compact and which would force me to carry less around.

Around the same time, I came across a Japanese brand called Uniqlo and its Multi-Pocket Shoulder Bag. It was super, suspiciously cheap, and I decided to check it out. The worst that could happen is that it would fall apart.

But in the last couple of months, I’ve really loved it: the main compartment is big enough to hold a book, my calendar, notebook, pens, iPad/keyboard, and the side pockets have been good for the odd pen, keys, or water bottle. There's also a couple of small pockets in the interior for loose items. The front has a pair of zippered pockets, which turned out to be the perfect size for my to-do notepad, phone, wallet, and a charger, and a pair of pockets on either side, which is good for a water bottle or random pens.

In the last couple of months of using this day to day, it's really outdone itself. It's made of nylon and it's water-repellent enough for quick trips to and from the car. It's held up wonderfully – no rips, tears, or other issues with the body or strap. And it does what I need it to do: carry the right amount of stuff: less contingency things and just the essentials, which is a habit that I need to work on.

And it just looks nice. The design is great: no weird flap that you usually see on messenger bags, and the front / side pockets are great for easy access to stuff, freeing stuff from my pockets and whatnot.

The Stuff

Part of this process has been taking stock of what I need day-to-day, which generally breaks down to: things to write with, things to keep myself organized, and things to keep me entertained.

On the organizational front, something I've carried for years is a Lochby Tool Roll. I've had this for several years, and it's a great alternative to a pouch, because I don't need to root around for something: everything has its own slot.

I’ve presently loaded it up with a variety of pens — felt-tip, ballpoint, and fountain — a Blackwing pencil, pencil sharpener, and an Apple Pencil (Which I don’t really use that much, but it comes in handy sometimes.) I’ve also got a spoon and a small ruler, and a cheap box cutter.

For writing, I've got a couple of notepads in a Lochby Field Journal, another item that I've been using for years now. It's incredibly useful for taking notes throughout the day, either at work, board meetings, or when I have a story or random idea that I need to jot down. It's a little chaotic: I really should dedicated one of these booklets to fiction and another to stories, but I haven't gotten there yet (although I have since filled one up and another most of the way.

One notebook is a Rhodia spiral-bound that was a birthday gift for my uncle a couple of years ago. I've really liked this one, and it fits perfectly in there.

Also on the writing front, I‘ve had this iPad Pro for a long time, and while age has taken its toll (It could use a new battery), it’s still chugging along. I've been using this for various writing tasks when I'm away from my home computer, and it serves as a good streaming device for when I’m cooking or doing some repetitive task.

The newest upgrade for it is one of Apple's Magic Keyboards. Both my keyboard for my regular desktop and the folio for the iPad were giving me issues, and I found that this keyboard works well for both, so I've been carrying it with me. I need to get a case for it.

Back on organizational front, the other mainstay is my day planner. I picked this one up from Paper Source (which supplies Barnes & Noble), and it's pretty generic. It's been useful to get into the habit of physically writing things down, rather than just keeping it all on my phone.

One of the biggest changes that this bag has forced on me has been to limit myself to carrying one book to read. Carrying a book is a given – I never know when I'll be stuck somewhere, and I've always got a couple going. But carrying one helps with decision paralysis. (If I need more than one book, I’ll stick it/them in a tote bag.) I took these pictures earlier this spring, when I was reading Choir of Hatred, but I currently have The Faith of Beasts in there now.

The other things that I typically have on me: a KeySmart, which is like a pocketknife but for keys, along with an AirTag because I keep misplacing them. The Rhodia dotpad is what I've been using for my daily to-do list, and it slots nicely into one of the front pockets. My wallet is a Lochby Sidekick (which I wrote about here), and my AirPod Max headphones, which go everywhere with me. After 5ish years of use, their battery life and reliability have gone down a bit: I’ll still get a good couple of hours out of them (and I’m generally near a plug).