it does tend to drive me insane when guys carry 3 knives, 2 guns,an IFAK, cell phone, Ipad and back up cell.
but then they break out their backpack or briefcase and carry more crap. then in their trunk they have BoB and an AK with folding stock for SHTF while at work.
Yeah, it's hard to keep up when your buddies keep raising the bar.
And we haven't even touched on tactical diaper bags or EDC medical supplies for, say, someone suffering severe Type II diabetes. Managing a pump is something I hope I never have to hassle. Daily port insertions - it's a plastic hypo that stays in for hours, plus injections before a meal, along with high sugar content candies when it overcompensates.
That bag really does need to be tactical grade, it's with you every minute you are out of the house, Bad enough I have a small one I take to carry prescription meds - and a Swiss Army knife, finger nail cutters, extra pens because people take them at work, etc etc etc, plus my lunch. Yeah, it's a "murse," a man - purse.
Men used them first in the day, carried all their fortune in "cash" in a wallet, plus other things like a clasp knife in them. Clothes didn't have pockets, pants didn't have belts, and we tended to overdress a lot more because there was very little heating available. If you went out, you were out - all day - no HVAC or whatever.
We carried EDC wallets and small packs then, as women were freed from the duties of houseservant and became equal, they adopted them too. Not having some means to carry convenience items might be nice for some - if it works for you, ok.
Just don't ask to use my stuff when you discover you do need it. Pocket knives are the best example, some never carry one, but get in a bind and they depend on others to provide. The difference is some can stand alone and make their way in life, others? Seem to lack some self sufficiency.
Laugh at the belt and suspenders approach if you like, that attitude is likely what started the others on not depending on anyone but themselves. All they got was a derisive sneer in a moment of need.
So, if your car stops dead in the road one night out in the middle of nowhere, chancy cell phone reception on the screen and the faint strains of banjo music drifting over the wind, can you pull a tool bag from the trunk and clean your battery terminals you've neglected since it was installed three years ago? Or just wait for sunrise and a passing motorist who DOES have the gear and knows how to use it? A bag of tools and some knowledge worth a $60 tow fee just to see someone brush off some crud and charge you another $120?
Man is known as a user of tools, I have mine in the trunk, others see them walking around their office all day.