A new idea for 2020, the carry-all utility vest

I very often get quite amazingly great ideas, absolutely world-class, game-changing ideas. Especially when I’m out walking, or trying to fall asleep (these two seldom occur at the same time), and naturally after figuratively slapping my own back in exultation, I think that I’ll put this in my mental bank of great ideas that should be worked on more. This mental bank quite likely contains at least a two-digit number of uniquely splendid ideas at this point. You’ll be disappointed to hear that retrieving them from storage is not as easy as submitting them.

Which, in a roundabout way, leads me to the idea that has been fermenting in my mind for the past week. The carry-all vest (ok, the name is a work in progress), a waistcoat with pockets for all the items you might need in a regular day, spaced and placed for comfort and access. And this would naturally include a notebook and pen, to replace my pretty dysfunctional mental bank. Different people would have different items they might need, so the size and number of pockets would be different.

The hard part is really in coming up with the stuff you might need. Since the advent of the smart-phone, my pockets have steadily fewer items in them. Yet, even though my phone has an adequate function for taking notes, I rarely use it, as I detest typing more than a few words at a time on the tiny and annoyingly inaccurate keyboard. So maybe having an old-school pen and notebook might work better? Some of the items I’ve laid out usually live in my backpack, or the “black hole of forgotten”, as I tend to think of it, as once in there I rarely think about them or find them. Other items can usually be found around the house, but rarely used as they are never to hand.

There is a term on social media called EDC, or everyday carry, where people show what they carry around every day. I’m not one to judge, but I’m often amazed at the sort of stuff people carry around, and the size of the pockets necessary. Unless they’re just flexing a lot of cool stuff for the sake of a photo. And this is a point, it would be silly to include a bunch of useless stuff in the carry-all concept. Or include stuff with a physical format that is entirely at odds with fitting into a pocket on the upper body.

The carry-all utility vest, for your everyday carry needs.

What I show on the photo here though is the actual stuff I found in my pockets, in my black hole of forgotten and after a quick scan around the house. Ok, the mini engineering slide-rule is a hipster affectation and has never actually been used (though it looks great on a photo). The trench whistle is more of a comfort item than something that sees daily use, the knife as well, given the flow of honesty I’m currently divulging. It might be though if I had it with me. There is a great saying along the lines of “the best camera is the one you carry with you”, explaining how most of the photos taken today are taken using the camera on a smart-phone.

Garment-wise, I think something like the underlying vest would work well. Full of body, space for pockets both front and rear, outside and inside, if necessary. That’ll be the least of the problems. Shaping the various pockets, determining the need for a flap or not, which contrasting fabrics to make them in and so forth, that will be fun.

I’m interested though, what do you think, fellow men of garms?