Esquire’s Guide to the Best Everyday Carry Essentials You Can Buy

There’s something charming about the notion of “Everyday Carry.” Contemporary life has made the stationery, the pens, the watches we love effectively redundant. But we're past the #menswear era, where Instagram was new, everything was sepia-toned, and people were emptying out their pockets for the grid. On the surface level at least, you can walk out your front door with nothing more than an iPhone and successfully navigate the world. But where’s the fun in that?

At Esquire, we advocate for a combination of the classic, the modern, and the anachronistic. Sure, you don’t need to carry around a pocketknife, but you might surprise yourself in how useful you find an old-school Case Trapper. And in an increasingly divided world, it’s fun to think of the through-lines that unite us. When else could tactical mil-spec lovers have stuff in common with an anarchist line cook who has something in common with a dirtbag river guide and a bespoke suit and Gucci loafer-wearing city dweller who properly moisturizes? It all comes down to what’s in our pockets.

So, we pulled together a guide for our favorite things to carry around, well, every day. A little bit low-brow, a little bit high-brow, and a lot in between, there’s something for every sort of guy on this list. What do they have in common? They’re all beloved by our editors.

There’s a reason most of us mutter “wallet, phone, keys” and tap our pockets as we walk out the door every morning. The wallet forms the base of our pyramid of everyday essentials. A wallet is a personal thing, and we’ll try not to be too prescriptive here, but there are a few best practices. Think slim, front pocket if you can; we’re trying to avoid uneven glutes and long-term spine issues. Leather is best. Also, don’t be afraid to mix it up. We like a slim designer cardholder for credit cards with a separate money clip for bills. The only rule we abide by: cash is still king.

We’ve skipped the phone (assuming you're probably reading this on it right now) and gone to the third member of our everyday carry trinity, the keys. Or more accurately, key rings. These options offer a happy medium between loose keys floating in your pockets and the janitor’s key ring phenomenon, often seen paired with double-knee pants by guys who don’t own a car. Esquire commerce editor Luke Guillory, a Georgia Bulldawg, is partial to Dunhill's cheeky English bulldog mascot and is fully aware the price tag is outrageous. Personally, I like the James Brand Hardin carabiner enough to own two: one for at home, and one when I’m traveling to use on a rental car. A little neurotic? Sure, but it pays to have a system.

If there’s one thing you should always have on you, it’s a good knife. Modern life requires fewer and fewer tools, more and more chargers. That’s to everyone’s detriment. If you don’t regularly carry a knife, you’ll find it handy for more than one aspect of contemporary life. Opening packages from Amazon’s latest sale? Sure. But more importantly, slicing into a wheel of brie, opening a real letter from your real friend, shotgunning a beer. (Plus, they're just fun to collect.) I’m an on-the-record fan of Opinel but also love the strangely named and Michigan-based GiantMouse.

Point one: Sunglasses look cool. Point two: they’re also necessary. My grandfather has a rather aggressive form of macular degeneration, a scary, but manageable condition where one can lose their central vision over time. He constantly reminds us to wear sunglasses to protect our eyes, something I never had to be told twice. I love a good pair of sunglasses. And so do famous guys. The usual suspects: McQueen, Redford, Bourdain, and the less usual but no less iconic Robin Williams on a triathlon bike. Find a shape that works with your face and then buy a couple of variations of said frame and wear ‘em everywhere. Cost can vary. For me, sunglasses are worth the splurge. I sometimes pay the price, like these Vuarnet Belvedere 007s that were swiped from my table at a recent wedding. Still worth it. But if you’re the kind of guy who needs to AirTag his keys, I’d steer you to the excellent and budget-friendly Huckberry Sunseekers. Or do what my grandfather still does and get some drugstore fitovers like you’re watching a 3D movie in a 2003 Cinemax.

No secret that Esquire loves a wristwatch. Divers, field watches, dress watches. We love ‘em all. We also get that for the uninitiated, buying a watch can be intimidating. The prices range widely and, like all subgroups of the male special interest groups, watch enthusiasts can be loud with their own opinions and derisive of others. Don’t listen to those guys. Everything around you has a clock, so if you’re going to strap one on your wrist you might as well have fun doing it. You can’t go wrong with the classics like the Hamilton Khaki Field or the humble (but mighty) Timex. Or take our advice and buy a Rolex. And when in doubt, know that there are some very affordable secondhand options on eBay’s verified sellers page.

I once snuck out for a three-Guinness lunch on a work trip to Albuquerque. Generally, you should avoid Irish Pubs in a city famous for Hatch green chile, but this was the exception that proved the rule. It also happened to be across the street from a shop called “Larry’s Hats and Antique Jewelry,” which I wandered in with the intention of buying my wife a turquoise ring and wandered out with said ring and one for myself: a sterling silver signet engraved with a bear. I wear it every day, and if I happen to forget it, one of my kids usually asks where it is. This remains, in my mind, the best way to find a piece of jewelry, other than a friendship bracelet made for you by aforementioned children. We’ve written guides to bracelets, necklaces, and rings, but here’s a quick rundown: start small, start sentimental, and see where that takes you. I’ve got a Petoskey stone bracelet from my home state brand Shinola that feels like a tribute to the Great Lakes, but a slim silver cuff like this one from Mejuri is a great way to start. And if you're new to rings, remember not to go full Captain Jack Sparrow off the bat; some discretion goes a long way.

We could go on all day about stationery. We’ve got a larger guide to this, but, essentially, letter writing and knowing how to use a pen shouldn’t be a lost art. It doesn’t have to be a fussy fountain pen, a ballpoint works fine, but you should always carry something to write with. Don’t be the guy at the bank or the post office or, God forbid, an important meeting, scrambling to borrow a writing utensil. And what’s the point of a pen without something to write on? Doodling on cocktail napkins is all well and good, but a proper notebook is a gift from above. That said, we’re all writers here at Esquire, so we’re professionally susceptible to the siren song of fresh Moleskines and their promise of a deep relationship with a muse or finished manuscript.

I spent a year living in Jakarta and commuting via motorcycle taxi. The air quality was... not great. Riders and passengers often wore buffs or neck gaiters to protect their lungs. I preferred an outlaw-style bandana, which doubled as a way to battle equatorial-induced sweat. I moved to the Southwest next, where, if anything, my bandana addiction flourished in the dry heat of Arizona’s high desert. Along the way, I’ve learned why those gentlemen in classic movies carried a handkerchief in their suit pockets. Use it as a pocket square, use it as a cast iron pot holder, tie it around your neck, pass it to a girl crying into her cocktail at the local Esquire-approved watering hole. You’re only limited by your imagination.

I’m on a quest to make my smartphone as dumb as possible. Music, maps, occasional photos, the like. This means I carry around more shit than I need. A little point-and-shoot, usually bought from an eBay lot of used film cameras. A slim book that fits into a pocket so I can stare at something in line other than my social feed and attempt to restore my attention span. This occasionally backfires, like when I left my wife’s copy of Rilke on an uncovered portion of our front porch during a thunderstorm (something she’s finding out for the first time reading this. Sorry, honey). But mostly, it’s a practice in intention. Take a book and take a camera, and you’ll find yourself using both. It’s not performative if you actually read the thing. To round it all out, I’ve learned to pack a flask and a lighter too. Not that you should use them every day, but when you need them, you need them. I still have a leather-wrapped J.Crew flask I bought online at 18 with my first debit card, but this one from barware experts Death & Co is a great contemporary pick. Lighters, like most other things, are better when they’re Western-themed. Mine is a dead-stock Zippo from Mask Santa Fe. European gold or lacquer from the likes of Dunhill and S.T. Dupont are Esquire's more sophisticated favorites. Keep both topped up with their respective fluids, and you’ll be more prepared than a Boy Scout.