About: Furniture hacker. Author of Guerilla Furniture Design, out now. Find me on Twitter and Instagram @objectguerilla.

“It's best to have your tools with you. If you don't, you're apt to find something you didn't expect and get discouraged.” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Every Day Carry (EDC) is a small collection of useful things. It is also a system for framing the world through the lens of action, multiplying one's ability (real or imagined) to get stuff done. A whole collection of blogs, threads, and forums have sprung up around the phenomenon. Large companies have started to market around the trend, creating EDC categories for knives. Instructables itself also has a thriving EDC sector. The obsession extends to containers for toting around all the EDC stuff. Handsome, refined, bespoke off-the-shelf kits exist, but they are expensive.

Recently, I had occasion to make a set of groomsmen gifts, and decided on an EDC kit inside a book. Held closed with powerful magnets, it made for a small, unobtrusive case for a great set of tools. I made some mistakes along the way (documented here), and none of them came out quite perfect, but they are all sturdy companions for the daily challenges of life. Mix-and-match components and compartments to fine-tune for your own needs. If you need help tracking down the best, look at Kevin Kelly's excellent blog, Cool Tools.

Each one, including the contents, cost about $65. Relatively simple, you can build one in a few hours with off-the-shelf parts.

You will need these materials:

- Approx. 36" of 1/2" x 1/2" basswood (don't get balsa, too flimsy and splitty)

- Approx. 36" of 3/8" x 1/8" basswood

- 3 #10 washers

- 3 1/8" of 1/4" neodymium magnets

- 10" x 12" x 1/16" thick sheet silicone rubber

- Can of rubber adhesive (don't skimp, get 3M, contact cement won't work)

- Wood glue

- Gorilla Glue

- Knife

- Flashlight

- Spare batteries

- Pencil

- Permanent marker

- Pen

- Multi-tool

- Flash drive

You will need these tools:

- Box cutter

- Pull or craft saw

- Small miter box

- Drill

- Large binder clips (to use as clamps)