TITAM - Technical issues that affected me

A little bit ago, I found myself wanting to install new garage cabinets.  So naturally I tended to wander into stores looking for new ones. Of course, I didn't carry a measuring tape or anything.  So figuring it out was a little harder than it should have been.  I wanted something for measuring I could keep with me. I checked all of the usual EDC forums and found this as the best suggestion: This is an ordinary tailors tape.  You can get these nowadays at the dollar store.  But this was too big for me. Other suggestions included carrying a proper, albeit small, measuring tape around.  Most were just as big or bigger than the blue sucker above. If you crack open the tailoring tape, you'll find half of the space is taken up by the spring that retracts it for you.  A waste of space, in my opinion. So I went ahead and created this: This is the cloth measuring tape from the tailoring tape wound around a common sewing bobbin.  This ...

OK, Altoids tins don't really suck, I guess.  Altoids themselves are pretty OK in my book, and the tins are admittedly an extremely handy item. However, EDC seems to be all the rage these days, and every EDC proponent wants to start with an Altoids tin for their first aid / survival / whatever kit. To which I say: Why??? I got a tin of Altoids.  That tin is HUGE!  Seriously!  It doesn't fit in my pocket, so how am I supposed to carry it with me?  I don't believe for one second that most people who claim this to be their "EDC" actually carry this tin around daily. Sure, maybe in a pocket of a bag or backpack, which you "always" have.  OK, fine, I guess.  The point is, it bothers me a bit that the standard "Altoids tin" kit has become such the de facto standard that nobody even thinks to question it anymore.  Sure, you need to start somewhere, and maybe that tin is what you want.  Maybe it's not.  How about sparing it a thought ...