I live with very few things, 137 in fact. They all fit in hand luggage and I carry them with me. I have done this now for over six years and in that time I have become very aware of the total weight of my stuff because, well… sometimes my shoulders hurt.
In addition to being a minimalist I’m also a bit of a geek and one of the tools I developed about five years ago was a spreadsheet of my things with some interesting metadata:
Once I had the list, I could do some cool analysis on the data in true geek-out fashion. Frankly I do this mostly for fun but it is also kinda useful.
I categorise my 137 things according to 21 categories which broadly fall in to four groupings:
- Luggage (Category 1)
- Clothing (Categories 2 – 12; Shoes, Boxers, Socks, Tees, Tops, Pants etc)
- Gear (Categories 13-17; Misc Gear, Packing, Carry, OSK and Dopp)
- Tech (Categories 18-21; Laptop, Techbag, MiscTech and EDC; Every Day Carry)
This allows me to do some cool analysis:
Weight Management
This was the start of my journey in to data analysis; where can I drop the excess weight? Certainly some interesting metrics here, the heaviest thing I own, it transpires, is not my laptop, or my Dr Martens… but the wheeled case I use to lug it all, in fact my luggage accounts for nearly a quarter of my carried weight (in red).
I feel this is currently justified as I am not simply backpacking my way around the world – I still have to work so need to carry a suit and an umbrella and the trappings of the office environment. I also need to look semi professional, so the roller does it for me. Nice to know that if I was able to quit my job and disappear off around the world I could pack everything in a backpack and travel even lighter.
The blues in the above pie charts represent the various categories of clothing – interesting to note that clothing represents less than half of my carried weight, just 7.08Kg. Of course carried weight does not include the clothing I travel in.
Insurance
How much have you spent on your stuff? If you lost it, do you know how much it would cost to replace? If you only have 137 things it turns out it’s pretty easy to calculate, and pretty reassuring to know how much I’d need to claim on my insurance should the worst happen.
By recording the amount I paid for each item, the vendor and the date I purchased it I stand a good chance of replacing like for like in the event of disaster or, more likely, re-ordering when something fails (I am not a keen shopper). It’s also reassuring to note that my most expensive items are also my most oft-used belongings; laptop and phone. Spending done right.
By recording an estimated ‘lifespan’ of each item I can also calculate each item’s current worth – given my recent tech spending it’s not a huge surprise to see so much green. Taking this one step further I can actually calculate the daily depreciation of my belongings. Apparently each sleep costs me £6.60… which is cheaper than an AirBnB.
Asset Management
Yeah OK… with 137 things how important is asset management? Moreover who the hell does asset management on their belongings?
Turns out I do.
Recording the date of purchase and the estimated lifespan enables me to monitor the ‘life remaining’ of the items I own. This enables me to predict failure (basic FMECA right here) and plan financially since many of the items I own, notably the merino clothing, is not so cheap to replace.
My most recent purchases include my newly replaced Icebreaker Anatomica Boxers and my new laptop (more on that in my 2018 Gear post), associated tech (it’s a USB-C powered machine which, of course, necessitated some new USB-C gadgets). It would appear that my tees are nearing end of life (which is true – two of them have holes now) and my Extras (tie and belt) are on their way too.
I refine the ‘lifespan’ fairly regularly – boxers only last a year but tees last three, the lifespan for my belt is an estimated twenty years which is probably OK since I bought it in Hawaii in 2000. Moreover I probably don’t need to worry about replacing much else just yet… which is nice.
Also; my motto of monochrome simplicity does not apply to my Excel spreadsheets (or my Powerpoint presentations for that matter).
took a camping holiday in the South of France. The holiday was run by Sunsites who offered a ‘Magpie Club’ for kids. I remember it being a lot of fun; playing games, sports and earning coloured stickers through completing tasks. The gold and silver stickers were the most sought after and one day we were given a scavenger hunt task. I did not win. In fact I came last as I was unable to locate a tea bag. I earnt no gold or silver stickers that day. This scarred me and from that day forward I carried many of the things on the scavenger list in my pocket just in case. This included a tea bag which would regularly split in my pocket… a small price to pay, I felt.
I carry the OSK with me on a daily basis and the contents are designed to be TSA friendly so even the hyper paranoid security at Sydney (who confiscate TSA approved scissors and screwdrivers) can unclench. My most recent addition to the OSK is the case itself; an 
In terms of First Aid I carry:
last two years, I have been using the Sea to Summit UtraSil 20L Daypack which is a marvel of efficiency weighing a mere 72g and packing down to something little bigger than a tennis ball. It’s durable, fairly water resistant and spacious and I actually like it a lot.
I recently discovered and purchased the Matador Freerain 24; a slightly larger, more expensive but altogether more feature rich daypack. The Matador addresses all of my issues with the S2S. With water bottle pockets on either side I’m spoilt for choice and despite being made from exactly the same Silnylon as the S2S, the Matador offers a much more impressive support and structure with a double layer face and thick but light and breathable shoulder straps.
It’s very easy to come across as judgemental or even ‘preachy’ when discussing life choices, and of course there is no right answer. For me, a happy life means simplicity and while I recognise that my approach is unlikely to work for you, here’s what works for me:
Way back in September 2015 I discovered a Kickstarter by the name of Libertad. Kyle wanted to make ‘the perfect travel shirt’ with the two guiding principles of ‘style’ and ‘performance’.
The Libertad shirt was due to ship in January 2016 so I figured I could hold out on Icebreaker until then. Of course, as is common with Kickstarters, the inescapable delays began. While it’s easy as a consumer to get angry as the months roll on I really did feel for Kyle as he constantly kept his core faithful up for date with all the gory details of delays due to the small order size, issues with packaging and crucially issues with the initial weave of material. Eventually – just before Christmas 2016 the emails came that the shirt was about to ship. By then my initial batch of five Icebreaker Departure shirts had all failed and Icebreaker had discontinued them (presumably because of the poor construction). I had scavenged amazon.com and managed to secure three from some US outdoor store’s stockpile at outrageously inflated prices but after a few months even they were on their way out with small seam tears.
Just before New Years 2016 my Libertad shirt arrived. I’d opted for a Medium ‘tapered’ shirt and the first time I tried it on I was in love (apologies for the less than impressive photo). The cut is fantastic; Outlier make a big deal about their ‘pivot’ sleeves allowing full arm movement in a shirt, the Libertad shirt has a variant of this which is freeing but doesn’t result in bunched up parachutes behind the armpits when arms are not outstretched. The shoulder and chest is spacious but not baggy and the midriff perfectly pulled in a modern tapered cut that still allows room for a pasta lunch (if you know what I mean).
There are some lovely features too – like a separate pen pocket within the chest pocket, a secret internal pocket, double buttons on the cuffs for a more fitted look. It also has a convertible cuff allowing for cufflinks for that altogether more professional look. It washes beautifully – even at home (low temperature – hang dry), requiring no ironing. The same could not be said for either of the W&P shirts.
In my 
BLACKSHINE 