Hi all,

I am a graduate student living car free in Michigan. I have a bad collar bone that doesnt carry weight very well which means that I am limited to shoulder bags. I also have to leave my bike parked outside on a large campus all day so I cant leave my tools on it. The shoulder bag means that I can not carry a ton of weight around all day without causing some sore back muscles and that situation is only going to get worse as I get older.

My question for you is what you think I should take with me on my rides? The ride to and from work is about 4 miles and takes me somewhere between 15-20 minutes. There are bus routes around with bike racks on them should something unfixable break but that means I would probably be late for something.

Right now I carry a bulky multi tool, a Topeak mini morph pump that is pretty light but does take up some space in the bag, as well as a patch kit and tire levers. Not to mention head and rear tail lights, a seat cover, and special tool to remove my antitheft wheel bolts.

I am thinking about ditching just all of that except for the lights and just deal with being late for class or whatever 1-2 days a year. I have yet to have a flat in Lansing and run reasonable heavy duty tires. On the other hand I also highly enjoy being independent and not taking the walk of shame....

What do you carry with you and why?