That's pretty much how I took your post- you wanted a minimalist kit so that you would have items handy that you are more likely to use on a normal daily basis than an actual GHB type. On an average day I'm more likely to need to use the tweezers on my SAK to pull out a splinter than I am to need a 6" combat blade; I'm more likely to need to fix a shoe lace or put a piece of moleskin on a hotspot from dirt that got in my shoe than I am to need a chest seal. I started carrying lip balm because my ex was always losing hers and well, you can figure the rest; just a handy item to have and it actually has more uses, i.e. lubricating a sticky zipper. I may need an extra shell for the single shot 20ga I carry on the tractor but I can't recall the last time I used all five rounds on the butt cuff when I was bush-hogging (I think the last time I used it was to put a field rat out of its misery; just because I don't like them doesn't mean I'm going to let them suffer). Etc. etc. Learning to improvise can help you cover moe bases with less too.
I've got a lot more extensive kits/bags (like most here I probably have far more time and money wrapped up in all manner of mental scenarios and what-ifs- LOL). If I need more gear I'm going to grab a pack I can throw on my back that's already loaded with stuff in it, but realistically for most of what I'm doing I don't
need to carry much just walking around the hunt club or out for a run or short hike in the local woods.
Something else to think about, I don't like things on my chest for most of the year (here in the southeast where it's hot most of the year), I sweat and it just makes me hotter. The HPG is a good piece of kit, as are a lot of the chest rigs, but I'm just not a huge fan of carrying everyday type gear that way (yes, I like them for a fighting rig, but that's a different scenario). I'm honestly kind of surprised the Mountainsmith lumbar type bags have fallen out of favor (I know a couple of people who still use them both for hiking and trail running); HPG used to make a wildland firefighter bag that I thought would work well and I'd like to try one of their M2016 Butt Packs, but it's out of my price range.
ETA- Just another idea, you can find some of the less expensive airsoft gear that's actually decent enough quality if you want to try some variatious combinations. We're not talking tier 1, go to war stuff, but good enough for us guys who like trying out various items, are maybe getting a bit grayer (nope, not going to look over into the mirror, not going to do it- dang, I looked), etc. When you find what you like then spend the money supporting companies like Spiritus, Haley, HPG, etc. and keep the other gear as spares or maybe better yet, pass it along to help out others. I know I've passed along a lot of gear over the years helping out folks who were just getting started and didn't know what they wanted, didn't have much money or had other more pressing expenses like kids, etc.
Just more rambling since I like these sorts of exercises- I like this guy's channel (no affiliations or anything), he seems to put out common sense info with an eye towards optimizing flexibility and I've watched the evolution of the Full Tang Tactical chest pouch and I like the modularity of it. He's got some other good info on his channel too, like ditching the heavy Cordura and specialty type organizing pouches in favor of weight saving nysil, Ziplocs, etc.
