I absolutely hate going through lists of equipment trying to find the right balance of preparedness without going into insane doomsday prepper territory when it comes to creating lists of normal, mundane equipment for a new character in D&D 3.5. Does anyone know of, or have handy, a generic list of things that everyone should have?

I would also be interested in lists for magical items but those are less important than the non-magical ones.

If you have the Player's Guide II, they've got a nice adventurer's starting pack you can snag on pg216.

Pathfinder has a series of kits based on class that follow the same function as the PHBII standard adventurer's kit, but also includes class necessities. They also tend to be cheaper, because it skips the unnecessarily expensive items that are in the SAK (namely, the sunrods get replaced by torches).

I was kinda hoping for a bit of a... I dunno, cooler suggestion? Maybe some stuff that's not necessarily essential, but super useful? I like the Sunrods, they're different and interesting, and don't need lit on fire like torches do.

You said generic stuff everybody should have, so you got essentials.

I don't know if it counts as "cooler", but you might find the extra kits in Dungeonscape to be more up your alley. A lot more expensive, usually, because they're fond of either lots of single-use magic items or one or two big boys, but they're good stuff, especially if you're missing party roles. Cleric-in-a-Box is a favorite. Dungeonscape also has a nice little list of essential magic items that come in handy a lot, but aren't just the typical boots of elvenkind.

One of my favorite generic-adventurer magic items also comes from that book, the dancing lantern. The intelligent version is a little spendy at 10,300gp, but having a little buddy floating along and lighting up enemies for you is really handy, especially if your GM is a stickler for lighting rules or you fight a lot of critters with light blindness that might not appreciate getting a spotlight to the face.

Honestly, you could probably make your own.  I've found that about half of the items that appear on the starting kits end up being useless once you get a level or two.

Ultimite Equipment volume I & II might be what you want.

Chalk is helpful for marking your way in dungeons. A small hand mirror is nice for peeking around corners (and I wish I had had one on my latest adventure). Caltrops are handy for laying around the boundaries of camp. Marbles, too! A few iron spikes are nice for jamming open doors.

Things like handy haversacks and bags of holding are invaluable for storage.

An ioun torch is handy for hands-free light.

And of course a 10' pole.

A bag of holding or similar so you don't have to worry about how far is too far on the preparedness scale. You can then carry everything (and the kitchen sink) and not worry! lol.

It's hard to just give a list. Different characters have different needs and priorities in different circumstances. A drow character I'm currently playing (Pathfinder) does carry chalk, but it's more to draw white web patterns on her black skin than anything else. For mapping the Underdark she's using a repurposed spellbook from the corpse of a dead caster and ink. She has darkvision so there's no need for a light source. She carries a couple potions of invisibility because if there's a TPK she wants nothing to do with it, etc.

For the not entirely generic stuff perhaps think about the situations that your character is concerned about and get an item that would solve those problems.

Most GMs won't be sticklers for the mundane equipment because the focus is on the game and playing. However, if your game revolves around resource management, then a list is always good.

Basics: Backpack and belt pouches for holding stuff.
Bottles or waterskins for holding potable fluid or collecting new fluids
Rope (Silk is best for weight) is good for rappelling and climbing, rigging up traps, or just tying up captives.
10' Pole is hilarious, not practical, but still recommended to 'find traps'.
A mess kit so you can cook and eat a meal in a reasonable manner (utensils are recommended)

Pitons or spikes to use with rope or prop open doors, wedge open gates, or spike them closed.
Caltrops and marbles are good for impeding ground movement

Torches are cheap, Ioun torches are relatively new but great for light. Lanterns, especially hooded were the go-to back in the day. Continual light cast on a rock or coin is handy to have in a pinch. Toss it in a lantern and no need to purchase oil.

Bedroll and tent are optional but sleeping is handy. You can wrap yourself in a cloak/cape and rest your head on the backpack. Sleep rules only care about wearing armor, not about how you sleep.

Depending on your profession or skills tools can make life easier:
Lock picks for opening locks, various crafts gain bonuses for having tools. Bards usually have a musical instrument. Scroll cases for maps or actual scrolls, again optional.

Appropriate clothes - Cold Weather, Warm Weather, fashionable or disguise worthy is also optional. That's more for flavor unless you play a campaign built around extreme weather.

That covers 90% of what most adventurers will carry. Anything else is either very specific or for a theme.

I've seen players have wheelbarrows, sometimes shovels and picks, in anticipation of hauling out a lot of loot. Seriously, handy haversacks and bags of holding are your best friend and make it easier when dungeon delving than a wheelbarrow.

Most games once past the first couple of levels never focused on equipment and just moved to the adventure. But maybe you get the bookkeeping GM who cares about resource management to the mundane level. Once you can fly, make dimensional pockets, and have force discs follow you around, mundane equipment matters less and less.

Hope that helps.