Five EDC Tips
After listening to a good episode of Carried Away, Bernard and Mikie’s podcast, I thought I would outline things I think about when it comes to gear. Of the common aphorisms, only buy once, cry once is true. The rest, especially one is none, are the workings of brain worms trying to get you to buy and carry more shit you don’t need.
Tip 1: You don’t need a lot of stuff.
While Mors Kochanski’s advice about gear is always true (the more you know the less you need to carry), this is a bit different. Instead, this is just an observation about modern life. Unless you live on a ranch or in a remote part of the world, most likely you don’t need a lot of tools. Spaces are well lit, packages are straightforward to open, and you will have utensils around when preparing and eating food. You can get by with very, very little. As I have written before, my phone ate my wallet and my keys. Now I basically carry a wallet and I wear a watch. Without the EDC stuff I carry, this is everything. Now, I want to expand my ability to handle some problems so I will drop a light and a tool into my pocket. I don’t carry a bag. I have no firearms. I have never carried a pill capsule. I don’t carry a pen or a journal. The pen fell away when I got my Remarkable 2 and I have never carried a journal. I have sunglasses, but I leave them in my car. In the end, I just don’t carry a lot of stuff and the addition of just two tools—a light and a some kind of cutting tool—gives me all of the expanded capabilities I need. When not reviewing new gear, I typically default to a handful of things based on the tasks ahead of me for the day:
General tasks
Tool: Spyderco Dragonfly in 20CV, TRM N2, or Victorinox Compact with PDW Scales
Light: Reylight Mini Pineapple v3, 47s Mini Turbo Mk. 3, or the Zebralight SC65
Work Around the House (same lights)
Tool: Compact, Leatherman Skeletool, Spyderco PM2 Ultra, and ESEE 4HM
Office
Tool: Compact, Anso Aros, Sharp by Designs Mini Evo v2, Chris Reeve Small Sebenza, Millit Torrent v3
Light: Prometheus Lights Ti Beta QR with clip, Kosen x Malkoff VME, and McGizmo Haiku with 4s Drop In
Outside of review samples, this covers my carry rotation like 90-95% of the time.
So if you are starting out or you are rethinking your EDC, start here—carry as little as possible and see how it works. By carrying less you can afford to buy nicer things. This, in turn, will allow you to boost the performance of those tools you do carry and you will be able to do more with less. It doesn’t hurt if you also take the Kochanski route and learn how to do things too.
Tip 2: Take a layered approach.
It is a bit misleading to say I only carry two things. While technically true I have other stuff stashed various places. I have a tiered or layered approach to problem solving items—person, bag, away from home, and then home, with each layer being more robust and comprehensive than the one before it.
The Bag Layer
I have a bag, my Tom Bihn Cadet, which is still going strong, I take to work and that has other stuff in it—my laptop, my charging kit, my earbud headphones, a pen, my Remarkable (this picture is a bit out of date—I have dropped the wallet, swapped out the laptop, and dropped the paper portfolio in exchange for the Remarkable 2). If I am traveling I have my Alpha One Niner Evade 1.5 backpack and I usually carry my laptop and charging kit, plus a Kindle. Here is the thing though, I don’t often carry the backpack. On the weekend, I almost never carry it. During the weekday, unless I am on vacation, it’s the Cadet, if I carry any bag. On a day trip, I usually carry nothing other than my phone, watch, tool, and light. These two bags offer portable solutions that expand my capabilities.
The Away from Home Layer
Beyond this I have my car, which has a knife and light (the Spartan Talos and the Streamlight 1L-AA), some of my medications, some semi-non-perishable food items (granola bars), and in the winter, a pair of boots and gloves. At work, I have some additional redundancy with my car and I add in a range of charging and cable options.
The Workshop Layer
At home in my workshop I have tools that will allow me to do most anything—install an outlet, build a table, cut metal, and so on. My workshop, in many ways is my EDC writ large. It is also one of my favorite places in the world. It has a thoughtful layout, clever homemade solutions, and selection of really nice tools.
Inside the Workshop Layer is my homemade tool box, which I can use to go to other locations, do work around the house, or fix or create things on my property.
The key to this approach is that I have different levels of capability at each layer. On my person I have a pair of tools that let me do quite a bit. In my bags my tools do more, in my car and at work, even more still, and then when I finally reach the most sophisticated array of tools, my workshop, I can do most everything. Again, Kochanski’s advice holds—the more you know the less you need to carry, but I am not above using a pocket hole jib to build fine furniture. If it NEEDS a dovetail, I am ready. If it doesn’t, I use what is most practical. And that holds true regardless of the layer I am using—my pocket, my bags, my away from home options, or my workshop.
Tip 3: Push stuff to the limit, and then, and only then, upgrade.
You have a favorite. At the time it was released with state-of-the-art materials. Then 4 months after you bought it new, better stuff comes out and 2 months after that, your favorite is released with those new materials. What do you do? The correct answer is nothing. I have had an S45VN Small Sebenza 31 for a few years now. I do think Magnacut is a better steel, but I haven’t “upgraded.” Why? Because I don’t really need that extra performance. A lot of the stuff in the EDC world is quite good, even at cheap prices. The Ozark Grail’s D2 ain’t bad. I could probably live forever with a well-ground 14c28n blade like the Civivi Lumi. A 219C emitter is plenty good enough, even if the dedomed 719 emitter on my Zebralight SC65 is spectacular.
This piece of advice came from the guys on the woodworking podcast Wood Talk. In that context it had to do with the incremental upgrades that naturally occur in product releases versus something like the Sawstop skin detection technology. I bring this up because some safety upgrades are probably always worth it. Seat belts, gun safeties, and saws that can cut wood but never human flesh are probably worth it. In the gear world we rarely if ever see these huge safety upgrades, but it is one place where an upgrade is almost always worth it. When I can afford it, my Delta is going to be replaced.
Tip 4: Buy stuff you can maintain.
I am still kind of amazed at the popularity of razor blade holders and razor blade knives. The idea that I would want a disposable blade, something that is thin, has limited utility, could break or chip easily, is made of poor quality steel, and costs some bit of money to replace is sort of insane to me. But if you don’t know how to sharpen a blade or you're overly gentle with your stuff, I guess they make sense. But both these problems, being unable to sharpen and worried about use, can be solved pretty easily if you know how to take care of your stuff. First, go learn to sharpen a knife. It is a skill that will serve you well for the rest of your life. It’s easy to learn, the tools can be had for pretty cheap, and the results, with a bit of experience, can be stunning. Second, you should learn how to clean and oil your stuff. I think you should be able to disassemble and reassemble your gear, but if you can’t do that you should at least have the knowledge and tools to really give everything a thorough cleaning and get it back into shape. I am preparing for an annual camping trip and I dug my fixed blade out of storage only to find that it was put away (by someone else) in gunky and dirty shape. I was able to clean it and get it hair popping sharp pretty easily. Some Goo-B-Gone and compressed air go a long way. Finally, don’t be afraid to show stuff some love. WD40 is probably the third most important liquid you have in your residence (you have some, right? RIGHT?!?!?!?!) after water and fuel. I like Minwax’s paste wax for wood components like axe and hatchet handles, and Odies Oil can go on metal and wood and even leather. Nothing beats putting on some tunes and giving your gear a thorough sharpening and cleaning. If you happen to do all this on your front porch when some teen boy with a terrible haircut picks up your daughter for a date, just realize how old you are and that you have become a cliche.
Tip 5: Go small.
One of the things that I think people don’t realize is just how unfun the carry part of everyday carry can be. Lugging around five and half pounds of metal, G10, and carbon fiber can be a real challenge, especially in summer months or when doing strenuous work or exercise. So try to minimize the number of items you carry and the size and weight of each item. Lynn Thompson, who is one of the best people in the community at tongue and cheek humor, once said that you should carry a big knife because a big knife can do everything a little knife can plus stuff only a big knife could do. This is wrong on two accounts and proves this point. First, if you have carried something like the Espada XL or the CRKT XOC you will quickly realize that their size can be a real detriment, especially when trying to do detail work. Cutting an apple with the Espada XL kind of feels like you are trying to squeeze into a desk in a kindergarten classroom. Second, you are much more likely to skip carrying something if it is massive. When something is small enough to drop in a pocket and not notice it is there, it will stay part of your EDC much, much longer. On the very hottest days of the summer I will often carry a Sofrin SC01 connected to a Spyderco Jester with a split ring. In total the carry is about 1.1 ounces. And almost every time, it has been far more than enough. Regardless of the weather, you’d be hard pressed to find a truly everyday task that can’t be accomplished by a Victorinox Compact. And, if you apply Tip 3 from above, you start small, push it to its limit and then upgrade. Over 15 years of carry my carry has shrunk in size dramatically. Many years before the website started, my carry was a 2xAA flashlight from Eddie Bauer and a Cold Steel Recon with a 4” tanto blade.
If you are careful and thoughtful with your gear it will serve you well for decades. My oldest pieces of kit are still going strong and I imagine that will be true a decade from now. This stuff is supposed to help you out in life and make your life a bit easier. It is not supposed to be a burden or a hassle. Follow these five tips and EDC won’t be something that you feel like you have to manage. It will just work.
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