I dig EDC. It stands for Every Day Carry and refers to the essential gear we tote around on our person that helps get us through our daily tasks. In my online study of EDC, I stumbled upon a blog called simply, EDC. Pictures of EDC are uploaded to the site daily, mostly in the form of “pocket dumps” (see example), which involve emptying your pockets and dumping the contents on the table (and often arranging them with artistic flair). You’ll find lots of pocket knives, multi-tools, flashlights, pens, wallets, watches—tons of fundamentally gadgety stuff that people actually carry with them—but some other unique nuggets too. Check it out and you may find a new gadget that you never even knew you needed, or submit a pic of your own daily carry.
My EDC essentials are my iPhone 3GS, Skullcandy Full Metal Jacket earbuds, Leatherman Squirt PS4 mini multi-tool, G-Shock watch and wallet. What are yours?
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Why are they all caring knives ?
The knife is the most basic human tool. I’ve carried one everyday since I was 12 years old. I am now 46.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
@Mark – Well, for an accurate assessment, you’d have to ask all of them, but in my experience, a simple pocket-sized knife can be a very useful tool on a day-to-day basis. I don’t carry one with a blade as large as what is seen in most of the posted pics (I carry a small Leatherman Squirt PS4), but I find myself using it for something nearly every day. Back in my parents’ and especially grandparents’ time, it was not uncommon for men to carry a pocket knife or “pen knife.” These days, the selection of knives has exploded, and if you look around, you will probably see a lot of guys with a small knife clipped into their front pocket. For most, it’s simply a useful, handy tool.
I carry a knife daily. It is a tactical folder, and I carry it as a companion to my Glock 27…
I cannot imagine anyone who does NOT carry a knife.
@Andy Jacobs, in Ireland and England and most European countries it is illegal to carry a knife or concealed weapon and if found in possession of a knife and you can expect to be arrested and charged with carrying a dangerous weapon and depending on circumstances either an extended jail term of hefty fine and what ever other Penalties the judge deems fit to impose, i was in the scouts and have been camping and have owned both pen knifes and a 7inch utility knife for camping but i have never carried them in public i have only used them while i was camping out
Which is a great reason to never, ever live in such country. The knife is the most basic human tool. One should be carried by every person. There are no dangerous weapons. Only dangerous people.
I guess what constitutes EDC is highly personal. I can certainly see how a person who hikes or camps on a regular basis, or lives out in the countryside might need a knife frequently, but a city dweller would probably not need one on his person on a daily basis. Beyond opening product packaging, I cannot recall a single time when I wished I had a knife on me.
Some people should probably tone down the hyperbole. I would think not carrying a knife is hardly a good basis for choosing a country of residence. There ARE dangerous weapons, and there ARE dangerous people. And when you put them together, you get a tragedy waiting to happen.
@chriszzz & kendon81- I use my Kershaw tactical folding knife almost every day.
When Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote “the pen is mightier than the sword”, he was describing the power of words to influence people. In this decussion of “dangerous weapons” I have to point out that I can, in fact, kill with a pen. I don’t need a knife or gun, I could kill you with duct tape or a stapler. These highly deadly inanimate objects are not banned in society. Why? Left unused a pen, knife, or nuclear bomb is not dangerous. The danger is, and always has been, the human factor. Man will ALWAYS find ways to kill man. Get over it.
I choose to arm myself. I have a license to carry a firearm. I don’t harm society, and in a large way the law abinding citizens that are armed deter the criminal element. I lived in England for three years (when it was legal to carry a pocket knife or even buy a gun) and saw the damage that disarming the citizens has caused. Why would I want to live in a country where I don’t have the RIGHT to protect myself and my family from the criminal? Therefore, I don’t live in socialist Europe anymore.
I must say, it’s refreshing to see other gadgeteers with a mindset similar to my own. I’m also licensed to carry a firearm, do so daily, and hope to God the day never comes when I’m forced to use it on another human being. The decision to arm myself was not one I took lightly, but as a proponent of my right to defend myself I’m generally bashed and called names when I make mention of it on other tech forums. The Gadgeteer just raised itself a couple notches in my mind knowing that I’m among “friends” here…
I used my Spyderco Tenacious twice at work last night. I also used my SwissTool once and my Inova X5 LED flashlight twice. In just one 8 hour shift. I feel more naked without a blade than without clothing.
And yes, the ability to carry a knife would effect my choice on where to live. NO hyperbole at all. It saddens me that great nations have given up this basic right for the illusion of safety.
I’ve carried a Swiss Army Knife for at least 40 years
Use it daily, with all the built in attachments I can fix or open just about anything
I have instructed my family that I am to be buried with one, never know, I might be the only one in heaven that can open the beer bottles.
Although I agree you could kill with anything, even your bare hands, weapons just increase the harm inflicted and the number of people hurt/killed.
The pro-weapons and anti-weapons group will probably never come to an agreement on this issue. I live in a country where weapons are not allowed. It gives me great peace of mind that the guy next to me is not going to go postal and pull out a gun and blow everyone away. I shake my head in disbelief every other week when I read a report of some nutcase in the US killing his friends, family, party-goers, co-workers, or complete strangers with a gun over trivial things. Many of these attacks would not have been possible had the perpetrator not had access to a gun.
While you and other gadgeteers might be responsible members of society, there are many others who aren’t. And often, its impossible to tell who is and who isn’t. And also often, even responsible members of society might lose their head and do something stupid or rash.
Now of course you will disagree with me. That’s fine. We are all entitled to our own views.
@chriszzz
You are woefully ignorant of the crime rates in your country, before and after weapons legislation. And I can say that even though I don’t know what country you live in.
That’s because, in pretty much every single country that has instituted a ban on X (where X could be nearly any weapon), the ban does not affect the overall crime rate.
People still commit the same crimes, at the same rates, they just use weapon Y now, instead of weapon X.
What you also find is that banning weapon X will decrease certain types of crimes, but increase other types of crimes, and that the net difference is practically zero.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196941/The-violent-country-Europe-Britain-worse-South-Africa-U-S.html
The UK has both gun bans and knife bans, yet they still have higher levels of violent crime than countries without those bans.
Bans are just feel good measures that fail to address the underlying issues.
You really need to read the whole article. The definition of violent crime varies between countries so a lot of the supposed difference is a reporting artefact.
Sorry off-topic.
Michael
Quote:”There are no dangerous weapons. Only dangerous people.”
It’s like saying “There are no dangerous hand grenades only dangerous trigger pins!!!”
@thsu : As Michael has pointed out, you should read the article you posted. It clearly says “In Britain, an affray is considered a violent crime, while in other countries it will only be logged if a person is physically injured.” An affray is a public fight that disturbs the peace. Obviously, if the British include every public spat as a violent crime even if no one is injured, then their numbers would be higher.
The same article also says “There are also degrees of violence. While the UK ranks above South Africa for all violent crime, South Africans suffer more than 20,000 murders each year – compared with Britain’s 921 in 2007”. In other words, in UK, far fewer people get killed. I’ll bet far fewer people get injured as well compared to South Africa, or even USA.
In fact if you look up “Crime in the United States” in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States), it clearly says “The US homicide rate, which has declined substantially since 1991, is still among the highest in the industrialized world. There were 17,034 murders in the United States in 2006[30] (666,160 murders from 1960 to 1996).[31] In 2004, there were 5.5 homicides for every 100,000 persons, roughly three times as high as Canada (1.9) and six times as high as Germany (0.9). “.
If you look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_murder_rate, the homicide rate in the US is 4 times higher than UK, 10 times higher than in Hong Kong, and higher than most developed nations.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Wow. This is loads more discussion that I thought I’d kick off by basically asking people what they carry in their pockets. 😉 Lots of interesting info being exchanged above, but the one statement that sticks out to me was by chriszzz, who wrote, “I guess what constitutes EDC is highly personal.” I think that is exactly the point of the everyday-carry.com blog site–for people to share what items are essential to them in completing the tasks that of their every day lives.
The concept of citizens having an individual right to own and carry weapons is part of the fabric of American society, and is protected in Bill of Rights as the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
However, the US was not first to conceive of such a notion; elements of it had been established earlier in English law. Several reasons for the inclusion of this right in the Constitution were deterring undemocratic government, repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, facilitating a natural right of self-defense, participating in law enforcement, and enabling the people to organize a militia system. To me, the reasoning for the Second Amendment were and are sound. You may personally disagree with it, just as I respectfully disagree with the stance that many nations have taken in disarming their citizens.
Quote: “To me, the reasoning for the Second Amendment were and *are* sound.”
With all due respect to US constitution and the country itself which brought the world airplanes, internet, personal computers, and most important of all … Coca-Cola (!!!) 😉 … [and a lot of other things] …. I tend to doubt the *are* part in Andy’s comment. Being a Christian*(1) and living in a Muslim country I’ve come across (and I do on a daily basis) a lot of firmly cemented (let’s put it this way) beliefs and rituals just because it was said or written by the prophet himself. When you look at the history and circumstances, it made sense back then and they were sound advices, guidance, rules …*back then* … but no longer (with all due respect to my Muslim friends, most important fellow human beings) it’s very difficult for them to see it … as if it’s one of those things that a third-person view is almost necessary for getting a better big-picture. In my example, because these are more than one point and I have a third-person’s point of view, also because I see them on a daily basis, it’s relatively easier for me to notice it. I’m not taking sides, each opinion is respectable and valid in its own right but I just want to remind that people sometimes make similar mistakes in the similar situations.
(1) Armenia was the first kingdom in history to adopt Christianity as its state religion in 301 AD (I guess 11 years before Romans) this is a little interesting fact that can be used as a trivia quiz too! 🙂 because most people will think it was “Roman Empire”
@chriszzz
Taking your post-2000 data, here’s the pre-2000 homicide data: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate_to_1999
I bring that up because the UK gun and knife ban occurred in 1997.
Guess what happened to the homicide rate post-ban? It went up. The 10 years before the ban, homicide was between 1.04 to 1.24 per 100k. The 10 years after than ban, it was 1.43 to 2.06 per 100k.
That is, it was safer to live in any year pre-ban than it was to live in any year post-ban. That ban didn’t seem to work out that well for them, huh?
By the way, the USA homicide rate dropped in half during that same 20 year time frame.
@thsu : I’m glad we are having a civil discussion on this sensitive topic. Too often differing viewpoints degenerate into offensive name-calling on the Internet.
Strangely enough, despite your statistics about UK murders, the following article ( which is actually referenced from the Wikipedia articles ) reports that murder rate is now at its lowest level, even compared to the pre-ban rates : “The murder rate in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest level for 20 years with 651 deaths recorded in the 12 months to November 2009. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/21/murders-drop-home-office-figures 21 Jan 2010)
Crime rates are determined not only by the criminals, but also by the actual cases reported, and in cases like homicide, also dependent on the level of healthcare. Obviously, when healthcare improves ( as it did in the last 20 years ), the rates of deaths, and hence homicide, decreases.
But it still interesting to note that homicide rate in the US is much higher than other developed nations, which presumably would have similar levels of crime-reporting and healthcare. Perhaps there are special social reasons for this which goes beyond gun control. I guess this would be a topic that will never be fully understood for a long time.
OK, I’m going to talk about something more relevant to EDC, which is what is MY EDC. They are :
1. The usual stuff like wallet and keys.
2. My Android phone ( Samsung Galaxy S ). Gotta fit into the Gadgeteer theme. This amazing phone does everything and more.
3. An extra phone battery
4. A pair of earphones
5. A very tiny microUSB cable.
6. A True Utility Key tool (http://www.trueutility.com/pocket-tools-store/true-utility-key-tool-tu47.html). This is the smallest, lightest, pocket-multitool you can possibly find. This will not be noticed or confiscated by airport security, which is a Godsend for a frequent traveller like me.
7. A keychain LED torch, which I picked up cheap from Hong Kong. This most powerful LED I’ve ever seen that runs off 2 button cell batteries.
8. A wristwatch.
Good point we are talking about EDC.
1. Wallet etc. Too many things in it.
2. Watch varies – I am inclined to leave it off.
3. RoadID wrist tag if I am cycling.
4. Keys and on the same key ring: key shaped USB drive, Swiss Army classic SD silver alox, inka pen.
5. Earbuds.
6. iPhone.
7. Victoronix change purse.
8. Handkerchief
Michael
MY EDC varies depending upon what I am doing and where I am going. It always includes the same type of items, however, and they are…
1. Handgun (The size and caliber determined by what I am wearing.)
2. Tactical folding knife (I just pick one each morning.)
3. Wallet (Usually my Flipside 3.)
4. Car and house keys
5. iPhone 3GS (at&t)
6. Droid Incredible (Verizon)
7. Casio MTG9XX G-Shock watch (Again, I just pick one each morning.)
I also carry a Tom Bihn shoulder bag with medicine, first aid kit, iPad 3G, LED flashlight, Sony PSP, USB 12v charger, Apple USB cord, Incredible USB cord, spare clip for handgun, fountain pen, and Moleskin notebook.
Back to EDC…
1. No house keys. Exterior doors have Schlage electronic locks. Work went with electronic locks too, yeah!
2. Car and motorcycle keys are plain metal copies, ordered online. Metal keys are easily 3x thinner than the original plastic covered keys. I’m dreading the day I need a transponder.
3. Victorinox Rambler.
4. Photon II microlight.
5. Dumbphone. Waiting on Verizon iPhone 5, but might go for the HP Veer. Would love a Veer sized iPhone or Android.
6. Thin leather card case as a wallet, with a rubber band to hold folded up bills. Purposefully nonmetallic.
My jackets or sports gear all have larger multitools on them, that match the jacket or sport. Like my snowboard jacket has a Burton multitool, a tiny compass, and a tiny thermostat. Plus there’s a small first aid kit and small tool kit in every car.
My last words on bans… the thing that annoys me the most is that they do nothing to prevent crimes. You are always better off implementing real change, like community policing (lowered homicide in Boston by 75%) or home detention for non-violent crimes (prisons are notorious for turning non-violent criminals into violent ones).
Don’t forget a mil-spec dogtag from mydogtag.com. Its a great way to add a bit of identification or text to your expensive edc keychain in case it gets lost.
i guess the off-topic discussion above boils down to your level of respect for individual liberties. if you respect individual liberties enough, you understand that it will not make the world perfect but its better than a life where everything is banned, you need permits for/to do anything, and you become dependent on others for your needs such as safety.
regarding my edc:
(no firearm, auto felony here for firearm possession in public without permit, 🙂 )
wallet – basic leather
watch – wenger classic or 1994 g-shock
keychain – keys, victorinox classic, fenix e05, gym card
stationary – pencil and pen, rite-in-the-rain notepad
knife – spyderco paramilitary 2
flashlight – HDS EDC Rotary 200, and Preon 2 titanium
multitool – Leatherman Charge TTi
sheep-friendly blade – Victorinox Cadet
cell phone – iphone 3
Not all in my pockets, usually just the knife in waistband or pocket, preon 2 in left pocket, vic cadet in right pocket, phone in rear left pocket, wallet rear right.
the rest goes in bag/backpack or not carried.
some things not mentioned are ipod nano and earbuds, stuff like that that i only edc if i intend to hit the gym while out.
cheers, but we need more respect for individual liberties if we want the enlightenment era to continue.
Well, I’m european and I don’t believe that in our country (slovakia) carying a knife is a crime. 🙂 hopefully
EDC is something that most people do already, they just don’t call it EDC. EDC has a spectrum that ranges from surviving zombie attack to men’s fashion. Part of it is utility but there is almost always a cool factor that is just cool or interesting.