OK I just wrote a post about some changes to my EDC at the end of 2019. Well it is February 27, 2020 and I have added three more items. Two were Christmas gifts and one was something I wanted to try out and review for this Website. As I stated before I am not afraid to change my EDC as different situations occur, things change, situations occur, new items come out, it keeps things interesting!
Christmas Gift Number One
I have always used generic multi-tools, not because I liked them but because I always seem to loose them; people seem to borrow them and not return them, similar to what happens to my pocket knives. Why buy nice gear if you always loose it! But my son wanted to change that way of thinking for me this year so he bought me a Leatherman Skeletool
for Christmas. I was both surprised and excited, finally a good multi-tool to use as my EDC. The reviews on this have been really good and so many people like it. Is it the largest of multi-tools – No! Are there enough attachments on this tool to make it worth carrying – absolutely! Am I going to cram my pants full of another item? Or put it in a belt holder and put it on my belt? No! I carry the Vertx Dead Letter Sling Pack on a daily basis and I have a pouch that has the Leatherman Skeletool’s name on it. Have I used it yet, yes I have and its great to have it with me at all times. In the months to come I will review this product after I have had time to use it more.
Christmas Present Number Two
My other EDC item that I got for Christmas is the Swatom 8 in 1 Mini Screwdriver
. While I would not have purchased that for myself, it is really kinda cool and will definately come in handy. As the name implies, it has eight mini screwdriver bits that come with this screwdriver, some of them will be quite useful. It is something I will use everyday, probably not, but will come in handy now and then. Because of that, is it really a piece of EDC gear? Well let’s discuss that for a minute. I look at my EDC in terms of how often I will use something, daily use items are in my pockets or on my belt. That way they are definitely with me at arms-reach. Other items that I may not use daily, but will use a little less frequent are in my EDC backpack. So I can get to them quickly.
Tactical Pens - Are They Worth Having?
How many of us use a pen on a daily basis to write our lists on a piece of paper or sign some important papers, probably most of us! Now how many of us think a pen can be a self-defense weapon or even break a window to save a person that is trapped inside, probably not too many of us. That’s where I was and that’s how I felt until I purchased an Atomic Bear Tactical Pen
. This tactical pens went well beyond just being a simple writing instrument. Are there other brands of tactical pens, of course, but I really like the feel and weight of this tactical pen and it is incredibly handy for every day tasks. It happens to be one of the smoothest writing pens I have ever owned, my one gripe is that it only comes in black ink. My preference for writing pens is blue ink and I am happy to say I can order a spare ink cartridge in blue ink, now it truely is my favorite writing utensil.
Good Gear, They All Are Keepers!
All three of those items, Leatherman Skeletool, Atomic Bear Tactical Pen and the Swatom 8 in 1 Mini Screwdriver are all keepers for me. My favorite is the Leatherman Skeletool, it’s an awesome multi-tool that works well and does everything it says it will. Since I do not use them all continually, I will not keep them on my belt or in my pockets, rather I have placed them in my EDC Vertx Dead Letter Sling Pack front pocket for easy access when needed.
If you have any questions about this post or anything else related to Everyday Carry (EDC), feel free to leave a comment below and I will be happy to get back to you.
All the best,
Larry
Founder of EDC Essentials
makes setup between right & left-handed carry easy.
, zippered abrasion-resistant mesh pocket with key lanyard, a large loop panel for Tactigami and other hook and loop-compatible accessories and two gear slots.
, a sling attachment point and a Rapid Access Pull tab.
non-leather style belt that was a bit thinner then leather but just as strong, with a buckle that did not have the overlap like my leather belt. I decided on the Blue Alpha Gear Cobra EDC Belt because I heard many good things about this belt. These belts are really nice, easy to adjust and fast to put on. One nice thing about this belt is the Cobra buckle, one of the ends is small enough
to fit through a normal blue jean belt loop and that is handier than having to take your belt apart in order to thread it through your belt loops and then put it back together. When I am wearing my appendix holster/magazine combination, it is easy to slide the buckle to the side enough to fit this holster. Just what I needed! So far I really like this belt and it has changed my idea of the nylon web belts. I used to only wear leather belts and I would never even consider wearing anything else. This belt is a game changer!
knives and found the CRKT Hi Jinx Z Knife, a very nice knife. This knife is a flipper-style knife without a thumb stud to dig into my leg, the deployment of the blade is extremely smooth, and the handle is thinner then my Schrade SCH109, this is exactly what I wanted. As with my other CRKT, the blade was very sharp right out of the box and did not require any touch-ups with my ceramic stone. There is enough texture on the handle that made gripping the knife an easy thing to do. The handle was contoured enough that I had no hot spots when I used the knife. So it is an excellent knife for my needs.
. I do a fair amount of opening packages, cutting cardboard and doing things that is not the best on a knife blade. Rather then ruin my good folder I have added this folding utility knife to my gear. It has a clip to place it in my pocket or fasten it to my EDC Pack, which is really handy. But most of all I like the way it is so easy to replace the knife blade itself. Therefore you always have a sharp blade in your knife. These a very handy and very reasonable to purchase.
It is a briefcase style pack that holds 12 liters (L) of gear. That’s not a lot of space but it is perfect for my EDC needs. The thing that is nice about this pack is that it can be setup for left or right-handed people, just by moving the strap around using different buckle attachments. The stitching on the buckles is a different color so it is easy to figure out the right way to use the buckles. This pack is very versatile, you can carry it using the handle on use the shoulder strap. If you use the shoulder strap it can be configured like a normal shoulder strap for a briefcase or setup as a sling pack for either a right or left-handed person. I got mine from LA Police Gear, they had a sale going on this pack and they sent me a Vertx medium sized velcro pouch free with the pack. There is a lot of Hook and Loop panels within this pack that would fit many different Hook and Loop attachments. I added two small pouches and now I have more space for small items. With 12 L of space in this pack it is necessary to know what you are going to put in this EDC pack and then what type of pouches, straps, holders, etc. you need to utilize. This pack has a huge pocket designed for concealed carry, It will hold one or two handgun holsters, magazine holder and much more room as you see fit. This pack will even have enough room for some of the larger foldable automatic weapons. But if you choose not to utilize that pocket for a concealed carry option, it will easily fit a full-sized laptop computer. This is one of the nicest packs I have owned and it really serves my needs.
