The list author says: "EDC or "Everyday Carry" refers to the things that you carry every day, such as your keys, pens, and wallet. For the "preparedness-minded" people, they carry extra things as part of their contingency plan. Things like flashlights, folding knife, or pepper spray are examples "just-in-case" items. In this Listmania, I will show what is in my EDC for you to compare with your own EDC and with other people's EDC. Hopefully this can be educational for both you and me as we continually try to perfect our EDC's."
"The Kershaw Skyline is a great folding knife (refer to my review). Its great "shaving" sharp blade and drop point blade shape are great for everyday utilitarian needs (e.g. opening boxes, cutting rope). Its quick flipper opener makes it fast for any emergency self-defense uses. And its diminish weight without the diminished size makes it a breeze to carry."
"I carry a "Columbia Men's Traveler Wallet." (It used to be available on Amazon, see my reviews. However, it is not available at the time being.) The wallet on this list is the closest wallet I can find to my wallet. A good wallet should be able to hold a few credit cards, cash, and your credentials (i.e., ID, license)."
"Duct tape is always handy. I keep about 32 inches of duct tape (re-rolled flat) in my wallet. The tape continues to function well after being re-rolled. In addition, I find that Gorilla brand duct tape does not leak out the sticky residue into your wallet, unlike other brands."
"4Seven's Preon 2 is a lovely pen flashlight. It has low (2.2 lumens), medium (22 lumens), and high (160 lumens!) basic modes. It also has the special strobe, S.O.S., beacon (high), and beacon (low) modes. Weighing a mere 0.88 oz and using 2 AAA batteries, this flashlight can be always with and ready to light up the darkness."
"The Explorer Plus multi-tool is compact, light, and convenient. I find the Explorer Plus easy to carry and very useful. This is one of the items "I don't leave the house without." (About multi-tools, I love both Leathermen Charge TTi and Victorinox Explorer Plus. However, because of the Explorer's smaller size and lesser price, I bought it and carried it first.)"
"The Leatherman Charge TTi is a great, well-made multi-tool (according to what I have seen from others.) I am still in the process of saving up money for this. I'll update this comment once I have purchase the Charge TTi. (Budget wise, the Leatherman Wave, which I do have, is like a "cheaper" version of the Charge TTi. It has almost the same tools, but with different grade steel.)"
"I have owned the Wenger® Men's 7470 Commando Chrono Swiss Watch for 4 years. It keeps the time very well, drifting no more than 20-30 seconds a month. The black dial and black leather wrist band is handsome. I used to wear this daily, but now I keep it just for special occasions."
"I own a Men's Disney Mickey Mouse Watch. similar to the one pictured. I wear this on a daily basis. I enjoy the classic Mickey Hands and to see small children run up and point out that Mickey is in my watch. I feel that children should be able to QUICKLY read an analog clock. I see too many students spending a minute staring at an analog clock to decipher the time, then reading it incorrectly."
"I bought the Casio Forester when I joined the volunteer fire department during high school. My mentors and instructors in my first-responder courses told me that I should get an inexpensive watch that has hour hand, minute hand, second hand, and date dial. The second hand is necessary for taking a person’s vitals. After owning this for 4 years, it continues to serve me well."
"The Streamlight Nano is a great inexpensive flashlight. I keep this one on my keychain, just in case I forgot my 4Sevens Preon 2 (pen flashlight also on this EDC list). Produce a strong 10 lumens, it is good for those small quick tasks."
"The Swiss Army Classic SD is a very convenient pocket knife. It has a small blade, file, scissors, toothpick, and tweezers. The small size makes it easy to attach on my keychain. This is a bit of redundancy in my EDC, since I already carry a Swiss Army Explorer Plus, also on this EDC list. However, the one thing that I find myself using a lot is the nail file which the Explorer Plus does not have."
"The Stowaway Space Pen is a nice, compact pen that I keep on me. The Fischer Space Pens use a pressurized, resin impregnated ink that allows you to write on wet paper, upside-down, and even in space with an even ink flow. (I often use the Space Pens in my chemistry/biology labs.)"
"The BIC round stic Grip Mechanical Pencil, in 0.7mm lead, is a well-writing, inexpensive pencil. I usually several packs of these whenever they are on sale. (I would let someone "borrow" it, and it never seems to be returned.)"
"A good memo pad can come in handy (i.e., writing email address, making a shopping list, taking down phone numbers, jotting down random ideas, etc). Unlike the ones pictured, I typically buy pads with a plastic cover. (I would rather have a "Rite in the Rain Pocket Notebook;" however, they are a bit too expensive for me, coming in around $4-5 per pad. A normal memo pad is about $0.50-1 per pad.)"
"I bought some ID tags from a local vendor. (The one on the list is a pictorial representation of the one I have.) One tag contains some medical information that I wear on my body. The other tag I placed on my key chain, with just enough information for people to return my keys to me. (Of course, I withheld information that would lead a possible burglar/robber straight to my house/car.)"
"I bought a nice pealess whistle about 6 years back, also going on my key chain. (The whistle on this list is a close representation of what I actually own.) I may be upgrading to a better whistle in the future, and I will update this list when I do so."
"Being slightly old fashioned, I carry a handkerchief. I have a few that I rotate and wash. Though I sometimes use them, I generally keep a crisp and clean handkerchief on hand just in case a crying damsel requires one."
"If you wear prescription glasses or sunglasses a lot, you know that the lenses get dirty right when you need to see something important. I keep a glasses cloth in my rear pocket just for those cases."
"I usually keep a Zippo either on me or in my backpack. It gives me some fire-making capabilities. I am not a smoker, however. I enjoy just clicking the lid. The one major drawback of wick type lighters are that the fluid evaporates overtime, so, it is important to keep the lighter topped up and ready."
"I carry a BlackBerry 8530 with Virgin Mobile as the provider. It's a good smart phone that meets my needs. Virgin Mobile plan is approx. $300 per year as of Dec. 2010."
