Every Day Carry is a huge thing these days. It’s very easy to get led down the rabbit hole and start feeling like you don’t have enough proper pens, waterproof notebooks, knives, torches, minimalist wallets, pry bars and multi tools. EDC can become a fantastic geek-out subject, and there are heaps of forums, websites and blogs to keep you busy.
But the other side of EDC is the reality. There really are some things we carry every day that actually come in handy and are nice to carry.
So rather than doing a pocket dump on Everydaycarry.com I thought I would just write a post about what I carry every day. Not counting all the geeky stuff I would like to carry every day, just the real stuff. And hey! Photos! Sorry, I should do more photos.
Of course, I carry more than the following things:
- Kleen Kanteen stainless steel drink bottle, wide mouth
- Victorinox Classic SD
- Olight I3E EOS keychain light
- Nite Ize DoohicKey Key-Tool
- Origami wallet
- Dog do baggie
But that’s what I use literally every day. Let’s have a look at each item.
Kleen Kanteen water bottle
This is the heaviest item I carry, especially when full. Obviously. It’s the 40oz wide mouth stainless steel, which is non-toxic and, unlike aluminium, doesn’t need a plastic coating to be food-grade. This means that in a pinch at can be used to heat water on a fire. I don’t find the water tastes metallic at all, even after a couple of days.
Victorinox Classic SD
SD stands for screwdriver. I’ve had this thing for years. The toothpick is always the first thing to get lost, but I’ve never used them much. The tweezers get a lot more use though, and the scissors are my only nail clippers. I use them so much I had to replace the spring. Other tools include a nail file and small knife. The knife is the least used because the blade is so tiny and I often have another knife with me.
Olight I3E EOS
I wish this had a better name. It’s a good little torch though. Running off a single AAA, the body isn’t much bigger than the battery. It puts out enough light for tasks like searching under my desk or behind a filing cabinet or whatever. I’ve even used it to illuminate a menu outside a restaurant. You can always find an in-depth review for more information about the light output. I’ve lost the twisty bit off the head once or twice as it gets a bit loose in my pocket, but luckily was able to find it again. It doesn’t seem to twist the other way and waste the battery though.
NiteIze DoohicKey
I mostly use this as a bottle opener. It gets more use at work functions than anywhere else (mostly because my crowd drinks in a pub, where the beers are already open). I think I have used it as a bit driver once, and often use it to open boxes because it saves my knives from getting sticky tape goo on them. I don’t recall ever using it as a pry bar, but it would take an extension for leverage so could come in handy. Believe it or not, I’ve even used the ruler markings. The trick to using all the features of your EDC is remembering they’re there.
Origami wallet
It’s hard to find a wallet small enough to carry in the back pocket of womens jeans. So I made one. This was a topo map I got from a bushcraft course I did in January 2017, and it’s printed on waterproof paper. So I googled how to fold up a wallet and it’s lasted in my pocket for months. I carry up to about six cards and occasionally a folded note (bill) or two. It’s basically no thicker than what’s in it, although in the below image it looks a bit thicker because the paper has a bend in it. I should have put the water bottle on top to show the true thickness.
Dog do baggie
I am a responsible dog owner. These are Beco Eco Bags. They’re big and they naturally break down. I like the ones without the handles.
You can see some wear on the base of the Olight. This keyring came with some jeans and is the smallest robust keyring I’ve ever seen. It makes a big difference to how my keys carry in my front pocket. The annoying fob thing is for work. I preferred the old swipe cards. I made the paracord lanyard and it’s really handy for fishing keys out of pockets. You can see the wallet is about as thick as the SAK. It’s thinner when compressed in a pocket.