EDC

For future submissions, please read the submission guidelines and be sure to include item descriptions (brand/model is more helpful than ‘knife’ or ‘wallet’) so other readers have somewhere to start in doing their upgrade research… Brief descriptions of where you’re from or what you do are welcome so as to provide context to your pocket dump and make it easier for me to make commentary if necessary. Thanks for your support! 

To the loyal readers of the site, as well as new followers — I can only apologize for what I feel is the best course of action to take. You may have noticed a decrease in posts as a result of my other personal commitments to my academic and extracurricular responsibilities. In light of the recent attention and coverage from other blogs (thanks for spreading the word), I’ve been simply overwhelmed with the amount of emails, questions and submissions to this site. In the past, I would’ve been more than happy to do my best to help everyone looking for answers, but at this scale I’m afraid I don’t have the resources to do this. Furthermore, while I know it’s dangerous to read your own press, I can’t help but be hurt by the hateful comments people are leaving about this site and more importantly, the readers and contributors. What started as a personal place to catalog a simple hobby of mine, which later turned into a medium to spread preparedness, has now become a target for hatred and criticism. I wanted this site to generate useful discussion and not attract hate, so for this reason I have even less motivation to continue here at EDC. Since its onset there have been many other similar blogs on tumblr that do more or less the same thing here, so do not worry — there will be content elsewhere! I may come back, maybe tomorrow, maybe once this academic quarter ends, maybe never… Nevertheless, let me take this moment to thank everyone who supported me and everyone who hated on the site. I’ll leave you with my EDC as of yesterday just as a timestamp of sorts.

Take care and carry on,
Bernard

What is your ideal flashlight/knife lanyard? What braid, length, details, etc. would you want to see in a universal gear retrieval lanyard?

Sorry if this post is kind of incoherent, I just got back from a trip to the mountains with a school club. For some reason I decided to not bring my keychain out into the snow, thinking it wouldn’t be worth losing my keys and gear out there… I also didn’t bother charging my flashlight’s batteries before I left, thinking I wouldn’t be using it too often.

Anyway, while I’m waiting for a ride back to our cabin with a few of my friends at the head of a snow trail, the sun starts to set and it gets really dark, really fast. Apparently our rides back got lost and we ended up waiting for two hours, much later than scheduled, leaving us in the dark. I wasn’t planning on staying outdoors that night.

After messing around with the snow for a while, we hear a young girl calling for help off in the distance, back up the trail. Soon after, an older woman with a pretty dim incan flashlight comes up to us and asks if we hear that yelling; we confirmed. She said she saw a woman on the floor and some other figure in a beige jacket over her, so she wasn’t sure what kind of help the woman on the floor needed and asked us to accompany her up the trail (she had already called 911, etc…)

As we were going up the trail, I pulled out my light to illuminate the path. Click — and nothing. Of all times, of all places, my battery dies. My backup light on my keys was left at the cabin. I felt horrible about it — unprepared and inadequate. Luckily I turned my friends on to EDC so they had their lights… Nothing like a typical EDC light popular around here, but adequate 3xAAA aspherics and an iTP EOS A3.

We eventually found her in the snow. She twisted her knee on the trail and couldn’t walk without help, so we helped her down the path and used our flashlights to illuminate the way and identify any dangerous terrain for her. The other person with her was her niece who was calling for help, not an attacker or anything. Everything turned out okay.

I don’t claim to be a survivalist or outdoorsman of any sort, and I probably didn’t handle the situation the best I could have. But if my friends didn’t EDC lights, walking down the path would’ve been way more dangerous. I just thought things could’ve gone a little more smoothly if the woman and her niece carried a flashlight to help navigate the snow trail, and even a whistle to signal for help. We barely heard her screaming “Help!,” which I imagine is because they were quite a ways off, her voice isn’t that strong and the cold air would just make her screaming “sink” into the ground. I thought I should’ve had a backup light, battery, or at the very least thought to charge my batteries before leaving.

Not really sure if this is worth posting here, but I’m hoping my readers can understand what I was going through, at any level at least. Just wanted to share this anecdote to serve as an example of one of those ‘you never know’ situations.

Take care and carry on…

Anonymous asked: Thanks for a great site to look at other people's EDC. My question of all is:

What do you estimate the cost of your average EDC (actual daily EDC) cost you. Also what is item therein was the most expensive.

For me, my iPhone (3GS) is the most expensive), followed by my mini Griptilian in my EDC daily (well, greater then half the days in a week), followed by my flashlight (either a Leatherman Monarch 300 or a new toy, the Favour 1W 1AA flashlight). Beyond that, it's all over the place.

Interesting question, not really sure if price/cost makes much a difference though. My philosophy is if you plan on carrying them every day, it’s worth the investment to spend a little more and get higher quality things.

Here was one of my most consistent setups:

Update due to popular demand: Seiko SRP027K1, Spyderco Leafstorm, 4sevens Quark 123 Ti, Zebra Sharbo X, Superior Titanium Black Diamond, Moleskine Volant Mini, The Hill-side Selvedge Chambray, Ralph Lauren Cardholder. You can see my gear on posts tagged Personal

The most expensive thing isn’t pictured, but it was probably my iPhone 3GS at $200. I paid $175 shipped for the watch (waited for some after Christmas sale then stacked a bunch of coupons for this deal), around 89 for the Ti flashlight I think, 85 for the Leafstorm (a good friend hooked it up), 60 for the pen and components, 40ish for the handkerchief, 40 for the moneyclip, not sure about the cardholder… My keychain, also not pictured, has a $20 SAK Manager and currently a $40 NW Mini CR2.

I don’t have super high end gear like some EDC enthusiasts but I feel I have a very functional, cohesive and aesthetically coherent carry though. A lot of my gear is within the 40-50 range, which makes EDC a dangerous hobby… You think $40-50 isn’t that bad but it all adds up B)

bryanduong asked: Hey man, first off, i'd like to say i like your page, its filled with useful facts and content. being one of the few blogs i follow at the moment, i enjoy reading your blog everyday haha. so thanks. I, also, am a BME major at UCR. I was thinking about transferring to Irvine but i feel like its too late now. We probably could of met and shared our EDC interests haha. But yeah anyway, just out of curiosity, i was wondering if you ever had situations where you had to use your EDC during school?

Hi Bryan!

It’s nice to see that other people like me are enjoying this tumblr. #pause at your meetup suggestion. Haha but yeah anyway

I do have situations where I have used my EDC before. One time this girl in my diff eq class broke her sunglasses, so I offered to fix them… I layed them down on my (unused) handkerchief so they wouldn’t scratch, then tightened down the hinge with the precision driver on my multitool. She thanked me for it and never spoke a word to me after that. Another time in ochem lab, somebody shattered a flask all over the floor, so I used my flashlight to check for any stray pieces so nobody would get hurt. Even though the lab is well-lit, it’s easier to locate shards when shining light directly at them.

I’m part of an engineering club, so at our events where we would do little engineering games that require building or crafting my knives would come in handy… I remember once I used my flashlight to light up a carved pumpkin when we ran out of candles. Another time I used pliers to straighten out some nails on a homemade Pachinko board game while boothing. This past Wednesday we had a small White Elephant game and I helped another member carefully open a box:

Oh, and I’ve been taking night classes this quarter so on my way back home I have a flashlight ready when walking across poorly lit streets to increase my visibility to drivers.

These examples aren’t spectacular or anything, but at this blog I kind of want to stray from survival and tactical use — there are plenty of great blogs out there that cover these topics nicely. I want to showcase that simple tools help out in everyday life even if you’re not a “northwoods logger” or a “mallcop” as some skeptic fashion forum members have put it before. 

Anyway, thanks for the interesting question~

apostrophe9 asked: Congratulations on the listing today!...Pretty for us!...John

http://www.guystyleguide.com/2010/11/101-incredibl-tumblr-blogs-for-mens-fashion/#more-1682

Link: Guy Style Guide’s 101 Incredible Tumblr Blogs for Men’s Fashion

Editor’s Note: Thanks John, congrats to you too!

I was surprised to be featured on a list for top men’s fashion tumblrs…not bad for being a Tech blog (with a swagless editor). #37? That’s only 26 places behind aeglus!

AM 1003BMT on flickr.

While it’s too soon for me to provide a full review of the knife, I have handled it enough to share some initial thoughts and impressions. I normally EDC a Spyderco Leafstorm, which boasts high-tech materials and a unique design. I felt I could use a more classically styled gentleman’s knife to complement my knife rotation. I was lucky enough to nab the last remaining stock of this Al Mar Falcon Classic Talon that I have been eyeing since forever (even before buying my Hawk Ultralight) — at about 50% off MSRP.

The knife is a lockback design with dual thumbstuds and a false edge (Talon blade). It comes easily hair-popping sharp out of the box and it pierces effortlessly. Other features include a 3.15” AUS-8 blade, a 4” handle composed of stainless steel bolsters, polished black micarta and brass liners… To my surprise, I managed to secure a serialized model (#172 of 200). Despite this knife using only a mid-range steel, I feel the build quality, attention to detail and in-hand experience makes it worth its price (especially at 50% off MSRP).

Even though this is the largest knife I own, it still remains elegantly slim. The extra handle length helps it sit better in pocket, making it a good candidate for lanyard carry. Because this knife is part of the ‘Classic’ series, it foregoes the popular pocket clip carry option and instead comes with an equally high quality leather sheath. It’s very handsome and perfectly finished. I just wish it came in black. I called Al Mar and asked if the Ultralight Proclip system was compatible with the Classic, but unfortunately it isn’t. That would be my only complaint about carry options. 

The handles are sleek, smooth, and perfectly finished as well. You can see how tightly and cleanly the brushed stainless steel bolster meets the polished micarta. The brass liners (not skeletonized) add some substance and heft to the knife. Some may think this is too heavy for EDC at a little over 3 oz, but considering the overall sleekness in general, it is not cumbersome in pocket.

The action and lockup on this knife are buttery smooth with no blade play. It was difficult for me at first to use the thumbstud (I was flicking from the base of the stud, it helps to flick on the grooves of the stud instead) but now it just flies open and locks up with a convincing, authoritative click. The lockback is comfortable to disengage and the blade comes down with the right amount of force.

I am surprised that there isn’t much talk of Al Mar from what I can see, especially considering that they have been offering relatively affordable, beautiful Japanese made knives for decades. Even with its capable steel, luxurious blend of materials, superb fit and finish, buttery smooth action and tight lockup, I fear mine won’t be getting as much use as it deserves — it’s simply too nice. I’d hate for it to become one of those knives, but I can’t help but think ‘it’s so nice’ every time it’s in my hand.

Thanks for reading and carry on~