- Joined
- May 9, 2002
- Messages
- 12,666
It's that time of year again. The time of year I always manage to put on extra weight. Luckily, it's not from all the turkey and pumpkin pie. In the winter my belt and pockets just seem to amass...stuff
I think it has to do with the fact that in the spring and summer, I'm super busy. I need to keep it lightweight. I'm on my feet all day, in and out of the truck, talking to customers, etc. In the warmer months, I'll usually keep nothing but a titanium folder in my front pocket and a Beretta Pico in my back pocket. Maybe a little over a pound in total.
In the late fall and winter....I sit. My clothes go from a tucked in polo and jeans or cargo shorts to a random tee shirt with a flannel or oversize hoodie thrown over and jeans. I don't get so concerned about being light and fast, and I can conceal a larger handgun (even if my day to day interaction with people dries up to next to nothing
). I also get caught up in internet hoopla about bullets not penetrating thick coats. Maybe my .380 or 9mm snubbie won't do the trick. Perhaps the roving gangs of methed out psychopaths are armored in kevlar impregnated parkas!
It's utterly silly, but the mind wanders to weird places when one has time on their hands.
Soooo, I catch myself just grabbing a bit of this and that "just 'cuz" and stuffing it into my pockets. Today was especially bad. I stepped out of my truck and immediately felt the extra weight shift.
So I thought I would start another thread and see what else everyone else is carrying. Do you rotate your EDC, add to it, subtract from it, etc depending on the time of year? Here's a little break down of what I am carrying and why. Expect many redundancies as logical thought was about the only thing I didn't shoehorn into this load out
Here it is top and clockwise:
There you have it: 7 items in my pockets omitting my wallet (which I forgot to take out) and my phone (which I used to take the picture
) I think this might be a little excessive.
I haven't weighed all this stuff, but I bet it clocks in at 4lbs give or take
I think it has to do with the fact that in the spring and summer, I'm super busy. I need to keep it lightweight. I'm on my feet all day, in and out of the truck, talking to customers, etc. In the warmer months, I'll usually keep nothing but a titanium folder in my front pocket and a Beretta Pico in my back pocket. Maybe a little over a pound in total.In the late fall and winter....I sit. My clothes go from a tucked in polo and jeans or cargo shorts to a random tee shirt with a flannel or oversize hoodie thrown over and jeans. I don't get so concerned about being light and fast, and I can conceal a larger handgun (even if my day to day interaction with people dries up to next to nothing
). I also get caught up in internet hoopla about bullets not penetrating thick coats. Maybe my .380 or 9mm snubbie won't do the trick. Perhaps the roving gangs of methed out psychopaths are armored in kevlar impregnated parkas! It's utterly silly, but the mind wanders to weird places when one has time on their hands.Soooo, I catch myself just grabbing a bit of this and that "just 'cuz" and stuffing it into my pockets. Today was especially bad. I stepped out of my truck and immediately felt the extra weight shift.
So I thought I would start another thread and see what else everyone else is carrying. Do you rotate your EDC, add to it, subtract from it, etc depending on the time of year? Here's a little break down of what I am carrying and why. Expect many redundancies as logical thought was about the only thing I didn't shoehorn into this load out
Here it is top and clockwise:
- Armscor Citadel 1911 I picked up a few months ago. I generally upgrade to a polymer 9/40 in the winter months from my little .380 semi/9mm revolver. Most days a Glock 19 rides along because it's lightweight and pretty much impervious to the elements. However, it just kinda FELT like a chunky steel Tuesday. She's wearing my favorite grips gifted to me by one of our kindly forum friends. Many of you will most likes recognize his handy-work The 1911 is riding on my hip in a kydex holster.
- A simple Case Mini Trapper. My wife and daughter got this for me for father's day (or was it my birthday?) a couple of years ago. My wife picked out the pattern, my daughter picked out the color. Red, is not my favorite color. Green is. However, I'm always the "red guy" when we play Candyland (since my wife always gets to be Green since it is her favorite color too). So I pack the little trapper along to think about my "girls". As you can see, it gets a lot of use. Oddly enough, it is my 1# pick for making lemon twists for cocktails. That Case carbon steel gets mighty thin and sharp for getting the lemon skin down to wafer thin. I usually keep my small slip joints in my fifth/watch pocket of my jeans.
- Geber Money Clip/box cutter. I don't carry cash often, but when I do, I pack it along in this little knife I found at a hardware store on closeout. I open a few boxes at work, and I generally use my folder. However if I am going to be opening and breaking down a ton of them, I opt for the box cutter on this Gerber. I can scrape and slice and generally abuse it all I want. I just replace the blade when it gets too dull and it saves me from buggering up my nicer knives on abrasive cardboard. As you can see, leg-sweat does a number on the cheap replaceable blade. You can also see I opted to go with a blunt tip blade over the more common sharper tip. It's never opened in my pocket, but Murphy's Law has bitten me (literally) enough to hedge my bets. This setup rides deep in my rigth pocket. I don't need my cash in a hurry, so it's way down there so I don't lose/spend it
- Zero Tolerance 909. I like big folders, and I cannot lie. I have several ZTs. I love them all, but for some reason the 909 just seems to balance what I require in my knife better than some of the others when it comes to using it at work. I also keep a 350 with a partially serrated edge as a true hard use work knife and a sleek little 450 for my day to day carry. My clipped flippers always ride in my right pocket, tip up with the blade nested against my pocket seam for safety...Murphy's Law.
- 8 round 1911 reload. *See comment about Murphy's Law above. I do prefer the flush fit of the 7 rounders for carry in the gun though.
- My tank-like baby AK. I made this left pocket sheath for it, and it's about as close as I have found for an EDC khuk that still behaves like a khuk. I've lost count of the stuff I have sliced, chopped, lopped, poked, and pried with this little brute. I carry butt out for a kind of cross draw with my right hand from my left front pocket. It works pretty well and even rests nicely in my pocket when I sit down as the longish handle tucks back towards my hip as the knife finds a diagonal spot to lay across my thigh.. One of my favorite carry knives, believe it or not. It is more comfortable to carry this large knife this way than it is to have a folder or multitool in my pocket. Go figure.
- My Leatherman MUT. I usually carry either a lighter Rebar or even a Wingman for day to day work. Sometimes a big SuperTool 300, but I just like my MUT. It's nice because it is pretty much bombproof, can be thumbed open one handed, and I have it set up with the bits I need for both work and shooting at the range (the MUT is designed for firearm maintenance first and foremost). I usually tuck this next to the AK in my left pocket. One of the nice things about the MUT is that it has a pocket clip. However, it is a super chunky tool clocking in heavier than most. That said, it's certainly heavy duty and robust
There you have it: 7 items in my pockets omitting my wallet (which I forgot to take out) and my phone (which I used to take the picture
) I think this might be a little excessive.I haven't weighed all this stuff, but I bet it clocks in at 4lbs give or take
