Have we completely changed the meaning of EDC???

i bet gramps would have had a couple different knives handy if he had the great selection and availability we enjoy today
 
I have an "EDC rotation" of about 5 knives. Every day, it's one of those knives in the right pocket.
I guess my true EDC would be the Emerson Karambit in the left pocket; it's been there every day for a few years now.

I feel fine refering to the 5 in the rotation as EDC knives though, as opposed to my many other knives which certainly are "Every So Often If I Feel Like It For No Good Reason" knives. :)
 
DShiflet said:
Who is doing that, exactly? Near as I can tell, it is pretty much universally regarded as meaning "what I carry regularly". If someone says "these are my 10 EDC knives" 99.9% of the people here are going to realize that it means "these are the 10 knives I carry regularly", if someone says "I EDC a Glock 26", pretty much everyone takes it to mean "I carry a Glock 26 regularly". If someone says "I EDC a knife, flashlight, multitool, and watch", everyone gets that it means "I carry these items regularly". I don't see people saying things like "I went to Outback and EDCed a ribeye" or "To get to work I EDC my Ford Escort".
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Yet it is being called an EDC and not a WICR knife. EVERY day carry. When you have to explain that your EDC is carried every single day you wake up, something has been lost in the meaning of the term.

TriviaMonster said:
How many days consecutively must it be carried then? 30 years isn't everyday unless Grandpa died young.
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If it has been so long that you can't remember when you started, or even the year, and you have no intentions of stopping, I would say that is every day. If you remember you carried something different on Sunday or even last month, then saying every day isn't really accurate.
 
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Peak_Oil said:
i bet gramps would have had a couple different knives handy if he had the great selection and availability we enjoy today
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Interesting thought and quite true, I suspect.

My Dad (RIP) would have been 91 this year, old enough to be the "gramps" you refer to in comparison to most people here. He had 5 knives - a converted butcher knife that lived on his workbench, a small Buck that lived in his jewelry box for those times he dressed up, a hunting knife that doubled as his fishing knife, and 2 knives that lived in the drawer by his chair. These last two he referred to as his "everyday knives". When he got up out of his chair, he reached in the drawer and got one of the two. The one that he kept in his jewelry box was his "Sunday Knife". I heard him make these references my entire life and I doubt that there are many here who were even born before he started using those terms.

The point being that he saw 2 of his knives as every day users as opposed to his dress knife that he only carried on special occasions. And, because he was my Dad, and we tend to learn from our Dads, I have used the term "every day knife" my whole life as well. Long before the internet, long before I started collecting knives, long before I started interfacing with good folks like the people in this thread/forum, I used that term. I still refer to them as my every day knives - except when typing, and then it is just easier to turn "every day knives" into "EDC".

So JMO and a tad of history from my perspective. ;)
 
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Well, I am now a changed man. No longer will I make an occasional post in the EDC thread since I don't literally carry that knife in the picture everyday. Nor will I ever be "tickled pink" , "laugh my ass off" , or be a "monkeys uncle" unless the literal translation of each phrase is actually met.


Semantics-MEH!!!
It's a knife forum and now I have to get rid of my Case Peanut because it really isn't a peanut, it's a knife.
 
I see EDC as a class of items you carry every day, not a specific item. I consider "knife" one of those categories. I carry a knife every day, and they serve my every day needs quite well. I can't think of a single item, watch, wallet, knife, gun, belt, shoes, whatever....that I only have one option.
 
TX180SX said:
I see EDC as a class of items you carry every day, not a specific item. I consider "knife" one of those categories. I carry a knife every day, and they serve my every day needs quite well. I can't think of a single item, watch, wallet, knife, gun, belt, shoes, whatever....that I only have one option.
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Apparently you (like me) are not doing it right. We must refrain from using this term or forever be besmirched by our inflexible cutlery-cousins.
 
In the interest of literal interpretation:

RDCSSF (Rotated Daily Carry Spring ,Summe, Fall) = Applies to the 7 sprint Spyderco Militaries I rotate whenever I want for whatever reason that day, but 1 is with me every day because of the cut of the pants I wear every day Spring, Summer, Fall.

RDCW (Rotated Daily Carry Winter) = Applies to the 4 sprint Spyderco Manix 2’s I rotate whenever I want for whatever reason that day, but 1 is with me every day because of the cut of the pants I wear every day in Winter.

RDCR ( Rotated Daily Carry Random) = Applies to the 6 S&W M&P pistols that I carry paired by caliber in a Maxpedition bag ( 5” & 425” 9 MM / 5” & 425” .40 cal / 4.75” & 4.75” .45 cal) I rotate whenever I want for whatever reason I want .

RDCR ( Rotated Daily Carry Random) = Applies to the 20 or so custom fixed blades I carry attached to a Maxpedition bag, I rotate whenever I want for whatever reason I want .

FBCAN (Federal Building Carry As Needed) = Applies to the Spyderco UKPK I have that will pass security screaming at Federal Buildings. Used as needed.

EDC ( Every Day Carry) = Applies to the Sig P238 and SureFire L2

I carry the above every I can but will need to add the following exceptions and modifiers:

*1. Can’t be carried on to DOD installations.

*2. Can’t be carried when on travel to a stat that doesn’t recognize your home state CCW

*3. Needs to be left in the car due to entrance to an area that prohibits or restricts CCW

EDC at one time was a literal term that has evolved in to a generic term. The context the term is used in will dictate if the reader should apply the literal or generic definition.

Out.
2011BLDR
 
wow this is going on and on lol. Its just a word(acronym) if everybody took every word ever and only used it literally there would be no humor or variety in life just like your edc lol.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Yet it is being called an EDC and not a WICR knife. EVERY day carry. When you have to explain that your EDC is carried every single day you wake up, something has been lost in the meaning of the term.
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EVERY day as in "These are items I carry regularly, I carry one of them EVERY DAY". If someone types ROTFL, do you think they're actually physically rolling or the floor, or just that they're laughing hard? If you make a sarcastic comment and someone says "Bite me", do you think they're actually requesting you to come over there and clamp your teeth into their arm?
 
dmattaponi said:
I think you're over thinking it. EDC means different things to different people.
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No, EDC means Every Day Carry, although some may think of it as Every Day Collection. There are some who are fortunate enough to be in a position to carry several knives on their person's every day, they really do have a set of EDC knives; but, most of the time when people respond to the question with a collection they mean knives which they frequently carry, rather than EDC.

n2s
 
Ok, now that we've established that there are two sides, the strictly book meaning types and the other type, what now?

Is anybody going to change their habits because some guy on the internet said so?
 
Topcatpt said it the best IMHO , yes times may have changed a little.and so do definition's.

Thanks
crazy roger
 
Never liked the term EDC. It generally means "small knife" or what so and so has recently purchased. It's not such a bad thing, but makes conversation difficult or wastes time. People ask for opinions on the best EDC or a new EDC to try and there is really no way to understand what they want or need with just that.
 
So in all seriousness, I believe the term is used more to describe the intended purpose of an item. You may in fact carry a large fixed blade knife when hunting or camping, or a utility knife when working a construction job, but that is a special purpose carry knife, or task-oriented knife.

Then there are collector knives, which are meant for display, investment, trading, etc.

An EDC knife is one that is intended, suited for, or actually used for carrying around with you for those cutting tasks you encounter in your normal daily routine.

Just like the term "Everyman" means "the average person" and not "the entire collection of all male humans", so does "everyday" mean the typical uneventful average day. It is a synonym for "ordinary" according to Webster's.

I think the problem here is the unnecessary space you are adding. It's "everyday carry", not "every day carry".

See:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/everyday
 
goodeyesniper said:
EDC. Every Day Carry...

Now, I could be wrong, but I take that to mean something you carry, um, EVERY DAY. However among the population of people who actually use the term "EDC" it seems almost none of them actually stick to one "EDC Knife". Which means they actually have no EDC knife whatsoever. They simply have a collection of knives they rotate through for daily activities.

EDC, in my eyes, is your grandpa who carried his old Buck knife for 30 years straight. Hell, I don't even look at it *too* technically, IMO, and I would consider it something you carry to work five days a week, but leave in a drawer on the weekends. As it handles your most common tasks, day in and out.

I understand when people use the phrase to say "I need a knife that can handle my EDC duties which consist of x, y, and z.", as that is a basic and helpful description, and they aren't necessarily saying it WILL BE their actual EDC. But when someone says "These are my 12 EDC knives that I rotate through every month." I can't help but think something got mistranslated along the way, as carrying a knife two or three days out of the month is hardly EDC....

Am I wrong? When EDC was coined did it not mean something you carry every day? If I'm wrong, what's the difference between "EDC" and any other knife you might carry at some point? Hell, if "EDC" simply means something that you carry every once in awhile, then all those people who take their Busses on a camping trip might as well say they EDC a Busse, right? Am I still being too technical? It just really seems like the Nutnfancy generation has simultaneously popularized and completely destroyed the meaning of the term EDC.

IMO, EDC should be a very positive definition of a knife, or any other tool, as it means it has survived the cut of whatever else you have tried to carry, and you now carry it almost religiously. Whether it's your tiny keychain SAK, Leatherman in a pouch, CR Sebenza, or anything else.

For instance, when I got my first quality knife it was truly an EDC. It was a Spyderco Native and I carried it anywhere I could for about a year straight. And it did everything I asked of it. Then I started buying more knives. Once I had a choice between 4 or so pocket knives, I no longer had an EDC knife, I just had a collection of knives which alternately handled my EDC needs. Then I got a sprint run Spyderco Military and it kicked everything out of my pocket for about two years. I once again had an actual EDC blade. Even though I occasionally carried something smaller in slacks, or something cheaper in my checked luggage at the airport, it was carried 95% of the time and could honestly carry the title.

Sorry, I'm a bit bored and it's something that has been nagging at me for awhile. Feel free to tell me I'm crazy.
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It's indeed a term for USERS rather than people who like "mancessories". I carry my PM2 and my Leatherman Wave every day of my life, and a DMT Diafold in my pocket almost every day. I carry a flashlight at work every day but haven't gotten to the point where I care to own a personal one yet.

Anyway, you're entirely correct, however some people will naturally disagree with you wholeheartedly. Said people likely being the guys who open letters or cut tape and never really NEED their knife. I'm not hating on those folks, they have the knife for their own reasons and that's fine, but I use mine as a tool and I am hard on it. Until it breaks I won't need another. Which reminds me, I need to get a gold membership so I can sell some extras I have.
 
my work edc- salt h1

my not at work edc- bm 810 or zt 0300 or bm 830

nothing honestly survives awhile at work because of the humidity
 
james terrio said:
I'm in the "Geez man, relax!" camp. Do you really expect everyone to only own and carry one knife? Ever actually read through one of those "one knife for six months" threads? They tend to get awfully boring pretty quickly.

I carry a knife everyday, therefore any knife I carry is an EDC... that day ;)

On the other hand, I am amazed by all the other tons of stuff many people EDC. I've gotten along fine my adult life with a knife, a lighter, my billfold and keys. Some of you folks could literally set up not just a survival shelter/campsite but a complete working business office with the stuff in your pockets and man-purses.
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HAHA, I love this. "I'm just REALLY prepared...for everything!". When a person who doesn't have a labor intensive job dumps out 2-3 knives, a flashlight, a pry bar, a multitool, windproof lighter/firesteel, etc etc....you have to think that maybe they're just a little bit paranoid about something unfortunate befalling them. I watched this video review of some knife where the guy literally brings like ten choppers, enough kit to fill a kitchen, and all sorts of electronics and unnecessary items "just in case". Must have been 60lbs. Same idea.
 
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