My EDC Today And Why

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VorpelSword

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My current EDC is a Letherman Wave. It goes into my pocket or on my belt hen I gear -up with keys and wallet . . .literally, whenever I put my pants on.

Years ago I carried a multi blade SAK and a Buck 110. In the 1980s I was working on oil rigs and that was what available. Later on I worked i a health care setting doing diagnostic imaging with isotopes. Still had the SAK/Buck combo. I found that to be less than ideal, but that was what I had. When the early Leatherman tools came out, they were a little award to deploy and not as robust as I would like. Sometimes I had one on me and sometimes not. Later on they came out with the Wave (and others) that deployed the blades from the outside and all the tools locked open . . .THAT was the ticket. Always had one at work, but often n not with me while out and around town.

Then came Sept 11th, 2001. We watched it all unfold on the always-on TV in the patient waiting room. In the aftermath there was much talk of the "new normal" and what that would be. One of the Twin Towers survival stories was the four guys trapped i an elevator between flores. . .. three suits and a window washer. Between the four of them the only tool available was the window washer's squeegee. He ripped off the rubber part and four of them took turns hacking and gouging their way through four layers of drywall to get out and down . . .they made it.

From the time I read about that, I made my Wave an EDC part of getting dressed.
 
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This is why I keep fixed blades in my shoulder bag and daypack. In a pinch, I don't want to ruin my gents folders which are probably not up for the task anyway. I carry the Fallkniven WM1, the Ruike Hornet and the Condor mini Bushlore.
 
Free Series? What is that?

Fixed blade . . .I move about in an urban setting with Uber and Metro Busses. While about asny knife is legsl to openly display and csry in Texas, I am not looking to explain away anything if ever intersecting with a duly appointed minion of the law for some unforeseen reason.

My EDC choice, a multi-tool, is a compromise between being totally unprepared and hauling around a "Go-Bag" full of anti-"SHTF" gear . . .as seen in so many YouTube videos.
 
VorpelSword said:
Free Series? What is that?

Fixed blade . . .I move about in an urban setting with Uber and Metro Busses. While about asny knife is legsl to openly display and csry in Texas, I am not looking to explain away anything if ever intersecting with a duly appointed minion of the law for some unforeseen reason.

My EDC choice, a multi-tool, is a compromise between being totally unprepared and hauling around a "Go-Bag" full of anti-"SHTF" gear . . .as seen in so many YouTube videos.
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VorpelSword said:
From the time I read about that, I made my Wave an EDC part of getting dressed.
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It's awfully hard to go wrong with a sturdy multitool as an EDC. Especially in an urban environment. My niece and nephew live in Houston, and both carry multitools, plus a replaceable blade utility knife. As for going through wallboard, I can't think of a better tool than a multitool or SAK with a saw blade. A replaceable blade utility knife like a Husky or Milwaukee does very well. Score deeply and kick it out.

I lived most of my life in and around Washington D.C., and in an urban environment you don't really need much knife. But, the occasional emergency does pop up. Again, hard to beat a Leatherman tool or SAK of some kind. After retiring, my wife and I moved to Texas, but in the town of Georgetown it's still an urban environment. Still don't need much knife, but a multitool or SAK is still my carry. I've actually experimented with a Leatherman and a Gerber EAB folding utility blade. Works great for most things.
 
I agree that the Wave is a fantastic EDC. It always kind of blows me away that almost no one that I come across carries a multitool anymore, and I work in the electrical industry. I carried my Wave (sometimes I'd switch it out for one of my other mulitools) for about a years time everday last year. I found that I used one of the non-knife tools once every few days, but when that time came around, it was a hell of a blessing to have. Lately I've switched it out, not because I found it didn't work for me, but because I've been a bit obsessive with my folders lately, and like to put an extra folder in that sheath so that I have something to play with throughout my work day.

When I go camping, hiking, fishing, most outdoor activities really, I always carry a multitool, a medium sized fixed blade, and whatever folder. I'll often put a SAK in my pocket also, however it starts to feel a little heavy after a while.

I've always wanted to try a Victorinox Swisstool too. Those sons a guns are so sleek and smooth looking, and I've always heard great things about them.
 
For me, it is all about functionality. On the Wave, I would like to see a spring opening feature for the pliers tool . . .to keep the jaws spread in use.. Another thing I'd like to see would be a more robust scissors tool. While the current iteration is weighty (well, "dense") I'd like to try a version somewhat larger, 10% or so. That would enhance the functionality of the blades, file and saw, but that would mandate a belt pouch for sure.

And of course, from a knife-nerd viewpoint, an "advanced" steel formulation would be a nice option.
 
I am a fixed blade guy

don't get me wrong I love folders and gave some very nice ones but for day to day use for me a 3ish inch bladed fixed blade carried horizontally in front of my left hip is the only ticket

so I have amassed some incredible blades in this range. Mostly Japanese inspired pieces and wharncliffes

but of all my pieces this cable Damascus wharnie from David Mirabile

its a thin toothy edge that does not chip out or distort and feels like my pointer finger

 
VorpelSword said:
My current EDC is a Letherman Wave. It goes into my pocket or on my belt hen I gear -up with keys and wallet . . .literally, whenever I put my pants on.

Years ago I carried a multi blade SAK and a Buck 110. In the 1980s I was working on oil rigs and that was what available. Later on I worked i a health care setting doing diagnostic imaging with isotopes. Still had the SAK/Buck combo. I found that to be less than ideal, but that was what I had. When the early Leatherman tools came out, they were a little award to deploy and not as robust as I would like. Sometimes I had one on me and sometimes not. Later on they came out with the Wave (and others) that deployed the blades from the outside and all the tools locked open . . .THAT was the ticket. Always had one at work, but often n not with me while out and around town.

Then came Sept 11th, 2001. We watched it all unfold on the always-on TV in the patient waiting room. In the aftermath there was much talk of the "new normal" and what that would be. One of the Twin Towers survival stories was the four guys trapped i an elevator between flores. . .. three suits and a window washer. Between the three of them the only tool available was the window washer's squeegee. He ripped off the rubber part and four of them took turns hacking and gouging their way through four layers of drywall to get out and down . . .they made it.

From the time I read about that, I made my Wave an EDC part of getting dressed.
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This is an interesting post to me as I own both the Wave and the Wave+ but never carry them on my person as an EDC (one's in my rig and the other in a kitchen drawer). For EDC, I carry a 74mm SAK Executive and either a Benchmade Bugout (535BK-2) or Mini-Presidio 2. While I have yet to have any daily need for the tools on the Wave, for EDC, especially in urban environments (I live in the country outside a small (but growing) town) a multitool makes a whole lot of sense over just a blade and toothpick. Your post is food for thought.
 
Maybe I now have a Wave+. It does have the optional pocket clip/lanyard ring feature.

We all carry what works for us. . . .part of what makes the world go around.

"Urban carry" . . .I don't (can't) drive. I get around town by public bus or train. I do not have the option of locking up anything in a car parked outsid a business. Everything I have with me must come onside. I feel that a multitool is perceived as less threatening or suspicious than any other knife type to the sorts of random idiots one may encounter while out and about. . .. even a box cutter. Yet, it will thumb-deploy two blades to form a double-edged jabbing/ cutting tool en exteremis.

When I was working in a major teaching hospital (retired in 2003) I often had use of the pliers tool to tighten up or otherwise adjust IV poles that were attached to a patient gurney. The blades came i handy for chores that my female co-workers used scissors for (aqnd couldn't find}. While not often used, the heavy flat screwdriver did an "emergency" repair to a door lock once; a security door that had rods that extended up to the overhead frame and down into the floor. The retaining plate at the top had come loose and the door would not close, and it had to close. got 'er dunn by closing time and went home.

Someone always wanted their glasses tightened up with that tiny combo screwdriver too.

Now it is just part of my going-out-the-door ensemble of pocket things along with my keys phone, wallet. . . .etc..
 
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VorpelSword said:
We all carry what works for us. . . .
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My Dad was a gun dealer and bought me an SOG Paratool when they first came out. U.S.A. I was lumberjacking at the time and wore it out and abused it to death. He saw it one day and took it. He sent it back to them and they sent me a new one.

When he died, I put it up (sentimental) and bought the PowerLock (U.S.A.) and am still wearing it every single day. It's been melted from atv batteries, fixed guitars, houses, fences and been abused and gotten me out of so many pickles I'm literally afraid to NOT put it on due to a fear that THIS will be the day I REALLY need it.

The new SOG's are Chinese, so I have a Leatherman ARC under the tree right now. I'm looking forward to making a leather sheath for it and wearing it for the duration.

Yep. Me too.
 
My edc is a flat pocket tool with a blade that slides easily into my front pocket wallet. Real minimalist stuff, but still overkill for my needs.
 
Retired now so the SAK Executive takes care of most everything.
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I have carried a multitool pretty much everyday on my person since the spring of 2000. If I don't have one in my pocket or on my belt, there is one within reach in my desk drawer or stuffed in my tool bag. I find them indispensable, and I will take a MT of basic 400 series steel and make due with the ho-hum edge retention over a super steel dedicated knife if you forced me to choose just ONE tool to keep on my person at all times. I have often said that multitools augment imagination. When you are in a pinch, they offer a clutch of basic tools that allow you to manipulate or craft other bobs and widgets to get you out of a jam.

My go-to for the last several years has been a Leatherman P4. I would like get an Arc, and it's on my list for my birthday (maybe). I noticed that my wife went rouge and purchased me a Gerber Diesel for Christmas. Not my exact cup of tea, but it's a good solid American made one. I'm going to use it and enjoy it, and I will make a leather sheath for it as well. I think I'll pair it with a traditional knife and make a little combo belt sheath to keep them handy/

I'm actually kind of excited to go back to the "old school" tool without the external tools, just for fun. I don't really need a fast tool, and it reminds me of my first tool I purchased. Since this is a "why" thread, here's why I started carrying a pliers based tool back in the spring of 2000. It was a Gerber Compact (I think). I had never given them much thought up until I joined the rowing crew my freshman year of college. It was a club sport, so the meager money the university gave us to pay a coach, we used toward regatta fees and uniforms and just elected a coach from among the older guys. Anyway, our boat wasn't a nice one. Due to the fact that we had to rent panel vans to get where we needed to be, our boat had to bolt together in two pieces so that we could transport it on top of the van.

I'll never forget the first time I watched the guys assemble our boat. Lube the junction with a coat of Vaseline, line up the two sides, and crank down the bolts until they were tight. It was a team effort. The two halves would go together and the nuts would get threaded on. Then a symphony of snick, snick, snick as about 3 guys slung out the jaws on their Gerber tools and got to tightening. We always kept one on us near the middle of the boat as sometimes if the water was cold, someone would have to tighten a nut down to keep the water from leaking in or tighten an arm that came loose.

After watching them use the MT to such good effect, I bought one of my own from Walmart. I think it might have been around $20 at that time. I carried it all through college and over the summer months working construction for my family. When the Wave came out, I bought one of those. After that, I was mostly a Leatherman Fanboi, but it idea of having any brand of tool close at hand has served me well. I probably have well over 25 tools kicking around.
 
Venice said:
Retired now so the SAK Executive takes care of most everything.
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The Executive is my most carried and most used EDC I've owned to date (going back to the 70's where the Classic filled that role. I was often carrying a 110 in those days but moved on to a 501 Squier by 1980. The Executive came along after carrying the Ambassador (74mm) for an upgrade to the Classic. Fortunately, as is my way, I bought a few backups of those 74mm knives which turns out to be a good thing as Victorinox dropped them from their line. A tragedy IMO. Instead of the knid of flashlight you carry, I keep a Nightcore Tube V2 on my keyring. I have it but never seem to have need for it.

iu
 
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