One essential piece of gear
- Thread starter FSCJedi
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2007
- Messages
- 3,164
After a knife a fire source is my next thing I carry usually a lighter
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2001
- Messages
- 734
Chapstick.
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2015
- Messages
- 2,556
I use my pocket watch, keys, wallet, lighter and handkerchief (in that order) more than my flashlight but when I do need it, It's very useful. Like yesterday during a power cut but then I realised the battery was dead. Had turned itself on in my pocket at some point. 
I had a flashlight nearby though.
I had a flashlight nearby though.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2015
- Messages
- 2,556
I don't get this. In the urban environment an on-body flashlight is far from a necessity for many and all smartphones have a flashlight feature should you need to hunt under a desk for something. If it rains there isn't going to be street umbrellas every 10 yards or so but there are plenty street lights. My apartment building doesn't have lighting on the path up to the building and I don't carry a smartphone so my flashlight actually sees some use but otherwise? I have a flashlight in the bedside table, one within easy reach in the apartment, one in the car and a headlamp in my camping bag in the trunk. It's simply not an in-pocket necessity for the average urbanite. Most of the time neither is a pocket knife more than a SAK Classic and the majority get by without even that but saying so is heresy here.
Bigfattyt
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2007
- Messages
- 19,195
For a while now I've been carrying two Cold Steel Ti-lites, one 4" stuck in a section of bicycle innertube on my belt, and a 6" in an under arm rig (made myself). Both knives have been modified.
I always wear a jacket when I go out, so my knives are not visible to the public.
My state has statutes requiring the knife be carried openly, so as not to be a concealed weapon apparently capable of causing bodily harm (a lovely catchall they added to the list of prohibited items).
So I try to keep the fixed blades visible, and the folders that are locking clipped to a pocket. Clipped in the pocket is still kosher here.
As to OP's question. If we are excluding lights and guns.....and spare mags....
Then Handkerchiefs are an essential edc item.
I ALWAYS have two or three handkerchiefs in my pockets.
I have a Beard and Owl, and decided to make my own. (I also have more piles of storebought handkerchiefs).
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2015
- Messages
- 666
Flashlight, Surefire.
What's your goal here?
Trying to expand your carry and looking for options?
Good for you.
Get a small, cheap, flashlight and stick it in your pocket for a week...
If you don't find it useful then move on to the next option.
If you do find it useful then start hunting for something higher quality that will be more reliable/bright.
Bic lighter is another standard for me, but I smoke.
You might get a better response if the forum knew what your goal is...
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2000
- Messages
- 4,793
I don't get this. In the urban environment an on-body flashlight is far from a necessity for many and all smartphones have a flashlight feature should you need to hunt under a desk for something. If it rains there isn't going to be street umbrellas every 10 yards or so but there are plenty street lights. My apartment building doesn't have lighting on the path up to the building and I don't carry a smartphone so my flashlight actually sees some use but otherwise? I have a flashlight in the bedside table, one within easy reach in the apartment, one in the car and a headlamp in my camping bag in the trunk. It's simply not an in-pocket necessity for the average urbanite. Most of the time neither is a pocket knife more than a SAK Classic and the majority get by without even that but saying so is heresy here.
Well, I suppose I should qualify what makes this relevant to me, at any rate.
I'm up in the very rural Pacific Northwest. There's not a street light on every corner here. In my neighborhood of 9 city blocks, there are two.
For some reason up here in the higher latitudes, it gets dark real early and stays dark until late morning in the winter. This means when I go out to the car to go to work, it's dark. When I pull into work, it's dark. When I get home from work... you see where I'm going with this.
Had a buddy one time who accompanied a fish biologist on a hike up to count salmon in one of our rivers. They followed the fishing trail up to the spawning grounds, counted what they needed to count, and started back. Before too long the sun went down and that was that. They couldn't see 3 feet and had to stop. Neither had so much as a wooden match to see around them. (Before y'all say "light on the cell phone", this area is rural enough you don't have cell signal out in the sticks... neither had a phone either).
The guy's wife calls us up in a panic so we assemble our crew and blast into the woods to find our wayward friend. We found his truck and headed down the trail and shortly found him and his biologist charge standing patiently in the trail awaiting sun-up so they could head back to the car. A good laugh was had by all, and a good lesson learned as well. It is from that day forward that I started carrying a light on me.
I don't know how many times I've fired up whatever light I had on me to help someone find something they dropped in the (yes, unlighted) parking lot, or up in the attic of the shop or under the hood of the car or...
So I carry one. And with the lumen to size ratio of some of these little wonders, there is little wonder why everyone should be able to as well.
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2017
- Messages
- 1,707
Handkerchief -- my mother taught me to carry one from my earliest days.
Watch -- I've worn one every day since grade school.
Magnifying glass -- print on labels sure has gotten small! (Also handy on nature walks.)
Flashlight -- these small rechargeables are incredibly bright.
Watch -- I've worn one every day since grade school.
Magnifying glass -- print on labels sure has gotten small! (Also handy on nature walks.)
Flashlight -- these small rechargeables are incredibly bright.
Last edited:
Wasty
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2015
- Messages
- 717
“A towel, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2017
- Messages
- 1,707
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2002
- Messages
- 711
My goal is a general survey of what should be “knife people” to see what EDC item that isn’t one of the ones mentioned they consider important enough to carry with them. I’m looking at opening a brick and mortar store that is predominantly a knife shop, but will carry EDC gear as well.
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2002
- Messages
- 711
MAGNIFYING GLASS! I was wondering if anyone else carried one. My carry SAK (an Explorer) has a mag glass that I use multiple times a week, if not daily. Good call.Handkerchief -- my mother taught me to carry one from my earliest days.
Watch -- I've worn one every day since grade school.
Magnifying glass -- print on labels sure has gotten small! (Also handy on nature walks.)
Flashlight -- these small rechargeables are incredibly bright.
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2001
- Messages
- 8,928
House keys. Handkerchief. Chapstick. Watch.
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2006
- Messages
- 38,782
I live in an urban environment. But I also live on the edge of a canyon with extensive wild life. We get fox, coyotes, possums, skunks, and bobcats in both the front yard and the back. If I go out at night to grab something out of the car and notice that there is something moving in the bushes. I want a light that is bright enough to show exactly what is there. A cell phone light is insufficient. An AA sized flashlight that throws 600 lumens works for that. And it takes up minimal space in my pocket. Trust me. It only has to happen to you once to make you religious about carrying a light in your pocket. I almost got skunked one night because I thought it was just the neighbor's cat and I was going to shoo it away.I don't get this. In the urban environment an on-body flashlight is far from a necessity for many and all smartphones have a flashlight feature should you need to hunt under a desk for something. If it rains there isn't going to be street umbrellas every 10 yards or so but there are plenty street lights. My apartment building doesn't have lighting on the path up to the building and I don't carry a smartphone so my flashlight actually sees some use but otherwise? I have a flashlight in the bedside table, one within easy reach in the apartment, one in the car and a headlamp in my camping bag in the trunk. It's simply not an in-pocket necessity for the average urbanite. Most of the time neither is a pocket knife more than a SAK Classic and the majority get by without even that but saying so is heresy here.
I also find a cell phone to be big and blocky, and vulnerable to getting dropped when I've got my mind on trying to find something that I've dropped or if I'm fussing with cables behind the TV or computer.
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2015
- Messages
- 2,556
Well, I suppose I should qualify what makes this relevant to me, at any rate.
I'm up in the very rural Pacific Northwest. There's not a street light on every corner here. In my neighborhood of 9 city blocks, there are two.
For some reason up here in the higher latitudes, it gets dark real early and stays dark until late morning in the winter. This means when I go out to the car to go to work, it's dark. When I pull into work, it's dark. When I get home from work... you see where I'm going with this.
Had a buddy one time who accompanied a fish biologist on a hike up to count salmon in one of our rivers. They followed the fishing trail up to the spawning grounds, counted what they needed to count, and started back. Before too long the sun went down and that was that. They couldn't see 3 feet and had to stop. Neither had so much as a wooden match to see around them. (Before y'all say "light on the cell phone", this area is rural enough you don't have cell signal out in the sticks... neither had a phone either).
The guy's wife calls us up in a panic so we assemble our crew and blast into the woods to find our wayward friend. We found his truck and headed down the trail and shortly found him and his biologist charge standing patiently in the trail awaiting sun-up so they could head back to the car. A good laugh was had by all, and a good lesson learned as well. It is from that day forward that I started carrying a light on me.
I don't know how many times I've fired up whatever light I had on me to help someone find something they dropped in the (yes, unlighted) parking lot, or up in the attic of the shop or under the hood of the car or...
So I carry one. And with the lumen to size ratio of some of these little wonders, there is little wonder why everyone should be able to as well.
Sure, makes sense, I just didn't get the idea that the somehow everyone else who doesn't carry one but who will take an umbrella is wrong. The fact is that for the average urbanite living and working in well lit areas in the city it's simply not a necessity and with smart phones it's really not a necessity for the rare time when extra light is needed like when something rolled under the desk. I like my flashlights, have a whole bunch of them and my keychain currently carries an Eagletac D25A Clicky with a Nichia 219 emitter but I'm not the average urbanite.