The Keyboard-Commando's EDC

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GrifNK

Joined
Apr 1, 2017
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TL;DR: Do [you], as someone who is doing a basic urban job in sales, service, at a desk, etcetera; really use/need your EDC items?

Full disclosure: I'm not asking for advice on changing my EDC. I know I could "trim the fat" and still have a very functional EDC for my lifestyle, but that's not the point

I, like many, don't work a trade or anything that requires serious tools; I'm almost always doing mundane stuff around the city. However my EDC still includes:

-a 3-3.5 in blade knife (usually a SB caly 3/3.5)
-victorinox cadet/victorinox pioneer x/victorinox classic sd/leatherman juice s2/leatherman squirt ps4
-a light (usually a streamlight microstream)

My question to you fellow Keyboard-Commandos is: how often do you really use what you carry? The SAK classic or squirt PS4 could do a good 75% of my cutting (at least; although it fails in the "tasks" department), and the other tools could do a good 80-90%. I carry the knife to do the other 10%, because they lock, and because they're one-handed; sure, but really I carry the knives in addition to the multitools because I like them. Similarly, the flashlight on my phone would do fine in the context of my uber-urban life. It's cumbersome, not very bright, and not really capable of being any illusion of a spotlight, but it would work considering most of my time is spent inside or out during the day.

At the end of the day, the items can still be useful, but it's not nearly as important for me as it is for others. They're convenient and I enjoy them, but having just one of my common multitools would be plenty enough for me.

I hope I was clear enough without being too pedantic. If not, feel free to ask me to clarify
 
I carry way more than I generally use. But I like it and its better to have and not need...

My EDC actually sees more food work than anything else.
 
My etc has been in a constant downsize mode for several years now. I realize that in my mostly urban/suburban life I just don't need much of a larger tool/knife for anything. Old age has found me to be even more pragmatic than I was. As far as knives go, a Victorinox classic or a Leatherman squirt does most of what I need and gives me a few basic tools to boot. Always nice to have a screw driver on hand.



My most common edc;


Edit to add; I forgot to include what I did. For the last half of my working life I was a machinist. Set up and ran Bridgeport Mills, Harding lathes. Environment was a working machine shop fabricating parts made of varying aluminum alloys and steel both carbon and stainless. A sharp edge was needed many times daily for trimming two sided tape used to secure different size parallels to vise jaws, cutting the greasy tape that held bundles of round stock for the lathe jobs and square stock of the mills. Tape was the fiber reenforced kind of plastic impregnated with steel or aluminum dust. Personal pocket knives were not used much, as Stanley utility knives or box cutters were on every workbench. Why mess up your own knife cutting that stuff? Easier to just use the shop Stanley that was there.

Now in my retired life, I still do not have much need of a large knife. I spend more time fishing now and going out to the target range. My SAK classic and Leatherman squirt do fine.
 
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jc57 said:
The things I carry with me don't get used every day, but they get used often enough to justify having them with me. Why do you ask?
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Gathering experiences and perspectives; seeing what the distribution is and if having that information changes how/what I carry. An exciting goal, I know
 
GrifNK said:
Gathering experiences and perspectives; seeing what the distribution is and if having that information changes how/what I carry. An exciting goal, I know
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Well, to help with your science project: I work in industrial IT. Most of the time, I sit at a desk and use a mouse, keyboard, two monitors, and my vast intellect to implement solutions and solve problems. Every once in a while, though, I have to get hands-on with hardware. That may entail the back of a server rack or communications cabinet where I need a flashlight, or having to open something up, which requires screwdrivers and pliers. Parts and systems are delivered in boxes, which need opening. So I carry a collection of small tools in my laptop bag - couple of multi-tools, a couple of SAKs, a small flashlight, cables, connectors, etc. I may go months without needing any of that stuff, but then when I need it, I need it. Since it's in the laptop bag, it is with me at work when I need it.

I carry a small SAK on my keyring and a small or medium slipjoint in my pockets. Those are for me as a person, not for my job. I don't often need either of them, but they are so unobtrusive as to not be worth thinking about. Nice to have when I do need to cut something, but again, I may go days or weeks without using them while away from home. I use pocket knives more often around the house and yard than anywhere else.

I don't normally carry big pocket knives or full-sized multi-tools on me, unless I am playing home handy-man on the weekends.
 
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I use my knife/multitool maybe 10 times a day on average. There are days that I don't. I also carry insurance on my health, home, car, and life. Those policies don't get used often, thankfully;)

One of the great things about living in a land of plenty is carrying/doing things for the hellovit.

I could get by with less than I do, but what's the fun in that?:)
 
I am mostly desk-bound. I have genuine use for a medium-sized folder once a week and a flashlight maybe twice a week. I still carry both every day because a) I might need them them more than I anticipate and b) I like them.
 
I'm a desk jockey as well and during office hours I don't always need a knife. I carry a medium to large folder and a SAK most days along with a light (usually in my bag for work). These items have come in handy for me occasionally.

I once had to fix an office chair and we had no screw drivers that would fit the screws but my SAK did.

We had king cake a few months back but no one brought a knife to cut it. Talk about being a hero for the day.

Finally, a few weeks ago my boss resigned I couldn't get them packed up fast enough. If I wouldn't have had my knife on me I wouldn't have been able to cut boxes down to get the stuff packed securely/quickly.
 
I'm with 4mer. I cut a lot of hamburgs with mine when "out." I like a good knife...well, actually, TWO good knives. The older I get, the more "knife-power" I seem to carry.
Of course, I've had a large clipped Sebbie in my pants for many yrs, but for the last year have also enjoyed carrying a small fixed blade in a rh horizontal cross-draw sheath. It disappears under my (florida) t-shirt, and I never think about it until I need it. I find that I use it more than my Sebbie, but I'm NOT going to give up my large Sebbie.
Yeah, I also carry a IWB Glock or Walther PPS, but then, this IS Florida, the land of sunshine and goofballs.
 
Manager of a large studio. The pocket knife opens up packages and does food work every day. The little SAK Rambler is used a lot. I have a LM Charge in the bag for everything else. So yes, they do all get used.
 
GrifNK said:
Do [you] <snip> really use/need your EDC items?

-a 3-3.5 in blade knife (usually a SB caly 3/3.5)
-victorinox cadet/victorinox pioneer x/victorinox classic sd/leatherman juice s2/leatherman squirt ps4
-a light (usually a streamlight microstream)

My question to you fellow Keyboard-Commandos is: how often do you really use what you carry? The SAK classic or squirt PS4 could do a good 75% of my cutting (at least; although it fails in the "tasks" department), and the other tools could do a good 80-90%. <snip>
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That's the rub actually. I use everything I carry pretty often. But I carry a fixed blade in the woods and honestly seldom use or need it. But I still carry it in the event that something happens and I need something stronger or longer than my folder. The fixed blade falls into the "hellofit" category mentioned below.

Flashlights... I don't EDC one, but I use a flashlight every single day several times at least. If I head to the woods, I will usually have a small one with me just in case I need to peer into some dark place or hoof it back along a trail after dark because I didn't time things right.

Multi-tools.... love the little Leatherman Squirt Ps4. I find it very useful without taking up a lot of pocket space. It stays on my key ring. I much prefer it to something like a Vic Classic which I consider next to useless beyond cleaning your finger nails or cutting a stray thread. Like you the Squirt could do most of the day to day cutting, but I like something a bit larger in the blade department and that is filled by a 111mm SAK most of the time. Been carrying a flipper also lately which for the most part I don't care for, but I like this one a lot (Steel Will Cutjack Mini). I often pair my SAK with a modern of some kind and currently it's the flipper, but sometimes it's something like the Spyderco Native or a Benchmade AO.

Steely_Gunz said:
One of the great things about living in a land of plenty is carrying/doing things for the hellovit.
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There certainly is that and seems like a good reason as any to carry something if you feel like it.

marcinek said:
And "keyboard commando" is, at least here, an insult. Ala "mall ninja." FYI.
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I'm not insulted. Don't really care enough anymore to allow myself to be insulted by many things said here. Occasionally it happens, but not often. If I were Gaston, I think I would feel insulted all the time.
 
I work in an office. Last week I used my SAK to tighten a loose screw and my pocket knife to cut packing tape to open a box.
 
22-rimfire said:
I'm not insulted. Don't really care enough anymore to allow myself to be insulted by many things said here. Occasionally it happens, but not often. If I were Gaston, I think I would feel insulted all the time.
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Indeed...I usually get worse than "keyboard commando" before 9 am. But, it was an FYI to our new friend that some may take offense.

That said, as a cubicle monkey, I do always have a Vic Classic, a Leatherman, and an Opinel on me, and they come in useful more times than one could imagine.

And, and this is the big thing to me, when I have used any of them to help somebody in the office? Nobody has ever freaked out. Exactly the opposite really. You the only one in the place with tools? Or tweezers? You are like a superhero. :D
 
22-rimfire said:
Being prepared is WHY you EDC a knife or other tools, even if you don't use them daily.
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True. Even for the everyday little cutting and repairing. It never hurts having a multitool.

And then there are bad or worst case scenarios. They do happen. Stuck in a blackout? Stairwell? Subway tunnel? You best have a flashlight. Little first aid kit...I even have a whistle.

And I know where my towel is, of course.
 
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