We’ve talked a fair bit about prepping, bushcraft and hunting of late. Which is all great stuff but the some of you these may not be relevant. So, with that in mind we’ve gone back to our bread and butter if you like. EDC Gear (Every Day Carry).

In this post we are going to talk you though what you need in your EDC collection, and how to choose the right kit (not just knives) for your every day needs. Although this post will be aimed primarily at the UK market, many other countries have similar laws or less strict laws so this post will help you stay compliant around the world.

What is an Every Day Carry List?

An Every Day Carry list is a set of items that you have with you under most scenarios (at all times if possible) that helps you be prepared at a moment’s notice. This could be for work, for travel, survival or generally around the house. These items may be designed to aid your every day life, and simply make your life that bit easier. Some EDC’s are made up of a wide variety of items whereas others are more specific. Don’t worry if your EDC doesn’t look like everyone else’s because your EDC is designed around you not them.

Ideally, the items on an every day carry list will be small both in number and size and will be possible to carry on your person either in your pocket or in an easily carry-able EDC pouch. There are some people however that do choose to carry the items on their every day carry list in a specific EDC bag. If you aren’t someone who likes carrying a bag or has little space in your pockets you can find a wide range of key ring attachments from companies like True Utility. Items like these are both easily transportable and effective.

Types of Items on an Every Day Carry List

Things You Carry With You Already

This is important to review for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they probably reveal some basic needs that you have which gives you a better insight into what your greater Every Day Carry (EDC) needs may be. Secondly, if you are already carrying an item with you, you would not need to replicate its uses or functions elsewhere. You may also find that one of your current items could be replaced by something smaller and lighter or another tool which is the same size and has more functions. By analysing what you already it’s much easier to get started when thinking about getting new EDC gear. Remember though to keep this list simple. These are thing you need every day, your essentials, your ‘don’t leave the house without it’ kind of kit.

Things That Would Help With Frequently Encountered Problems

Following on from the essentials. Ask yourself this: Do you have problems that you face repeatedly either at home, work or out and about? Is there the potential of a certain problem arising from day to day? Is there something that you use frequently that has the potential to break? Having an EDC item or items that could assist in these situations would make your life easier generally and be of great help when the high potential risks become reality. In these situations we’ve seen lots of people buying multi-tools such a Leatherman’s or the new Boker Tech-Tools (Not too long ago we wrote an article comparing multi-tools, which looks at the some of the problems one of them can overcome). There are so many different tools that can fit into this section from flashlights and bottle openers to watches and knives. These things you may not need every single day but often are the items to go in this section of your list.

Things That Would Help With Rare and High Consequence Problems

This is a category of items that needs to be risk assessed versus threats in your area. They are meant to cover potential problems that are low probability to occur but if they did, would have a severe consequence. An example of this are car accidents: For this activity there is a very low probability of needing to escape a car (even a bus or train) but if there was a crash and you needed to exit quickly, there would be severe consequences of not being able to do so. In this case having a glass breaker or seatbelt cutter would make a huge difference towards improving your chances of survival. Tools of this nature are what make up this category.

It’s really unfortunate but these things do happen, and you’d much rather have one and not need it, than need it and not have it!

What actual things should go on YOUR Every Day Carry List?

Now that we’ve established what types of items go into an EDC kit and how to decide whether or not an individual task is worth carrying gear for, let’s take a look at some items that are good to include.

Things You Carry With You Already

Wallet – The vast majority of people will need ID, cards and cash daily, and you can’t leave home without this. There are options for improving even a standard wallet into an EDC device simply by adding a wallet multi-tool to it. There are a lot of options out there for this from the cheap and basic to the more complex. The Tool Logic Credit Card Companion as it has a lot of useful features (12 in total) covering a wide range of EDC needs.

Keys – Can’t leave home without these unless you want to climb through the window to get back in! There are simply hundreds of options here. We mentioned True Utility earlier they have a wide range of key sized options, but they are in no way the only ones. Have a look at the below photos which show some of our most popular items (they are linked to the products too).

Phone – Nearly everyone always have a phone on them, and these days most are smart phones too. In order to make best use of your phone, think about loading PDFs onto it with critical documents and a map of the local area in case you need to access these while the phone network is unavailable. Even make sure you have apps loaded on there with GPS so you or your phone can be located. It’s also worth considering an emergency power source if you use your phone a lot like the Enerplex iPhone 6 Solar charger case.

Watch – It is an item that many of us carry every day and even more may be wearing soon with the arrival of smart watches! Expensive watches these days give you a huge range of features. These are definitely worth looking into!

Things That Would Help With Frequently Encountered Problems

UK Friendly Folding knife – Loads of people we speak to frequently use knives almost every day for tasks like: cardboard and plastic at work. The reason we say you want a UK friendly knife is because that way you can simply use it everyday, and not have it stuck in the bottom of a bag or at the back of a draw. Have a look at our EDC knife buying guide, which will give you a good insight in what you should look for.

Flashlight – We know lots of you carry one with you most of the time. Whether you need it everyday or in case of the odd blackout. A good LED flashlight should be light and easy to carry, but also powerful enough to signal for help with maybe even a multitude of colours and features such a strobe mode.

Multi-purpose Pen – A multi-purpose Pen is a high grade metal pen that can double as a tool and/or glass breaking aid. Almost everyone needs a pen, so why not carry a pen that can also be used for other tasks? The reason a pen is in this section is that although you’ll likely need a pen everyday, the tools with it you probably won’t need daily. There are some great pens out there that are not only brilliant tools but also write like a dream. Luckily for you we have a few tactical pens that may take your fancy.

Large and small multi-tool – We were debating whether to split this section or not, but ultimately any multi-tool is coming to be of use, whether it’s a small key ring sized one or a bigger ‘hard-use’ tool. Ultimately a multi-tool is a ‘jack-of-all trades’ it’s rarely going to match a single use product for a sole purpose, but they offer in a single tool a big range of uses. Which for an EDC is more than ideal. More tools, less weight, less size. That’s what EDC is all about.

Notebook – We’ve mentioned pens already, but what good is a pen without something to write on? Having a pocket sized notebook may be a little bit out of fashion now with notes section on your smart phone, but what happens when your phone dies? It’s always worth having a paper copy of important numbers, names and dates.

Things That Would Help With Rare and High Consequence Problems

Glass breaker and Seatbelt Cutter – Most of you will likely drive daily, and unfortunately it’s still one of the most unsafe forms of transport. So, it’s always worth at least considering getting a tool that can aid survival if you were caught in an incident. There are a wide range of tools that can aid you with these, however many are unfortunately not UK legal. It’s worth though looking at tools like the Boker Plus Tech-Tool 4 which has a good range of everyday tools, but also includes a specialist glass breaker.

Pry tool – This will help you open doors and containers in the event of a car accident or a problem in my workplace or home. There are many options out there for this, one of our most popular pry tools is the Schrade Pry Tool Titanium I, which excels in function, having both a pry tip and lever tool, and not overly expensive.

Paracord!!! – Paracord is awesome. It is light, strong, versatile and will not rot. We also stock variations which can also double as fire tinder like the Live Fire Firecord. For EDC purposes you won’t be looking for meters and meters of the stuff, but enough so that you can actually use it. There are a lot of options for paracord bracelets and lanyards, which you can either wear or attach to your other EDC items. If you want something a bit different too you can always customise the colours too.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are lots of things you need to consider adding to your every day carry list. Each persons needs are different, so there are almost definitely things we haven’t included that may be relevant to you. If that’s the case still stick to the principles addressed above and you’ll be well on your way to a small and versatile EDC collection. Remember when planning your every day carry list, chance favours the well prepared. Prepare for as many eventualities as possible. That way you’re always covered.