Your EDC Gear (everyday carry) refers to the items that you carry on your person in public each and every day. Whether we realize it or not, we each have an EDC right now because we each have items that we always carry on our person. Even if all we typically carry on ourselves daily is our car keys, a phone, or a wallet, that still counts as an EDC.
What your EDC should do, however, is prepare you for emergency scenarios. So the question is not whether you should have an EDC or not. The question is what will you do to improve your EDC to make you more prepared for unusual and potentially dangerous circumstances?
NOTE: This list is written assuming you already have the basic EDC items down, such as a phone, wallet, watch, and your car keys. Each of those items are valuable and should not be neglected.
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Best EDC Gear
Below are some of our top picks for your everyday carry gear suggestions. Not everything on this list has to be on your person, but should be accessible quickly. Whether it is in your car center console, office desk or nightstand.
1. Belt – Galco SB2
Having a high quality belt is an EDC must. Not only should your belt be resilient to general wear and tear, but it also needs to be strong enough to hold the weight of your gun should you elect to conceal carry.
The Galco SB2 belt is an excellent example of an EDC belt to use because it is high quality, resilient, designed specifically to support the weight of a gun and spare ammo, and is also very casual looking and looks great with just about any outfit. It is available in both black and tan.
2. Defensive Tool (Lethal): Your Firearm of Choice
Carrying a defensive tool is another EDC must, and the best lethal defensive tool to carry is a firearm. It’s entirely up to you in regards to if you even want to carry to begin with, and furthermore, to what kind of firearm you want to carry if you choose to do so.
What’s important is that your defensive firearm of choice be easy to conceal on your person, feel ergonomic in your hand, be dead reliable, and be carried in a high quality holster that covers the trigger guard for safety purposes.
3. Defensive Tool (Non-Lethal): Sabre 3-in-1 Pepper Spray
In addition to a lethal defensive weapon, having a non-lethal defensive tool would be smart as well, because certain situations may arise where you need to defend yourself but don’t need to kill your attacker.
In this case, Sabre pepper spray is an excellent example of what you can carry. Sabre is the largest manufacturer of pepper spray in the world and their products are in use with police departments across the United States.
The Sabre 3-in-1 pepper spray in particular offers you 35 shots with a range up to ten feet, a four year shelf life, and a clip to secure the canister to the inside of your pocket.
4. Flashlight (LED): Fenix E12
Many people question the need to carry a flashlight these days since practically all smart phones come with flashlights already installed on them. In reality though, a flashlight is not something you would be wise to overlook.
True, your phone may have a flashlight already on it, but there are a limitless number of things that can happen to your phone to: it may be damaged, the battery may run out, you may lose it, etc.
This is why having a separate LED flashlight is essential for your EDC gear list. Your flashlight should be light and compact enough to fit in your pocket, but it should also be highly durable and emit a bright light. An excellent example of a flashlight that fulfills this criteria is the Fenix E12.
This light has a fully adjustable and high intensity beam, with a 130 lumen output. It is powered by an AA battery (which are very cheap and easy to find), and the body of the flashlight is constructed out of a very durable aluminum alloy material.
Carrying a lighter or some kind of fire starting device among with you also wouldn’t be a bad idea for the simple reason that you may inadvertently find yourself in a survival situation where you need to get a fire going and going quickly.
In this case, there’s not any cheaper or more simple option than the simple BIC lighter.
6. Paracord: Paracord Bracelet
Paracord is one of the most versatile and useful survival items in existence, and carrying just a little bit of it on you in your everyday life could come in handy more often than you think.
Perhaps one of the most convenient ways to carry paracord, if not the most convenient way, is in the form of a paracord bracelet.
These wrap around your wrist (usually on the opposite wrist of the one that holds your watch), and some come with additional survival items on them as well, including but not limited to: compass, thermometer, bottle opener, saw tooth, and a nail file to name a few things.
7. Tactical Knife – Buck Knives Redpoint
A folding tactical knife of some kind is an EDC must have. There is no negotiating with this one. You should always include a knife as part of your EDC.
Your EDC knife of choice should fulfill
many qualities, including each of the following:
It must be high quality- It must be sharp
- It must have a clip to affix to the inside of your pocket
- It must feel ergonomic in your hand
- It must be easy to draw and flip the blade out
- It should have a secure grip (non-slippery)
There are an extremely wide variety of different knives you can go with, and one of the several is the Buck Knives Redpoint Knife. This knife has a two and three quarters inch 420 HC stainless steel blade that is partially serrated and also coated in titanium for added strength.
It is designed for rapid deployment and to open quickly with one hand, while without having to bring your hand or fingers in contact with the blade itself, which is a major plus. The handle has a rubber over mold to give you an equally ergonomic and secure grip even in slippery conditions.
8. Tactical Pen – Schrade Tactical Pen
Having a tactical pen is perhaps the most overlooked EDC item of all. Many people carry a normal pen with them, but very few seem to think about carrying a tactical pen.
What is a tactical pen? A tactical pen is simply a regular pen that is encased in a solid metal body with a pointed edge so it can be used defensively. There are two major assets to carrying a tactical pen with you. The first is that you can use it as a normal pen for taking notes or signing important documents if you need to.
The second is that it is very inconspicuous and few people will actually think of it as a weapon if they see it, and yet it can be utilized as a devastating defensive tool if needed because you can use the pointed edge to inflict severe injury on an opponent.
One of the best and most common tactical pens is the Schrade Tactical Pen. This tactical pen is less than six inches long, weighs around one and a half ounces, and is built out of CNC machined aluminum for excellent durability. It also comes with a strong pocket clip and is refillable.
9. Utility Knife – Swiss Army Knife
Finally, carrying a basic utility knife such as a Swiss Army style of knife would be a good idea too. The Swiss Army Knife is not a good defensive weapon, but it is an excellent choice for utilitarian purposes such as cutting open boxes.
The other pieces of the knife, such as the scissors, nail file, screwdriver, pliers, or toothpick, could definitely come in handy in your everyday life too.
EDC Gear – Conclusion
Obviously you don’t have to go with the exact same products that we listed out in this article, but you get the idea. Just as long as you stick with high quality products for each of these categories of items, you will have a well rounded EDC that serves you well in your day-to-day life and for emergencies alike.
Of course, you may not agree that you need some of the items on this list, or there may be other items that you feel you need to have as well. So don’t feel that you need to follow this list religiously, as really it is just a list of suggestions.
Your EDC needs to be tailored to one person, you, and the items you choose to carry everyday need to reflect your personal needs and the situations you believe you may find yourself in.
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