So, you’ve heard about everyday carry (EDC) and you’re looking to learn more about it. Often times, EDC is only referred to when talking about carrying a concealed firearm. But the thing that so many don’t understand is that EDC goes far beyond carrying weapons.
EDC is about carrying the gear that you’ll need to face the challenges of daily life. It’s a mindset that you’ll be able to efficiently solve your problems as they arise. Ultimately, it’s about being a smart and responsible citizen. If you’re interested in developing your own EDC kit and don’t know where to start, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve been in the EDC game for a while now and have plenty of knowledge on what you need to focus on to build a great EDC kit. To that end, here’s our guide on the best EDC gear for beginners so you can be prepared for the challenges in your own life. Let’s get started.
What is EDC?
EDC is more than just the tools that you carry. It’s a mindset. Everyday carry is all about anticipating problems that you will face during the day and finding a tool and/or a skill that will help you deal with them.
To that end, EDC is also about efficiency. Carrying extra tools doesn’t mean that you’re strapping on a tool belt like Batman. Your EDC kit needs to be small enough and light enough that you can easily carry each piece inside of your pockets.
How do You Choose the Best EDC Gear?
There are tons of products out there that claim to be everyday carry friendly. There are also plenty of products out there that are meant to be EDC but are extremely expensive and not so beginner friendly. So how do you choose the best beginner friendly EDC gear? Pay attention to some of these key factors and you’ll have a good way of determining whether something is worth spending your hard-earned money on or not.
Price
One of the first things you’ll see when shopping for EDC gear is the price. The thing to keep in mind is that you want to find gear that is in the “sweet spot” when it comes to price. Not too expensive. Not too cheap. Often times the price of a piece of gear reflects the quality of materials used to make it, so the cheaper the product, the less durable it’s likely to be.
Weight
Lightweight gear is your friend when it comes to EDC. Remember that your everyday carry kit is meant to enhance your ability to solve problems, not weigh you down. To that end, find gear that is made from materials that are durable, yet lightweight. Carbon fiber and aluminum are two great materials that make for durable and lightweight EDC gear.
Size
Keeping your EDC gear small enough to fit into your pockets is essential to ensuring your tools are always within arm’s reach. While you could keep some of your EDC kit in a backpack, you run the risk of getting separated from your tools. Someone could steal your backpack, or you could misplace it. Having small enough EDC tools to keep on your person at all times ensures that you’ll be ready to deal with practically any problem in a moment’s notice.
Usability
There are a lot of crazy products on the market that claim to be EDC. They’re usually easy to identify because they’re all blacked out and covered with images of military and police personnel with cool black sunglasses on. But at the end of the day, if that piece of gear isn’t going to be used each and every day, it shouldn’t be in your EDC kit. Strive to build your kit out with gear that you use each day so that you don’t get weighed down with the latest and greatest “tacticool” gear.
Purpose
You should strive to have each piece of your EDC serve multiple purposes. Great EDC gear items can solve multiple problems, which helps to multiply your ability to deal with the challenges you face on a daily basis. It makes you efficient and limits the amount of gear you have to carry. And at the end of the day, EDC is all about efficiency.
Durability
When you need your EDC tools, you want to know that they’ll be ready to use at all times. To that end, ensure each piece of your kit is capable of standing up to the rigors of daily use. Steel, aluminum, carbon fiber, brass, copper, and titanium are all great materials that will stand up to the abuse of being used every day. Watch out for products that sound like they’d be durable. Poly carbonite is a big one that tricks many people into buying a subpar product. It sounds durable, but at the end of the day, poly carbonite is just plastic. Plastic fails way more often, especially compared to the materials we mentioned above.
Most Important Pieces of EDC Gear for Beginners
Now that we’ve gone over a few key points on how to source great beginner EDC products, let’s get into the specifics for the gear items you should start acquiring to build out your EDC kit.
Knife
One of the most important pieces of EDC gear that you can carry is a knife. A knife is capable of cutting open boxes, opening tough packages, cutting rope into smaller pieces, and so much more.
But not all knives are EDC knives. Remember, your knife should be small enough to fit in your pocket, but durable enough that it can stand up to being used on a daily basis without breaking down.
A few styles of EDC knives to consider include:
- Folding knives
- Fixed blade knives
- Multi-tool knives
Each style of knife has their own pros and cons. In our opinion, the best style of knife for EDC is the folding knife. These are compact enough to be carried in your pocket and easy to use without having to search through a myriad of other tools when you need it.
Wallet
Something you probably didn’t even realize is a piece of EDC gear is your wallet. Think about it, you always carry it with you each and every day you leave the house, so naturally we can categorize it as a piece of EDC gear! But not all wallets are created equal.
Traditional style wallets made from leather or polyester fabric break down fairly quickly. That’s why most men replace their wallets every 2 to 3 years on average. Traditional style wallets are also only capable of doing one thing: carrying your cash and cards.
A great EDC wallet, like the Axwell Wallet, is durable and capable of several different functions. Made from carbon fiber, aluminum, copper, brass, and so many more durable materials, the Axwell Wallet is one of the most durable wallets on the market today. And you can outfit it with a GPS tracker and the Axwell Multitool Card to increase is utility. Try getting your granddad’s wallet to do that!
Cell Phone
Another item you carry with you on a daily basis that you likely didn’t realize counted as a piece of EDC gear is your cell phone. Your phone allows you to do so many things today. Aside from being able to communicate through texting or calling someone, phones today are capable of researching on the go, navigation, as well as entertainment.
A key component to the cell phone is the case that it rests inside of. You want to protect that little pocket computer as best as you can so that it continues to be useful to you even if you drop it or it gets wet. Strive to find a case that is slim enough to slide into your pocket, but durable enough that it’ll protect your phone from breaking when it gets dropped.
Key Organizer
Keeping your keys on a key chain is one of the least efficient ways to carry them. Keys jingle around and can often get lost if the key ring that they are on gets caught on something. The force from you pulling away from that obstruction can bend open the key ring and break it, scattering your keys all over the ground.
A key organizer that functions almost like a multi-tool is a great way to not only secure your keys but organize them as well. Each key has its own slot and can be easily identified and deployed when you need it. Plus, EDC key organizers prevent that annoying jingle sound that keeping keys on a key ring produces.
Flashlight
Having a small flashlight on hand is a great way to build some redundancy in your EDC kit. Obviously, most phones today come with a flashlight feature built into it, but what happens if it’s dark outside and that phone battery dies? Well, if you have a flashlight on hand, you won’t have to worry about being stuck in the dark without a light again!
Great EDC flashlights often are rechargeable and come with break points on the lens housing group to extend the utility of the light. The break points multiply the force of the light beyond just being a light because they can be used to help you break out a window in an emergency situation.
Multi-Tool
Multi-tools are great for solving a ton of different mechanical problems you may face on a daily basis. Whether you need to tighten a screw or bolt, having a multi-tool with you can speed up the process of dealing with mechanical issues without having to go searching for a screw driver or wrench.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, building out your EDC kit can actually be pretty simple. While you can certainly add more to your kit, you really can’t go wrong by carrying a knife, wallet, cell phone, key organizer, flashlight, and multitool with you on a daily basis.
But once you’ve gathered all of your gear, it’s important to consistently train with it so that you can effectively use it when a challenge arises. Just carrying a tool doesn’t mean that you know how to use it. If you need to, don’t be afraid to seek out instruction on how to best use a knife or multitool. As we mentioned before, a big part of EDC is being prepared, so stay mentally sharp by improving your skills with your tools.
And when you’re ready to upgrade your wallet to the best EDC wallet on the market today, the Axwell Wallet, be sure to sign up for our newsletter. By joining the Axwell Army Newsletter by clicking here, you’ll receive a special discount on your first Axwell Wallet purchase.
