vox everyday carry all the gear
Dan Z for TTAG

The scribes at Vox never seem to disappoint. The young adult infotainment site has turned its wonderstruck gaze on the world of EDC gear, what they derisively refer to (with scare quotes) as “readiness.” In their view, it’s all just a slightly less paranoid version of prepping.

Though not everyone in the [EDC] community is interested in firearms — [Kevin] Diale in particular was turned off at first by all the talk of carrying guns before realizing that the community was more about general-purpose tools — some members take it to extremes.

For example, [Ridge Wallet COO Sean] Frank says he often sees some gun enthusiasts in EDC spaces repeat the refrain “one is none,” which reflects their belief that carrying at least two firearms at once is the only way to ensure their personal safety.

When I bring up the example of my father, who has never once used any of his guns to shoot anything more threatening than the squirrels invading our attic, Frank admits that the focus on “readiness” can seem a bit at odds with the white-collar lifestyle of some EDCers — including himself.

“I have a very comfortable life in LA, and I get to walk to work, and everything’s super safe,” he says. “I carry a knife, but partly for my job. But the community is super-focused on that. Like the guys who carry two guns, how often do you need to use one gun? Never. A lot of it is those guys preparing for any situation, a bit of masculine cosplay, trying to be that person.”

– Steven T. Wright in Meet the men obsessed with carrying all the right stuff

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

115 COMMENTS

      • All so true. I knew this woman once who actually wore three rings on three different fingers no less. And not only that but sometimes she wore a necklace too! All at the same time!!!!

      • I can easily make a case to two knives. One nice extra sharp knife and a general purpose beater. I’m sure someone can extend that to four knives pretty easily. Just yesterday, I found my self using my pocket knife in a restaurant, was easier than trying to chase down a waiter to get a steak knife. So there is cause for a third knife, extra sharp, extra clean, beater.

        • One Spyderco Endura in my pocket, and the blades on my Leatherman Free on my belt. Feel pretty OK with that.
          On the farm, now, the Esee Junglas is always near at hand.

        • 2 is a minimum. One that I want to carry and one that won’t scare the sheep. Or get me in trouble at work where we have a “workplace violence policy” which says we can carry a “common pocket knife”.

          What exactly is a common pocket knife? Times have changed and that’s no longer a 2.5” stockman. A Spyderco Endura should be covered by that definition, but the bosses like their rules, and they like to flex those rules in their favor.

        • I carry four.

          1) Folding box-cutter ($10 Husky type) for tasks that ruin a good blade.
          2) Leatherman Skeletool because knife + pliers + screwdriver is a good thing.
          3) Benchmade 531 (I know, I know, I’ve had it for a while now and I really like it. Plus, Mel Pardue.)
          4) Little Victorinox for picking teeth, pulling splinters and trimming nails.

          In my world, four is completely rational.

      • 1. General purpose single blade folder, not particularly sharp just for opening boxes.
        2. Knife built into multi-tool that will probably never be used as it’s harder to get open.
        3. Optimized self-defense blade that won’t fillet your hand if you actually have to use it in a fight. Kept pristine and razor sharp.
        4. Emergency Backup.

        • No loaner. Learned my lesson the hard way. I don’t loan knives. They either get edge damage or the loanee cuts themself because they’re used to butter knives. I can count the people I’d hand a knife to on one hand, and these are people I don’t have to worry about.

        • No, I get it. I carry two on me as well. One with a sharper edge for me only, and the other (smaller) for menial stuff or if someone asks to borrow a knife.

      • I carry 5 when diving. One on every extremity and a chest rig. There’s so much derelict gear and kelp where I hunt the possibilities for getting tangled up are endless.

  2. Should prepare for any situation but the reality is that you can’t.
    Comparing cosplay to legally carrying a firearm or firearms, is comical.
    I’m glad you live in a place you can walk to work safely, some people don’t and are wise to protect themselves.
    As for my EDC, it’ll never be posted and it’s not glamorous enough for Instagram but it’s what I like to carry and fits my needs.

    • Interviewee:“I have a very comfortable life in LA, and I get to walk to work, and everything’s super safe,” 

      Translation: “BAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

      Anybody who says some crap like that shouldn’t be taken seriously. “A massive earthquake never effected me, so….” “I’ve never been in an injury collision, so……” “My house has never burned down, so….” These aren’t things he has a vote on. They are things that happen, and you are either prepared on not. That guy is a sheep for thinking he’s okay walking down the streets of L.A. because nothing happened to him yesterday.

    • @Joatman,

      Unless “Joat” is your real name and people here know your home address and what you look like, you’re not going to out yourself by casually mentioning your EDC. People will likely forget by tomorrow, anyway.

      Unless you think Zimmerman’s using TTAG to scoop info from all of us for the alphabet letter agencies…

    • A pistol, a few magazines, a few pocket knifes, and a tourniquet? That’s your idea of humping weight? You need to go do more infantry stuff, because that loadout is going out light.

  4. I guess I probably wouldn’t take advice from a guy who shoots squirrels in his Los Angeles attic. So many questions about legality and safety there…

    That said, I’ve long considered it a worthwhile enterprise to mock people who carry seventeen knives and four guns on a daily basis. They are weirdos, plain and simple. I only mock them, however; would never try to prevent them. The second amendment exists as much for them as for me.

    • I take my own safety seriously and train two days a week. It’s great excersize and the knowledge retained is priceless. To those that do train in a form of self defense most start carrying more of what they are trained in. Most Kali or PTK practitioners start carrying more blades than the average person. It is what they train with and what they know. I carry eight normally. Four for dedicated self defense and the others have specific uses; multi tool, swiss army, pen knife, backup. I also do have a firearm most of the time as well. First instinct inside of 15 feet is the blade. In Texas they removed most of the restrictions on blades but mine still fit in my pockets. I will add that if you are not comfortable using a self defense weapon, then don’t carry it. Ounces of prevention are worth more that pounds of cures.

  5. The metrocentric fruits who inhabit Vox will be the First–To-Be-Devoured when the real SHTF events occur. Those big blue cities will become violently chaotic and mass-morgues when the electricity and water are cut off. The bros and homies who they fist bump will be having them for dinner, literally. That’s the real 2030 doomsday.

    • Exactly. When ~60,000 people in NYC lost power for a few hours, it was international news.
      When over 800,000 people in Detroit and its suburbs lost power the next weekend, nobody blinked. Those who could afford generators broke them out and shared power with neighbors. Those who didn’t have access were used to blackouts and know how to live without power. It happens very frequently and can last for weeks in the middle of negative temp winter.
      The media types live in bubbles and they are completely unable to understand what happens around them, even in their own cities. Understanding how things are in other cities, and (gasp) rural areas is just out of the questions.

    • And a spare tire in the trunk of the car.
      Who needs a spare tire? I’m only driving two miles…

      • …and a 4-way tire iron so I know I can get the bolts/nuts loose rather than relying on the 8” wrench manufacturers provide!

        • If the car has that much! Current hire car in NZ has space saver spare and nothing to change it with. It says call AAA on hire form.

          At home it took 4 way tyre iron plus 4 foot steel pipe to undo wheel nuts on my truck last year. Way too tight by tyre installer. I was over an hour from nearest town and well out of cell phone range in very remote Australia. Being prepared is lifestyle choice which includes knives and guns as appropriate.

    • I get the feeling he’s the kind of guy who will say we need prison reform, better educational and job opportunities for the poor, low income housing reform, we need to teach people to not discriminate against volnurable and marginalized communities, and we need environmental reform….. to stop street robberies. It will NEVER enter his head to be responsible for his own safety. He will take your money and make everyone else responsible for creating a world where he FEELS safe.

  8. If one is really none and two is one, then mathematically, none is two. How’s that working for you? 🤨

    If Mr. Wright finds himself in a situation, he might have more appreciation for “preparedness” than he does presently.

  9. two is one. heard it from dad and bro’s very early on. get deep in the woods only to have that favorite new piece of kit fail, have to use bro’s weird awkward old extra one that worked.
    disappointing and humbling every time.
    it applies to everything.

  10. I carry 3 lights and 3 knives (1 is a multi tool) because I have, in fact, needed more than 1. On more than 1 occasion. I only carry one gun though. I do carry 2 spare mags. Except for the gun and mags I use everything else I carry on a fairly regular basis.

    • I’m super bummed
      My truck was broken into and the jackwagon(s) took my gerber multitool and my favorite angle headed flashlight.
      I could give a s#@t about my gym bag.
      I miss that gerber.

      • “I miss that gerber.”

        Had a similar experience when I had that house fire. It wasn’t until I was hauling piles of burned stuff out to the construction dumpster that I realized how much I’d miss some of that stuff.

        The worst was the boxes of partially-burned and water-soaked books…

  11. Says the publication that made the bold claim that REAL national socialism has never been tried.

  14. The Vox “journalist” LARPers are just mad that they aren’t represented. No Depends or male tampons.

    • I have heard the term, but never understood what it applies to. Probably isn’t that important. Is it like furries or furbies, whatever?

      • kinda sorta well it includes furries…. Cosplay is mostly centered towards pop culture iconography like Comic book, video game, and TV/ Movie characters in which indulgers will dress the part of their favorite character and may even adopt the character’s persona. Never really seen it super sexualized such as a furry yiff but that’s not to say it doesn’t happen and cannot degrade into a scratch.

      • CosPlay — people dressing up as characters or types from fiction, fantasy, or similar, to play-at *being-ish* that.

        For just dress up; look up ComicCon, to assuming roles n relationships over time; see SCA (“Society for Creative Anachronism”) — who implent a fake feudal, quasi-medieval society, w castes, classes, ranks and roles. They include synthetic combat, both mass and duels, w/ semi-period-authentic simulated weapons. IDK if they still do it, but the Northern and Southern kingdoms in the US, had the recurrence of their big war for territory every couple years, with the loser getting ?Philadelphia? The details may have faded a bit in my memory.

        Roughly, there’s a scale of get-up fidelity, and another of commitment to the put on role.

        — CosPlay, the costume’s the thing, n they’re still being who they really are.

        — LARP — Live Action Role Play, is an RPG or other fake persona, but played as “live action.” One of the witty takes on the current US Nazi party is “LARP-ing tiki-torch wanna-be’s.”

        — Extended fantasy scenarios, like the SCA as a cross between Reniassance Fair and Fantasy Football where the players of the game, are the players in the game.

        It’s a practice when you attend a dojo; cosplay when you pretend to be a ninja, and something else when you think you are.

        • Congresscrittters:
          Wanna-be’s LARPing as serious people with either leadership or insights into legit social and admin issues, and expectin the rest of us to take them seriously as if real.

          “Change my mind.” as the meme says.

  16. It’s a good thing this guy thinks he doesn’t need to carry a gun, because there’s no way he can do it in LA county anyways (well, legally), unless you’re politically connected.

    • It’s fiesable, but one would have to relocate to anyone of the neighboring counties that issue CCW: Ventura, Kern, San Bernardino, or Orange County. Sometimes I carry an extra mag when I know I’ll be in LA Co.

  17. The author conveniently forgets LA history and thus cannot be considered credible. Have Reginald Denny weigh in on your “masculine cosplay” and your reference to “never needing to use a gun.” I suppose Mr. Denny could have just called a “time out” until police arrived. But I’m sure LA will never see riots again.

    Mr. Wright, you are wrong, and you should be ashamed of putting this garbage out!

  18. I don’t even click on your EDC posts anymore because I also agree it’s just a form of cosplay.
    I don’t care about your two guns, three knives, a tactical pen, reloads, a flashlight, phone, keys, wallet, and all that other shit.
    If you want to be high drag, that’s your choice. You figure out how to dress around it.

  19. Quite a bit of it degenerate social media narcissistic thottery for men. 12 knives, Rolex, full size race gun, Porsche keychain, etc….

  20. These stupid fire extinguishers in my house are exactly the same as a 40yr old guy dressed up as Supergirl. It took Vox to make me realize that.

  21. I sort of agree as far as EDC posts go. I suspect only 25% of the posts are real. They are either Walter Mitty types or people punking their fellow gun owners. You know, like the faux Norwegian guy who carries a 25 auto with a .22 suppressor.

  23. Hrm, my Everyday Carry submission featured a Kel-Tec, a flip phone, and a pair of $1 sunglasses from Dollar Tree.

    If I was really cosplaying, I’d like to think I’d put more effort into it than that …

    • Somebody on this site turned me on to the $10 Hercules sunglasses on Amazon, I never looked back! Lost too many $100-plu pairs of Costas etc., these are plenty good, safe, and damn near disposable. Love ’em!

  24. KEEP THE BIGGER PICTURE IN MIND: Although we can laugh at their articles, this is at the core of the anti-gun strategy. That is, using various tools to turn the younger generations against guns with the ultimate goal of repealing the 2nd Amendment.

    Don’t believe me? Think about the LGBT movement. A generation or two they were outliers, but fast forward and today they are considered mainstream. (And no, I’m not commenting on the lifestyle, just the strategy that they used to become mainstream). How did that happen:

    1) Use of the media, Hollywood and education to give positive impressions of the movement.

    2) Use of professional communications and PR messaging to speak with a unified voice. (I wish we could do that!!)

    3) Using emotional arguments; particularly when violence was involved. (The killing of Harvey Milk in San Francisco is generally considered the event that resulted in a tipping point of public opinion – in the same way that the water hosing of black protesters in Alabama in the 1960’s significantly turned public opinion).

    So what are the anti-gun folks doing? Exactly the same thing – and they’re doing it very well! Don’t believe me?

    – Just look at some of the changes occurring in traditionally solid pro-gun states like Texas & Florida.

    – Look at the general change in popular opinion concerning guns (and it’s not in our favor)

    – Look at the reaction following each shooting; all focused on galvanizing support of young people (ie: future voters).

    They’re focused on winning the war while it seems we’re focused on the battle of the moment. I really wish we could get our act together.

    • You can be a victim of robbery when a robber robs you. You can be a victim of murder because a murderer murders you. You cannot be victim of gay because a gay gays you, anymore than you can be a victim of Irish because an Irish Irishes you.

      Anybody with a half a brain, be they Irish, gay, etc, can see the practical need for firearms. The constitution didn’t address gays, or Irish, or Jews, or even slaves. Those were issues that society would work out on its own. It did say everybody could have a gun though.

    • Jeff is exactly correct……In addition to having to fight the current NRA, we also have to try to defend ourselves against all those people who have become against guns due to the recent shootings at schools, Las Vegas, etc. Plus, there are those people who have access to the media, unlike us, such as Madonna, David Hogg, and all the Hollywood “elitists” who think they have the right to impose their anti-gun wishes upon lawful gun owners.

      We have got to find some way to make people think of guns in a more positive light than they currently do. Otherwise, the next election could be lost already.

      There is one way I would suggest getting the message to people that guns aren’t the terrible things that many perceive them to be…….

      In the American Rifleman, there is usually a segment of some Country Music artist, telling about their love of being able to hunt, being out in Nature to enjoy the outdoors, etc.

      Many of the ” Rap ” Music artists also are known to like guns, and sometimes carry them.

      What I would propose is that there be a “shoot off” between the Rappers and the Country Artists, and TELEVISE IT. Whether it be a bowling pin match, or trap and skeet; I think it would be a fun event for everyone involved, and possibly change some people’s perception about guns.

      Irregardless, if we just sit on our butts and do nothing to counter the negative attitude towards guns, then we might as well just hand over our guns now.

  25. “paranoid version of prepping.” When did “prepping” become some negative word? I live in earthquake country, better believe most of us folks have prepared for it. Most folks I know, have emergency supplies in the office car and home, but far fewer have a plan for self-defense, I.e. a gun. The left-leaning folks I know are Not prepared for any emergency situation.

    • “I live in earthquake country, better believe most of us folks have prepared for it.”

      Damn straight, just like here in Hurricane country, and the mid-west for ‘Tornado Alley’…

    • “When did “prepping” become some negative word?”

      Its not about prepping, per se, or any other particular behavior. What the Vox author is doing is very simply “othering”. That is, drawing a distinction between an implied “us” and an implied “them” and coaxing the reader to choose a side. In this case, the core values the author is contrasting are collectivism and individualism. The author is a collectivist and thinks you should be too and, thus, is trying to mock the individualist. This is a common tactic of the collectivists and, in my opinion, ironically foolish because individualists are not all that concerned about how they are viewed by the collective. In essence, the Vox author is saying, “Don’t be one of these EDC guys because they are weird (like the cosplay crowd is weird) and you don’t want to be weird, do you?” Very junior-high-popular-girl like behavior.

      The irony is that the EDC crowd is, among other things, displaying their individualism and, by definition, a unique individual is “weird” when compared to any defined group. Further diluting this guys point is that the cosplay crowd is in many ways decidedly opposed to being labeled and categorized and are seeking to embrace and celebrate the very weirdness this author implies is bad. A guy who proudly carries a foam-rubber broadsword every day or wears a Starfleet uniform to work does not really care what some Vox keypuncher thinks of him. Similarly, a guy who has chosen to carry a weapon or weapons to defend himself, his family, and innocent others does not really care about the same Vox voice’s judgement. A prepper, in this guy’s estimation is a weirdo but, a prepper has already pragmatically decided to individually address risk and randomness in the world through a self-defined approach and, thus, is not likely to care about the opinions of some milk-toast pop-culture author who very likely cannot change out a flat tire.

      This author is a fool – He decided to try to shame one type of person that does not care about his opinion by derisively comparing them to another type of person that does not care about his opinion. Fail^2 – well done Vox.

  26. Safe walk to work? Pleasanton CA. One of the safest cities in America. Young woman walking to work. Van pulls up with man and woman inside. They simply scoop her up, toss her in the van. That fucking easy.

    Couple of days later her naked body was found in the mountains. She died hard.

    • Amusing those folks who say where they live is “Perfectly safe”.

      Until something like what you wrote about actually happens…

    • Pleasanton, CA? That’s Eric “Nuke Em” Swalwell’s district. Actually, I think he even lives in Pleasanton. Maybe he could say a few appropriate words to the family about how keeping firearms out of the hands of law abiding citizens makes the world a safer place.

      • This event happened before swallowswell, who is my congressman, came on the scene. Keeping swallowswell away from any event of import makes the world a safer place.

        • Me and my wife went to school with Swalwell (he was in her highschool class, I was a few years ahead). He was a Deutschebag then and hasn’t changed much since.

    • Girl was scooped up from behind and carried away a few weeks ago where I live … not nice things happened to her.

      Bad people can drive to the nice places just as easy as the nice people can drive to bad.

    • “She died hard” is about the least graphic way that could be stated (I assume). I would like, very much, to live in a world where no more innocent people “die hard”.

  27. reviewing the EDC feature on this blog is usually a wankfest – most of the loadouts are not practical and I would wager a good number of them are just trying to one up the next. For people that really do EDC a gun/kit/bug out bag they are most likely not going to flash it around and advertise. Why show your cards unless you’re trying to prove something?

    My EDC generally includes a variety of pens, small moleskine notebook, a small LED flashlight, an Opinel No 6 in Olive wood, my work phone and my personal cell phone. On occasion, when I am not at the mental health clinic (where carry is prohibited by law/statute), on home visits, or at a school I may carry a Px4 compact in .40SW or my Rhino 20DS in .357 Mag. A gun is not part of my EDC due to the environments that I work. While listing the items here I would not really think to show off by posting a photo and peacocking around. From the comments in the past I’ve seen and that shitty pirate-gold Glock that’s been reposted 200x’s most of what we do see is cosplay or LARPing.

    • I must be part of a small minority that want to see these pocket dumps and off body EDC’s, the believable one. I want to know what most folks are carrying and why, e.g. I see alot of those Olight batons, Benchmades, Glock 43.

      • I don’t mind seeing believable or realistic ones but at the same time I realize outside of wanna be operators that most people who carry imho wouldn’t really want to flash their hardware around. The edc often reposted here are generally nothing more than train wrecks we can’t help but gawk at.

        • You’d be surprised how big a gun you can carry with the right holster and a bit of creativity. I carry a Glock 34 with a WML and a RMR. It’s all that much harder to hide than any other typical doublestack handgun.

        • Ditto what pwrserge is saying. I carry a glock 35 every day with a shit knife, sharp knife, multi tool, spare magazine, a tourniquet, high output pen flashlight, sharpie, pen, and roll of electrical tape, along with all the other pocket stuff guys carry…. Every day even in 100°+ weather. I have yet to see an EDC post that is beyond my everyday carry loadout…. Like you said though, I’m not going to post pictures, however, I like reading what other people are carrying and why.

  28. My eyes glaze over edc posts. VOX has a kernal of “truth” here. But I carry a bunch of crap in my car and not on me…does THAT count?!?😏

  29. Four knives is just plain silly.

    A backup gun has a long history of being a good idea.

    And I know a number of ladies who carry firearms, same as us men do. They are not trying to be masculine cosplayers.

    So the “masculine cosplay” theory is crap, start to finish.

    • “Four knives is just plain silly”

      How so? Assuming they’re placed in more than one spot it makes perfect sense. You don’t get to choose what arm/reach you’re going to have if you wind up in a jam. Same reason to stagger the backup gun(s). Bad days by their nature mean things are not going to plan.

  30. Yes, EDC is just masculine cosplay but a gay pride parades are an essential cultural event and making fun of it is open bigotry.

  31. That pistol doesn’t have a scratch on it, none of it does. Why do I think that none of these carry dumps are real and its all product placement and a way around ad-blockers?

    Two knives max, one for shit jobs and one for finer work. Flashlight, maybe. Cellphones these days have good lights for mundane things. The pistol should have the flashlight, not your hand.

    A watch, really? Unless you are going to war or work in a high security environment, check the time on your phone or computer like a normal person. Let me guess, analog for EMP? If we get hit with EMP, a working watch isn’t even going to register on the problem scale.

    • It depends on your personal habits. I rarely get out of bed without a watch on. I’ve been wearing one daily for decades and am just used to it. These days, it’s an Apple Watch just because of the added functionality and the fact that it saves me the trouble of fishing my phone out of my pocket when I need to check something simple. (Also have an app hooked to my home automation system so that the system can run routines based on simple commands from the watch.)

    • Seriously some one wearing a watch triggers you? Btw phone lights drain batteries fast genius. Also try holding a phone between your teeth or clipping it somewhere to free up your hands to use tools. As for always being able to check the time on a phone or computer, well must be nice never to have to leave a comfy climate controlled cubicle.

      • For someone playing the trigger bait card, you really seem triggered yourself, but hey, I’ll bite the troll bait.

        My phone worked great for years during workups and charged well enough on pocket solar chargers and generators. It survived years of bouncing in bags, pounded behind SAPIs and being dropped from bunks. After I EAS, my dog put spider webs on the screen and it still functioned fine. Its durable enough.

        Buy a non-garbage phone and your battery will last, especially if you turn off all the trash you don’t need like wifi, bluetooth, updates, data, etc. I ran mine a few hours at night for music, light for my bags and finding a place to piss at night (no shitters), map reading, etc, and yes, I can hold it just fine in my mouth or use the kickstand on the case. In many cases it can be angled to shine light better than a tube flashlight can. I took it out of airplane mode when I had line of sight to a tower (mountain training), to get a text dump, send a few out, and It would run a good two weeks between trips to the rear for a recharge.

        Keeping a phone charged in the field is trivial and I had no issues checking the time, or any time zone, far from any air conditioned office. Pocket batteries give multiple recharges now, a 5590 adapter is great to have too if you are on good terms with the right man. I recommend solar rolls, they are very light weight and scale in power. Strap it in single panel config to your pack and you can charge on the go, unroll it if you are setting camp for the night and everyone can charge their devices before bed, including USB flash lights if they so desired to carry extra gear. One roll covers everyone, works great on the side of the tent.

        Get an Otterbox, put it in airplane mode and you can take it anywhere, rain or shine, desert or jungle. I used an MRE beverage bag like most people because I’m cheap. The only reason I’ve ever come across for packing out a massive flashlight is for injuries and lost gear, it will literally live in your pack and never see use unless you want to anger everyone around you. All other things, map reading, bag digging, looking in dark storage sheds, finding your way to the shitter at night, are all accomplished with a phone light.

        Now, I’m back in the sticks on a farm in the ass end of nowhere and get this, I still don’t carry a flashlight around with me unless, *GASP* its close to or after dark. In that case my phone becomes a backup light and I take a portable flood light with me since my tacticool light I got years ago only last for a whopping 30 mintues on two, 3Volts. Some of us have enough sense to not fumble with stuff in the dark or go out looking for snakes.

        I do manual labor and don’t want my pants loaded down like batman, you only do that once before realizing how absurd it is. No, you aren’t running back to your truck every time you need something either. Pistol, keys, phone, card holder (wallet), and tiny pocket knife or miniature multi-tool are all I take with me. If I’m battling paper, I take a good pen. No extra reloads, no motoknives, no backup pistols, no tacicool flashlights, no high speed shades, rolls of duct tape, uzi pens, pocket nukes or ninja stars to make my work more difficult. I may take a machete with me but its not EDC.

        You need to work on your reading comprehension and stop assuming. You don’t know a damn thing about me. I said a phone works for mundane things, I.E 99% of the things that the majority of people will run into where they need five minutes of light. A phone won’t work for all things, neither will a tacticool flashlight. I take the phone since it has far more uses and does what I need it to do as far as light goes.

        There is little reason to carry around a large flashlight unless you are a special case like a night shift worker, cop, raiding buildings, mall ninja, etc. But hey, a blog on the internet says we all need this and need to carry it, so they must be right! Or, its product advertisement.

    • I honestly don’t understand the four knives unless I found myself in the woods or in military combat, and then it would be different types of knives.

      The watch? That I get. Not all of us want our phone in front of us all the time and some of us are using both arms and hands at the same time and holding a phone would get in the way.

    • Check the time with a watch: rotate my left wrist a few degrees. Less than a second.

      Check the time with my phone: dig the phone out of my pocket, tap the screen to wake it up, does it respond, who knows? Ah, finally… Thirty seconds.

  34. My 2 item EDC consists of; A antique straight razor, and a M67 grenade. It’s simple, no need for permits or license and gets past the “felon in possession of a firearm” law.

  35. Bottom line is….. we carry stuff we like and think is useful.

    Since I started carrying a pocket knife at 5, I have fine tuned as circumstances and finances allow.

    My stockman is my go to knife for fine work or work that requires a sharp blade (or two). My Griptilian or Spyderco is for heavier cutting or I suppose – defense…..although would be after the gun failed.

    As stated before…. I use my Stream Stylus Pro more often than a knife most days now. Looking for crap in my briefcase or computer bag or finding something in a poorly lit hotel room.

    I don’t carry a pry tool (other than my knife) but understand folks that do. I also dont carry a lighter or a watch. Lotsa folks do.

    So you can call it cosplay, I think of it as everyday life – this guy should try it. Wonder how long his LA walk will feel “safe”?

  36. Kinda odd that a website like Vox seems to be staffed entirely by people who just discovered the internet yesterday.

  37. I began with Timex wind-up and wore one until the digital came along. When Timex came out with the glowing digital watch I got one of those. But then I became an EMT, worked on a rescue team for many years. That needed a sweep second hand for timing vitals and so I never wore a digital watch again.

    But basic pocket knife and later a folding tool were always essential and constantly used. The SAR work meant I often had several or more lights, But then those were in backpacks mostly.

    Was never “allowed” to carry a gun but learned from the older EMT’s and paramedics that they carried concealed and the sheriff ignored it all. So for some years it was a .38 revolver hidden away, later an S&W model 59.

    The decades piled on and needs change. As did the law. The EMS work is twenty years behind me and my pockets and their contents have changed a lot. But the essential functions remain. Infrequently I need a pocketknife and do have a basic one at hand. Got tired of the watch, I just look at the smart phone.

    I have thought about adding a weapon light to my Ruger SR9. Not sure why I haven’t done so yet. Maybe it’s that I don’t want to change holster again. Maybe it’s that I’m getting on in years and allowing laziness to creep into my decision making.

    This is all getting very stressful, trying figure out my costume requirements. Think I’ll do that thing us masculine older gents do on a day off work.

    Take me a nap.

    Wake me when lunch is ready …..

  38. Thank you reading Vox so we don’t have to.

    I do have to wonder….. how do you keep from catching the stupid from them? I clicked a vox link once and it took a week to wash the stupid off and I have some industrial grade soaps available at my workplace.

  39. Umm . . . question for those of us who are just trying to make sense of random online “opinions” – if it’s my EDC, then, by definition, it’s concealed. How is concealed carry of, say, a folding pocket knife “cosplay”???

    “Splain it to my Loosey – I’m all confoozled.

    By the was, dipshit – you forgot the first rule of prepping. It’s just like “Fight Club”; the first rule is, you NEVER talk about your preps. Wanna know what I have for EDC???

    None of your f***ing business, creep.

  40. Based on the ridiculous stuff I see there, I’m not sure they’re wrong. Carrying stuff daily is a lot different than putting a bunch of tacticool gear on a table to take a photo of it and put it on the internet.

  42. Moltar’s EDC:

    Marble’s folder for general purpose work.

    Cheap Kerambit for defense (why cheap? because I won’t mind losing it should the police need it and can replace it in 3-5 business days if it breaks)

    CZ P10C (when not at work)

    keys

    Phone

    Wallet

    Spare Mag

    O2 tank wrench (never know when I’ll grab that weird tank that no other wrench fits)

    flashlight (Cheap milsurp angle neck that lives in my center console)

    First aid kits are provided in state vehicles and my Jeep has a rudimentary kit in it.

  43. Translation: I am privileged and feel safe. I don’t feel the need for a gun, so nobody else needs one either. The father’s opinion might be different if he were in MS-13 owns the streets.

  44. A lot of online EDC posts are essentially cosplay. So? Play is one of the ways we learn useful skills, especially those for handling critically important but rare situations.

    Yes, some of the ‘pocket dumps’ may be ridiculous, but every time you look at one and make a mental judgement you are potentially learning something… or at least getting a chuckle 🙂

    • Agreed. It’s real-world entertainment.

      I saw my daughters EDC with makeup. One is about the size of an Altoid time but thicker with little compartment on each side.

      I have one now in computer bad forma pharmacy. Aspirin, ibuprofen, peptic, dramamine, benadryl, and tums. Works like a champ.

      Absorb what is useful – Bruce Lee

  45. If you go by this logic then those who have fire extinguishers (PLURAL) in their homes are just paranoid Masculin cosplayers because how often do you use ONE fire extinguisher… NEVER.

  46. My EDC since I was six is a slingshot, bag of marbles, dead frog and a booger rag

  47. Honestly they aren’t wrong. Looking cool is a big reason I have an HK P7. Sure I tell myself the squeeze cocker is ideal for carry but looks is the main reason. Those Nil grips too…

    • All of which would be for naught if the P7 couldn’t shoot. But it does, and well. Nice heater in winter too!

  49. I live in an upper-middle-class suburban wonderland and work in a professional environment, yet I have twice had to present my gun in self defense or defense of another. In both cases, the bad guy stopped doing the bad thing, and no one had to be shot. Neither time happened in my neighborhood nor in the fancy part of town where I work. It’s almost like bad actors can go more places than their own trailer parks. Weird, huh?

    That said, a police officer was killed a few blocks from my house, a terrorist attack occurred within spitting distance from where I buy groceries, another terrorist attack happened about five miles from where I was in California on business, my local drug store and the bank across the street were robbed at gunpoint, and I’ve made met more than a few road raging douche bags while commuting. The point is, even in the nice part of town, bad stuff can happen. Further, bad stuff happens in all the places in between the nice parts of town. So, maybe spare us the lecture about how unnecessary it is to carry a gun because of how good we have it at home or work.

  50. I do think that the EDC photos are exaggerated, staged, to the point of being as fictional as my YA fantasy novels. If you asked 20 real-life people to “Turn out your pockets, show what you’re carrying,” instead of macho-looking $250 folding knives, guns, 1000-lumen tactical lights, and military watches, what you’d really get would be more like the following:

    1) Chewing gum
    2) A condom they’ve been carrying in their pocket since 1999, hoping they’ll just “get lucky” someday!
    3) Tissues, some of them used
    4) A handful of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, with a Canadian nickel in the mix
    5) Business cards
    6) Combs
    7) Keys
    8) A folded up piece of paper with a shopping list on it
    9) A wad of toilet paper
    10) Chapstick
    11) A hankerchief, used
    12) Tic-Tacs
    13) A slip of paper with a cocktail waitress’ phone number on it
    14) Breath spray, in case they see that waitress again
    15) Dental floss

    How come we never see real-life items like these in “Everyday Carry” photos? Because these EDC photos are fictional, staged photos, not photos of what real people ACTUALLY carry, but photos of what they want us to THINK that they carry, so we’ll think that they’re macho “operators operating operationally” rather than real people who get runny noses and have wives who give us shopping lists!

    Actually, the last item on my list, dental floss, is something our U.S. Army instructors recommended soldiers always carry (EDC), because it’s not only useful for dental care, but can also be used to strangle the enemy, so I’m surprised it never ends up in any EDC photo.

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