OTC reading glasses never really worked for me. Maybe the quality was poor. Even bifocals are troublesome for me. I often just take off my glasses to read something by finding that sweet spot of distance that gives me near perfect vision for my 20/400 eyes. But the prescription reading glasses I have now work well for book reading or computer gazing. What I discovered a few years back when I was getting a prescription filled for new glasses is that they can extrapolate from the prescription the info they need to make you some spectacles for close-in work. I've been happy with mine, though I prefer to read in bed without glasses. My arms get tired about the same time my eyes do, then I sleep like a baby.
But those glasses you linked, John, look good. I ordered a pair. Thanks.
Before cataract surgery I was very nearsighted and could read by taking my glasses off. I did have a prescription for computer glasses. Now I use standard reading glasses to read and have a prescription set for my computer.
A pair of those lives in my left front pocket any time I'm clothed. I've tried other types of folding reading glasses, but when it comes to a combination of compactness-after-folding/comfort-and-useability, that system beats everything else hands-down for me.
I am a small geriatric. I was at a “Professional Workshop,” one day. The Instructors were amazed I was the one person in the room who had both a flashlight and a knife in my purse that were both needed. …I didn’t inform them of everything else hidden in there.😂
I have taken a knife fighting class (at Gunsite). It was mostly a class on empty hand basics (footwork, body positioning, etc.). I left it convinced that for most self-defense situations outside the home, a knife is superior to a gun.
As far as not being able to deploy a knife, I’m not sure I see a difference with deploying a concealed handgun. If you don’t have either out when the muppet makes contact, you’re screwed either way.
I want to get the laws against sword canes repealed. If I have to get in a knife fight, I want a knife I know how to fight with. (Trained in fencing.) I could fight the basics with any knife that would give me a reach advantage - many of those are outlawed.
I used to get asked about the fixed blade on my belt, especially at church. Told one guy it was my 'distraction' because while you were watching it, the one in my leg pocket was coming out.
It opens one handed (pull back on the top hilt piece with your index finger) and with the tip-up in the pocket, no grip change is needed.
I’m not crazy about how it closes (liner locks aren’t my favorite for the reason you mention, and I could definitely do without the “safety”). But it had a true hilt on it, which I wanted.
Even with my geriatric, arthritic fingers and thumbs, opening and closing my Mini-Griptilian is super easy and smooth.
Pull it out of pocket as my thumb flicks the thumb stud and the blade snaps locked with the Axis lock. To close, thumb pulls back Axis lock, finger breaks joint ever so gently, thumb folds blade closed. Mel Pardue is a genius of design.
I will say that I have found a pocket flashlight that has a magnetic base and adjustable head (Wuben G5). I can be working on my car, my motorcycle, or some sort of equipment while needing a light and both hands. The magnetic base lets me find a place to stick it, and the adjustable head lets me aim it where the light is needed. I've had mechanics and pilots see me do that with my light and ask me where to get one..
Funny that. I am likely about 10 years your senior and my kids and grands get a kick out of the fact I have been carrying a penknife since age 6. Yes, my overseas school encouraged all children to learn to use one. To sharpen pencils and even to make a pen using a goose quill.
EDC is said small Swiss Army Knife with one blade, scissors and a file with screwdriver tip. The blade is near useless, soft stainless that dulls after slicing open 3 or 4 boxes. The 3" Kershaw locker is also there, razor sharp in left cargo pocket along with a two AAA no brand penlight or a rechargeable stupid bright Olight. Then deeper down a Gerber multitool with pliers and 8 other tools.
Would feel nekkid without all 3 items which always makes air travel "interesting". There are work arounds which are best not mentioned other than to say you sometimes need to carry cheap equivalents that TSA can "steal"😁
I haven't flown since 1986, never will. With regard to TSA. If I mistakenly brought a knife into a prohibited area, I'd give it my best effort to snap the blade off if I could before it got seized.
I once went to a Neighborhood Watch training session put on at our Sheriff's department. They were very polite about suggesting I take my pocket knife back to my truck before trying to get in the Sheriff's office building again. I went back to my truck and drove home. BFYTW, I am not a threat when I carry that tool.
I'll have to look into the AAA ultimate lithiums. I've currently got a Stream light Macrostream on. I like it a lot, but the lack of warning on battery drain is a bit concerning, especially when out hunting near dark. Plus, micro USB is getting more and more annoying
I'm a bicyclist and an amateur photographer; I'm in the age group that doesn't see so well. I've gone through a variety of lights for the bikes (handlebar, behind the seat, strobes, wheel lights, helmet, etc.). Lumens are your friend on a bike but I still find a small light in my saddlebag very handy for fixing things.
Likewise, you'd be amazed (narrator voice: no, you wouldn't) at the many occasions you need a little focused light to see what the heck you are doing with your photography gear. I've repurposed bike lights for this and have tried headlamps, iPhones, bag lights and so on.
In dealing with all that, a small light that clips to my hat, helmet or collar is one of the finest inventions of human-kind yet done.
Oh, one advantage of the Pocket Mate: it has a little clip. You could put it on your hat bill if you wanted. Or, if you're having to push an immobile car out of a road where you have to cross a lane of traffic AND worry about the lane you're in... you clip it to the BACK of your cap, shining down your back, so the cars accelerating to 50mph can see you.
I can make fire without a lighter, but....why? Lighter's not that big or heavy and it's no burden to have it on me.
To be fair, I've never needed to make a fire in an emergency, but there's always a first time right? Better to have it and not need it and all that...
I grew up on a farm so I've had a knife in my pocket pretty much every day of my life* since I was about 8.
I'm a lefty so my knife lives in my left pocket, clipped to the pocket blade point up (folded, obviously). I'm partial to the Kershaw Cryo knife for two reasons: it's cheap so it doesn't bother me to use it as a screwdriver or pry bar or if I lose it somewhere, and it's got screw holes for the belt clip in all four corners so I can actually configure it the way I want for the side and style of carry I use. 2-3/4" blade. Not the best steel so it doesn't hold an edge that well, but that also makes it easy to sharpen back up, so it's a wash.
It's really funny how many people will give me a hard time (or at least joke) about me having a knife on me all the time, but then when they need to open a box or something, ask to borrow it. I always oblige with a wry "what do you do when I'm not around?"
The flashlight I got into the habit of carrying when I was in the Navy. You've never seen dark until you've been 4 or 5 decks deep inside a steel ship when the lights go out. It goes in the right pocket and I've been carrying a Streamlight Stylus Pro for years. Not blindingly bright, but does the job and it's slim, fits in the pocket well, AAA batteries last a long time and doesn't have 15 stupid blinking pattern modes to go through...it's either "on" or "off". My Navy days were before the LED revolution so back then it was always a Mini Mag with a red lens cap for "darken ship" periods.
The lighter is obviously from when I used to smoke. I gave up one habit but not the other.
I'd like to say I always have my gun on me too, but I have to be honest: I don't. I don't carry at work...too much chance of scaring the sheeple if they notice (and I like my job)...and I don't take my gun when I travel...just too much hassle. Plus I often travel to states where they don't honor my CHP and my favored carry gun would make me a felon (or, more likely, how many rounds it holds).
*I travel a lot for work, the only time I don't have a knife in my pocket is in the airport. I always check a bag even if I don't really need to so my knife can travel with me on my trips. BTW: I'm on travel right now...writing this from my hotel room. My knife is in my pocket.
I usually wear carpenter's jeans, and will admit to taking the Sikh admonishment to carry a blade with which you can defend people on your person at all times.
Pocket knife - small tasks, and I rotate knives for that task.
Belt - Multi-tool. Hold over from my days in the land of sun and fun.
Belt, II - fixed blade, 2 to 3 inches long, for those jobs the pocket knife or the multi-tool just can't handle.
Long leg pocket - my fertilizer has hit the air mover blade, a Applegate-Fairbain folder.
Shorter leg pocket has a flash in it depending on what I'm doing.
The Benchmade Mini-Griptilian rocks! I acquired a 440C stainless tanto version ages ago at a local gun show from a knife vendor. It was one of the "affordable" (cheap) quality knives he had. I've never been disappointed in the 20+ years I've owned it. Prior to that, I carried a Gerber Applegate-Fairbairn Mini Covert. The Benchmade looks a bit less intimidating and "socially responsible". Pocket clips removed; NY is NY, concealed means less agada and explanations.
Flashlight is an old, trustworthy Surefire G2 Nitrolon with a xenon bulb. Plenty bright enough and its been with me since the Benchmade. It also gets used quite a bit. There are other LED lights available if needed.
Where it is supposed to be is a curse word. My wife and kids roll their eyes when i buy new lights/flash lights
lights. I have places they go so i know where they go. I buy them for the family so they will leave mine alone . Then i need one and it is missing. $%&#@^
wheres my flashlight!
I used it.
Why isnt it back where i put it and where is the very nice one i gave you?
I dont know where mine is.. ummmm.. isnt yours on your shelf.... i thought i put it back.
Sigh.
Then they roll there eyes when i buy a replacement for my now lost flashlight.
Thanks for the info. I have a pocket AAA flashlight that is so old the branding has worn off. Brightest I've ever seen. I have carried it in pocket and/or purse since I was in my 20's. (Trust me, longer than I will admit.)
Most sailors carried knives on the ships I served aboard. That became a lifelong habit. Nowadays, I carry a Kershaw Ken Onion Leek always and a THRUNITE 10 flashlight when I think I might need it. I wear sweatpants (without suspenders) and Duluth Pocket T's most of the time for comfort, so pocket space is at a premium with a small pistol or revolver and 1 reload. Wish Florida had open carry. It'd be nice to have the option.
I carry a Streamlight Wedge (non-XT) clipped to my left front pants pocket just like I carry a Kershaw clipped to my right front pants pocket. Recommended wholeheartedly.
I have a variety of pocket knives.. 2.5 to 3 inch blades. Clips that hold them up in pocket at outermost corner. To be honest im as happy with my 3.99 walmart one as my more expensive pretty one at 40 dollars. Though i know the expensive one is a better steel it day to day doesn't do much more for me. The reason is that even the cheap chinese steels of today are as good or better than a good blade when i was young. They hold an edge quite well and are easy to sharpen for me and dont rust. Even a 10 or 15 % better steel doesent open the 5 boxes a day better. If whittling i do tend to like the better quality. Usually left pocket.
I am not trained to use a knife for self defense in a knife fight. Folding knife to me seems like a good way to slide hand down blade and slice it open. I would be happier with a 6 inch or longer blade, full tang, with a cross guard knife if i thought that was a possibility. Would i like a folder if i had nuthing else, well yes.
I carry a multititool always. It is indispencible for me. One of the mid size locking blade tool leathermans. Full size is a pain in the pocket and i forget to use sheath for it. Small ones are to small for my hands. Pliers, wire stripper, knife, sissors and bottle/can opener in order of most use. Usually right pocket.
Light.. i love my rechargeable pen lights with two AAA Batteries. Usb c charging port adjustable wide to narrow beam. 700 lumens or so. Quick swap to alkaline batteries if needed. Daily carry in right pocket clipped to upper outer corner of pocket on inside.
I really love my big 5000 to 7000 lumen rechargable flashlights that can substitute for a club. If being shined in the eyes doesnt blind you for minutes then being hit up the side if head will make your vision blurry also. Rais an arm to block, well we can break that also. Sitting beside bed and in door of cars. Infinity x1 from costco for 39 dollars and newer gen 7000 lumen one from costco for same price. Good removable lithium with insert for a bunch of aa alkaline batteries.
Tozo nc9 Bluetooth earbuds in charging case in bottom of left pocket.
These are tools i use every day. The other stuff is actual weapons. Never needed tham hope never to, but like my fire extinguishers at the house and in cars better to have and not need over needing and not having.
400 to 500 ftlbs minimums for the serious stuff. 15+1 and 1 to 2 extra.
All of its is a royal pain in the ass to manage on a daily basis. You do it on auto pilot as you have for 30+ years. But it takes discipline to keep it organized and move from outfit to outfit.
If all it ever is is a pain in my ass then i will have lived a good life.
Good points, and made with thought - EDC is one of those things where everyone has their reasons for what they carry, and thinking bipeds put a lot of thought into the reasoning.
Leaving aside firearms, my EDC goes:
- Covert Instruments Covert Companion 2 (I'm not that good with it yet, but being able to get into places (TO WHICH I HAVE LEGAL ACCESS... sheesh... come on, folks!) without keys can be handy.
- A Nitecore P23i rechargeable flashlight. You're only pushing too many lumens when the subject catches fire or when your flashlight has measureable recoil. I actually have a charger that will handle the NL2150, as well as a spare. I generally switch them out once a week.
- A small wallet that contains nothing but ID/CCL/etc. That goes on the dashboard when I get in the car. That way, if I do get pulled over, I can give the friendly officer my id without a fishing expedition in my larger wallet containing everything else. Also, if I ever get mugged, I can throw the larger wallet for the punk without worrying about anything in that wallet having my home address.
- The aforementioned larger wallet with everything else.
- A Gerber Suspension multitool. I've gone back and forth over WHICH Gerber multitool I carry, but I always have one on me.
- As mentioned elsewhere, a pair of folding reading glasses. If you don't carry a pair yet, you will one day.
Edited to add:
Almost forgot the ankle IFAK - 1 each of SOFTT-W, chitogauze, wound packing gauze, shears, Sharpie and 2 x gloves and chest seals. Basically 1 unit of trauma casualty care.
There are also house/car keys, etc. but that's the big list
When you get a little older, you'll add one of these to your pocket. It's the third thing I carry every day. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QJTCTQQ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3&th=1
I added to cart just to try the blue light thing.
OTC reading glasses never really worked for me. Maybe the quality was poor. Even bifocals are troublesome for me. I often just take off my glasses to read something by finding that sweet spot of distance that gives me near perfect vision for my 20/400 eyes. But the prescription reading glasses I have now work well for book reading or computer gazing. What I discovered a few years back when I was getting a prescription filled for new glasses is that they can extrapolate from the prescription the info they need to make you some spectacles for close-in work. I've been happy with mine, though I prefer to read in bed without glasses. My arms get tired about the same time my eyes do, then I sleep like a baby.
But those glasses you linked, John, look good. I ordered a pair. Thanks.
Before cataract surgery I was very nearsighted and could read by taking my glasses off. I did have a prescription for computer glasses. Now I use standard reading glasses to read and have a prescription set for my computer.
Same here.
A pair of those lives in my left front pocket any time I'm clothed. I've tried other types of folding reading glasses, but when it comes to a combination of compactness-after-folding/comfort-and-useability, that system beats everything else hands-down for me.
Nah, I'm in bifocals.
I am a small geriatric. I was at a “Professional Workshop,” one day. The Instructors were amazed I was the one person in the room who had both a flashlight and a knife in my purse that were both needed. …I didn’t inform them of everything else hidden in there.😂
I have taken a knife fighting class (at Gunsite). It was mostly a class on empty hand basics (footwork, body positioning, etc.). I left it convinced that for most self-defense situations outside the home, a knife is superior to a gun.
As far as not being able to deploy a knife, I’m not sure I see a difference with deploying a concealed handgun. If you don’t have either out when the muppet makes contact, you’re screwed either way.
I can't deploy a folding knife, didn't say anything about deploying a small fixed blade knife.
A small fixed blade knife, mounted horizontally, grip towards center-line, just beside the belt-buckle, deploys like magic in a fight.
Grab, yank, shank.
That's an essay for another time.
I want to get the laws against sword canes repealed. If I have to get in a knife fight, I want a knife I know how to fight with. (Trained in fencing.) I could fight the basics with any knife that would give me a reach advantage - many of those are outlawed.
I used to get asked about the fixed blade on my belt, especially at church. Told one guy it was my 'distraction' because while you were watching it, the one in my leg pocket was coming out.
I looked up the Griptilian. Looks like opening it one handed might be a little fraught? I carry a CRKT M16.
https://www.crkt.com/knife/m16-14-tanto-folding-knife-with-liner-lock
It opens one handed (pull back on the top hilt piece with your index finger) and with the tip-up in the pocket, no grip change is needed.
I’m not crazy about how it closes (liner locks aren’t my favorite for the reason you mention, and I could definitely do without the “safety”). But it had a true hilt on it, which I wanted.
Weren't they around $30 not so very long ago? $105 now? Holy mess!
Even with my geriatric, arthritic fingers and thumbs, opening and closing my Mini-Griptilian is super easy and smooth.
Pull it out of pocket as my thumb flicks the thumb stud and the blade snaps locked with the Axis lock. To close, thumb pulls back Axis lock, finger breaks joint ever so gently, thumb folds blade closed. Mel Pardue is a genius of design.
I will say that I have found a pocket flashlight that has a magnetic base and adjustable head (Wuben G5). I can be working on my car, my motorcycle, or some sort of equipment while needing a light and both hands. The magnetic base lets me find a place to stick it, and the adjustable head lets me aim it where the light is needed. I've had mechanics and pilots see me do that with my light and ask me where to get one..
Funny that. I am likely about 10 years your senior and my kids and grands get a kick out of the fact I have been carrying a penknife since age 6. Yes, my overseas school encouraged all children to learn to use one. To sharpen pencils and even to make a pen using a goose quill.
EDC is said small Swiss Army Knife with one blade, scissors and a file with screwdriver tip. The blade is near useless, soft stainless that dulls after slicing open 3 or 4 boxes. The 3" Kershaw locker is also there, razor sharp in left cargo pocket along with a two AAA no brand penlight or a rechargeable stupid bright Olight. Then deeper down a Gerber multitool with pliers and 8 other tools.
Would feel nekkid without all 3 items which always makes air travel "interesting". There are work arounds which are best not mentioned other than to say you sometimes need to carry cheap equivalents that TSA can "steal"😁
I haven't flown since 1986, never will. With regard to TSA. If I mistakenly brought a knife into a prohibited area, I'd give it my best effort to snap the blade off if I could before it got seized.
I once went to a Neighborhood Watch training session put on at our Sheriff's department. They were very polite about suggesting I take my pocket knife back to my truck before trying to get in the Sheriff's office building again. I went back to my truck and drove home. BFYTW, I am not a threat when I carry that tool.
I'll have to look into the AAA ultimate lithiums. I've currently got a Stream light Macrostream on. I like it a lot, but the lack of warning on battery drain is a bit concerning, especially when out hunting near dark. Plus, micro USB is getting more and more annoying
I'm a bicyclist and an amateur photographer; I'm in the age group that doesn't see so well. I've gone through a variety of lights for the bikes (handlebar, behind the seat, strobes, wheel lights, helmet, etc.). Lumens are your friend on a bike but I still find a small light in my saddlebag very handy for fixing things.
Likewise, you'd be amazed (narrator voice: no, you wouldn't) at the many occasions you need a little focused light to see what the heck you are doing with your photography gear. I've repurposed bike lights for this and have tried headlamps, iPhones, bag lights and so on.
In dealing with all that, a small light that clips to my hat, helmet or collar is one of the finest inventions of human-kind yet done.
Oh, one advantage of the Pocket Mate: it has a little clip. You could put it on your hat bill if you wanted. Or, if you're having to push an immobile car out of a road where you have to cross a lane of traffic AND worry about the lane you're in... you clip it to the BACK of your cap, shining down your back, so the cars accelerating to 50mph can see you.
Three things I always* have in my pocket:
A pocketknife, a flashlight and a lighter.
I can make fire without a lighter, but....why? Lighter's not that big or heavy and it's no burden to have it on me.
To be fair, I've never needed to make a fire in an emergency, but there's always a first time right? Better to have it and not need it and all that...
I grew up on a farm so I've had a knife in my pocket pretty much every day of my life* since I was about 8.
I'm a lefty so my knife lives in my left pocket, clipped to the pocket blade point up (folded, obviously). I'm partial to the Kershaw Cryo knife for two reasons: it's cheap so it doesn't bother me to use it as a screwdriver or pry bar or if I lose it somewhere, and it's got screw holes for the belt clip in all four corners so I can actually configure it the way I want for the side and style of carry I use. 2-3/4" blade. Not the best steel so it doesn't hold an edge that well, but that also makes it easy to sharpen back up, so it's a wash.
It's really funny how many people will give me a hard time (or at least joke) about me having a knife on me all the time, but then when they need to open a box or something, ask to borrow it. I always oblige with a wry "what do you do when I'm not around?"
The flashlight I got into the habit of carrying when I was in the Navy. You've never seen dark until you've been 4 or 5 decks deep inside a steel ship when the lights go out. It goes in the right pocket and I've been carrying a Streamlight Stylus Pro for years. Not blindingly bright, but does the job and it's slim, fits in the pocket well, AAA batteries last a long time and doesn't have 15 stupid blinking pattern modes to go through...it's either "on" or "off". My Navy days were before the LED revolution so back then it was always a Mini Mag with a red lens cap for "darken ship" periods.
The lighter is obviously from when I used to smoke. I gave up one habit but not the other.
I'd like to say I always have my gun on me too, but I have to be honest: I don't. I don't carry at work...too much chance of scaring the sheeple if they notice (and I like my job)...and I don't take my gun when I travel...just too much hassle. Plus I often travel to states where they don't honor my CHP and my favored carry gun would make me a felon (or, more likely, how many rounds it holds).
*I travel a lot for work, the only time I don't have a knife in my pocket is in the airport. I always check a bag even if I don't really need to so my knife can travel with me on my trips. BTW: I'm on travel right now...writing this from my hotel room. My knife is in my pocket.
I usually wear carpenter's jeans, and will admit to taking the Sikh admonishment to carry a blade with which you can defend people on your person at all times.
Pocket knife - small tasks, and I rotate knives for that task.
Belt - Multi-tool. Hold over from my days in the land of sun and fun.
Belt, II - fixed blade, 2 to 3 inches long, for those jobs the pocket knife or the multi-tool just can't handle.
Long leg pocket - my fertilizer has hit the air mover blade, a Applegate-Fairbain folder.
Shorter leg pocket has a flash in it depending on what I'm doing.
The Benchmade Mini-Griptilian rocks! I acquired a 440C stainless tanto version ages ago at a local gun show from a knife vendor. It was one of the "affordable" (cheap) quality knives he had. I've never been disappointed in the 20+ years I've owned it. Prior to that, I carried a Gerber Applegate-Fairbairn Mini Covert. The Benchmade looks a bit less intimidating and "socially responsible". Pocket clips removed; NY is NY, concealed means less agada and explanations.
Flashlight is an old, trustworthy Surefire G2 Nitrolon with a xenon bulb. Plenty bright enough and its been with me since the Benchmade. It also gets used quite a bit. There are other LED lights available if needed.
Where it is supposed to be is a curse word. My wife and kids roll their eyes when i buy new lights/flash lights
lights. I have places they go so i know where they go. I buy them for the family so they will leave mine alone . Then i need one and it is missing. $%&#@^
wheres my flashlight!
I used it.
Why isnt it back where i put it and where is the very nice one i gave you?
I dont know where mine is.. ummmm.. isnt yours on your shelf.... i thought i put it back.
Sigh.
Then they roll there eyes when i buy a replacement for my now lost flashlight.
Get married they said! Have kids they said! 😃
Thanks for the info. I have a pocket AAA flashlight that is so old the branding has worn off. Brightest I've ever seen. I have carried it in pocket and/or purse since I was in my 20's. (Trust me, longer than I will admit.)
Most sailors carried knives on the ships I served aboard. That became a lifelong habit. Nowadays, I carry a Kershaw Ken Onion Leek always and a THRUNITE 10 flashlight when I think I might need it. I wear sweatpants (without suspenders) and Duluth Pocket T's most of the time for comfort, so pocket space is at a premium with a small pistol or revolver and 1 reload. Wish Florida had open carry. It'd be nice to have the option.
I carry a Streamlight Wedge (non-XT) clipped to my left front pants pocket just like I carry a Kershaw clipped to my right front pants pocket. Recommended wholeheartedly.
I have a variety of pocket knives.. 2.5 to 3 inch blades. Clips that hold them up in pocket at outermost corner. To be honest im as happy with my 3.99 walmart one as my more expensive pretty one at 40 dollars. Though i know the expensive one is a better steel it day to day doesn't do much more for me. The reason is that even the cheap chinese steels of today are as good or better than a good blade when i was young. They hold an edge quite well and are easy to sharpen for me and dont rust. Even a 10 or 15 % better steel doesent open the 5 boxes a day better. If whittling i do tend to like the better quality. Usually left pocket.
I am not trained to use a knife for self defense in a knife fight. Folding knife to me seems like a good way to slide hand down blade and slice it open. I would be happier with a 6 inch or longer blade, full tang, with a cross guard knife if i thought that was a possibility. Would i like a folder if i had nuthing else, well yes.
I carry a multititool always. It is indispencible for me. One of the mid size locking blade tool leathermans. Full size is a pain in the pocket and i forget to use sheath for it. Small ones are to small for my hands. Pliers, wire stripper, knife, sissors and bottle/can opener in order of most use. Usually right pocket.
Light.. i love my rechargeable pen lights with two AAA Batteries. Usb c charging port adjustable wide to narrow beam. 700 lumens or so. Quick swap to alkaline batteries if needed. Daily carry in right pocket clipped to upper outer corner of pocket on inside.
I really love my big 5000 to 7000 lumen rechargable flashlights that can substitute for a club. If being shined in the eyes doesnt blind you for minutes then being hit up the side if head will make your vision blurry also. Rais an arm to block, well we can break that also. Sitting beside bed and in door of cars. Infinity x1 from costco for 39 dollars and newer gen 7000 lumen one from costco for same price. Good removable lithium with insert for a bunch of aa alkaline batteries.
Tozo nc9 Bluetooth earbuds in charging case in bottom of left pocket.
These are tools i use every day. The other stuff is actual weapons. Never needed tham hope never to, but like my fire extinguishers at the house and in cars better to have and not need over needing and not having.
400 to 500 ftlbs minimums for the serious stuff. 15+1 and 1 to 2 extra.
All of its is a royal pain in the ass to manage on a daily basis. You do it on auto pilot as you have for 30+ years. But it takes discipline to keep it organized and move from outfit to outfit.
If all it ever is is a pain in my ass then i will have lived a good life.
Good points, and made with thought - EDC is one of those things where everyone has their reasons for what they carry, and thinking bipeds put a lot of thought into the reasoning.
Leaving aside firearms, my EDC goes:
- Covert Instruments Covert Companion 2 (I'm not that good with it yet, but being able to get into places (TO WHICH I HAVE LEGAL ACCESS... sheesh... come on, folks!) without keys can be handy.
- A Nitecore P23i rechargeable flashlight. You're only pushing too many lumens when the subject catches fire or when your flashlight has measureable recoil. I actually have a charger that will handle the NL2150, as well as a spare. I generally switch them out once a week.
- A small wallet that contains nothing but ID/CCL/etc. That goes on the dashboard when I get in the car. That way, if I do get pulled over, I can give the friendly officer my id without a fishing expedition in my larger wallet containing everything else. Also, if I ever get mugged, I can throw the larger wallet for the punk without worrying about anything in that wallet having my home address.
- The aforementioned larger wallet with everything else.
- A Gerber Suspension multitool. I've gone back and forth over WHICH Gerber multitool I carry, but I always have one on me.
- As mentioned elsewhere, a pair of folding reading glasses. If you don't carry a pair yet, you will one day.
Edited to add:
Almost forgot the ankle IFAK - 1 each of SOFTT-W, chitogauze, wound packing gauze, shears, Sharpie and 2 x gloves and chest seals. Basically 1 unit of trauma casualty care.
There are also house/car keys, etc. but that's the big list