“Every Day Carry” is stupid and annoying, but you should still give it a try.

In theory, Every Day Carry is basically just the act of curating the things that you take with you on a daily basis to optimize functionality and preparedness for your own unique needs. For example, most people carry their smartphone, keys, and wallet with them whenever they go out. If that's you, then you've already got an EDC. From then on people will add things like pocket knives, multi-tools, small pouches, and stuff like that— that's where the EDC "hobby" begins.

In practice, a large majority of EDC "industry" is a jumbled mess of over-consumption, marketing, and shameless LARP-ing. I've read a lot of EDC blogs and watched a lot of EDC videos in the past couple years. To be honest, most of them are just thinly veiled advertisements for stuff the average person would literally never need. A man dressed in outdoor gear sits in front of the camera in his garage, holding a fanny pack that's packed so full it looks like it's about to burst at the seams. From within it he produces no less than four pocket knifes, two flashlights, a pistol, a wrench, and an array of other nondescript, shiny gadgets. He then spends thirty minutes trying to convince both himself and the viewer that he actually needs and uses all of this stuff on a daily basis, and how you can't even begin to call yourself prepared unless you start carrying the same stuff.

A lot of these EDC-focused creators talk endlessly about pointless minutiae like brand names, blade steel, and exactly how many functions their new multi-tools have. But their output of content is so frequent and the gear in their “load-outs” always look so pristine that I'm left to wonder whether any of those tools actually get any use in the real world. More often than not, these content creators are sponsored by the companies that make the tools they proclaim to "need." They exploit impulsivity and paranoia to sell "preparedness" at a premium— and the effects of this kind of content are immediate and far reaching. Spend any amount of time on forums such as r/EDC and you'll find hordes of men who work office jobs fully convinced that they need to bring a Bowie knife and 20 feet of climbing rope just to make it from the parking lot to the elevator (to be clear, I’m not being a hater, because I’ve 100% been that guy). To even call EDC a "hobby" is pretty dubious, because assembling an EDC kit is for the most part a purely consumption-based practice. You either spend a couple of hours on Amazon picking out the tools and gadgets you want, or spend several hours on Reddit listening to geeks telling you what you want, and then going to Amazon.

Nonetheless, I'm writing this blog because I still think that building an intentional, useful EDC kit that's uniquely and TRULY tailored to your personal needs is a genuinely fulfilling experience, and something I would recommend to everyone. For me, my personal EDC helps to manage a bit of the anxiety that I've had ever since I was a kid. The world is full of unexpected twists and turns-- it's so common for things to not go your way, for plans you made in your head to collapse, and for new challenges to appear wherever you're least prepared for them. For me, the large and often abstract challenges of adult life feel just a bit easier to face when I know I'll always have a watch to tell the time, a notebook to write down my thoughts, and my trusty Swiss Army Knife for anything I might need to cut, repair, or open.

But how can you build a kit without falling victim to the relentless marketing and bloat that is the EDC "industry"? Well, I think there's essentially three key steps that will work no matter what your needs are, and what your investment level is:

1. Don't buy anything you wouldn't want to use at least three times a week.

This philosophy is, on its face, pretty intuitive. We all use our smartphones to contact people on a daily basis, we all generally pay for something at least once a day, and we all need to get in and out of our cars and homes. That's why carrying a phone, wallet, and keys (or "PWK") is second nature to most people, because it's not even about preparedness or utility— it's just plain necessity. When building out your EDC kit, be as honest as possible with yourself about how often you'll actually use a piece of gear. Strive not to buy anything that doesn't match or approach PWK-level use-case frequency.

I'm being very intentional about using "use-case" instead of "need," because of course you don't really "need" anything beyond your PWK. I'm not saying that you shouldn't get a wristwatch since your phone already has a clock on it. I am saying that if you do get one, make sure it's one you'll actually want to put on your wrist and look at regularly. If you want to get a pocket knife that's on the more premium side, that's totally cool— just make sure that you'll actually keep it in your pocket and use it, instead of letting it sit in a drawer, or, worse, a display case. If you find yourself in need of a pocket knife and rapidly accumulate a vast collection of them that you can't possibly use, they're no longer tools. They're just Funko Pops.

2. Choose tools and designs that resonate with your unique interests.

I genuinely have no issue with buying premium gear— I'm not one of those people that thinks literally anything other than the bare essentials is a frivolous waste of money. There is such a thing as "cheaping out" way too much, leaving you with stuff that breaks or wears out too fast and costs you even more money in the long run. For a lot of people starting out with EDC, there feels like a lot of pressure to build out a "complete" kit too quickly, which leads to the impulse purchasing of inexpensive gear that doesn't last very long and isn't very enjoyable to use.

When you're building your kit, it's okay to spend a bit more money on something made with more durable materials, and it's okay to spend a bit more if a specific design resonates with you more than the others. Don't try and build out a "complete" kit right from the jump-- go slowly and methodically, only looking to buy something when you notice a genuine use-case for it in your life. If journaling matters to you, a premium leather journal makes total sense. If you love being outdoors, a more beefed-up multi-tool with trail-ready features is completely warranted. Don't just try and mimic a kit or load-out that got a ton of hits online, because no matter how cool it looks, it likely won't be nearly as useful for you.

Obviously, there's caveats: don't just immediately buy the most premium version of something because you think it'll save money in the long run, especially if you don't actually like the design or don't have a real use case for whatever it is you're buying. But overall, these are considerations, applied in proper moderation, that will help you build a kit that you genuinely enjoy carrying, and will be inspired to carry for a longer period of time.

3. Be honest with yourself about why you're carrying something, and don't take EDC too seriously.

I think this is the biggest potential pitfall of getting into EDC. I'm not out here to say that people shouldn't be able to enjoy things, or that all collections are inherently consumerist garbage. If you get into EDC and genuinely find that you like collecting knives, tools, or whatever else, and enjoy carrying your collection with you because it makes you happy, that's completely your prerogative. No one should be able to take that from you or make you feel bad about yourself for it. My problem with the EDC community isn't that these people have an appreciation for collecting gear— it's that they pretend their collections are strictly out of pure necessity and utility, instead of just admitting that it makes them happy.

As long as you don't go overboard, it's totally fine to buy and carry a piece of EDC gear for no other reason than you think it's cool. A couple months ago I bought an extremely high powered pocket flashlight simply because I really liked the design and wanted to spoil myself after doing well on an important paper. When I showed it off to my friends, I didn't try to convince them that I bought it to conduct search-and-rescue operations or defend myself against attackers (even though it allegedly can do that). Which is not to say that it's been useless; my friend Nic quickly found that it was great for exploring the tide pools behind his house at night.

In essence— don't try and force yourself to adopt a new identity just to justify owning and enjoying your stuff. You don’t have to be Crocodile Dundee to own a cool knife, just like you don’t need to be a skateboarder just to wear Vans. Just let yourself be happy.