EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Here is a little something different from this space — a quick pocket dump showing my everyday carry for this weekend.
Those of you who have read my “semi-irregular” musings on everyday carry, or EDC, gear know that I always carry a pocket knife and usually at least one backup.
This weekend, I am carrying my trusty Cold Steel Double Safe Hunter with green micarta handle. This is a great work knife, a trusty knife that I don’t care if I beat up opening up boxes, cutting down cardboard or any other daily task. It is currently listed on the Cold Steel website at $44.99 but I remember when I bought it last year at around this time that it was about $10 cheaper than that.
Photos by Dave Burge/KTSM
In the fifth pocket of my cargo pants, I usually always have my Victorinox Bantam Alox. This is a one-layer Swiss Army knife with a main blade and combo tool (can and bottle opener, driver and wire stripper). It is literally thinner than a Ritz cracker (I’ve checked) and weighs in at 1 ounce. Very handy.
The Bantam Alox is currently listed at $32 on the Victorinox U.S. website. I seemed to remember paying less than that, but it is worth every cent I paid and has been a staple of my everyday carry. It’s such a cornerstone that my pets recognize it and assume it must be dinnertime when they see me with it and am about to open up a packet of food for them.
As for my keys, I use an Orbitkey organizer with orange vinyl so it is easier to find them if they are ever misplaced (Who am I kidding with this “ever”? Happens a couple of times a week).
Also on my keychain are an Olight iTHX rechargeable flashlight and my Leatherman Micra multitool which is scissor-based. My Leatherman is attached to the keychain using a Nite Ize S-biner so I can detach it quickly and use it without having a clangy mess of keys interfering with the task at hand.
And of course, after my recent scare where I thought I had lost my wallet, I am now carrying my Wayfinder Flux minimalist wallet everyday. Its grippy material gives you confidence that it will stay put in your pocket, despite its thinness and light weight.
As a journalist, I carry a leather notebook cover from Galen Leather that can hold two Field Notes or Log + Jotter pocket notebooks (3.5 inches by 5.5 inches). I also have a leather slip, also from Galen, for carrying around my Rite in the Rain Work-Ready Mechanical Pencil and my Parker Jotter pen. Note: Pierce Brosnan used a Parker Jotter as a pen grenade during “Goldeneye.”
I also carry a Rite in the Rain mini-notebook that is the size of a credit card. I usually put it in my fifth pocket with my Swiss Army knife, but sometimes it goes in my wallet for convenience.
Everyday, I carry some variation on this, but I always have a pocket knife, flashlight, notebook and pen and pencil with me.
This weekend, I am also carrying a Otacle utility blade from Olight and a CRKT Viva pocket multitool.
The Viva has been discontinued but I found it on eBay for about $12 or $13.
Here are some handy links.
Video on the CRKT Viva featuring designer Liong Mah
Editor’s note: Dave Burge is a web producer and digital reporter with KTSM.com. All the gear he mentions in his column he has paid for with his own money.
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