Trending Gear: January 2021

At just 2.4 oz weight in total, the Spyderco Para 3 Lightweight truly lives up to its name as it steadily climbs our trending charts. And with a premium BD1N stainless steel blade featuring a full-flat grind and Spyderco’s trademark leaf-shaped design, it’s ready to take on any EDC task you bring to the table. The compression lock at the spine is built sturdier than their regular liner and lockback mechanisms as well, making this agile knife ready to take on heavy duty use when it’s required. And don’t just take our word for it: the Para 3 Lightweight won "Most Innovative American Design" at Blade Show 2019, and it features in many EDCer’s pocket dumps as a result.

The Bulova Moonwatch is a great choice for EDCers looking for both a functional and beautiful chronograph watch. Also known as the Lunar Pilot Chronograph, its design was inspired by the Bulova chronograph worn by Apollo 15’s mission commander, David R. Scott, in 1971. The watch features a 45mm stainless steel case with a tachymeter bezel, offering plenty of wrist presence. Its elegant black dial contrasts well against the white hands and markers, featuring chromed edges to add even more class. You’ll find three sub-dials on the dial itself: one for seconds, one for minutes, and a final one for hours. Alongside these sub-dials is a date window,between the 4 and 5 o’clock positions. At its heart, a quartz movement keeps all the complications moving. Last but not least, an anti-reflective, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal provides you with the durability that you need from everyday bumps and scrapes. A 50M water resistance rounds out the Moonwatch’s features. It’s a functional chronograph, an attratictive watch for EDC, and carries with it a piece of history.

Built on the design of the original i3S, the i3E shaves off about .38” in length, simplifies the user interface to a single mode, and slashed the price in half with the i3E ("E" meaning economic). Its Philips Luxeon TX LED pushes 90 lumens through a TIR lens for a bright, smooth beam. It’s still powered by a single AAA battery, waterproof to IPX8 standard, and constructed from hard anodized aluminum. It makes a great candidate for a simpler EDC and an attractive option for a budget-friendly backup too.

If you’re looking for a sophisticated knife with great materials, a beautiful design and a price that won’t break the bank, the Spyderco Centofante 3 is a solid choice. It was designed in collaboration with custom knifemaker and past President of the Knifemaker's Guild, Frank Centofante. It features a 3.14“ blade made out of Japanese VG-10 steel, which comes with the hardness of carbon steel and the corrosion resistance of stainless steel. The blade comes in a modified clip point shape with a hollow grind for excellent cutting performance. Cut into the is Spyderco's trademark Round Hole for easy and ambidextrous deployment. There's also jimping on the spine of the blade to provide you with extra control during precision work. You'll find Fiber Reinforced Nylon (FRN) scales in the unique, shaped handles, which keeps the weight down to 2.5 oz. A back lock will make sure that your blade is secure during use. For carry options, the pocket clip can be set up for either a tip-up or tip-down right hand carry.

When the Koss Porta Pro made their debut in 1984, they made a splash with their futuristic design and lightweight profile. And now, almost 40 years later, the Porta Pros are still making waves as an affordable pair of lightweight retro headphones, ready to keep playing your tunes well into the future. As far as performance goes, they feature a deep-bass along with an open-backed design, so you can stay aware of your surroundings without losing any fidelity. A collapsible design reduces their footprint to about half their size, making them easier to store inside their included carrying case. Finally, weighing in at 2.1 ounces, they aren’t a burden either on your head or on your EDC.

The Victorinox Cybertool M takes the traditional tools and functions you’d see in a regular Swiss Army Knife and adds extra utility to make it a solid addition to your DIY and electronics kit. You get more task-oriented features like like a bit driver with included bits, a wire stripper and cutter, a micro screwdriver, and a wire crimping tool. Although the Cybertool M might specialize in electronics, it still features over 30 tools, making it more than ready for everyday tasks as well. You have access to familiar tools like two blades, a bottle opener, a pair of spring-loaded scissors, a screwdriver, tweezers, toothpick, corkscrew, ballpoint pen, and many more. The body measures 96mm and weights 4.8 oz, keeping it pocket friendly despite its extended functionality. Add one to your toolbox at the link below.

The McBee is the literal definition of a “little big knife.” The insanely compact Jonathan McNees design (based on his Killer B knife) comes in at only 4” overall with a blade length of 1.52”, but its materials and fit and finish let it punch way above its 1.7 oz weight. Its CTS-XHP blade steel offers top-tier edge retention and corrosion resistance with a wharncliffe shape for optimal utility, while its titanium handles feature a Reeve Integral Lock for solid lock up. A built-in pocket clip and lanyard whole round out the McBee's EDC options, in addition to just letting it disappear in any pocket. Pick up this unique pocket performer at the link below.

Sporting a familiar size and shape, the Casio G-Shock GW-M5610-1BJF fits well into an all-black theme with a negative display and muted markings. This is run by a solar-powered battery and kept accurate by atomic radio timekeeping. Internally, it sports the same G-Shock brain that gives you world time, stopwatch, countdown timer, and multiple alarm functions, plus battery indicator to let you know its time to charge up. That module is still encased in a design with water and shock resistance that has become the industry standard. Never needing to replace batteries or adjust the time, you have a watch that remains reliable and dependable under any circumstance.

These KNIPEX Cobra Pliers are from a German-based company long known for their focus on quality and on a single product group. A century of dedication and craftsmanship results in a functional design that is also comfortable to use, thanks to ergonomically-shaped rubber-sheathed handles. The Cobra Pliers also feature a curved jaw grip that’s slimmer than usual, making it easy to slip into where it’s needed as well as keeping the overall weight of the package down. On the side, there’s a small spring-loaded button that lets you change the width of the lockable jaw opening, making this a smooth-operating, one-handed tool that’s simple to use.

The Benchmade 535BK-2 is an improved Bugout that’s both stronger and lighter at the same time. It brings that low-profile tactical flair with its blacked out styling while keeping its original outdoors-focused, ultralight design and feature set, making it a compelling option for a wide range of EDCs. The most recognizable change to the 535BK-2 is its fully blacked-out design, from the blade itself to the handle and hardware. It’s a welcome addition to the Bugout lineup alongside the outdoorsy, hi-vis blue on the original as well as the more urban-friendly olive drab variant.