Every day, readers like you proudly share photos of their everyday carry on the site.
Not only is looking through their pockets this way super interesting, but it’s also a great way to find really cool gear you never even knew existed (yet somehow, suddenly need…).
When you hover over an item you like and click on it in these photos, you’re also letting other EDCers know you find that gear interesting. Each click gets recorded to create a data-driven ranking of the most popular gear, which you can find in our Gear section of the site found in the top menu bar.
Gear with the most views and clicks climbs its way to the top of this feed and lets the EDC community know what’s trending right this second.
Over the past month of November, it you were most interested in blades large and small, classic EDC gear, powerful pocket flashlights, and more…
The Most Popular Gear from December
Rick Hinderer Investigator Pen
Rick Hinderer is renowned for his excellent EDC fighting blades, and his Investigator tactical pens are built with the same hallmark quality you’ve come to expect. Each one has an overbuilt toughness that makes it useful for extracting compliance when it’s needed in a self-defense situation. But this also means it’ll be pretty hard to break this pen in its everyday stationery use. It’s compatible with the venerable Fisher Space Pen cartridge, meaning you can also rely on it to write anywhere, any time, even in the worst conditions. And its ribbed titanium body offers you excellent grip, whichever way you find yourself using it.
Victorinox Classic SD
You know what this is; it’s the classic everyday carry Swiss Army Knife. And even in 2018 it’s still the gold standard for a compact EDC multi-tool that won’t raise eyebrows when you use it in public. It’s compact enough at 2.3” in length to fit easily in your pocket, but it packs seven essential functions in that small frame: a blade, a pair of spring-loaded scissors, a nail file with integrated 2.5mm screwdriver, a toothpick, and tweezers. The key ring lets you attach it to your keys for easy carry as well. It’s also available in a plethora of colorways, not just the standard timeless SAK red. Pick the one that suits your style and EDC aesthetic—you can’t go wrong with the Classic.
Olight S1R II Baton
Olight’s new and improved S1R II Baton joins the fray as the upgrade to their original S1R, a light made popular due to its convenient magnetic charging and intense output for a pocket flashlight. While it uses the same Cree XM-L2 LED as its predecessor and is also able to use a CR123A lithium primary, it now runs off of an included IMR 16340 rechargeable battery. You do lose some runtime due to the smaller capacity, but the S1R II is now able to push out a top end of 1000 lumens on Turbo before dropping down to a more manageable ~300 lumens after about a minute. Its 4 other modes, including a Low setting that gives 0.5 lumens up to 8 days and direct access to Strobe, is navigated with the S-series’s tried-and-true single side button interface.
Magpul DAKA Everyday Wallet
With last month’s 7th most popular item, the DAKA Everyday Wallet, Magpul put their polymer expertise to work, and the end result is a lightweight minimalist EDC wallet that’s durable enough to stand up to daily use and abuse while not breaking the bank in terms of cost. Its design assumes you can pare down to just 3 to 7 standard-sized payment and identification cards, but what you get is slim and sleek and lightweight in your pockets. It’s available in four different colorways, including black, FDE, olive drab, and an especially nice stealth grey.
NiteIze Inova X1
With its compact size, integrated clip, and moderate output, the Inova X1 LED flashlight is well suited for penlight and inspection duty when you don’t want a light that will blind you with too much power for close-up work. Off a single AA battery, it can output a max 125 lumens for a full hour and 25 minutes, and at its low 12-lumen mode it can run for a quite long 70 hours in total. And because it’s waterproof down to 1 meters, shockproof, and crushproof, you can rest assured that it will light up when you need it, even if you rough it up a bit in the meantime.
Gerber Strongarm
As its name implies, the Strongarm is a beefy fixed-blade knife that’s easily at home in the field, whether you’re taking it for a hike or relying upon it for critical missions. It features a full-tang 420HC stainless steel blade with a modified clip-point shape that features a strong point for piercing, mixed with a large curved belly near the tip for delicate slicing. The serrations near the hilt make short work out of rope or other rougher material as well. And at the pommel there’s a spike for added versatility. The glass-filled nylon handle features a diamond-textured rubberized grip that lets you keep a firm grasp on the blade during rough use. Finally, its MOLLE compatibility lets it and its included sheath work well with your gear, letting you attach it where you need it with little fuss.
Spyderco Honeybee
When discretion is key, the Spyderco HoneyBee offers you a compact, no-nonsense EDC knife easily concealed in hand or on your keychain until it’s needed. At just 3.6” overall fully opened, the HoneyBee packs signature Spyderco design into a tiny, yet capable package. It has a miniature 1.6” plain-edge blade, with a slipjoint for greater compliance in more restrictive jurisdictions. The eyehole opening makes for quick deployment; faster than the nail nick you’ll find in other blades this size.
BigiDesign Bit Bar
If a screwdriver happens to be your most-used everyday carry tool, consider adding BigiDesign’s Bit Bar, last month’s 3rd most popular item, to your pockets. It’s a dedicated micro driver set with a full-sized handle and eight different essential bits that will let you get your work done no matter where you go. And because the bits are designed to accept the standard 1/4” hex size, you can customize the tool to work with even the most exotic and proprietary screws you find. It’s available in both grade 5 titanium and lightweight fiberglass-reinforced nylon, and its design is TSA-compliant, unlike most multi-tools out there.
Kershaw Link
The Link proved that you could have an affordable EDC pocketknife without sacrificing made-in-the-USA quality and the feature set we’ve come to expect from our daily drivers. Its 3.25” 420HC stainless steel blade is tried and tested, giving you an easily maintained blade that can hold a sharp edge without breaking the bank for more exotic materials. Its flipper opening features Kershaw’s signature SpeedSafe assisted opening, making one-handed operation quick and painless. The drop-point blade shape makes it good for everyday cutting and slicing tasks, and it conceals into an elegant aircraft-grade 6061 aluminum handle for storage. And if you prefer the tanto blade shape for its piercing capabilities, the Link is also available with one as well.
Nitecure TUP
Nitecore’s TUP raised the bar this year for what pocket EDC flashlights can deliver, and at a great price point too. It packs a whopping maximum of 1000 lumens of power from a single CREE XPL-L HD V6 module. And it does all this while being only 2.75 inches long and 1.87 ounces in weight; it’s barely noticeable in your pockets or on your keychain. For added convenience, it features an LED control panel that helps you use the buttons to control your desired output and mode. When it’s all said and done, recharging the TUP is easy because it comes with a USB charging port built-in, making it even more deserving of its top spot on last month’s most popular gear.
For more trending gear, check out our past round-ups from the archive.
