Top 5 EDC Items You Need to Carry Every Day | Buyers Guide

EDC or EveryDay Carry gear is basically the few vital items that you almost always carry when leaving home. When you walk out of your door, what are the items you have on your person?

For the majority of us, it’s our keys, watch, phone, and wallet. Personal preference plays a large part in the selection of these items, but you also need to take into account the threats local to you and your budget.

These are the top 5 items that I have on my person every single time I step foot outside of my house to go somewhere. The specifics of each item such as the brand or model may change from time to time, but I always have them on me.

Knife | Emerson CQC-7

The Emerson CQC-6 (also known as the Viper 6) was a custom blade originally developed for SEAL Team 6; Now known as DEVGRU. Wanting to keep the CQC-6 a custom blade, Ernie Emerson decided to produce the CQC-7 as the production version of that blade. In May of 2011, an Emerson CQC-7 was carried by a Navy SEAL during Operation Neptune Spear—the mission to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden.

For those of you wanting to own a piece of knife and military history, pick up an Emerson Knives CQC-7. Every knife company has its version of this knife, but they fall far short compared to the “real deal.” I personally carry the CQC-7 with me whether I’m in an urban setting or wilderness setting, and can attest to its invulnerability.

Flashlight | ProTac 1L-1AA or 1AA Flashlight

For a few years, I’ve been carrying either the ProTac 1AA or the ProTac 1L-1AA as my everyday carry light. One of the advantages of the 1AA was the fact that it is powered by a common battery size found in almost any store, but it was obviously not as bright as the 1L-1AA  with a CR123 battery.

The obvious advantage to the ProTac 1L-1AA is the fact that it can be powered by either a commonly found AA battery or a single CR123 battery depending on what you have available and what kind of output you are looking for. I generally run mine with a CR123 battery, but can always fall back to a AA if need be. When I travel I always put a fresh CR123 battery before leaving, but can always replace it with a AA from a local store.

Watch | NFW Valor

A watch is the ultimate way to finish off your look. I own several timepieces from NFW and they are nothing short of rugged, dependable, and bad-ass. NFW Watch Company is a smaller American-owned and operated business with a great reputation and mission statement.

Wallet | Andar Baron

The Baron is a unique, slim wallet that gives you the best of both worlds: a card holder and a money clip cash carrier. Made of full-grain leather, this wallet helps you uniquely organize and minimize the way to carry cash and cards.

Footwear | Salomon Speedcross 4 and 5 GTX shoes

The sole of SPEEDCROSS 5 has larger lugs with more space and an updated geometry, delivering better push-off grip and braking grip, in all surface conditions. The heel unit of SPEEDCROSS 5 creates a cradle for your heel, ensuring clean foot strike and stability through the stride.

SPEEDCROSS 5 uses a completely welded upper, with dissociated sensifit arms. it moves more naturally with your foot, and dials in the comfort. Built for maximum grip on loose, soft, rugged, and uneven surfaces, Contagrip® TA uses deep, sharp lugs made from a compound that balances durability and adhesion.