ALLAN CREWDSON
50ish living in the fabulous Western Lake District of the United Kingdom & loving everything that Mother Nature can supply and a passion for Every Day Carry (EDC)
WHITEHAVEN, A PLACE TO CALL HOME
Hoping to give y’all a lighthearted, interesting and informative description of some of my favourite edc items and hopefully share some great photos.
This collection started when I saw the Panda White Lumintop Tool AA flashlight, then came the Swiss Army Knife Spartan, James Brand Elko, Zebra Telescopic Pen and Titanium Barrel Beads, I already had the Big Idea Design TPT and the Hank from #mrhank_uk and thought WOW……….then I thought BLACK (as you do) BOOM ! Another £200 later and the Black version was born, swapping out the Zebra for a Fisher Space Pen and the Lumintop for a Klarus Mi7. Added some 18650 rechargeable batteries for a longer, higher output and sat back to admire the collection. Had some great, positive comments off Instagram and proud of fill my pockets on a daily basis with it.
Haven’t yet figured out what my obsession with colour matching is BUT I always try (much to my wallets exhaustion) to get exact colour matches, often re-buying and swapping out inadequate items ?…ideas on a very small stamp please lol !
Blue is the colour for this combination. A blue Victorinox Pioneer X was the start point for this EDC, paired with a blue Olight Baton Pro, Whitby&Co Sprint EDC knife, a Carry Notes field book, Kershaw Dog Tag Tool pry-bar, EDCCooperative patch and blue Paracord & beads suitable enough for most days without any bulk.
So, what’s with the EDCCOOPERATIVE gear………..
Basically, I think, it’s a sense of belonging. Belonging to a group of like minded EDC lovers and users who want to be part of something bigger than themselves alone. The store offers, reasonably priced merchandise all with an EDC theme. Not only are their products cool, their morals have a worthy pitch too ! ‘Cooperators’ “Not only do they have a passion for all things EDC, but they have the spirit and the attitude that goes with it.”
Now, every amateur worth their salt has to have some overkill for maintenance tools and this is my little soiree, Leatherman is my ‘go to’ Brand of choice but Gerber & Buck Tools can sometimes get a sneak peek too. I much prefer to clean my edc than use it and then it’s always there when needed. I know, YES, I know I should ‘use my Shit’ But there is nothing nicer than sparkly !
Above shows the beauty of nature, with stag antler Boker Gnome knife, Rough Rider Cotton Sampler knife in stag bone with silver bolsters, a custom maple barreled pen from #tonkasdadpens on Etsy, a Kershaw dog Tag Tool and a striking leather slip and card wallet from #fitleather all adorned with stag antler bead on 3mm leather cord. Displayed on wollen pocket squares from #daisyandoakstudio. (probably some animals perished during the making of these items, probably…….)
Everyone deserves a little libation to help with the next days EDC selection, I have a sweet tooth and thankful there are potions to match lol
Y’Know when someone inevitably asks “what’s your favourite knife” …………..
The Fox Knives LIBAR is so sweet, I got it from HennieHaynes as an alternative to a Benchmade Proper, it fits perfectly in my hands, has a very tactile micarta handle and comes with a uk friendly 7.1cm non locking M390 stainless blade in ‘clip point’ style coming with a simple black leather slip. The price point is approx £70 ($87) and when coupled with a paracord lanyard feels much larger than the actual, overall 15.5cm. I may get another handle material (carbon fibre or olive wood)……………LOVE IT !
The Second Contender……….
The HennieHaynes titanium SLIPSTREAM. Again it’s a uk friendly 7.7cm, S35VN stainless steel Bladed titanium slip joint with a clip point edge. Price point is approx £90 ($112) and comes in a very handy waterproof lock box (small peli type). Feels silky smooth, extremely sharp and is virtually unnoticeable in the pocket, comes with landyard hole but no pocket clip.
What is it with PryTools ? (Later !)
Let’s talk torches, whoo hoo !! TORCHES, love em ! Any colour, any size, any price (well, nearly) and any brightness. Now, as I ramble on about torches, at time of ramble I prefer the Olight brand of such things. They make several, excellent models of torch, I particularly like the Baton Pro and S1R baton 2 Models, very similar to each other with the Pro being slightly brighter (max 2000 lumens) with 135 yards of throw. Although my love of Olight is borderline obsessive, there are millions (well, not literally) of other brands out there from good old Maglite to SureFire, Nextorch to Rovyvon all in a plethora of sizes and luminosity. To me, a good EDC torch has to be bright enough to light the way when walking and dull enough to stop yells at 2am when you’re looking for some Rennies ( I get no affiliation kick-backs off said heartburn tablets, other brands are available lol). It has to be tactile In the hand and non slip when wet and absolutely small enough for pocket carry. No doubt in my mind that a Maglite 3D cell is a fabulous thing BUT a front pocket EDC it is not ! I’ve also dabbled in Lumintop, Klarus and Rovyvon Lights and all have their place, either in size or price but at the moment, FOR ME, Olight take the banner. (Ohhhh, kick-back PLEASE)
And Paracord & Beads……..WTF !!!!
Now…the SAK, the Swiss Army Knife, the Wenger or the Victorinox
I just love a SAK, I have many, in many colours, in different sizes and use them for different tasks. They are uk legal, if non locking and the master blade is up to, but not exceeding 3″ (7.62cm) although, that said, you always MUST have a valid reason for carrying a knife, even a small pocket knife, in the UK ……..Fair Play ! I still haven’t had to take a stone out of a ‘Horses Hoof’ and god only knows what a ‘Shackle Opener/Marlin Spike’ is for but I still love them. Instantly recognisable in their ‘classic red’ but also in many other colour guises, I’m particularly fond of the Alox range, especially the Alox Pioneer X with its small scissors included (I like neat fingernails) and I rarely leave home without one some form or other. which nicely brigs me on to ……
PryTools
When did it become a necessity to carry a small, thin bar of metal with either a blunted ‘chisel’ end or a split end for pulling nails ! Every company is now making them, in brass, titanium, burnt titanium, steel, copper ………..and on and on…… but WHY ? I’ve very, VERY rarely in my life had to pull an emergency nail or tack, I don’t need to force paint cans open with a £50+piece of brass and I don’t carry glass alcohol bottles around in public that I’d need to whip out my opener…….Ok, OK, I may be over exaggerating this a bit and some of them are nice, I actually own a few and YES I have used them occasionally to help with small tasks, I just can’t understand why they are so expensive, literally a slim lump of metal, battered flat at one end ? and don’t even get me started as to why they now come with a rubber type washer around them WTF is that for ? some have a loose bit driver that is held securely by said washer but those without one surely don’t need the rubber, its not like they roll !! Generally all the things I’d need a PryTool for is instantly covered by my tried and tested Swiss Army Knife with more bells and whistles along the way……Just Sayin’
Are Hanks A Thing ?
In the good ‘ole’ days everyone carried a handkerchief, women, kids, school teachers and obviously, your elderly aunt, who used to spit on a corner of it to wipe your face from road tar or brown sauce or whatever you had been dabbling in….Nowdays you never see one ? well I say never, but, EDC’ers class a good ‘hank’ as an essential part of their daily carry, I don’t believe that they ever get used for blowing your nose on or coughing (due to tuberculosis or consumption) into but nevertheless they are essential. They really come into their own when cleaning your valuable equipment from cutting up your fruit or lunch, cleaning your ever fingerprinted iPhones and Gallaxy’s and protecting items in your pockets. they come in a variety of designs often backed with soft cottons and microfibres and can be a blessing when laying out food or gear in rough ground or dirty places and obviously for taking photos on.
Paracord and Beads
Now I don’t own a parachute, I haven’t ever touched a parachute and as far as I’m concerned I won’t ever need to wear a parachute and have no intention of throwing myself out of a perfectly good aeroplane. I have good laces in my boots and don’t often go camping where I’d need extra cordage (well, I just don’t camp !) YET I have many hanks of paracord, different lengths in different colours with different braid counts. Most of what I have has been procured for simple lanyards for attaching to knives (there is a good reason) or to torches and pry-bars. The reason to attach to a knife is twofold, firstly it has the great ability of increasing the length of a knife handle in your hand, I’m not meaning to wrap over your hand to prevent slippage (although that’s handy !) BUT to make the knife handle feel longer, giving extra leverage, if using a short knife the extra addition of paracord adds length and aids cutting. The second reason is it makes a knife, easy to locate in your pocket or carry pack giving easy withdrawal and, if worn correctly, as an easy/non-threatening way of pocket carry in a pocket clip stylie not looking like a hidden knife. This leads nicely on to Beads, millions of different styles, materials, shapes and colours. They are basically a barrel shaped small tube you can thread/tie, usually with paracord, to your knife lanyard helping with all the above cord usage BUT it also can help form part of a set/collection adding colour and weight and helping with finding your carry objects. Another use, not endorsing violence, is as a strike weapon when attached to a suitable length of cord, generally as an extension of your striking hand like a nunchuck or whip, often used to deter offenders giving vital room between you and your foe, although I’d rather not confront in the first instance. BE AWARE, if you were to use, attached to a knife in this way, you will probably be contravening every law concerning knife usage and may end up in deep do-do. I like a bead, it makes a simple collection or individual object more interesting and there are some absolutely fantastic beads on the market, some can cost hundreds of pounds/dollars even costing more than the knife or object they are tethered to and some can be made of plastic or copper costing pennies and dimes, the choice, as they say, is yours !!
EDCONLINE 