One of the beautiful outcomes of the digital world is its ability to connect and foster a community for niche interest groups. My first experience with this came, as you might guess, in the form of my watch enthusiasm. However, more recently I got curious about another community — the Everyday Carry (or more colloquially known as "EDC") community. I suppose in hindsight, it was only natural, given, as I would later discover, watches are part of the broader EDC subculture (who knew?). Before I go any further, let me share what got me to this point.
Back in late January, I went to meet a friend at a favorite Twin Cities watering hole. I arrived first and ordered a pint, right after the waitress took my order my friend arrived. He did a room scan and I waived him over to the high-top table. Upon his arrival at the table, he proceeded to take off his jacket and empty his pockets onto the tabletop. This is not an uncommon thing for him or anyone else to do but this time I took note as it seemed like he had an endless stream of "things" that poured onto the table — keys, wallet, phone, air pods, pocket knife, multi-tool, challenge coin, loupe, and finally, a mini wrench.
With a muted grin I chided "What else have you got in there?".
He looked at me a bit perplexed, not entirely catching on to what I was asking him. I tilted my head and wide-eyed the small pile of goods he had just clown-car'd out of his pockets.
"What?" he said dimly. "I always carry that stuff. It's my EDC." Read the full post