Welcome to the Urban EDC Showcase! Each week, we feature one member of the EDC community and the gear they rely on every day. Want to be featured? Submit your gear photo.
A winemaker and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, Ivan (@knives.x) is as rugged and refined as it gets. Hailing from Eastern Europe, his free time is either spent rolling on the mat or on adventures with his wife and son. Read on for Ivan’s simple yet stylish carry that places real-world functionality above all.
Featured Tools:
- Knife: Koenig Arius
This is one of the best knives I have ever handled - the fit and finish are pretty much flawless, the action is up there with the very best, and the detent is tuned perfectly for any kind of deployment.
The blade is versatile and it is ground to slice, and it is robust enough to handle pretty much any task. It is also no secret that the small team at Koenig Knives are all-around great people who care about their customers and fully stand behind their product.
This particular Arius actually started out as a standard non-internally milled full titanium model, but I have since upgraded it with a carbon fiber scale, timascus backspacer and clip.
- Watch: Breitling Colt Skyracer
I have been into watches long before I cared for knives or even knew about the whole EDC movement. I own fancier, more complicated automatic watches - and yet this one still barely ever leaves my wrist.
There are many reasons to love this watch; Breitling's super quartz means it is very low maintenance and always on time, it is extremely light and comfortable, has 10 bar water resistance, looks fantastic, doesn't have any useless complications, and is covered by an excellent warranty service. It is the perfect no-nonsense EDC watch for me, and I doubt this is going to change any time soon.
- Flashlight: Streamlight Microstream
I really like this little flashlight because it is very light, rugged, and functional. The compact form factor means that it can easily share the same front pocket as my phone without getting in the way.
The tail cap switch is comfortable to use and hard to turn on by accident while carrying, and it also has that nice dual pocket clip which allows you to attach it to a baseball cap and use it as a headlamp.
The Microstream also uses a very common battery type so popping in a simple alkaline AAA is always an option in a pinch. Water resistance and shock proofing is the cherry on top - this guy survived a cycle in the washing machine and still came out in perfect working condition.
- SAK: Victorinox Pioneer Alox
I like carrying multitools because other than being versatile, they are also very people friendly - using a SAK in public will rarely raise any eyebrows, while whipping out a 3.75" ZT to trim some loose threads at the mall will probably draw unnecessary attention.
I like this model in particular because of the tough aluminum scales which are very grippy and aesthetically pleasing. It also offers a great set of tools that are suited for a variety of tasks I wouldn't want to be doing with my knife, such as prying, scraping, opening bottles and cans, or driving screws.
- Pen: Fisher Space Pen
These pens are not particularly nice to write with, but I still love them because they are sturdy, compact, affordable, won't leak or dry out, and will write in pretty much any condition.
I also really like the minimalist industrial design and think that they look especially cool when they accumulate some wear. I have a few of them in different finishes, brass is probably my favorite because of the patina it develops.
Background:
My name is Ivan and I’m a winemaker based in Eastern Europe. My family has been running a wine and liquor manufacturing and distribution business for over 20 years now so that is my main occupation.
As I already mentioned, I've always been into watches, going back to probably as early as middle school. I have also carried a Kershaw Skyline for the longest time, but I didn't really think much of it - I just needed a tool to open boxes and occasionally cut stuff and that's all it was.
After the birth of my son, there was a surprising amount of new things that needed to opened, cut, trimmed, or fixed on a daily basis, so I decided to get something a little better than the Skyline and bought a Spyderco Delica, and it sort of snowballed from there.
My main hobby is training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but I also try and hit the gym fairly regularly. The rest of my free time is devoted to spending time and going on adventures with my wife and son.
Ever since starting my Instagram account I'm also enjoying learning a little about photography and editing, so you could say it is becoming a bit of a hobby also.
Favorite EDC Tool:
My favorite item of the ones listed would probably have to be the Skyracer, even though I am generally quite a bit more interested in knives nowadays. It is simply an irreplaceable part of my wardrobe - going outside without a watch, any watch, on my wrist is infinitely more annoying than not having a knife in my pocket; it happens very rarely when I'm in a rush, but when it does it just bugs me for the whole entire day.
What's On Your Gear Radar:
My next purchase is most likely going to be one or two nice new flashlights. While the Microstream is awesome and will always find its way into my pocket, I think it's about time I tried something a little fancier with more functionality.
The new Olight S1R II is looking pretty good, especially the limited titanium version. On the higher end, both the Tain Aurora and the Muyshondt Maus are very high up on my wishlist.
Joe
January 02, 2019
Nice EDC. I know what you mean about the watch. It’s the one thing that I have to have.