Welcome to the Urban EDC Showcase! Each week, we feature a member of the EDC community and the gear they rely on every day. Want to be featured? Submit your gear photo.
Having embarked on diverse career paths, Anil (@anil.edc) is a jack of all trades and clearly a master at capturing light and shadows. Making the most of the stay-at-home orders, he rekindled his love for photography and is finding creative inspiration from the wider EDC community. Read on for the full story and a detailed rig rundown of Anil's sleek and functional daily carry.
What's in your carry?
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Gloves: Ansell Hyflex 11-840
My job involves a lot of cardboard processing and heavy lifting. Over time, the work can take a toll on your hands. These gloves provide the perfect balance of grip, protection, and breathability. I always keep them on me at work and keep a spare pair in the car.
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Multitool: Gerber Suspension NXT
This is the first multitool I purchased. While we have a variety of tools available at my job, this multitool always comes in handy, both for quick fixes, as well as some basic electrical work. Plus, its pocket clip makes carrying it easy.
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Wallet: Trayvax Armored Summit
I’ve gone back and forth on wallets throughout the years. I’ve tried ultra-minimal as well as more traditional styles. The armored summit is small and compact and allows me to comfortably carry it in my front pockets. I’ve also added a brass brickman bead, from ZeroFeud.
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Mask: Recycled Firefighter CDC Mask
A more recent addition to my daily gear. I wanted a mask that was comfortable, easy to wash and reuse, and showed a bit of personality.
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Knife: Benchmade 537GY-1 Bailout
I rotate through my knife collection pretty regularly. However, I’ve been finding that I keep coming back to the bailout. It’s slim and just as easy to carry as the Bugout, but it feels more robust. I know I can rely on it for both daily tasks, as well as more hard use situations.
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Organizer: Yellow Birch Outfitters Modern PocKit Pro
For the smaller items in my carry, this organizer keeps things from jangling at the bottom of my already crowded pockets. It protects the items but keeps them within reach when needed. The zippered compartment is also handy for storing bandaids, wire nuts, and small screws.
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Notebook: Rhodia Staplebound Graph Notebook
I carry Rhodia notebooks over other popular options, purely because of the cover. It is made of a coated card stock. This has held up better over continuous use than other notebooks I’ve tried, where uncoated covers tend to disintegrate over time (pocket sweat is gross).
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Pen: Tactile Turn Bronze Bolt Action Short
This pen is great. I always get compliments and questions about it when I use it. It’s well-machined and feels great in the hand. It has a fidget-friendly mechanism and has a lot of options for refills. And because it’s bronze, the patina changes the pen with use.
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Pry Tool: Lynch Northwest All Access Pass V1.5, Maker’s Custom
A convenient tool that keeps me from using my knife for prying. Handy for removing staples, nails, and bottle caps throughout my day.
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Flashlight: Olight S1R Baton II Desert Tan
This little flashlight has come in clutch more often than I initially anticipated. It puts out a ton of light for such a small unit and has made working in dark spaces a lot easier.
What's your story?
I live in Tucson, Arizona, where I’ve lived here for the past 20 years. I’ve done a lot of different thing over the past decade. Different jobs, different career paths (medical & IT), and different experiences.
Right now, I work full-time as a merchandiser, for a retail store specializing in furniture & housewares. For some reason, despite the other opportunities I’ve had, this job has felt the most rewarding. And I think that’s ok.
I think I was into EDC long before I actually knew what “EDC” was. For me, the standout moment was back in 2008, when I first got my own house and car keys. I feel like every couple of months after that, I would go back and try to perfect my key setup, removing key rings, adding tools (Gerber shard). I still find myself tinkering with my key set today.
In the last couple of years, I grew a profound interest in knives. I first purchased a CRKT. Then a Kershaw. I started watching Knife Banter & BestDamnEDC on YouTube.
Then I bought a few more knives. It’s been downhill ever since, to the point where I even started a spreadsheet of all my Knife & EDC purchases, in hopes of reigning myself in a bit. It kinda works, but every now and then, something catches my eye that I’ve got to have.
Photography was something I was passionate about in the past. I really got into it when I was in high school. I’d develop my own film, print my own work. Then I got into digital, and post-processing in Lightroom and Photoshop.
Over the years I got busier with school and work, and the hobby kinda got sidelined. I’d shoot off my iPhone at most. But I rarely got a chance to pick up a camera, with the purpose of shooting creatively.
Shooting EDC photography really took off for me this past couple of months. With COVID and the stay-at-home orders, I found myself like everyone else, suddenly having a lot of time on my hands.
I brushed the dust off my DSLR and got to shooting. I made an Instagram account and started posting. And it’s been great. There is a lot of creative people within the EDC community, and I feel like I see something new and unique coming out every day. I’m finding myself inspired to experiment & try new things behind the camera again.
Favorite EDC Tool?
The Benchmade Bailout is my favorite. The knife is always the focal point when it comes to my every day carry, and the Bailout checks a lot of boxes for me. It’s slim, feels great in the hand, has a great utility-style blade, deploys quickly, and has a fidget-friendly mechanism. It’s an easy choice when deciding what knife to carry for the day.
What's On Your Gear Radar?
Oh, there are so many things.
I’ve been eyeing watches, which I’ve heard is a mistake. But hell, I’m already in this deep. I’ve been wearing an Apple Watch this past couple of years, but automatic watches have always appealed to me. I’ve been looking at Seiko watches recently, but I haven’t decided on anything yet.
