Showcase #347: Physician and Securities Analyst from Salt Lake City, Utah

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.

A first for us, we have a special double-barrel showcase today featuring the dynamic duo of Swai and J (@viragoedc) from Salt Lake City, Utah. This dynamic duo is as passionate as it gets when it comes to EDC and even have a monthly budget for new gear!. Read on to learn all about their distinct but equally functional carries and find out how they first met (such a cool story)!

EDC I (Brown):

• Notebook: Field Notes
  In our line of work, we typically have to carry a pen and notepad around, J for patient notes, and Swai for interview notes. This is a handy and discreet carry item. We also love that Field Notes have cool cover art and themes.
  
  
• Pen: Ti2 Design Techliner 
  We’re huge fans of Ti2 Design gear and have Mike’s wallets, multi-tools, and flashlights. We love how smoothly Techliners write and the super shorties allow us to carry discreetly without bulk. The magnetic cap is also handy when writing on the go without worrying about losing the cap to the pen.
  
  
• Pry Bar: 4t5 Design Antiqued Brass Templar Prybar
  This is a really unique piece and we favor brass, bronze, and copper metals. The pry bar especially gets a ton of daily use. It’s also so unique, it’s a conversation starter.
  
  
• Hank: ViragoEDC
  We started VirgaoEDC as an extension of our love of EDC gear. We have hanks on different occasions. J mostly uses his hank to clean his glasses and Swai to clean her knives after cutting an apple for example. Virago hanks are all one-offs, so it’s cool to have a truly unique hank.
  
  
• Knuck: Dylan Grace Blade Co Knuckle Spike
  Dylan is one of our favorite knife makers. We have several of his knives and his style really fits us. This knuck/knife is a small but beautifully well-made piece in our collection. We never leave home without a knife.
  
  
• Flashlight: Klarus Mi1C
  This little guy is one of our favorites for the copper material, and how powerful it shines at 600 lumens. It’s small, handy, and a really attractive little light.
  
  
• Watch: Daniel Wellington
  This is Swai’s watch. Daniel Wellington watches are affordable and have thin faces, which she really likes.
  
  
• Organizer: F*it leather EDC Caddy
  The F*it caddy has been really durable and a great way to organize our EDC carry. It fits a Field Notes, flashlight, pen, knife and multi-tool well. We can just throw the caddy in our backpacks and be on our way.

EDC I (Red):

• Notebook: Field Notes
  In our line of work, we typically have to carry a pen and notepad around, J for patient notes, and Swai for interview notes. This is a handy and discreet carry item. We also love that Field Notes have cool cover art and themes.
  
  
• Glasses: Arnette
  These are J’s prescription glasses and he wears them every day.
  
  

• Flashlight: Foursevens Preon P1 MKlll
  This is a really small and sleek carry flashlight. The output is fairly decent and we prefer clicky lights. We have quite a few preons because we like the small, sleek bodies of the light.
  

• Bottle Opener: BRNLY Contra Toothy Cypop
  This is one of our favorite pieces. It’s a handy piece and a conversation starter. If nothing else, we enjoy swinging it around our finger throughout the day.

• Multi-tool and Bead: Wolf Design
  This is another beautiful and unique multi-tool that catches everyone’s attention. It has amazing floral etching on the bead and wolf done by Big Dog Creations. We were pretty stoked to snag this one and couldn’t believe our luck! Definitely busted this one out over Thanksgiving to open the sparkling cider. 

• SAK: Kurst Machine modded Swiss army knife with acid-washed tools
  The maker is a really cool guy, and we traded this mod for a few Virago hanks. It gets a lot of pocket time. We never leave home without a knife and will usually carry a smaller knife like this mod, and a bigger knife.

What's your story:

We currently live in Salt Lake City, Utah. Swai is originally from Detroit, Michigan, and J is originally from Charleston, West Virginia. We moved to Utah for work. J is a family medicine physician, and Swai is a Securities Analyst who investigates securities fraud and white-collar crime for state government.

Our family and friends introduced us in 2015 at a wedding where J was the best man, and Swai was the maid of honor. J was just starting residency and Swai was completing her final year of law school. We’ve been together ever since and eloped at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah last fall 2019.

We love gadgets! Swai calls our gear pocket jewels. We have always carried knives, pens, notebooks, hanks and flashlights. But, it wasn’t until a few years ago that we discovered there was an entire world, or “cult following” of gadget lovers who carry useful everyday carry items.

We were only introduced to the EDC community a few years ago when we were surfing online for hanks. It blew our minds, special groups for flashlight lovers! Or super talented makers of custom one-of-a-kind gear. We were stoked. We’ve had a monthly budget for EDC gear ever since and have introduced all our family and friends to the EDC lifestyle. We really like the community of makers and enthusiast. We are also huge supporters of small business owners and like the entrepreneurial spirit of the EDC community.

We love the outdoors and physical fitness. We camp, hike, mountain bike, run Spartan races, flyfish, travel, play Call of Duty. Swai also hunts and skies. Utah is perfect for outdoor lovers and we’ve taken full advantage of our time here.
the pictures. I must thank a lot of people for supporting me and helping me to improve.

Favorite EDC Tool:

We have too many favorites to choose only one! We gravitate towards the unique and useful. If it’s a beautiful piece that we can’t realistically use, it defeats the purpose of carrying it every day. We like unique and beautiful, but useful.

What's On Your Gear Radar:

We have some grails we’re considering. When we first started collecting EDC gear, we really just bought everything. Now that our styles and tastes are more nuanced and developed, we like to purchase really unique EDC gear. We have our eyes on the Cool Fall Tri-V, TAD Barrel, Ti and copper small Fellhoelter pens, and VoxDesign Snailor.