Showcase #352: Sales Associate from San Gabriel Valley, California

Welcome to the Urban EDC Showcase! Each week, we feature one member from the EDC community and the gear they rely on every day. Want to be featured? Submit your gear photo.

Alex (@alexerstad) hails from San Gabriel Valley and his everyday carry has come a long way since his barebones carry as a teenager. Alex has continuously refined and tweaked his carry to achieve what he feels is the perfect everyday carry. Read on for the full rig rundown now!

Featured Tools:

• Knife: CRK Small Sebenza 21 Insingo
  In my opinion, Chris Reeve knives are a seamless meld of form and function. I picked the Micarta inlays mostly for the aesthetic but it has served me well with great grip and preventing scratches on the titanium frame. 
  
  As for the insingo blade shape, it's a very useful utility style blade. Even the swedge is almost sharp so it works well for scraping things. I use my Sebenza for just about everything and it hasn't failed me yet. This is my go-to pocket knife.

• Flashlight: Olight I3S Brass
  Not much to say about this light other than its 180 lumens which is the most I ever really need and it runs on only one AAA. For around $30 bucks from a reputable brand, it’s a no brainer for me. It fits perfectly in my jeans' watch pocket which would otherwise go unused. It also looks awesome with its natural patina.

• Watch: Redux Courg Titanium (Custom Horween Strap)
  I found this watch through Kickstarter and fell in love with the modern take on a classic design. I always liked the Flieger style watches but dive bevels and date windows aren't seen on the original German pilot watches. It's the smallest, lightest and most comfortable watch I own, which is probably why I wear it the most often. 
   
• Keys: KeyBar
  When Mike (the founder and owner of KeyBar) made the original prototype, I followed him because I had a feeling it would be big and I ended up getting one almost as soon as he came out with his first titanium model. I have carried it ever since - changing the layout from time to time and getting a deep carry clip from him recently. It's great to see a cool idea turn into a very successful, useful product. 
  
  
• Lighter: Zippo Tree of Life "Yggdrasil" 
  I have always been intrigued with lighters but I have never been a smoker. I justify carrying one for its "survival" purpose (always having a way to start a fire), but really I just play with it. I think Zippos are a cool piece of Americana. This specific zippo features Yggdrasil, the mythical ash tree, which is deeply rooted in mythology and has a very interesting backstory. 
  
  
• Necklace: Steel Flame Mjölnir 
  Steel Flame is a great small business which makes a lot of awesome jewelry and everyday carry accessories. When I saw this specific dog tag, I knew I had to have it. Being that I'm of Scandinavian descent, Norse mythology has always been intriguing and close to my heart.
  
  The Vikings wore necklaces shaped like Thor's hammer for good luck, so this is just a modern take on that tradition. The symbol has become very famous recently because of The Avengers and Thor comic book movies, but the brick-on-a-stick that is depicted in those movies is far from its original form.

Background:

My EDC started when I was very young. I was mostly raised by my grandfather who always wore a watch and carried a pocket knife. He bought me cheap watches to wear and gave me pocket knives, which my parents hated. But he made it a point to me that if you can, don't leave home without a knife and watch. 

As a teenager, I just carried a Kershaw and some cheap flashlight with a Gerber shard pocket tool on my messy key chain. Which is better than nothing, but far from perfect - right out of high school, it was all I could afford without a job. 

A few years ago, I started working as a salesman in a knife and gear store here in Southern California - which is where my EDC started to get really serious. A short while before I got this job, I had started an Instagram and soon found out about how big the EDC community is. I have made a lot of good friends because of it ever since. 

Over the last few years, I have perfected my EDC to what it is now, and I'm pretty happy with what I have. It's part of my job as a knife and gear salesman to know a lot about what I sell, which has helped me narrow down the things I carry today. 

My hobbies consist of going to the shooting range, hiking and just being outdoors, though I don't do it as often as I would like. Mostly, when I'm not working I weight lift, surf Instagram for cool new gear, and spend time with my girlfriend. 

Favorite EDC Tool:

My favorite out of the bunch has to be my Sebenza. Overall, I haven't found a pocket knife I like to use and carry more than this one. Chris Reeve knives are just perfect - from the design to the feel in hand and how they perform - they are on a different level. 

Another thing I really like about them is their customer service and warranty. If anything fails, they will fix it or replace it at no cost other than shipping which means I'm not worried about actually using it. I highly recommend anyone who loves knives to get a CRK.