Everyday Carry (EDC) Knives: Everything You Need to Know
Everyday Carry, or EDC, is how we describe the things that go in your pocket or purse every single day. For most people, this is a wallet, keys, and a phone. But for a special group of people, the people who use the term "EDC," there is often more. This is often pens, flashlights, and most importantly, EDC knives.
Today I’m going to tell you all about everyday carry knives. I’ll show you what they are, why we carry them, and how to find the best one for you.
In This Article
- What is an Everyday Carry Knife?
- Why do people carry EDC Knives?
- How to pick an EDC Knife
- The EDC Knife Community
- Get Yourself an EDC Knife!
1. What is an everyday carry knife?
An EDC knife is a knife designed to be carried every day. It’s usually smaller and lighter than larger knives for camping, hunting, or hard work. Everyday carry knives are there to help you with the smaller cutting tasks you encounter on the daily.
EDC knives also behave as a sort of fashion accessory. Some keep it as simple as matching the colors of their pen, flashlight, and knife, but others take it way further. I’ve seen radioactive Tritium inlays, handle scales made of exotic metals like Zirconium, mammoth ivory inlays, and more. There are infinite ways to customize and personalize an EDC knife!
2. Why do people carry EDC knives?
- Quick access cutting
- Preparedness tool
- Accessorize your outfit
EDC knives are extremely useful, easy to carry, and make you just a little more prepared for daily life. They also serve an accessory function, sort of like a watch.
It’s kind of crazy how much utility an EDC knife provides. If people say "I don’t need a knife," I give them a challenge. I lend them a knife, tell them to carry it every day for a week, and see how often they use it.
I’ve never done this with a person and them not use the knife. I have had people refuse to carry a knife afterward out of spite, but seriously, it’s their loss.
Carrying a pocket knife isn’t a burden. The most popular EDC knife in Blade HQ history, the Benchmade Bugout, weighs less than many pens and is smaller than many car keychains.
3. How to Pick an EDC Knife
There are literally tens of thousands of unique EDC knives in stock right now at BladeHQ.com, so I’ll provide some questions to answer to help you narrow down the perfect one for you.
What is legal for me to carry?
Knife legality is a deep rabbit hole. Thanks to the efforts of organizations like KnifeRights, it’s getting less complicated, but be careful. Laws differ at federal, state, and local levels. Make sure that whatever knife you pick, it’s something you can carry without ending up pounding rocks at the big house.
What’s your budget?
EDC knives run the gamut of prices. The cheapest I’d recommend go for between $20 and $50, and great knives can be had at any price north of that. But not all knives are created equal! Around the $100-$150 price point, you start seeing super steels, fancy handle materials, and finer craftsmanship. Go up to the $500 and beyond price point, and you start getting into exotic materials, aerospace-grade tolerances, and custom-made masterpieces.
If you’re looking for a set-it-and-forget-it good-quality knife without either cheaping out or cashing out your 401k, I’d suggest you budget about $100-$200. This is where you see the curve of diminishing returns take effect, and there are a ton of awesome options in this price range.
Are you left-handed?
Left-handed knives have never been easier to find!
There are a growing number of openers and locks with ambidextrous operation capabilities. But the most common mechanisms can be a bit preferential to righties. Every once in a while, a company will release a true left-hand version of a knife, but they are few and far between.
Are you a lefty? Check out our best left-hand knives article to find what’s right for you!
What kind of cutting job do you do the most?
EDC knives can squeeze into a lot of roles, but it’s a good idea to pick the knife with the job you do most in mind. Construction workers, chefs, military personnel, programmers, and paramedics all have different cutting needs. Whatever your job, hobbies, and lifestyle demand from a knife should inform your decision!
What knife are you really going to carry?
A knife is worth exactly nothing if it’s sitting in a drawer. Sure, a giant folder can do more work, but are you actually going to carry it? Pick a knife that offers a balance of big enough to be useful and small enough to be pocketable. For most folks, this is about a 3"-3.5" blade and a weight of two to three ounces.
Is your knife for self-defense?
There are a lot of good reasons to pick a knife for self-defense but be honest with yourself about it. If you can imagine a situation in which you’d pull your knife out to defend yourself or someone else, then you should choose a knife accordingly and GET TRAINED ON HOW TO USE IT.
If not, then don’t worry about it. But if, heaven forbid, you get mugged, for the love of all that is holy do not pull your knife out. It’s been said that after a knife fight, the winner goes to the hospital and the loser goes to the morgue. So, unless you’re confident you can win said fight because you’re properly trained and equipped with the right tool, don’t risk losing!
How can I take care of my knife?
It takes a bit of knowledge and practice to sharpen 64 HRC MagnaCut or clean out a double-action out-the-front. Expensive knives are usually that expensive because of their special materials and complicated mechanisms.
So, unless you’re ready to take up the quest of maintaining a high-end knife, opt for something a little more user-friendly.
What kind of pants do you wear?
I know it sounds irrelevant but hear me out.
If you wear slacks, course G-10 can ruin them. If you wear jeans, smaller pocket clips might struggle to get over the thick seam of your pocket. And if you’re a woman and your pockets are criminally shallow, your knife options can be pretty limiting.
Matching your knife to the pants you carry them in will keep you from ruining clothes and losing knives. It’s by no means the biggest consideration, but it’s something to keep in mind.
The EDC Knife Community
If you want to quietly enjoy EDC knives on your own, more power to you. You don’t need anyone with you to enjoy the benefits of carrying a knife. But if you so desire, there is a large and thriving community of fellow knife lovers who would love to have you in it.
In many ways, the EDC knife community is like the fashion community. Colors, mechanisms, materials, and designs have ebbs and flows in trendiness, collectability, and perceived value.
For example, when I started at Blade HQ, all the rage was translucent jade G-10. A few years later, we had the silly idea of making a knife pink and sprinkled like a donut, the Dessert Warrior. These knives are still popular, but the community has chilled out enough that we have stock you can buy on any given day, and enthusiastic drop-chasers don’t break our website anymore. At least not in search of these trends…
Today, we’re seeing a huge influx of people interested in button lock flippers, pocket fixed blades, Ultem handles, and anything with MagnaCut blade steel. What’s next? That’s the million-dollar question. But the best part is that anyone could have the million-dollar answer, and trend creation in the EDC world is extremely democratized, but that’s a story for another day.
Now would any of these trends have been as popular without the community behind it? I kind of doubt it, but I’ve sure had a ton of fun in the knife community, whether I buy into the trends or not.
Get Yourself an EDC Knife!
You should carry an EDC knife. It doesn’t have to be big or fancy, but it will help you out with whatever life throws at you on the day to day. Plus, it adds a bit of personality to your otherwise bland pockets.
Knives are cool, and once you start carrying one, you’ll quickly find out why our ancestors loved them so much. They’re just so darn useful! Before long, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without your EDC knife.
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