I think I got my current edc setup to about where I want it. Here it is:


1. On my keys is a BSA hotspark and a Fox 40 refs whistle (modded like Dougs)
2. I have a keychain with a photon 2 (white), paracord, and a perminant match.
3. A VX6000 camera phone.
4. A Victorinox Sportsman with home made pocket clip (can opener/screwdriver, blade, nailfile, bottle opener/screwdriver, corkscrew, awl/reamer, tweezers, toothpick)
5. Benchmade 921-BLK First Production 136/500 (main blade S30V steel, small blade 440C)
6. Wave in a home made leather sheath with belt clip
7. Belt buckle knife
8. wallet with SwissCard Lite, foil tape with backer around heavy duty foil, mini "In an emergency" card, Fresnel lense, steel money clip with brass coating, some lock picking supplies.
9. Badge wallet with "shove it" tool, tinder card, and a piece of steel wire. (under wallet)
Not pictured:
1. (2) bandanas, usually one dark blue and one bright blue
2. Timex Expedition compass watch

When I go outdoors I have:
1. A BSA compass case I put on my belt with my altoids tin kit, a folded mirror, a black garbage bag, and a DMT blue diamond sharpener.
2. A Princeton Tec Scout that i'll hang off my belt or stick in my pocket.
3. A Benchmade 210 First Production 0271/1000 fixed blade (S30V) in a carbon fiber looking sheath held sideways on my belt with a tec-lok.

I think I have most everything covered with what I carry and the way I have it distributed it doesn't weigh me down too much. I hope I give you guys some ideas, as well as receiving input on changes/additions. The only thing I think i'm not really set on is the amount of paracord I carry. I need to carry more, In my old leather money belt I wore I could put a good 3 feet. I need to find a money belt that is a little over an inch wide to work with my buckle then I'll be set. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Wow, 100 views and no one said anything? <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Hi Paul,

Nice setup. Two questions:

1.) Why so many blades?
2.) Why so may keys? Personally, the only keys I need to carry are one for the house and one for each of two cars.

I'm the 104th. This is the first time I checked in today. Looks like you've got everything covered, except maybe some duct tape, and more cordage, like 10' of dental floss or mason's twine. This shouldn't take up much room. You've got 5 blades (Sportsman, Benchmade, 2 on the Wave, belt buckle, Swisscard), maybe you could replace one with the cordage/tape. (Like I should talk about carrying too many blades <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />) I carry about 12' of braided paracord, which winds up being about 8" long. Here's what it looks like:

Key Chain Paracord

I don't see any means of carrying water. Maybe a Reynolds oven bag. Other than that, looks good.

Blades:
The main blade I use is the benchmade 921, I don't use the blade in the wave being it doesn't stay as sharp, isn't as good a steel, and isn't as comfortable to use. The Swiss Army sportsman is mainly carried for the awl and corkscew which the wave doesn't have, but I have found it to be a much better knife to use around "PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER." and it has become the knife I loan to people when asked. The belt knife stays in the belt, it doesn't come out unless I need it around the house when I am not carrying my other tools or in some sort of emergency. The Swisscard I don't really use the knife on that often, but I have modded it so it can be used as a spear tip or arrow head. It is great to carry though, it is pretty well packed with stuff for such a thin item. It has a knife and a simple (red) flashlight, two of the things I have found I really appriciate when practicing wilderness survival.

The keys:
My father and his brothers own a lot of commercial property, when there is an emergency in the buildings and the three of them can't be reached the call comes to me. So I need to be able to get into all the buildings, storage lockers, and heavy equipment (I've used loaders to knock down our own doors for fireman). I also have on my ring a handcuff key, a key to my snomobile (which is a farely common key used by everything from ride on mowers to heavy equipment to snowblowers), a key to my gun locks, and keys to padlocks I use around the house. Believe it or not my car key isn't even on that ring, it is on its own ring with the alarm button and a little Cobra keychain (I drive a Mustang Cobra in the summer).

JOEGREEN,

That's an idea, i'll put some duct tape on the backer from some foil take and put that in my wallet and maybe wrap it with spyderwire or fold it inside.

I wind up carry many keys myself. House key, mailbox key, two keys to my car, key to my wife's car, and a key to where I work. That's six keys. The key to my mom's place is kept somewhere else, as is the key to my sister's place at the shore.

I keep spares to nearly all the keys in my wallet. I've heard too many tales of people "just running out the door" and getting into trouble by forgetting their keys. I always have my wallets on me, so I always have keys, should I forget my keyring.

JOEGREEN

Is there a place on line where they show how to make a paracord lanyard? Thanks in advance.

iljeepguy,

Here's a website that shows how to make the square sinnet using some plastic zip-tie looking material. You just have to adapt it for paracord. Rather than using the "completion stitch", I just melted the ends of the paracord together.

http://www.bluemoon.net/~dotoran/prj_square_stitch.htm

To start it, I laid out two equal lengths of paracord in a cross pattern +. I tied a knot to hold the pieces to hold them together, and started overlapping the ends of the cord in a clockwise pattern. When you get to the fourth end, rather than overlapping it, you tuck it under the first end. It took me several tries to get it to look like the pictures on the website. I'm sure that using two different colored cords would make life easier. Good luck!

FYI - The plastic zip-tie material is commonly known as "gimp". Pete

When I was younger all the girls used to make lanyards out of that stuff. I learned how to do that box lanyard, as well as a few other things. Just remember that with paracord the box needs to be done tight. The tighter you do it the more compact it will stay.

iljeepguy,

I've got an archived post from Plainsman's Cabin that describes the procedure, including pictures. It's in Word format. Since we can't attach files to posts, do you want me to e-mail it to you?

Yes, could you? e-mail to vinegm@hotmail.com

I like the pocket clip on your SAK. You said it is home made. What did you use to make it? It looks like a loop of wire, but it's hard to tell for sure from the picture. I would like to add a clip like yours to my keychain to keep everything from bunching up at the bottom of my pocket. Your kit does look great, though. Thanks for your help in advance.

I made it out of thick coat hanger wire, it is based on a clip I have on one of my old pocket watches. Here are some closer up pictures of the one I made:

Sorry it doesn't look very pretty, if you use pliers with rubber coated jaws or something similer it will come out nicer. That was just the first one I did. It works quite well and didn't cost anything. Make sure you use thicker coat hangers though, the usual ones I get are coated white and are thinner and springy. They are easier to work with, but arn't as strong. This one was coated with some kind of yellow colored clear coat and are a bit more heavy duty, I think they are usually used for pants. Hope it works out well for you. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

That does help. Thank you.

It's a little off topic, but some time ago another member posted about this clip:

http://www.happcontrols.com/index.html?http://www.amusementsplus.com/security/30009901.htm!\

(And I owe him a debt of gratitude!)

Since I wear sweat pants a lot, this is just the thing for carrying my SAK, Leatherman Juice, or almost anything with a lanyard hole. (You need a lanyard between the clip and your tool.)

And since I started attaching lanyards to my tools, I've also grown accustomed to just letting the lanyard hand out of my pocket by a couple of inches to facilitate retrieval.

Bear

This one is very nice too, expensive but really wonderful quality. There are a few other variations available including with the nice Berkeley Point mini-clip instead of the lanyard loop, etc. This stuff is a favorite over at Candlepower Forums.

http://www.berkeleypoint.com/products/tools/mct2.html