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I know we call it "Every Day Carry", but is that an accurate name?

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I see "EDC" and I tend to think in terms of "Essential Daily Carry" and not "Every Day Carry". Is there a difference you say? I believe so. I have items I put in my pockets, I have more items in a go-bag. What I really have that the world would just feel wrong to me if I didn't have it with me is pretty minimal. I'm talking my wallet, my keys, a comb, a pen, and a pocket knife. I carry around more gadgets. I frequently even forget my phone at home on weekends. Life doesn't end for me if I do that. But I feel "wrong" without my wallet, keys, comb, pen, and knife.
So really, does EDC have to include toys, lock-picks, grappling hooks, and the like? I can't start a scientific random population poll on this, but I seem to think under 5% of the population would call that stuff something they would carry even sometimes.
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MrDocNoble
75
May 20, 2017
I think EDC as 'Every Day Carry' is fine, but 'Essential' really limits the range significantly.
For example, there's probably quite a few of us that have EDC knives and do not actually use them on a daily basis. Maybe every other day or once in a work week, but it's not truly an 'essential' carry (granted, for others that use it hourly that's a different story).
EDC should really just be stuff that most people carry with them on a daily basis, regardless if it's essential or not. But then you have the situation in which every person, or group, is different.
You have the people that carry tops with them everyday. That would be an EDC for them, but for others, it just seems like they're carrying a novelty item or a toy with them and that's that.
In addition, grappling hooks? lock picks? I honestly think those should be set for the 'Hobby' category, not an 'EDC' category. It may be an every-day carry for that person, but only because their hobby necessitates that.
How about that new craze, fidget spinners and fidget toys? That I can see as an EDC cause it's carried every day and used in non-hobby situations.
Just like @Astrodinosaur and @PirateSeulb said, EDC seems to be mainly used as a marketing tool that encompasses EDC and carryable hobby items, instead of EDC items only.
But still, what's EDC for me may not be EDC for you, so it's a tricky thing to classify.
BF_Hammer
717
May 20, 2017
MrDocNobleI don't see it as difficult to classify. There is Essential Carry (not exclusively what I call that). There is Hobbyist items (lockpicks/burglary trainers, grapplers, the like). There is Grown Up Toys (expensive machined yo-yos, tops, fidgety spinnies). EDC is just becoming a catch-all and the quality of items being dropped is eroded for it.
Let's face it. There are grown-ups who get defensive about being labeled as playing with toys. I don't care if there is a doctor's prescription to de-stress with a top or spinner. It is goofing-off. I fully understand this when I goof-off with my skill-toys (yo-yos, string-wound tops). I don't make apologies for it and I also know there is a time and place where appropriate. I sort of get frustrated by seeing the quality of drops in the EDC community diluted with 3 or 4 toys being dropped at any given time. What is marketed as a fidget spinner is what I used to call junk parts from office equipment that I service. I would play with them for a few days until I threw in the trash. I wish I had thought to sell that old junk as toys years ago. I would be laughing with each profit check I deposited in the bank, and use the money to buy some better toys. That is all.
MrDocNoble
75
May 21, 2017
BF_HammerWell to be fair, I do have a spinner that I carry every day and use it when I tend to fidget when doing work or research. So in my case, a spinner could be considered EDC.
But aside from that, I agree with you. EDC is being diluted to include hobbyist items, but maybe it's only massdrop that's doing that? I don't know, haven't explored other communities
Astrodinosaur
198
May 20, 2017
I agree with you. It was inevitable when EDC became a community and a group of people to market to. It's not like the world will end because of the category becoming so broad, but it can make it frustrating for the more practically minded of us when we're online looking for stuff that's going to make our jobs/lives easier and we have to wade through a sea of little novelty items to find quality, practical gear.
PirateSeulb
41
May 19, 2017
May items sold under the label "EDC" aren't in my book but it is how they are marketed and I accept marketing vs reality as it is. I like some of these additional "EDC" items even if they aren't truly EDC I think perhaps they are marketed as such due to their portability and that the EDC audience has received them so well.
Fuhrious
457
May 10, 2017
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet
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