Flashlight and Knife Weekly Use Diary
I decided to run a little experiment. I wanted to see how often in a week I used my EDC. Everyone carries a phone, wallet, and keys. They get used everyday. Most people carry a pen, and it too gets used quite a bit. But a lot of folks out there look at my pocket knife the same way they would look at a hatchet. Really, though, a small pocket knife is essentially a more useful pair of scissors in a whole lot more convenient (and cooler) package. Additionally, lots and lots and lots of people that know me (and my affinity for flashlights) want to know exactly why I carry one everyday (and some add: "during daylight hours"). The reality is a small light and knife can easily justify their weight and cost every single day. So without much more blabber (because I realize I am speaking to the choir on this point), here is an average week's use for my EDC stuff (which was, this week, two items I am preparing to review, the EagleTac D25a Ti and BushidoMosquito's Custom Ti Rambler):
3/4/12:
Flashlight:
Check under couch for missing Duplos, check boiler in basement, and take out garbage
Knife:
Cut off tags from wife's clothes purchases, cut open cookie package for insistent 2 year old son
3/5/12:
Flashlight:
Locate missing iPhone in car at night
Knife:
Cut off tags and opened a package (wife's birthday was 3/3...)
3/6/12:
Flashlight:
Used during end of the day, locking up the house process
Knife:
Cut open two packages, cut string off suit pants (I wear a suit almost everyday and those errant threads make me look like a hobo and drive me nuts)
3/7/11
Flashlight:
Shutting down the house, checked backyard fence after big wind storm
Knife (SAK):
Unscrew stupid screw on battery panel for son's remote controlled dinosaur (note to designers of kids toys: no fucking screws...they are choking hazard, a pain deal with, and make a slow process even slower much to my two year's chagrin...NO FUCKING SCREWS! Got it?)
3/8/11
Flashlight:
Shutting down the house
Knife:
Nothing
3/9/11
Flashlight:
Nothing
Knife:
Opening two packages, cutting string off my shirt
I am not a rancher or a police officer, but even a regular everyday guy or gal can find plenty of reasons to carry a light and knife. 80 years ago you were a weirdo if you DIDN'T have a pocket knife. Now you are a weirdo if you do, in some parts of the country. In Massachusetts, I am one step removed from being the hitch hiker the kids pick up at the beginning of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
3/4/12:
Flashlight:
Check under couch for missing Duplos, check boiler in basement, and take out garbage
Knife:
Cut off tags from wife's clothes purchases, cut open cookie package for insistent 2 year old son
3/5/12:
Flashlight:
Locate missing iPhone in car at night
Knife:
Cut off tags and opened a package (wife's birthday was 3/3...)
3/6/12:
Flashlight:
Used during end of the day, locking up the house process
Knife:
Cut open two packages, cut string off suit pants (I wear a suit almost everyday and those errant threads make me look like a hobo and drive me nuts)
3/7/11
Flashlight:
Shutting down the house, checked backyard fence after big wind storm
Knife (SAK):
Unscrew stupid screw on battery panel for son's remote controlled dinosaur (note to designers of kids toys: no fucking screws...they are choking hazard, a pain deal with, and make a slow process even slower much to my two year's chagrin...NO FUCKING SCREWS! Got it?)
3/8/11
Flashlight:
Shutting down the house
Knife:
Nothing
3/9/11
Flashlight:
Nothing
Knife:
Opening two packages, cutting string off my shirt
I am not a rancher or a police officer, but even a regular everyday guy or gal can find plenty of reasons to carry a light and knife. 80 years ago you were a weirdo if you DIDN'T have a pocket knife. Now you are a weirdo if you do, in some parts of the country. In Massachusetts, I am one step removed from being the hitch hiker the kids pick up at the beginning of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.