One of the more challenging, but most frequent recommendation questions I get is this: if I want to get just one knife (or flashlight) and be done what should I buy? This question poses some serious difficulty to a reviewer with nearly 500 written reviews. The very premise of the website is the hunt for the best and the idea that someone would get into gear with the idea of not buying more later seems foreign to me and probably most of you. But the reality is 90% of people that search for “EDC knife” on the internet are in this mindset. Its the same logic I used recently to purchase a new hoodie after my old one finally gave up the ghost after more than a decade of use.

Here is the idea behind the “one-and-done” recommendation. The person seeking this information out wants something nice, but since this is not their hobby or passion, they are not looking for the crazy bonkers ultra high end stuff. They want something that will work well and serve them admirably for years without the need to upgrade or stay current on the latest trends and technology. They also generally don’t want the item to be overly specialized or too narrow it is intended use. This is an item they will use for a wide variety of random tasks. In terms of price, they are willing to pay for quality, but they don’t need the absolute best of the best in everything. Instead, they would prefer to spend money components and features that will a) make a difference in daily use; and b) will stay functional and perform well for a long time. Finally, the person looking for the one-and-done recommendation is thoroughly not interested in the minutia or details.

My sweatshirt hoodie of almost a decade, the one that went with me to the hospital both times my boys were born, finally gave up the ghost. The American Giant Hoodie’s sleeves blew out in a way that couldn’t be fixed and so I launched a search for a one-and-done hoodie. The end result was a purchase of the Flint and Tinder Ten Year Hoodie. I went on a similar quest for a decent full suspension mountain bike so I could hang with my 11 year old on the trails and I ended up with a Diamondback Atroz 2 that makes me smile every time I ride it and makes me imagine trail riding every time I see a dirt path through a wooded area. In my mind, the smart consumer is almost always best served by a one-and-done recommendation no matter what the item. Buying cheap stuff is expensive and wasteful, as is buying stuff at the extreme high end.

Generally someone asks me this question when they get their first amount of real disposable income or when they realize they want a good knife. For whatever reason people don’t ask this about flashlights, it has, in my experience always been with knives. The classic version of this question came from a friend’s boyfriend. She knew I wrote this site and he asked her to ask me what I would recommend as a knife given that he just got his first real, high-ish paying job. This is the archetypical “one-and-done” recommendation.

Knife: SOG Terminus XR LTE (review and affiliate link)

While I like other knives more, this knife has broad appeal and no ethusiast-only features. It is also reasonably priced, looks amazing, and has “designer” materials. Its simple to use, full ambi, and on-trend with a flipper. Plus the design is hardy enough that someone could use this knife for years, not baby it, and still have a functional knife. It is pricey but not insanely expensive and nice enough to feel like a good purchase even a few years down the road. I like this better than the Bugout because the steel is better, the weight is negligibly higher, and the price is roughly the same.

One caveat with this recommendation—if TRM knives were more readily available, they would be my one and done recommendation. They are more thinly ground than the Terminus XR LTE and a bit smoother on deployment. The Neutron II is probably the knife I’d recommend, though the Nerd is good too. I like them a lot. You just can’t buy them all that easily and that defeats the point of a one-and-done rec.

Flashlight: 47s Mini Mk. III (affiliate link)

Again, this is a very straightforward, very simple, but very well done light. For the person upgrading from a plastic tube that comes free with batteries or a Maglight, this thing is a revelation—four times as bright and one tenth the size and weight. It too is handsome, with nice knurling, and fullers that actually aid in grip. The Turbo is probably a better light, but for non-flashoholics the extra size and cost of the turbo head are meaningless. Save some bucks and make sure that your coin pocket isn’t cramped and get this light instead. It is also a dual fuel light meaning it can run on the including rechargable cell or on a primary cell that is somewhat readily available (it is a CR123a).

Interestingly, no other light comes close for a one and done recommendation. There are a lot of very good lights with nice output and good body tubes out there but they run Anduril. Nothing, in my mind, is more antithetical to the one-and-done mindset than a UI that basically guarantees you brick your light at some point and need to do a hard reset. I also want to point out that at this point, I think EVERY flashlight should be dual fuel. For enthusiasts with complex chargers that’s probably not true, but for folks unlike us, rechargeables (provided the charger is included or built in) are ideal, but a light should never looks the ability to use brick-and-mortar sold batteries in case of an emergency. Given those two requirements, nothing comes close to the dead simple, easy to carry, wonderfully made Mini Mk. III.