What is BUDGET EDC? (Rebuilding my whole kit but with a $30 Limit) 

A refreshing video on EDC. So many videos have items with outrageous prices. It sometimes seems like some try to get the most expensive items they can find or promote. I keep it simple, elegant and affordable (a relative thing). Just because you can, does not mean you should. Thanks for sharing.

Finally, a sensible definition of "budget" that isn't tossing in hundreds of dollars of niche electronics. Even as a tech junkie, I get tired of people trying to position a $400 ReMarkable tablet or something as an "easily affordable must-have".

budget videos are ALWAYS necessary in the current knives/EDC environment. I'm more than willing to drop a couple hundred on a good item I want, but I wouldn't be where I am today without being gifted a budget knife at a young age. the market will point at all the people like us with money to spend and say target them, but we gotta think about the future

Thanks for looking out for the entry-level or those unable/unwilling to spend a lot on the EDC stuff. Cheers 💜👐

Casio F 91W, Coast G10 flashlight, F-301 compact Zebra pen, Victorinox Spartan, 4" Crescent RT24 mini plier, Orbit key organizer, Swiss Card and Buffway minimalist wallet. So far these budget items have survived a year in my EDC and still going. I do like some of your picks :)

The key chain hack is pure gold, love it! As clever bang for the buck as I have ever seen. Thank you so much.

I’m with VineClimber when it comes to knives: I don’t want to scare people. I love knives, but if I saw a stranger with a fixed blade in town, it would make me a little nervous. Camping or in the wilderness would be fine.

That’s straight up the best breakdown of measuring “budget” I’ve seen. Love it

Have the calculator watch from the large 80s I was called a nerd.😊

4:00 Friggin' genius! I have been toying with the idea of buying or making some kind of key organizer, but this right here is all I need. Something to keep them together just *a little* more neatly and stop them jangling so much. Thanks so much for this tip!

great vid mate. Always look forward to the kit vids

Love your thinking brother I've bought a couple EDC items after I watched your video and you didn't steer me wrong and for that I thank you.

Incredibly well done video, man. I would go as far as to say the gold standard of EDC vids. Thank you very much, I will be sharing with my friends/family! God bless 💪

Nice seeing people thinking with a budget in mind.

Amen, Hide & Drink is awesome! I love their products, and that it’s handmade by folks in Latin America.

This is a wonderful video, Dom. Love it!

Great suggestions Dom!

You are the best edc RU-vidr!! You do great job!

Really enjoyed this video 👍 $30 is definitely the magic number for budget quality EDC !

I have been EDCing a fixed blade knife for the past ten years: a Cold Steel Super Edge, mostly for cutting packing straps, handle down on my belt (with a kevlar thread 'belt loop' on the original sheath) in the 4 o'clock position. Much easier to 'deploy' than a pocket knife and just as legal to carry and 'non-eye-brow-raising'. Something like the CS Peacemaker III - which you just 'made me' put into my shopping cart at Knifestock, thank you very much ; ) - would still be legal to carry in Germany, but would probably shift me in the perception of my colleagues from "quirky" (for all the gear I carry) to "disconcerting".

I've been using the "Willuck 9 in 1 multitool " for a couple weeks. It doesn't have pliers, but has a sizeable scissors/knife blade/saw/file/can, bottle opener/window breaker. $17.65 USD. Doesn't have drivers/or an awl/ or toothpick, tweezer. But i like it because the scissors work great. And then i mostly use the knife & bottle opener. For a bit driver i use the Nitize ratcheting pry tool. If i need pliers i go for the Knipex 4". Enjoyed your video, keep up the great work.

I once open carried a mora on my belt for a week. I didn't need it for anything in particular, but it was light and good for food prep. If they made a mora with a thinner handle and better sheath I could definitely see carrying it. 😁. If they kept it under 30 they'd sell like hotcakes.

The Wurkkos ts10 is such a great light, love almost everything about it! Highly recommended!

I think with knives I personally wouldn't go at or under $30. But wallets (Chums $10), flashlights (Streamlight 66318 at $19, Fenix E01 V2 ($15), Olight 13TEOS ($18). Multitool for sure, Burberry at around $30 or Victorinox stuff (ie Rambler at $26). But knives -- man I feel like it's worth paying more for especially when it's something kinda related to safety (on 2 fronts, cutting yourself and the never used self-defense). There's so many things that need to go right with a knife and a lot of the cheaper ones don't cover the bases. The Praxis is good value at $30 though but there are much better if you are willing to pay more.

I use clip and carry kydex sheaths for my multipliers. I bought a custom kydex sheath off Etsy for my Gerber StrongArm from-Liberty Tree Glory Days for $40, pancake kydex with Teklok clip. Easy on, easy off. All I need to do is loosen my belt and I can just unclip everything in a second and have an empty belt. Very good for people who may need to squeeze in and out of tight spaces or need to change quickly lol

Nice, common sense video. Well done. I recently acquired the Bibury, and so far, I am quite happy with it. Nothing heavy duty, but common "non-trades" type stuff.

Casio Calculator Watch, The best Watch ever ! I have a few of them. People always tell me about hey dude your Watch is cool 😅 Or hey I had one of these.

I think your thinking is spot on. Am always looking for the best deal and $30 isn't a bad place to start. Please note, the Biburry link didn't work and there isn't a link for the other multitool prybar either.

What’s funny that sometimes regardless of what you make your budget stays the same lol. Sometimes saving money from days when you had to becomes a habit when you don’t need to. Appreciate your budget reviews and that Gordon knife is still my go to. Unless I stumble on the new Icon;)

I went with a Casio W217H - love the Illuminator backlight, and the simplicity of the display really works for me. I also have a couple of Easy Reader analog designs. They are a bit more than $30, but they are on sale pretty regularly - again the Indiglo backlight was a key selling feature for me. One other bit I would say is that if you keep up with what Sencut knives have been discontinued recently, you can grab some excellent deals. I've picked up several in the $25 range, and using White Mountain Knives means I don't pay tax or shipping on that. WMK also lets you use a 10% discount code from several RU-vid knife channels. Oh, and one more, lol. Don't forget some of the slightly older classic great knives. A CJRB Feldspar is still a great knife, as is a Dozier Folding Hunter. If there was a list of, say, the best knives from 2017-2021, those are all still very good options, and more frequently on sale than this year's models.

Some links to the aftermarket parts on your Casio would be awesome. I love the look of that watch!

First of all, I really cracked up at a title with Budget in it to then be presented with the Great Wall of Milwaukee backdrop! Love it.. and nice to match a face to the voice I've heard so much lately. I agree that a presenter should set the limit of "Budget" on what would be considered the lowest common denominator with the caveat "your budget may differ based on your personal income" as well as a basic mathematical formula such as your verbal example of (Hourly wage x 3) per Item. As far as your idea for the key system, I think it is a good idea with an outside of the (current) box solution. I wonder if it might be effective with keys such as the Kwikset key blanks to have the steel twisted rope in the middle hole but to go with two bungie cords with one being through each of the outer holes opposite the wire connector? In my mind, they would both hold more securely preventing the raddling/jingling of the keys as well as providing a rebounding of the key that had been used back into the fold. You could easily change the spring torsion by using different sized bungie cords as well as how tightly you tie them. As for non Kwikset styled keys, keys generally being brass, it would not be difficult to to add the extra holes to each side of the original. I've been using a Keybar for about 7 or 8 years now and while I had their Emerson Wave style OHO add on I just didn't care for it so I drilled an additional small hole in the outer layer keys to ad a thumbstud which has worked great. I don't carry the large number of keys I once needed to but you could easily add two of the Keybar OHO tabs to the 2nd layer of each side for easy access as well leaving only more central key layers that you don't use as much to require you to dig for by fanning them all out.

great info

For Casio recommendations, consider one with "Lap Memory" like the WS2100H. It records the date and time of each stopwatch record.

Waiting on that Demko Armiger 4 in Magnacut😎💯

I just use a Lego Stormtrooper keyring for about $4 at the Lego store.

Flashlights, have you checked out the Acebeam Pokelite AA? I just picked one up because it will run on a rechargeable 14500 which is included, but will also work with disposable AA's. My other lights are all either or.

If youre carrying a fixed blade relace the folder with a folding or otf utility knife instead. Workpro button folder for cheapness. Itll get more use than a regular folder or the fixed blade combined

I had a Casio Calculator watch. One time a continuous tone started. I didn't know where it was coming from. At first, I thought it might be a smoke detector. So I checked all of the smoke detectors. No sound from them. Finally, I found the tone was coming from my watch, which I was not wearing at the time. I had to remove the battery to make it stop.

@maxlvledc can you send a link to what band you purchased for the Casio ae1200? I really like that band. Thanks!

For the watch I'd go with the casio AE1200. I own every casio you showed and that one wins my wrist the most amd was 22 dollars. Huge screen/digits, dual time, amazing back light and 5 alarms for 22 bucks. Especially great for the visually challenged like myself

The Casio Royal (AE1200WH-1A) is a GOAT!

Gotta recommend the streamlight microstream rechargeable for right around $30. I wouldn’t even consider replacing it as a compact edc light. It’s tiny, bright and tough.

MarineX made a budget EDC video and used a very similar measurement. Your budget is equivalent to hours of work. So by default that’s two hours of paid labor per item. You can tailor that based on your hourly wage and your more immediate needs. Still it was a good way to put the term “budget” into perspective.

Teal Designs fixed blade utility knives are pretty awesome.

I need to find one of those sheaths in Cordura... Dew, rain and Sweat reak havoc on leather

Give me a simple sak spartan, buck 112 lightweight, and a analog Timex watch any day of the week.

Good video . Pleased not to see too many flashlights..😂😂😂

We need many, many more videos in this category...

Based on the title I thought $30 was what you were spending for the whole EDC kit. Now that would be quite the feat. $30 per item with over a dozen items is much greater than I expected but I now understand.

I would go with the Miguron Talism or Olitans. I prefer smaller folding knives. I really like seeing budget videos and would like to see you do something like that in a store if that would be possible.

Yeah i carry a fixed blade every day so you are not the only one with a fixed blade in there EDC kit..i am rocking the esee xancudo S35VN steel.. and i have a Bradford guardian 3.5 with magnacut on the way...

@maxlvledc got good recommendations on a pocket clip snody boss?

Does the new Roxon Flex work in the sheath? Wasn’t sure if it’s size and ergonomic shape made it not fit for those nice sheaths (granted I know you can condition the leather and get it to stretch out for better fit)

In the U.K. a fixed (even a locking folding) blade as an everyday carry are illegal, there are exceptions for work or if camping/bushcraft. I generally stick with a Swiss Army knife, great functionality and acceptable pretty much anywhere!

have you considered doing a video on knives with a blade length of less than 2.5 inches? some places have that as the legal limit on blade length

If you consider your audience outside of the US, then you can have a quite different perspective. Ty, for all that budget content, it's a lot less "budget" outside of a few richest coutries. Nice job.

That’s quite the back drop for a budget video 😂

What is that clip attaching your car fob to your keys?

Hello, do you have any recommendations similar to the Leatherman Juice? Thanks

Are they any flashlights or headlamp that have head that can both tilt up and down and to the right or to the left?

My collection is heavy. I don’t mind the weight. I consider it budget though not as cheap as some of your entries. I made my own wallet. I also have a small case for extra credit cards. And another case for business cards. One of my three key rings has two leather fobs I made. One is a belt dangler. The other carries the fob for my truck. For edc folding knife I’d recommend the QSP hawk. I’m looking for a multi tool that doesn’t duplicate a Swiss Army knife. My light is a nebo torchy. Another huge discussion area surrounds carrying “boom sticks” on ones person. I recommend the Bersa TPR 380 plus or, if you want more punch in your pew pew, the CZ P01.

What kind of band do you have on the Casio AE1200?

For a Sub 30 knife, I found the DURATECH Folding Pocket Knife on Amazon and its pretty decent. Would love your take on it.

Viperade products are amazing. I love mine

Great ideas I carry a fixed blade every day all day so my fancy flippers stay in my pocket where they belong 😊

First comment baby! Your channel is great brother!!

For some reason, it is really difficult to get a jetsetter in Australia outside of Amazon. Btw is that one light supposed to be glowing red the whole time?

Where the Demko 4 can be found for less than $ 30 ??? I only found the 2 for that

👍🍻

Can you please suggest a torchlight that is sturdy and slim,not rechargeable one and throws a good beam for hunting at night

That Hogue Ritter looks so much like a Griptilian it's uncanny. Axis lock and all. Thought for a sec maybe it's the same designer, but iirc the Grippy is a Mel Pardue design.

Thoughts are Maratac/county comm products?

In the knife category the Civivi it's a good knife. I pay $29

Link to teal design pry bar?

What happened to the Cold Steel and Wurkkos links?

Do you know of any flashlights that work as battery banks that charge phones faster than normal (i.e. fast charge)

Leatherman curl update

Budget= $100-200 all in price (sub $100 preferred in the beginning ). At least until you catch the EDC bug.

We have a fb group with 30K members "Budget EDC" the funny thing is us Admins will post knives 200-999 value with all round expensive gear and the Kershaws, Civivis ect. Get many more likes and comments then our high end stuff haha

Wonderful level of commentary you attract to your channel. Mostly VERY informed or good "problem solver" type thinkers post here, and very few unwise remarks... H.U.E.O. People. (Heads up, eyes open.)

There is quite a lot of inexpnsive EDC gear that is more cost effective than high priced stuff. A $30 piece of gear that lasts half as long as sonething that costs $90 is the better choice but in practice it is often just as durable for the use we put it to.

Link to pry bar/ bit driver? 🤷🏻

I am 62 years old and I don't make a lot of money. But I think a back up phone charging bank would be a good investment in my EDC. What would you recommend?

The bibury is 125 in Australia 😂

on the wallet thing, I've never gotten the minimalist thing. my insurance cards alone I have 3, add your bank and credit cards, licence, cash and whatever else you might need and a minimalist wallet is pretty much out of the question.

I am a fan of Teale Designs, but I don't think it fits under the $30 threshold.

I have the watch you mentioned, it's meh, that's my EDC: AE1500WH

Omg , your personal edc has no limit on cost 😲

firearm?

This guy sounds like Louis Ck

I carry a custom fixed blade my uncle made. I have used it for years and it is made with D2. I tried a cold Steel and it rolled the edge the first use and they would not replace it. It rolled the edge breaking down a cardboard box at work which my uncles knife has done thousands of times with no issues. Can't trust cold Steel with the piss poor customer service I received.

Four hours wage isn't a very good metric. The more you earn, the more hours worth of wages. You can spend. Like I don't mind dropping a day's pay on gear and sometimes even a week's salary. If it's an item i really want, but when I was younger and bringing home twenty percent over minimum wage. Dropping a half a day's pay on something o didn't absolutely need. Was totally out of the question. I'd be surprised if people earning minimum wage. Could afford to drop two or three hours pay on a luxury item. The reason there is no definitive answer to what is a budget item. Is everyone's budget varies. We are all on a budget. Just because my budget is higher or lower than yours. Does not mean it isn't a budget. Maybe the top ten percent income earners don't really have a budget. The rest of bringing home five figures to lower six figures are all on a budget..

The every day man uses gear like this daily... he doesn't wear a rolex to lay bricks or farm.. They keep the pricey stuff like bling for practical folk... some of the gear you have is only for collectors really.

Wtf does "defensive light" even mean?! Is it like assault weapon?

protip: this guy has no credibility. he’s a swindler

Any cool analog watches with backlight? Headlights under $30?