Watches and the EDC community. What is it?

Great discussion topic. To me, the term EDC is something I learned of maybe a few years ago. Until then I had always carried crap in my pockets (pocket knife, hanky, wallet…etc.) but I didn’t realize the level to which some folks took it and all of the options that were available. Now I carry a pen, flashlight, multi tool on top of all of the other crap I had normally carried. I actually got into upgrading my EDC shortly after getting into watch collecting. So, I can blame my watch obsession for my EDC obsession. This has become an expensive set of hobbies. 

All we need now is a Seiko pocket knife.

@Slepowron Thanks! I actually held off on writing this for a while because I wasn't sure how it would resonate with folks on this platform. It's great to see other EDC enthusiasts in the watch groups, though.

I always carried a variety of item as well, but yeah, since discovering there was an actual hobby around it, I've upgraded my gear far beyond the items I used to carry. 100% agree, this is an expensive set of hobbies. I've mostly avoided the high-end pens, so far, but I'm thinking I want to try a Tactile Turn in Titanium at some point. 

I hate to admit it, if Seiko made a half-decent pocket knife, I'd probably buy it. LOL 🤣

Since a watch is an every day carry item, especially among this group, I would think it resonate positively. I’m sure there are ALOT of Urban Gentry you tube channel fans here, so EDC shouldn’t be a foreign concept. Although the channel mostly discusses all things watches, EDC is an important topic at times. To be honest, that’s where I first heard the term and what it encompasses. I bet there are quite a few EDC enthusiasts here, whether they admit it or not. 

In my beginning I had a multitool, a flashlight, and a watch. I was a scenic tech/carpenter, but didn’t know what EDC was. Got out of tech and didn’t have to carry anymore, until I one day started getting interested in knives. Knife hobby led to EDC, which led me back to watches.

Dunno why all the vitriol for posters of knives coming from the watch community…but i’ll take a stab at it. 

Probably something to do with fear and misunderstanding. People do indeed live in a world where they grow up watching the telly learning that knives are bad mmkaaay? All their lives these people believe that there are no dark places in the day, and that there will always be a pair of scissors available at their disposal in every room they walk into. Then people started relying only on cell phones, and it’s just been that sort of learning curve for them.

@Slepowron I would think so too. The negativity in the FB groups watch groups towards photos showing of watch with any other gear was a bit surprising. It's social media, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, though. There is always going to be the gatekeepers who can't handle anything even remotely different. 

I have chatted with several EDC enthusiasts through watch groups, so we're around, for sure. 

 

@TheSharperTheBetter You're absolutely right about the misconceptions around knives. I've noticed that flippers get the worst reactions. It's the flicking noise. Quite a few people associate that noise with switchblades and think you're either dangerous or going to accidentally hurt yourself. 

For a variety of reasons, including the "fear of the flick", I've started carrying/collecting slip joints more and more. People see those as old-timey, grandpa knives and it doesn't seem to have nearly the same reaction as a flipper. Swiss Army Knives are another one that people seem relatively cool with. 

That's great how you circled back around to wearing and collecting watches through EDC! I enjoy reading stories like that, about how picked up the hobby. Before a couple years ago, I hadn't worn a wrist watch in probably twenty years. 

 

Maybe I will start posting wrist shot pics while holding one of my pistols. I live in Texas USA and that’s definitely an EDC item for a lot of people here. If people get mad for pics with knives, I bet their heads would explode if guns were included. 

Oh yeah, OTF’s/out the sides/autos in general are the scourge of the pocket knife world, they’ve been vilified since realization.

It’s crazy because opening a slipjoint is inherently more hazardous to open and operate than a one handed locking folder. But I carry a locking SAK just for scenarios where “fear-of-the-flick” applies.

Oh man do they go ape about those sort of posts over on Reddit. Not so much on r/EDC, but yeah, r/watches either faints or has a heart attack at the mere mention of such criminal conversation. I haven’t noticed anyone here on WC post with their pistol yet, so i dunno how well it’d be received.

@TheSharperTheBetter It shows how little people understand. I love my slip joints, but absolutely, a modern folder is safer to open/close. OTFs get a bad rap because of pop culture association, which is unfortunate. Autos are technically illegal in Washington, where I live, which is unfortunate. 

I would never post such a pic. I just thought it might be funny based on some folks reactions to knives. I would never figuratively or literally stick any of my firearms in anyones face. I’m not one of those crazy people that fetishizes guns. I see them as tools for defense and treat them as such. Like I said before, where I live pistols are a regular EDC item for ALOT of people. I‘m sure there are platforms for gun nuts to display their EDC guns, but WC is definitely not the place. 

Is it possible that these criticisms arose purely from a simple misunderstanding?  Did the people posting on Facebook spell out "everyday carry," or did they just type "EDC" and expect everyone to know what they meant?

I know what "everyday carry" is.  But if you were to mention EDC out of context, it probably wouldn't occur to me that's what you're talking about.  Acronyms are great when everyone knows what they mean.  And acronyms are terrible when many people don't know.

But why would people misunderstand EDC?

I Googled "EDC acronym" and discovered more than 100 meanings for EDC:

• Education Development Center, Inc.
• Export Development Canada
• Everyday Carry
• Electronic Data Capture
• Economic Development Corporation
• Electric Daisy Carnival
• Economic Development Commission
• Economic Development Council
• Electronic Devices and Circuits
• Eau de Cologne
• Endocrine Disrupting Chemical
• EROS Data Center
• etc.

So let's just say that the meaning of EDC could be a bit ambiguous.  And if the people posting to Facebook were to lazy/busy to type out "everyday carry," then why would they assume that the average reader would be sufficiently curious (and overburdened with spare time) to do a Google search, then read through 100+ results to guess what they probably meant?

@CascadiaEDC, I commend you for actually spelling out what EDC means.  But you seem to be in the minority of posters.  (I spent too long earlier today, on another forum, figuring out what OCBD stood for … just because two people were too lazy to type out "oxford cloth button down.")

Knife laws can be so ridiculous. CA says I can’t carry a automatic knife with a blade longer than 2.5”, but i can carry a machete on my hip. Go figure. I like that there are fewer laws regarding watches.

@KiltedKarl Sorry, maybe my initial post wasn't clear. There wasn't confusion around the acronym "EDC" that I've seen in groups. The term was never really brought up.

What caused members to get bent was simply someone sharing a watch photo that just happened to have either a pocket knife or other gear in it. Their responses were like: "Why the hell is a knife in this photo?" or "Stop posting watches with knives! This is a watch group!" or similar sentiment. 

They were just angry there was a knife in the photo. My above post was hopefully to point out why some of us post watch photos with other gear, including pocket knives. 

Side note: I'm very active on Instagram, and it's a little funny when people end up on my EDC page when they were looking for posts about the "Electric Daisy Carnival", which apparently is a big music festival in Las Vegas.

To be honest, I have been very hesitant to take photos with my edc because it involves a handgun. People these days have a stark opinion on them. You are for them or against them is the overall mindset. Of course that can get political and that is the one reason I am on this site, there aren't  any politics...yet. I have found that this site has been incredibly accepting of all styles, makes, and models, but I think that even posting a watch with and Edc that involves a hand gun would get you plenty of folks upset. That being their misunderstanding  of handguns or their perception of handguns from all sorts of media. 

Funny thing is, many collect military watches, but won't  go near a firearm.

 I have noticed that European members in certain groups have the biggest issues with knives, because they are heavily regulated or banned in a lot of countries.

UK mainly i guess.  

I can really drool over all EDC pics out there including your illustration. My EDC IRL is a rather sad story.

I think negative reaction to watch included EDC shots boil down to two primary sub groups:

1) Watch purists: Like any hobby, there is always a subset of purists that only want to talk watches. These "gatekeepers" want to flame anything remotely off topic. I imagine there is a lot of overlap with these people and brand purists.

2) Safety Karens: The people who, regardless of what they say, are solely concerned with the knife (or God forbid gun) in your EDC shot. Everything these people say is objectively inconsequential. Their response is nothing more than a shit post manifested from an irrational fear of what you, a person they do not know, might do with something they think is overly dangerous in a hypothetical situation they just made up. The worst part is, that fear isn't even real; it's a manufactured fear. I would ignore these people.

Great post, interesting topic.  Where do you put that stuff?  I don't like having things in my pocket.  I carry a bank card and my phone (it's pretty slim).

@Achenar 100% Agreed on both. It's crazy how people get so hung up someone sharing a photo, both the gatekeepers and the safety karens. I just have to laugh. 

@jason_recliner It kind of depends on the day and what I'll be doing. On most days I carry a bag, primarily for my Fujifilm X100V camera, sketchbook and art supplies. The pouch in the main image of this post lives in that bag and carries most of my EDC gear. A knife goes in my pocket with my keys.

Days I don't have my camera bag, I carry smaller gear, and less of it. Usually it's something like: keys and knife in the right pocket, small flashlight in the watch pocket, phone goes in the left pocket with a pen, and wallet in back right pocket. 

Oh, and of course, my watch. 😀

Too bad too... I got a nice shot of my Seamaster with some Bond relevant items... Royal flush, martini,... other stuff...

@Achenar Share it! I want to see your Bond watch photo! 

Let's see what kind of shit storm things brings down on my head...

@Achenar Nice! Yeah, I get the James Bond vibe, or maybe a gambler expecting that night's game to turn sour. 

Lol, that was the night I watched No Time To Die and I had just picked up the .380 couple weeks prior. Seemed appropriate. 

Lol definitely not a bunch of weirdos and don’t get discouraged because people are complaining. People complain about everything. Everyone has EDC items even if they don’t know it and yes knives are often misunderstood. A pocket knife is a very useful tool. If you carry a giant hunting knife to the office every day… that’s a different story. My grandfather used his old Buck knife for everything, even eating at the table. I was always amazed at how he could line up peas on that thing easier than I could on a fork. I still have it and I’ll never part with it.

mine are:

phone (of course)

pocket knife (simple folding or Swiss Army depending on what the day calls for)

lighter (I don’t smoke but once you start carrying one you realize how useful it is)

watch

small flashlight (usually a Streamlight nano)

If I’m off-roading or motorcycling I include my bag which contains:

full medkit (including emergency dental kit, roll up splint, tourniquet, ace bandages and blood clotting agent)

hand warmers (chemical)

cool packs (chemical)

DayQuil and NyQuil tablets (very useful anti inflammatory and powerful pain reliever combined)

I have had to use all of these items except the tourniquet multiple times. It’s better to be prepared than caught wanting.

Not much of a gun guy myself but that sure is pretty. 

I don’t know, I really think we live in a “squeaky wheel gets the grease” society where all we hear is the people who complain. In my line of work I deal with all kinds of people all over the US and find the vast majority believe in to each their own.

I will definitely admit the region you are in usually will lean one way or the other politically and opinion wise. I still think one on one humans are generally fairly accepting of each other’s viewpoints you just rarely see it portrayed anywhere to the point we feel uncomfortable having discussions or even fear voicing our own opinions. I think this is a really big problem, without discussion there can be no understanding.

I’m not a gun owner and don’t think I’ll ever have the intention of getting one but I would have no issue whatsoever with someone posting a picture of one as part of their EDC.

@BeauDylan It's so true, and I really think it's social media that has kicked all of that into high gear. People now have a platform to post every thought and grievance they feel, which is now bleeding over into our daily lives. One unfortunate side-effect is that real issues that should be talked about are now diluted because people are so tired of the constant complaining.