Ultralight Hike
Hard to believe that I of all people am writing about an EDC — what’s the point, anyway?
EDC stands for Every Day Carry, i.e. items that you lug around with you every day.
Over the past years, time and again I’ve been missing essential things in all kinds of situations.
On the trail without fire, walking home through the forest in the dark without a light, etc.
In the future, I want to effectively prevent such planning mistakes with it.
My choice fell on the Victorinox Manager at 31g.
Cap lifter – It’s always handy to have a bottle opener with you
Ballpoint pen – Has served me well since day one. Be it to log a randomly found geocache or to fill out a form at a workshop at night before dropping the keys into the mailbox. Simply priceless to be able to write something down in these situations. If you also fold out the nail file, the pen even has a pleasant length for writing.
Blade – For example, to be able to peel an orange at the airport. By the way, the blade length is allowed in carry-on luggage by many airlines!
Scissors – The tool I use most from the knife, no further words needed!
Nail file – I sharpened one side of the nail file with a Dremel. Now the edge on that side is sharp enough for the nail file to work as a striker for a ferro rod. The whole thing works even much better than I had hoped.
My choice fell on a Maratac Peanut Lighter gasoline lighter at 22g.
Smokers may not know this problem so well, but not being able to get the stove going on the trail is a real problem. Besides, it’s quite nice to light the candles in restaurants with it when the waitstaff forget to…
(A Bic Mini with a secured gas button and a loop serves the purpose for a fraction of the price!)
A ferro rod is another excellent way to start a fire, and it also satisfies the play instinct! This 10g heavy fire steel was a gift from Friese from the Bushcraft-Deutschland Forum. Thanks a thousand times again, Friese!
By now I have tried several models here and haven’t yet found my optimum.
Trunite Ti3 – Stopped switching on after a few days
Fenix LD02 – Developed a loose contact after 3 months, and the lamp sometimes turned itself on in my trouser pockets.
NiteCore Tube – At first I was very skeptical about this little lamp, but I got it for the Hexenstieg because the Fenix had completely given up the ghost and I needed an alternative by the next morning. Thanks to Amazon Prime delivery, the lamp arrived in time and has accompanied me daily ever since. Charging via USB is simply a brilliant thing. The lowest brightness setting usually suffices. The only drawback is that the switch sometimes gets activated by itself in trouser pockets. A rotary switch would be a notch better here. At least the weight of 9g is unbeatable!
Anyone who hitches a ride through the galaxy should always carry a towel!
Jokes aside, as a glasses wearer, it’s always handy to have a microfiber cloth to clean the lenses with.
Besides, the pocket-size towel proved itself as a full-fledged towel at 27g on the trip in Sweden & Norway. You quickly get used to having to wring out the towel several times to dry off completely. With longer hair, a larger towel might be worthwhile, though.
