How To Make Your EDC More Lightweight

Last updated: May 25, 2026 · Originally published: August 1, 2017

An everyday carry kit or the EDC kit is the collection of items which a person carries with them everywhere they go.

These items consist of all the things which an individual might need during the course of their life for day to day affairs, including possibly in emergency situations. For the most part, everybody carries at least their wallet, keys and their smartphones but there are always more additions to make to the everyday carry kit depending on your need for them.

Other than the wallets, keys and the smartphones, other very popular items that people have in their everyday carry kit are multitools, knives, notebooks, flashlights and of course, pens. The type and quantity of items an individual carries with them tends to vary on their individual needs and they are mostly dispersed among the many pockets on a person’s clothing. The one thing that bugs everyone about their everyday carry kit is the issue of weight.

Here are a few tips you need to know so you can learn how to make your EDC more lightweight and better.

Recognize the Challenges Which Can Come Your Way

The first step is to make a consideration of all the things you will actually need in your everyday carry based on the challenges which you might face in your day to day affairs. It is important to make sure that your assessment is realistic so you can make additions to your everyday carry kit to make it better.

The challenges which different people face in different situations makes for a need of personalized everyday carry kit. Based on the real probability of you actually facing the challenges you might, make a list of all the items you will need to carry with you every day.

Look at What You Have

Now that you have made the assessment of all the items you need in your everyday carry kit, you should take a look at what you have collectively and make an assessment of it. Think about all of the things you are carrying with you now. Are there things in your everyday carry items list that you can upgrade? Are there items on that list that you can do without?

Having items like the multitool can be very helpful if you’re considering how to make your EDC more lightweight. There are different kinds of multitools that vary in the number of tools they have but they essentially put into one very concise package, plenty of tools that would otherwise be a big hassle to carry all at once. A multitool also gives you the ability to cut, screw and even pry if there’s a pair of compact pliers in their somewhere.

Now, if there is some stuff in your everyday carry items list that you do not particularly find useful but have carried with you for a long time, it is time to just suck it up and dispose of it. There are plenty of times where you will find yourself carrying things that you absolutely do not need at all and they tend to have some sort of sentimental value for you. Get rid of them from your EDC. You wanted to know how to make your EDC more lightweight right? This is one very important thing you have to do to make it possible.

The Recommended Items You Should Have

In the quest to make the perfect everyday carry kit, you tend to keep on adding one useful item after another until a point comes that it becomes one too many useful things. And that can be good if you are out and about traveling on some adventure but for your daily routine in the city where you live, it is important to strip your everyday carry kit down to the bare essentials. That is the key aspect to consider when you are learning about how to make your EDC more lightweight and efficient.

It does not necessarily mean having to pick the most compact of tools and items in order to make for a more lightweight and efficient EDC. The adjustments you should make to your everyday carry kit are only supposed to make it more streamlined for your everyday needs.

For someone working in the city and going to the office every day, here are a few basic items you are recommended to have in your everyday carry kit.

• A knife
• A small flashlight
• Tactical pen
• Lighter
• Wallet
• Smartphone
• Multitool

Anything more than these items and you’re basically adding on unnecessary weight. Go lightweight and go efficient.