Best EDC — Curated from The Hiro Report

I've written before about what a sucker I am for fidget toys. The algorithm gods appear to have heard me, because I recently stumbled upon these absolutely insane, modular, fidgety takes on a balisong or butterfly knife. Instead of a swift instrument of death, however, these alternately cute and techy toys feature things like Lego mounts, Flipper Zero cases, a built-in flute, a 20-sided die display, mechanical keyboard clickers, Beyblade launchers, and more, all mountable on these reconfigurable fidgets that you can flip and twirl like an expert in Filipino knife craft. They are super weird, and I've already ordered several for myself and the kids to try out.

I'm a sucker for weird flashlights (ok, flashlights in general), and this one checks all the right boxes to pique my interest. It's a unique, flat-profile pocketable flashlight with two separate lenses (one for flooding an area with light, and one for shining a spotlight over great distance), can crank out over 4,000 lumens, and extend out 405m of light. Also, because it's quirky, it has a seven-mode RGB side light for fun, is water resistant, has a magnetic tail for quickly mounting it when you need to go hands-free, and it doubles as a USB-C power bank. Why do I love things like this?

Speaking of watches, I'm really digging the look of this sweet, pocketable EDC tool that has a smooth sliding mechanism for extending or retracting various included tool bits—it has your standard flathead and Phillips screwdrivers but also includes a watch fork tip and watch push pin for changing out the watch straps/bands on your watches. It's beautiful, fidgety, AND handy.

Santa picked up a pair of these flashlights for my kids after I stumbled across this quick YouTube short about them a few weeks back. The LoopDot is a super fun, pocketable, fidgetable flashlight with a pixel display that can be customized to show you the remaining battery levels, act as an RGB light source, and even play simple pixel games on. It's super satisfying to handle, and I love that you can switch between flood and spot light modes just by giving it a shake.

A dear friend gifted me one of these wallets last year, and I’ve been absolutely loving it. Very slim, lightweight, gender-neutral designs, great looks, and thoughtful touches like an optional micro-pen slot and built-in RFID-blocking materials. I cannot emphasize enough how thin both the leather and nylon versions are, even more front-pocket-friendly than my usual Bellroy.

I've had a few Olight flashlights and always found them to be powerful and compact, if not exactly "cool" looking... Their latest keeps with the trend. It's a very oddly shaped flat device, reminiscent of an Apple TV remote, but it features a 200m spotlight flashlight, a 1700 lumen flood light, a green laser beam, and a powerful UV light, all in a compact, USB-C rechargeable package, with a double-sided clip so you can throw it in your pocket or attach it to the brim of your baseball hat. It's a little goofy looking but would be an amazing little flashlight to keep in your EDC bag. I'm putting one on my personal Christmas list.

A really solid, good-looking pocket knife is an essential. The Bugout is an excellent, all-purpose knife that’s not only a great first pocket knife but also still respected by knife nerds with massive collections. $$$

A buddy of mine asked me this week for a recommendation for an EDC knife, a topic that I could spend hours talking/writing about. While there are a million good options depending on one's budget, needs, style, etc., the one that is the easiest for me to recommend is the Benchmade Bugout. Benchmade makes fantastic, long-lasting knives that will last forever with good maintenance. The Mini Bugout is compact, discreet, comes in a million different color and blade options, and there is a whole universe of DIY 3rd party modifications out there for changing out the grips, thumb studs, and more. It's a great all-around pocket knife.

Let me preface this by acknowledging that the price point on this thing is ridiculous, but it’s a really fantastic light. It’s about half the size of a thick pen, but kicks out a whole lot of high‑quality (90+ CRI) light. With the optional clip, it clips nicely into jean pockets or backpacks, but with the default magnetic keyring, you get some magic—When you tug the flashlight off the magnetic keyring, it automatically turns on, and then turns itself back off when you reattach it. Super satisfying. I’ve had mine for a few years now, and it’s one of my favorite fall and winter EDC items as the days get shorter.

I plan to pick one of these up for my travel kit: It is a really smooth-looking carabiner for quickly attaching things to other things. The twist is it includes the added bonus of having a small built-in lock and key so that you can slightly more permanently attach things to other things. I've had a few other products from Matador and have found them to be pretty great.

A pocket knife that will hold up great in the woods and still look great on a valet tray. I have one in heavy rotation. ~$160

- I don't think it will surprise anyone that I have a bit of a watch and pocket knife collection. My sweetheart bought me one of these Holme & Hadfield display / valet boxes a few years back and I still use it every day. I like how it lets me put my watches on display but also has a handy pull out drawer for picking out a pocket knife or pen (or both) to bring with me for the day. It looks like they have a nice sale going on this weekend, so I thought I'd share.

I'm a sucker for a good minimalist slim wallet, and this week the folks at my favorite bag manufacturer, Evergoods, introduced exactly that. They did some engineering magic to make the wallet out of a seamless single piece of insanely thin but water-resistant fabric, while making it easy to organize 6-8 cards and access your bills, regardless of their size. At $70, it's hard for me to justify replacing my Allett wallet that is still developing a lovely patina, but this would be a good contender if I were in the market.

I hate having keys jangling around in my pocket, so I was thrilled when I found the Q3 a few years back. It’s a very small slab of titanium that holds your keys together in its sleek embrace, along with either a small utility blade or multitool insert. It keeps all my stuff together, no jangle, and looks and feels nice. One of my favorite pieces of my EDC. That said, if you want something even more lightweight, check out OrbitKey’s offering*.

A dear friend very kindly gifted me one of these wallets this year, and I’ve been absolutely loving it. Very slim, lightweight, gender-neutral designs, great looks, and thoughtful touches like an optional micro-pen slot and built-in RFID-blocking materials. I cannot emphasize enough how thin both the leather and nylon versions of these wallets are, even more front-pocket friendly than my usual Bellroy.

Another thing that, once you start carrying, you can’t believe you ever went without. Clean glasses, camera lenses, wipe away sweat, clean up a spill, or wear as a hanky when it’s hot or cold. $

I cannot emphasize enough how handy this multifaceted hanger is. $

A really solid, good-looking pocket knife is essential. I have fancier, more costly knives, but I still wind up carrying The Carter quite a lot. $$$

This thing is tiny, mighty, and kicks out a lot of light. It’s also beautiful. $$

Who doesn’t love a good fidget toy? These are super clicky, slide-y, and nice. $

- The X3 flashlight is a pocket-sized marvel that’s quickly become one of my favorites. Despite its compact size, it packs 700 lumens of output, plus a single-lumen moonlight mode and a night vision-preserving red light mode. I love its rotating head for traditional or candlestick-style carry, its magnetic bottom for sticking to cars/poles, and its built-in clip for attaching to the brim of a baseball hat. It charges quickly via wireless Qi chargers or its portable recharging case for off-grid adventures. Among my embarrassingly large collection of flashlights, this little wonder stands out as a top pick.

A dear friend gifted me one of these wallets recently, and I’ve been absolutely loving it. Very slim, lightweight, gender-neutral designs with thoughtful touches like an optional micro-pen slot and built-in RFID blocking. I cannot emphasize enough how thin both the leather and nylon versions of their wallets are— somehow even more front-pocket friendly than my usual Bellroy slim wallets.

This titanium pocket tool is so crazy handy that I've started carrying it with me wherever I go, even around the house. It has a sliding, dulled, razor blade that is perfect for opening Amazon boxes without getting tape residue allover your favorite pocket knife. It also has a built in flathead screw driver, pry bar, bottle opener, wrench grip, hex bit driver, and more. All in a tiny, TSA-friendly package.

I have had an original ReyLight Pineapple flashlight for years and always really liked it. It's bright and compact, great for holding in hand on winter star walks or when stumbling out of the camping tent in the middle of the night. When I found that Rey had come up with an even more compact version that still kicks out a lot of light, with great color rendition, I leapt at it. This little titanium light is inconceivably lightweight, fits easily in a pocket, and is also small enough to just always have in your EDC bag, purse, fanny pack, etc. I grabbed the version with the traditional Japanese seigaiha pattern on it, which is sold out on Rey's site, but still available at some resellers.

Speaking of outdoors gear, I have a bit of problem with pocket knives... I have more than is reasonable for a normal human being. So, when the smart folks at Knafs said, "Does the world really need another pocket knife?" and then decided to make one anyway. It got my attention. I've seen their earlier knives and liked their simple, affordable take, but I really am digging the 3 iteration of their Lander pocket knife that they are currently Kickstarting. Beyond the great steel, and good looking form factor, I really like the idea of their open sourcing the design so you can tweak and 3D print your own handle scales, etc. I backed it and look forward to putting it to some outdoor use this summer.

I was reminded recently of how much I love this thing... It's a very clever twist (literally?) on the classic carabiner design, letting you use it both as a carabiner and as a hook for hanging things on tables, tree branches, strollers, etc. It's one of my travel backpack essentials.

Austin-based design team, Studio Neat, have a new Kickstarter they’ve just launched last week for a box cutter. Not just any box cutter, a $95 box cutter. Now, for most sane people, this is an easy pass. However, if you’re just the right kind of crazy, you’re intrigued. It’s beautiful and uses magnets to delightful effect (like several of their other products). If I didn’t already have more pocket knives than I can reasonably justify, I’d be backing this right away.