From needing to tighten the small screws on your son’s glasses to fixing your girlfriend’s flat tire, you never know what can happen in the blink of an eye.
That’s why it’s important to assess what EDC items are most important to have on hand.
Fortunately, we’ve done that for you with our picks for the best everyday carry under $100. We’ve curated a mix of essentials, including convenient tools to have at your disposal and storage solutions for cash and cards.
There are also premium picks closer to that $100 mark, and more affordable options as well.
Here’s Our Selection of The Best EDC Gear Under $100
Bellroy Note Sleeve Wallet
Now that we have our smartphones to keep pictures of loved ones on, you really only need a thin and sleek wallet to store your cash and personal items.
A traditional design with surprising storage, the Note Sleeve holds cards, bills and coins in a trim, professional billfold.
This professional-looking billfold stores your flat, full-sized notes in its sleeve while keeping coins in an adjacent pocket.
There’s a surprising amount of space available here, considering its 102 by 90mm size. It holds up to 11 of your physical cards, with both quick access slots for frequently-used cards and a pull tab for those utilized less often.
Whether you go for one of the nine premium vegetable-tanned leather colorways or the lightweight and durable woven ones, these wallets are environmentally-certified, RFID-blocking, and are backed by a three-year warranty.
Classic Rogue Industries Leather Wallet
The sub-50 Classic Rogue wallet, made out of 100% top grain leather, offers a compelling value proposition.
Its shark-fin shape allows it to sink invisibly into your front pocket, even if you’ve filled it to capacity. This not only helps keep it secure from theft, but ensures your pant silhouette remains neat and uninterrupted.
There’s a divider for full-sized bank notes and three card slots that hold up to six cards along with an ID pocket.
These thread-bound notebooks are durable, open flat, and contain acid-free, fine grain paper that’s available in blank, ruled, and dot-grid varieties with rounded corners.
For the outdoorsy set, the Field Notes Expedition is an excellent option with waterproof paper!
Olight SR1 Baton II Flashlight
Finger-sized and outrageously bright, the Olight SR1 Baton II is our pick for the best EDC flashlight.
Finger-size flashlight with 1,000-lumen output and 145-meter beam distance. The second-generation TIR optic lens pushes the beam to a new level with unmatched clarity and a balanced hot spot.
Its beam illuminates up to 476 feet, with the power of 1,000 lumens. This is thanks to the TIR optic lens that balances its hot spot and maximizes the beam’s intensity.
Plus, its dual-direction pocket clip can be attached to backpacks or belts, or even to your hat brim to light the way. The texturized and ergonomic body also provides an extra tight grip.
You never know when you’ll need a flashlight. You don’t really think about them until you have car trouble at night, or you hear critters running around the attic.
Still, they’re essential everyday tools to have in your arsenal, and it’s rare to find one as conveniently small and as bright as this one is.
Caran d’Ache Fountain Pen 849
The rounded lines and effective point of the Caran d’Ache provide stark and smooth writing, regardless of your penmanship skills, making it our choice for best EDC pen.
The eye-catching, energising colours draw attention to the light yet robust aluminium body of the 849 Fountain Pen.
It’s these same functional qualities that give it style as well. This gorgeous, black, metallic fountain pen comes in attention-grabbing colors, and has a hexagonal, light yet sturdy, aluminum body, with a brilliant black writing block.
With a click-in cap, and a stainless steel nib and clip, it can be easily toted in your suit jacket or pants pocket. It also comes with one Caran d’Ache Goliath M Blue ink cartridge.
Vanguard Softcover Notebook
Need a notebook to jot down minutes from the latest meeting at work (since sometimes using your phone to take notes makes you look like you aren’t paying attention)?
Or do you need a place to journal your random thoughts that won’t result in a scroll-rabbit hole?
Picture a warrior and a scholar running at each other full-speed. They collide—then they’re gone in a puff of smoke. The only thing left is a notebook steaming on the hard ground. This is that notebook.
This softcover notebook is convenient and comes in multiple colors and sizes.
Choose from Yellowgold, Fig Wine, Blue Slate, Light Gray, or our favorite, Charcoal. The three sizes available are Pocket, which is 3.5 by five inches and 48 pages, Flagship, which is 5.4 by 7.7 inches and 72 pages, and Plus, which is seven by 10 inches and 104 pages.
Zales Men’s Engravable Money Clip
Not really a wallet type of guy? No problem! A perennial classic, money clips are convenient, practical, and a minimalist way to hold cash and cards.
Simply classic, this money clip is crafted in an attractive gun metal-tone and can be engraved with a single line, up to five characters in length, along the center of the design.
This dapper clip from Zales is constructed with a handsome gunmetal tone, which is immaculately polished giving it an authoritative but classy aesthetic.
You can also get it engraved. The clip body offers room for one centrally-located line of five characters.
Peak Design Pouch
Sometimes you need a place to throw all your items together rather than carrying all of them in different pockets or tossing them around your car or truck. After all, why should ladies have a monopoly on convenient carrying cases?
Whether storing cables, everyday gear, or travel essentials, Tech Pouch offers unrivaled organization and ease of access.
The Peak Design Pouch can store travel essentials, charging cables, and of course your EDC. With such ease of access, origami-style pockets, and elastic accessory loops for pens, knives, and batteries, this pouch offers maximum organization.
The weatherproof, recycled nylon canvas bag also has a clamshell opening and exterior handles with a cable pass-through for charging devices.
CIVIVI Chevalier Button Lock Knife
Our pick for the best knife under $100 is the Chevalier from CIVIVI.
The button lock is designed with a spring under the button to provide just the right amount of tension so that there is enough resistance to avoid accidental opening, while still offering the ideal amount of pressure to release the lock.
It’s equipped with a flat-grind 14C28N blade, a commonly used steel among good kitchen knives.
It’s exceedingly corrosion resistant, making it useful under any weather conditions and on most materials, whether you’re opening the mail, cutting loose threads off of your
The button lock and smooth-action flipper opener adds a level of security, making the Chevalier also one of the best folding knives under $100 on the market.
Adding form to function, the cuibourtia wooden handle and stonewashed blade are an elegant combination, adding some class to your everyday carry.
Victorinox Swiss Champ Multi Tool
A multi-tool is an extraordinarily modern take on the classic Swiss Army Knife, so it’s no surprise Victorinox makes an impressive and versatile model.
The ultimate companion to strip wire, scale fish or saw metal for your indoor and outdoor life
With a whopping 33 functions, including scissors, a magnifying glass, and a pair of pliers, the Swiss Champ is the ultimate pocket knife.
You can literally do anything from domestic jobs like opening a bottle of vino and clipping a hangnail, to stripping wires and whittling a hiking stick.
It even comes with a fish scaler, which is useful in the kitchen or during a camping trip.
And at a small size of 3.6 inches long, and weighing in at 6.5 ounces, this tool is compact as well as convenient.
Gerber Shark Belly Plain Edge
This highly-practical, American-made design features a sheepsfoot blade, which offers specificity in slicing and minimizes accidental piercings. Also, the glass-filled nylon handle is strong and boasts a textured grip.
This take on the everyday carry pocket knife has serious bite. American made, dependable, and highly practical, a proven design is enhanced with a modern sheepsfoot blade w/ a full fine edge, textured Sharkskin Grip™, and a scratch-resistant pocket clip.
With a scratch-resistant pocket clip, the 2.3 ounce, 7.75 inch-long knife can be carried easily, comfortably, and safely.
This modern drop point knife is our more reasonably-priced pick, though it still has all the style and substance of the higher-priced alternatives. It’s the best budget knife, and our pick for the best EDC knife under $50.
EDC FAQs
What are the most important EDC items?
It depends on your lifestyle, but generally you’ll want to keep a small knife or multi-tool, a flashlight, and a durable pen, at minimum.
What size knife is best for EDC?
A blade length of about 3.5 inches and an overall weight of around 4.5 ounces is a good balance of practicality and portability.
Which Items Do You Need Most?
There are literally thousands of items that modern guys can choose from when it comes to essential everyday carrying items, these are prime examples of some of the most common choices.
In the end, it really comes down to your lifestyle and personality determining your need for particular pieces over others.
What’s in your EDC collection and which of these items are you going to go for? DM us on Instagram to let us know or if you have any questions about everyday carry!
