When it comes to everyday carry, the folding knife has long been the undisputed king — a tool of utility, tradition, and readiness. But as EDC culture matures, many seasoned carriers will tell you: a knife alone isn't a complete setup. If you’re looking to round out your EDC for practicality, durability, and preparedness, it’s time to embrace the trifecta — knife, flashlight, and pry bar.

While the knife often takes center stage, its supporting cast plays a crucial role. Here's why a pocket flashlight and a compact pry bar should be part of your daily rotation — and how they elevate your carry from functional to formidable.

Light the way

You may be telling yourself you have a light on your phone, why would you need a flashlight. Here are a few reasons why a flashlight — particularly a tactical (90 degree beam angle) — is far superior.

Handsfree use: Tactical lights can be clipped to a shirt or backpack for handsfree tasks. (You can also hold a standard flashlight in your mouth). The design also allows you to stand the light on a surface and focus the beam more easily than a phone.

Brightness & Reliability: A quality EDC flashlight can easily outperform your phone’s weak LED in brightness, beam control, and battery life. During emergency power-outages, it is also better to drain a light battery than your potential lifeline (phone). One thing to consider is whether to get a flashlight that uses standard batteries or rechargeable — standard batteries are readily available during emergency situations, but you’ll need to replace them periodically during normal usage. One neat feature of this CountyComm light (and many higher end lights) is “moon mode,” which at 5 lumens lasts up to 65 hours. We’ve used this function to cast an ambient light during outages.

Readiness: When traveling on a plane, I’d toss this into the top pocket of my bag, so when I’m digging around for shit in the dark, it’s readily available. The small form factor makes it easy to grip with my pinky/ring-finger and use both hands to manipulate the zippers. Try doing that with your big ass phone.

The Pry Bar: Small Tool, Big Impact

Next up is the pocket pry bar, a humble hero of modern EDC. It may not have the instant appeal of a knife or flashlight, but once you carry one, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

Think of it as a sacrificial tool — the thing you reach for when you’re tempted to use your knife tip for a job it was never designed to do.

The best way I can describe the usefulness to a layman, is to use it where you would otherwise use your finger or fingernail. Here are some use-cases I’ve experienced:

Many high end pry bars are made of sturdy materials such as titanium — although I recommend the harder tool steels (used to cut other metals) — since they’re tougher/harder and you can really go HAM on them. Beyond the stated, pry bars are also flat head screw drivers, nail pullers, and can openers. I also added a lanyard/bead to mine to increase leverage when needed and allow for quicker draws from the pocket. It’s the “I’ll handle that” tool — the kind that lives quietly in your pocket until the job calls for muscle, leverage, or finesse.

When you carry a knife, flashlight, and pry bar, you're not just checking boxes. You're creating a well-rounded system:

Each tool complements the others — and none are redundant. EDC isn't about preparing for the apocalypse. It's about being just a little more prepared, every single day. It's about the satisfaction of solving problems with what's already in your pocket — no panic, no stress, just readiness.

This trifecta doesn't add bulk — it adds capability.

Tip of the week: The pry bar is also a slim and discrete impact tool (kubaton) if required. But knowing how and where to strike is important. Watch this primer on kubaton self-defense. One thing I’ll add to the video, is to use your thumb to cap the end of the impact tool (kubaton, pry bar, pen) so it doesn’t push out of your hand when striking.

-Kubaton 101

Hozo - Neoblade Ultrasonic Cutter

This one is for the hobbyists out there. Hozo created an ultrasonic cutter that can rapidly and accurately cut a host of material — cardboard, leather, light plastics etc. Where were you when I was in architecture school?! Check it!

Sanctum Brand - Hard Bar

Although I think titanium is too soft for hard-use as a pry bar, there’s still a light use case for them. Sanctum really thought outside of the box with this design — knife and pry all incorporated into one tool. What really sets them apart is the tool sizes, which is closer to regular hand tools, instead of small (sometimes awkward) sizes of multi-tools. Check it!

Although I love well used tools, this is exactly why you need a pry bar if you’re carrying a knife.

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