EDC keychains

Here’s my take on an EDC keychain. I never leave home without it. I’ve been carrying it for well over a year now and it hasn’t failed me yet. If you’re interested in upgrading your keychain, a great place to start is Popular Videos - Keychain & Everyday carry.

Since there are so many possibilities for how to custom-assemble a keychain, you’ll see endless debates about which items suck and which are the best. You could spend $20-$30 USD, or go completely crazy and drop more than several hundred dollars if you prefer one-off custom pieces and/or exotic materials (e.g. titanium, unobtainum, etc).

Keyring

The Lucky-Line is a small, light, inexpensive, and indestructible key ring. It requires a figure-8 motion to open and close which makes it highly unlikely that it will ever open unintentionally.

Lucky Line - Twisty Key Ring

Suspension clip

A suspension clip serves to prevent the attached items from sitting in a big clump at the bottom of your pocket. The P7 is super light and low-profile.

TEC Accessories: Multi Purpose Suspension Clip - P7

Attachment clips

Your could go cheap by just using split rings, but these TEC Python clips make it real easy to disengage a particular item from the key ring.

TEC Accessories: Python Clip - Stainless Steel Keychain Carabiner with Gate Guard

The obligatory bottle opener

Sure, you could use your teeth to open a bottle of beer, but the little Brewzer works great and also serves an a nice pry-bar/scrapper.

Leatherman - Brewzer Stainless Steel, Keychain Bottle Opener

Storage

There are many keychain-worthy USB flash drives to chose from.

Transcend 32GB JetFlash 710 USB 3.0 Flash Drive

Lumens

Having a flashlight on my keychain is an absolute must. I use it all the time. You can’t go wrong with this super-inexpensive Nitecore tube. It’s more than bright enough for up-close tasks, it weights next to nothing, and its Lithium-Ion internal battery is micro-USB rechargeable.

Nitecore TUBE (clear) 45 lumen USB rechargeable LED keychain light

Blade

Another essential item IMHO. Victorinox has a great selection of small and inexpensive pocket knives. But you’ll find MANY other choices and price-points. Chose one that has the accessories you find useful. I like the Minichamp II because it has a small set of awesome tweezers, a telescoping ball-point pen, and also a pair of scissors.

Victorinox Swiss Army MiniChamp II Pocket Knife

Another great choice is the Leatherman Micra.

A few more pics, this time with the Leatherman Micra: