Some EDC Gems Under $20 #1

People often scoff at the idea of finding decent EDC gear for less than $20, but it can be done. In this post, I'd like to share some of my EDC gems that I've been able to find for less than $20. These are all things that are still in my collection that have surpassed my expectations for their inexpensive prices. Normally in the sub-$20 range, you're going to find a lot more misses than hits. I'd like to do more of these in the future if I'm able to find more awesome gems. Without further ado, let's get into the EDC gems that are less than $20.

So on this list, I've found 3 pens, 1 knife, 3 flashlights, and 3 multitools. I personally haven't found many pleasantly surprising knives for less than $20. That's why there's only one knife. I've found that you've really got to fork over about $25 to $30 for solid knives. If you'd like to hear my more in-depth thoughts of any of these things, check out my Gear Thoughts tab to see if I've done a review. I believe I've got almost all of these things reviewed there in some way or another.

Knife wise, the Kershaw Cinder is one of the most impressive knives you can try that's less than $10. You can buy them new for about $8! For that price, I think they're great. You're not getting the best steel, though what would you expect for the price. The ergos are surprisingly comfortable. It'd be a nice keychain or backup knife. For the money, I was blown away.

Moving onto multitools, some gems are the Victorinox Classic, Leatherman Squirt P4, and the Gerber Shard. There's lots of one-piece multitool (OPMT) options for less than $20, but the Shard has remained my favorite over the years. For $5, you can't beat it. It's great quality and is a nice piece of gear to pry/scrape with if you don't want to mess up your nicer knives. I don't like Gerber as a company all that much, but this is one of their best products for sure. If you want a plier-based multitool, the Leatherman Squirt P4 is another tool that's remained my favorite over the years. I've tried the newer PS4 but dislike the finish/some of the tool choices. The P4 has long since been discontinued, yet you can always find them secondhand on eBay for less than $20. Check out CampingSurvival as well, they always have tons of multitools for cheap, since they get them in those TSA lot sales. The P4 has the perfect toolset for a smaller keychain multitool. It has an awl, which is a tool you don't see on multitools all that often. It's so handy though. The P4 is an awesome tool overall. The Victorinox Classic is easily my most used multitool. I use the scissors on it more than anything. It's that perfect bare bones multitool for your keys. It's great to give to people that aren't into EDC, since the majority of people have usually heard of Victorinox. Victorinox's scissors are a thousand times better than Leatherman's scissors. Sometimes it's nicer to have scissors over a knife blade for more detailed cutting. You can generally find them around $10. They shouldn't run you more than $15 unless you get one of the special patterns. The Classic is pretty much my favorite multitool of all time. That's how much I love it. I don't use pliers that often, so it usually always serves my needs just fine.

My favorite budget pens are the Zebra 301s. Not that it matters, but the two in this photo are the G-301 (the gel version) and F-301 (the regular fine ballpoint version). They look way classier than your cheap Bic pens and write extremely well. I prefer these over the 701 from Zebra, as the clip completely snapped off of mine. They normally don't run more than $5 a piece. Most of the time you can find multi packs for less than $10. I saw a 4 pack on Amazon with a black, red, blue, and green one for about $9. Two G-301s are about $5 on Amazon at the moment. Those are great deals for these great pens. As far as fountain pens go, the best beginner fountain pen in my opinion is the Pilot Metropolitan. They come in all sorts of varieties but won't run you more than $20. Typically they're around $15 I believe. They write smoothly and can show you how a fountain pen writes without dropping a crazy amount of money on a nicer one. I've also tried the more expensive Lamy Safari, another popular beginner fountain pen, and it was terrible compared to this Metropolitan. If you're wanting to try out a fountain pen, the Pilot Metropolitan is the way to go.

Lastly, let's get to the flashlights. All three lights here: the Olight i3E, Thrunite T01, and Nitecore Tube are around $10. Why pay so much for a flashlight when any of these can serve you quite well. The Olight and Thrunite take 1 AAA battery, while the Nitecore is USB rechargable. The Tube is only 45 lumens, so it's not as bright as the Olight (90 lumen max) or the Thrunite (125 lumens). I probably should remove the Thrunite from this list, because they have been discontinued. I don't think you can find them on Amazon anymore. I'm not sure if any other places still have some in stock. They used to go for less than $10, which is a crazy good deal for a 125 lumen light. That's more than bright enough for basic EDC tasks. All three would be great keychain lights too, as they're all on the smaller side. You can't go wrong with any of them. Again, check out my individual posts on them to here more of my thoughts.

So there we go. If you've got $20 to spare, these are some things that I think are worth the price. It's really impressive to see what companies can do in this price range. It's not so much that it breaks the bank, so it's okay if you find something that you're not necessarily in love with. All these things are personal favorites of mine. You can't really go wrong with any of them. I'd say my top favorites would have to be the Victorinox Classic, Olight i3E, and Nitecore Tube. They get the most use out of all these things. That's about it! I hope you enjoyed seeing some inexpensive EDC gems. Thanks for looking!