Forgot to pick up my EDC today, now feel a bit, well... odd!

A bit of an oddly unnerving experience...

Left home this afternoon to go and spend the weekend with my GF. Picked up all my usual stuff on the way out: 2 mobile phones (personal and company), keys, wallet - the usual items that I carry with me.

About 10 mins from home I suddenly realised that my EDC light, the Akoray K-106 (which normally resides in my jeans pocket alongside the phones), was missing! Suddenly I felt a little wrong; almost like I'd forgotten to put trousers or a shirt on.

Fortunately I keep a couple of AAA backup lights and GP Recyko batteries (think cheap Eneloops) in my overnight bag (plus various others in laptop bag, coat pocket, around the house and in the car), so popped the little stainless steel Trustfire XP-EF23 in my pocket. This alleviated the feeling of something missing, but it still doesn't "feel" right! :shrug:

I think it's partly because the Trustfire is narrower and much smoother than the Akoray, plus it's tailswitch protrudes whereas the Akoray's is recessed which makes me a little paranoid that I might accidentally power it up and find the battery dead when I need it.

Have any fellow CPF'ers noticed a similar, sort of "naked" or "exposed" feeling when they forget to pick up their EDC light that normally accompanies them everywhere? Or am I just odd? :thinking:

(Off the back of this I may have to look into buying a second K-106 to keep in the car, just in case!)

It has been so long since I've been without my EDC I forgot what it's like to not have it. I haven't gone out without it in years. Sometimes when working around the house I'll put it down and then I'll pat my pocket and be like, huh, where did it go? It's like missing a limb.

Same here, although it hasn't happened in a while, and it applies not only to my light, but my knife and Kel-Tec mousegun too. When it does happen, I feel like I forgot to put underware on.

its a feeling more humiliating than losing your pants in a public place, and I have left the house without my pants before. Its called "starting the car in the boxers and getting distracted"

Illum said:

and I have left the house without my pants before.

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Illum said:

its a feeling more humiliating than losing your pants in a public place, and I have left the house without my pants before. Its called "starting the car in the boxers and getting distracted"

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Brilliant! Could have been worse, you could have picked up the wife's underwear as well

"Losing a limb" isn't far off the mark; I've only been EDCing a light for a few months but it's amazing how quickly it's reached the point where to not have the K-106 in my pocket feels wrong.

No, you are not at all odd. I too feel uneasy without at least one EDC light & knife. In addition, I usually have three lights a multi-tool and a backup knife in my go everywhere back pack.

I have been late to work because Ive left my portable 2way radio on the counter, I have no doubt the same would be true if it was a torch...but then again I carry 3 during the daytime:shakehead and cant forget then all.

its a very common feeling to me. something is just ..amiss..

tonite.. i went to spend the evening at my friends place.. had on me: sog flash 2, kershaw leek as knives.. flashlights were lmini2 mce, quark aa, miniAA, lummi raw. wallet and keys.

but i forgot to take my cellphone. and i didnt even miss it until i was leaving my friends house. realised it wasnt in my pockets and not in the living room as i left.. so i just drove back home and found it on top of my laptop blinking happily that some people had called on it.

but as i was originally leaving my house earlier in the evenin.. i got into my car.. felt odd, and jumped out and walked in to get the lmini2. (even i knew i had the other lights on me and the ones in my car..) i just couldnt leave without a bigger light on me.

1. have backup on you. (i didnt need any but i need them to be available)
2. have one in house/car as spare.
3. dont forget the edc one.

i just wish they would make a small gps tracking chip for sale that i could glue to everything i own and could just locate them all as i forget them somewhere.

Even though I keep all of my EDC stuff close together, I always pat myself down before I leave the house. I look like a drunk third base coach the way my hands and arms are moving around checking to see if I have everything I need before I leave.

Checklist
Lights
Knife
Money
Wallet
Keys
Pen
Phone
Sunglasses

Yeah. I hate that feeling, you feel off till you get it back. Constantly noticing that it's not there, constantly wondering where you lost it.

Yes I would also feel very strange without any of my EDC items.Last thing i do before leaving is make sure i have the following:-Light/knife/cell phone and at least a debit card/fuel card and some folding money,normally have a spare light somewhere with me.

jk037 said:

Brilliant! Could have been worse, you could have picked up the wife's underwear as well

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no wife yet...but if the gf was there to witness her bf hiding behind his car pumping gas I'd probably lose the gf too
I EDC a muyshondt aeon on my neck and a L4 clipped to the boxers when I sleep...so pants are expendable


jk037, out of curiosity, was your EDC lanyarded? ALWAYS lanyard your lights...if you know you'll be busy tomorrow morning have loop it around your belt tonight. I like those lanyards with a quick disconnect connector or a removable clip, I can use it around the house then connect it back on my belt when I'm done. Of course if you lose your pants alot you might want to try something else

Illum said:

... jk037, out of curiosity, was your EDC lanyarded? ALWAYS lanyard your lights...if you know you'll be busy tomorrow morning have loop it around your belt tonight. I like those lanyards with a quick disconnect connector or a removable clip, I can use it around the house then connect it back on my belt when I'm done. Of course if you lose your pants alot you might want to try something else

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At the moment it isn't, however the above advice certainly makes sense! I have a couple of the little cheap freebie lanyards that were supplied with other lights, digital cameras etc; once I'm back home and reunited with my little Akoray (which I'm 99.99% certain is on the sofa, probably wondering what it's done wrong ) I'm going to see if one of them can be made to fit into the two holes where the clip used to fit. (I removed the clip to make the light a little more pocket-friendly)

Still, on the upside, so far the Trustfire hasn't been accidentally activated and is proving to be a decent backup EDC. :thumbsup:

Yes, I too feel bad when I leave an EDC light home. Of course, the other two always suffice. I never carry only one EDC, and the one around my neck almost 24/7 (not in shower) will always be there.

Bill

I've concluded that connecting one's light to a keyring by quick-release is asking for trouble. Sooner or later, you'll remove the light from your keys and forget to put it back on. So: One light "welded" to my keyring, and another in my pocket.

Barbarian said:

Even though I keep all of my EDC stuff close together, I always pat myself down before I leave the house. I look like a drunk third base coach the way my hands and arms are moving around checking to see if I have everything I need before I leave.

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I do the exact same thing!!!! Ahh, The Pat-Down...I thought I was the was the only one. Sometimes I have to do it twice, like before I lock the door and walk out at work, since I don't have a key to get back in if I forgot something. It's a little Obsessive Compulsive, but it keeps me sane. Well, mostly...

Checklist:
wallet
Phone
Keys
Ipod touch
chapstick
pen
knife
lights

Illum said:

and a L4 clipped to the boxers when I sleep

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Ouch! Don't roll over brother, that L4 will win every time!

Ive been really lucky I haven't forgotten my lights recently. I usually have my LD10 on my belt and a LD20 in my bag. I cant wait for my mini 123 to show up that one is going in my jeans coin pocket.

My routine in the morning, in no particular order.

Pills
Home/Work Keys
Wallet
Cash
Phone
Bag
LD10

nbp said:

I do the exact same thing!!!! Ahh, The Pat-Down...I thought I was the was the only one. Sometimes I have to do it twice, like before I lock the door and walk out at work, since I don't have a key to get back in if I forgot something. It's a little Obsessive Compulsive, but it keeps me sane. Well, mostly...

Checklist:
wallet
Phone
Keys
Ipod touch
chapstick
pen
knife
lights

Ouch! Don't roll over brother, that L4 will win every time!

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Ah, I see a problem here that will probably unfold later. You are showing lights as your lowest priority on your list. Hell, I don't forget my lights even if I (oops) forget my wallet.

Bill

Haha, Bill

I wouldn't say those are necessarily listed by importance or usefulness, that's just the order they happen to be remembered in. The whole point of The Pat Down and the checklist is so that nothing does get forgotten, and it works. I can't remember the last time I was without a necessary item since I started to EDC.