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Last week, I was out on my gravel bike and had a “mechanical.” That’s a euphemism for something fell apart, broke, or otherwise a mistake was made back in the garage that may or may not have involved being too lazy to grab a torque wrench. I had two different multi-tools in my saddle bag. One is the flip-out pocket knife style that I found to be too bulky to fit in the space where this particular screw lives. The other multi-tool is a swappable-bit type that was a gift and looks like something that was ordered out of Skymall, three drinks into a flight. I could just reach the screw, but I could only get a quarter turn and every time I repositioned the tool, the bit fell out. I ran out of profanity as I realized that in most situations, pocket-tools are less than ideal. It’s inspired me to round up some of the best, actually useful, EDC tool deals at Amazon.
That same day that I fell down the YouTube rabbit hole of the Ever Day Carry(EDC) fetish world. I was a fairly early adopter of multitools. I got my first Leatherman as a gift in my teens. As with most things, EDC has gone well beyond the original vision; maybe for good reason. Like me, most people who have ever needed tools to get out of bad situations, have found that a little fiddly glorified pocket knife makes things worse. The solution is to carry actual tools, just in the smallest form factor possible. Ironically, these people have discovered bike tools, which the vast majority of cyclists seem to ignore.
I am in the process of outfitting my bike kit to better handle these situations. The next time I have a “mechanical” on the road, I can fix it without suffering through crap tools. I am starting with a small ratchet set. This Topeak Ratchet Rocket Lite NTX+ set for $73.96, which also has a tiny adjustable torque tool, is perfect. All of it will fit in a bar bag. But, like the EDC YouTubers, I may start carrying some real tools all the time, not just on the bike. There’s a lot of great things about having children. One of them is realizing how nice it is to carry a dad-bag. Indian Jones carries a bag, all of us can too. To fit the archeologist/adventurer aesthetic I’m looking at a Sechunk Vintage Military Leather Canvas Bag. It’s selling for $40.99 and will look better the more beat-up it gets.
I included a few links to stubby ratchets and some small pliers for those just starting out. If you’re like me, you already have tons of redundant sockets rolling around from other kits. So as long as everything uses the same drive size, you’re golden.
More EDC Tool Deals at Amazon
Topeak Ratchet Stick,Black for $46.14
- Topeak Ratchet Rocket Lite NTX+, Ratchet Tool and Bits for $73.96
- Wera Zyklop Pocket Set 1, Ratchet Set, 13 Pieces for $99.40
Wera Kraftform Kompakt Zyklop Mini, Set of 27 for $89.90
- UNICHE Stepless Ratchet Mini Tool, Reversible, Include 7 Hex bits, Extension for $32.99
- GEARWRENCH 14 Pc. 12 Point Stubby Ratcheting SAE/Metric Combination Wrench Set for $60.88
- ARES 2-Piece 72-Tooth Stubby Ratchet Set, 1/4-Inch & 3/8-Inch Drive for $18.00
- Knipex Mini Pliers Set for $74.56
Sechunk Vintage Military Leather Canvas Bag for $40.99
- Jack&Chris – EDC Pouch for Multitools for $5.99
- Jaald Leather Vintage Messenger Shoulder Bag for $40.50
