Why the Compact is the Best Swiss Army Knife for EDC

If you haven’t found Jon Gadget on Youtube, you need to go subscribe now. Jon is probably the best exemplar of what I like to think of as “European EDC.” The heavy restrictions on knives and the easy travel from country to country has resulted in an entirely different perspective on EDC. Jon’s perspective is heavily informed by both these things—the knives are all slip joints (mostly SAKs) and a lot of his recommendations are for light, travel-friendly items organized into easily packable and swappable kits. All of this is a fascinating example of insular evolution or “island syndrome.” The effect of this evolution is a distinctly different approach to knives. Jon LOVES SAKs and really, who doesn’t? But he regularly uses them as his primary carry. When we’d pick up a Sebenza, he’d be a criminal and so his options are different. I often tell people in my professional life: rules pick winners (or…the converse, rules pick losers). In the case of European EDC, the saying is slightly…