Best New EDC Gear and Tech: Nine Picks Worth a Look

Introduction

Everyday carry gear keeps getting smarter, and this roundup covers nine recent releases that each solve a real problem: a phone stand that fits in your wallet, a locking titanium belt clip, a utility knife that swaps blades in seconds, a transparent ratchet screwdriver, two portable fans for hot weather, a flat tech pouch, and a headlamp that punches far above its size. Here is what each one does well, and what to weigh up before buying.

Geometrical Pocket Tripod Pro V2

The Pocket Tripod Pro V2 from Geometrical is a credit-card sized phone holder, and it is genuinely the size of a credit card: 11 g and 2.4 mm thick, about the same as a couple of embossed cards. It comes with a range of inserts so it works with pretty much any phone thickness, with or without a case, plus a sizing template that doubles as an 18% gray card for setting manual white balance. The main body is a polymer with a carbon fiber internal element for rigidity, and the inserts use soft TPU contact points to prevent scratches.

Fold one half through 180 degrees, click both sides up, drop in your phone, and you can pick any angle for selfies, video, or watching content on the go. There are two quarter-inch tripod sockets for mounting, and the stand separates into two halves for maximum stability when viewing landscape content, even with the largest phones. It cost $30 on Kickstarter and is now available for around $40. Not cheap for something this small, but with a lifetime warranty and daily usefulness, it earns its place in an EDC wallet pouch.

Ant Design Titanium Belt Clip V2

If you like carrying keys or keyring tools securely on your belt, the new titanium belt clip from Ant Design deserves a look. It weighs just 14 g, and this version two adds a locking action so it will not detach until you want it to. Slide the release slider up and the keyring holder pivots open, letting the clip slide onto a belt or a backpack strap up to an inch and a half wide and half an inch thick. It clicks back and locks securely.

It also attaches to a pocket, where the locking mechanism provides extra grip on fabric, and it can even fasten zipper pulls on a backpack to deter an opportunistic thief. It is made in Spain with precise engineering and built to last. Pricing varies, but at the time of review it was around £32 or $49, with a tritium glow tube available for an extra £5 or $7. Titanium is never cheap, but the build quality matches the material.

Nextool Explorer E20

Nextool is well known for practical, affordable multi-tools, and the Explorer E20 8-in-1 EDC knife continues that pattern with some genuinely unique features. The stainless steel main frame incorporates a pry bar nail puller, a small Phillips and flathead screwdriver, and a bottle opener. The knife itself uses standard utility blades that are available pretty much everywhere, safely locked away when not in use.

The slider offers two blade positions: one exposing just the point for shallow depth-control cutting, ideal for opening packages, and a full extension for general use. The just-over-100 mm handle gives plenty of controlled grip while keeping fingers away from the blade. The standout feature is a self-loading blade system that changes blades in an instant, no tools required and no blade handling mid-job. Up to three blades load into a magazine-style cartridge under a spring-loaded hatch on the back, and the rear also carries a 70 mm ruler edge and a pocket clip. It ships with three blades and launched on Kickstarter at just under $30, which makes it great value.

LTT Frosty Ratchet Screwdriver

The Frosty is a transparent version of the Linus Tech Tips ratchet screwdriver, and the see-through treatment is harder to pull off than it looks. Transparent injection molding can easily produce visual flaws and artifacts as the material cools, and transparent plastics tend to yellow with age or turn brittle. This one avoids all of that, using a Tritan plastic that appears even tougher than the material in the original version.

Beyond the looks, it keeps everything that made the OG great: the same ergonomics, the same precision ratchet mechanism, a hollow shaft, and a pop-out handle that holds, rather than hides, the 12 included short 1/4-inch bits. At $90 Canadian, roughly $50 or £70, it costs the same as the original. If you want a great ratchet screwdriver that also happens to look excellent, this is an easy recommendation.

Dive Blues iTurbo and Jet Force

Hot weather put handheld fans on the radar as a genuine EDC item, and the Dive Blues iTurbo is a compact option that looks like a mini jet engine. The design means no exposed blades to catch on fingers or clothing, and it keeps everything nicely compact. This version has a 4,000 mAh battery charged via USB-C, quoted for up to 12 hours of use, presumably at the lowest of the five fan levels. Level one does a solid job of cooling from a couple of feet away, and level five delivers an impressive blast of air.

Build quality is genuinely good in matte finished ABS plastic, available in several colors, and at around £20 or dollars it is well priced. There is a neck cord for hands-free cooling and a constant LED display for fan power and battery level. The drawback is noise: a loud, high-pitched whine that grows with power level, impossible to ignore indoors or out. At higher settings it can be downright annoying.

The larger Jet Force shares the same 4,000 mAh battery capacity and a similar price, with even more power and a broader spread of air. Its noise frequency is lower, which is a good thing, but it is also quite a bit louder, so it is not ideal around people either at higher power levels. The compact, rounded iTurbo remains the easier one to live with.

Jisulife FA13 Air Fan

A different design changed the comparison entirely. The Jisulife FA13 Air Fan is more compact and lighter than the jet-style fans, and it is cheaper too, costing around £14 and roughly $10 in the US. It unfolds to reveal a two-bladed exposed fan with soft flexible blades, and its 2,000 mAh battery, half the capacity, quotes double the runtime at 24 hours, presumably at the lowest of three levels. It charges via USB-C, though there is no LED display. Quality still feels good.

It works on the desk with the handle folded back and in hand, with no neck-cord option. It is not as powerful as the jet-style fans, but airflow is more than sufficient even on the lowest setting, with a wider spread of air compared to their narrow directional jet. The exposed blades stop if interfered with, and while not pleasant to touch at full speed, no real damage is done; if something might get caught in the blades, the jet style is safer. What sets this one apart is how quiet it is: a much lower-pitched sound that is far more tolerable. Lower price, sufficient airflow, neater design, faster charging, and no jet-engine noise make it the preferred choice of the three.

Modern Day Flat Tech Pouch

This tech pouch from German company Modern Day is flat, and that makes a lot of sense if you want to slide it into a pack alongside a laptop or tablet, where an extra slip pocket often lives. It is made from ballistic nylon with a water-repellent coating and YKK AquaGuard zippers. The pouch unzips fully so you can see all the contents at a glance: two mesh zip pockets with a bit of volume, a stretchy slip pocket opposite, and a few elasticated loops at the top.

Loaded with cables, a Bluetooth dongle, a USB-A anti-juice-jacking connector, a 10k power bank, a 65W travel charger, and a 3-in-1 charging puck, everything fits, stays visible, and remains accessible. The trick is choosing what goes where: put something bulky in the stretchy pocket opposite bulky zip-pocket items and it stops being flat, which is the whole point. Even with a bulky UK three-pin mains plug inside it still closes flat. At just 130 g and well priced at £26 or about $35 for the orange X-Pac version, it ships worldwide and is a well-made pick for anyone who appreciates the flat form factor.

Imalent HT70

The HT70 from Imalent, a maker known for powerful flashlights, ticks just about every headlamp box. Maximum turbo output is 3,500 lumens, among the brightest available for a self-contained battery, with a quoted FL1 range of 349 m. There are five main light levels, from 6 lumens for close illumination lasting a quoted 350 hours, almost ten days and nights from the single replaceable 21700 5,000 mAh lithium-ion battery, to a practical 150 lumens good for 17 hours. Add a double red light for preserving night vision plus a flashing warning mode, and a double high-CRI auxiliary white light that makes a softer, warmer room or camp light.

Operation is easy and intuitive: a three-position slide switch selects white, main, or red, and a side push button turns it on, steps through levels with press-and-hold, and reaches turbo and flashing modes with a double press. Each light memorizes its last setting. The anodized aluminium body and headband weigh just under 200 g, manageable with the included top strap, and the headband has a silicone strip inside for comfort and grip. Fast USB-C charging, a strobe function, battery indicator, lockout mode, magnetic base, mineral glass lens, IP66 rating, a light ratchet pivot of almost 180 degrees, a removable light with included belt clip, and a zip case round it out. At around £70, it is hard to know what more you could want, which is why it makes a compelling go-to heavy-duty headlamp.

Conclusion

Across these nine picks, the theme is smart refinement: a wallet-sized phone stand with a lifetime warranty, a locking titanium clip, a knife that reloads blades in seconds, a see-through screwdriver with the same price as the original, a quieter portable fan that beats the louder jet-style rivals, a pouch built around a genuinely flat profile, and a headlamp that covers every practical need. Match each one to your own carry habits and budget, and any of them can earn a lasting spot in your everyday setup.