Although animation has been around for much longer than the cinematic image in the form of the shadow play or the flip book, among other things, the medium really took off in the U.S. in the 1920s with the style that’s now known colloquially as inkblot — or rubber hose animation. Precursors to the likes of Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbara, early inkblot stars like Felix the Cat and Mickey Mouse are still recognizable icons to this day and have even seen a resurgence stylistically in recent years. This EDC pocket dump is inspired by these black and white cartoon stars from the ‘20s and ‘30s.
Fenix CL09 Lantern
Sometimes a lantern is a better option than a direction-focused flashlight. Unfortunately, most lanterns are too big to fit in our pockets. That’s not a problem for this CL09 model from Fenix, which spans just 3” long and emits 200 lumens over 30ft from its sizable dome. Housed in an aircraft-grade aluminum shell, the wand has a keyring on the end for easy attachment and a magnetic tail for mounting to metal surfaces.
CW&T Pen Type-C
Outside-the-box writing too brand CW&T had the brilliant idea to make a pen that can double as a bookmark so that you don’t have to look for two separate items next time you need to jot something down really quickly. As thin as the ink cartridge housed inside, the Pen Type-C is made of grade 5 titanium and uses stainless steel to protect the refill. Pair this fun-to-use 4-inch contraption with any EDC notebook.
Roka Cambridge
Specializing in maintaining a sense of style with its activity-focused eyewear, Roka has reinvented the wheel with its vintage-inspired Cambridge shades. Thanks to its patented GEKO tech, the 22-gram sunglasses are designed to stick to your head and face no matter what you’re doing without any annoying extra pieces of material that jab your cranium in the wrong places. The fingerprint-resistant lenses are optimized for color contrast.
Tissot Heritage Memphis Gent
Ignited by Italian architect Ettore Sottsass, the 1980s gave birth to a very specific movement called the Memphis design style, which combined art deco with pop art in a way that plays with the relationship between different geometric shapes. A few years back, Tissot reissued its Memphis quartz model from 1988 in different colorways. Limited to just 3,000 pieces, this black and white version features a quartz movement and a black leather strap.
