Need a way to keep your handful of small EDC essentials from banging around in your pocket?  Have a look at the Yellow Birch Outfitters PocKit EDC Pocket Organizer.  It’s basically a pocket with pockets that fits into your pocket.  But it’s much more than that!  Let’s check it out!  Gadget on!

What is it?

Yellow Birch Outfitters is a small, veteran-owned and -operated company that hand-builds all of its EDC and outdoor items in the USA.  The PocKit EDC Organizer is a pocket-sized organizer for those small but essential EDC items that many of us find useful to carry with us on a daily basis.  Its name derives from the fact that it is an organizational “kit” that can be carried in your “pocket.”  Clever!

Hardware specs

Per the Yellow Birch Outfitters site:

• 1000d Cordura Nylon
• Nylon No. 69 thread
• YKK #5 zippers and pulls
• Gutted 550 cord zipper pull silencer
• Mil-spec tape
• Dimensions – 4″ x 6″ for the Pro version, the standard version is a bit smaller

What’s in the box?

Jay Polaski, founder of Yellow Birch Outfitters, sent me two items to review: the PocKit Pro EDC Organizer – Modern Carry in Black (above left) and the PocKit EDC Organizer – Modern Carry in Coyote Brown (above right).  My initial impression?  Both of these items looked and felt very high quality.

A bit of explanation on the differences between the six (as of this writing) various PocKit EDC Organizers that Yellow Birch Outfitters offers.  There are two basic types, the PocKit Pro EDC Organizer and the PocKit EDC Organizer, the difference being that the “Pro” version has an added notebook pocket.  Further, the PocKit Pro has two variants: the Modern Carry, which has three slot pockets, and the Classic Carry which has four slot pockets.  Similarly, the PocKit also has two variants: the Modern Carry, which has two slot pockets, and the Classic Carry, which has three slot Pockets.  Got all that? 

In the image above, you can see that the PocKit Pro EDC Organizer – Modern Carry (black, top) is a bit larger than the PocKit EDC Organizer – Modern Carry (coyote brown, bottom).  More on this below.

Jay was kind enough to include a patch with the Yellow Birch Outfitters logo.  Very cool!

Design and features

Let’s dig into features, starting with the PocKit Pro – Modern Carry EDC Organizer.  As mentioned above, both of these products looked and felt very high quality, which is due in no small part to the main material from which they are built, 1000d Cordura Nylon, a material that is often used in military-grade backpacks and accessories.  It is super durable due to its water-resistant and high abrasion resistance.

The zipper encloses the main compartment, shown in the image above.  No frills, just an open space to be used to store whatever you like, want or need.  Keep in mind that the 1000d Cordura Nylon is very water-resistant (though not water-proof), so you could even slip a smaller wallet or money clip in there, among other things, if you wanted, to organize cash and cards.
All Yellow Birch Outfitters PocKit EDC Organizers utilize YKK #5 zippers (YKK are widely known to be one of, if not the gold standard of zippers) as well as gutted 550 paracord silenced zipper pulls, all of which contribute to the high-quality look and feel of these products.  For this black colored PocKit Pro, gutted Coyote Brown colored 550 paracord was used to make the zipper silencer.  The paracord has been cleverly and carefully looped through the zipper pull and tied off in a way that prevents the zipper pull from clinking against the rest of the zipper, effectively “silencing” it.  I think the Coyote Brown Paracord against the black Cordura looks sharp.

In the closeup images above, you can also see the stitching of the Nylon No. 69 thread along the zipper, which is indicative of the quality of stitching throughout the PocKit.  The zipper stitching is tight and includes three rows on each side for improved strength.   Additionally, a nice touch is the small, brown Yellow Birch Outfitters logo tag on the outside of the PocKit.  Unobtrusive, subtle branding is always better than something that is obnoxious and screams, “HEY!  Look at ME!”

The side opposite the zippered side of the PocKit Pro – Modern Carry has a lot going on—three slot pockets plus a fourth, semi-concealed notebook pocket as shown above.  All of the pockets on both of these organizers use Mil-spec tape along their opening edges, as well as flanking the zippers, which contributes to durability.

Let’s start with the notebook pocket.  To demonstrate the notebook pocket, I slid one of my softcover 3.5″ x 5.5″ Moleskine Volant Pocket notebooks down into it.  This pocket is out of the way, but allows quick access to the notebook.  This pocket would reasonably fit other notebooks of roughly 3″ x 5″ size besides the Moleskine shown here, such as a Field Notes notebook or Rite in the Rain notebook, both of which are popular notebook brands amongst EDC practitioners.

In the image above, I’ve placed not only the Moleskine Volant Pocket notebook but also, working left to right, a Sharpie Twin-Tip permanent marker, a Parker Jotter ballpoint pen, a Lumintop Tool AAA flashlight, and a Leatherman Squirt PS4 keychain-sized multitool, which are four items I find myself needing or using fairly often.  I really like how the slot pockets are angled, which allows you to place items of varying lengths into appropriate locations in order to best secure them.

Nex,t let’s check out the PocKit EDC Organizer – Modern Carry.  As mentioned above, this style is a bit smaller than the “Pro” version, but with a very similar design and identical materials.

In the photo above, you can see that the zipper has been tucked inside at both ends and sewn to the main pocket body securely.  It may seem trivial or obvious, but this does help make for a stronger, more durable product.

As with the PocKit Pro EDC Organizer – Modern Carry, the PocKit EDC Organizer – Modern Carry uses a gutted 550 Paracord zipper silencer, this one in an Army green color, which I think looks sharp against the Coyote Brown color.

And again, the YKK #5 zipper is hand-sewn to the 1000d Cordura Nylon main body using the Nylon No. 69 thread, using three rows of stitching.  Attention to detail and durability are key here.

In the image above, I’ve placed, working left to right, the Sharpie Twin-Tip permanent marker, the Parker Jotter ballpoint pen, the Lumintop Tool AAA flashlight, and the Leatherman Squirt PS4 keychain-sized multitool, each of which fit just fine into the slot pockets, with the Sharpie sticking up over top of the PocKit just a bit.  A note here on the slot pockets: While the Modern Carry version with its two slot pockets performed fine for me, I think I would have found the Classic Carry version to be a bit more useful to me considering the items that I was using with it.

As mentioned previously and as can be seen above, there is a difference in size between the PocKit Pro EDC Organizer – Modern Carry and the PocKit EDC Organizer – Modern Carry.

Although the Yellow Birch Outfitters site states that each of the PocKit models has a 4″ x 6″ footprint, I found that the Pro version was a bit larger.  I measured the PocKit Pro at approximately 6 3/8″ x 4 3/8″ when empty, while I measured the other PocKit at 5 3/4″ x 3 3/4″ when empty.  

One of the items that I placed in the large zippered pocket of the PocKit EDC Organizer – Modern Carry was my Slim Fold Soft Shell wallet, the wallet that I EDC most frequently.The Slim Fold Soft Shell wallet fit perfectly inside, and still had room to spare for a few other small items.
The other items that I put into the PocKit’s outer slot pockets are shown above.They of course added a bit to the PocKit’s thickness, as seen above.

Next let’s check out how the PocKit fit into my pockets.  I only tested them out with a pair of jeans here; I didn’t test them in any of my cargo pants (the ones I wear most often and swear by are Eddie Bauer Guide Pro Pants), since these PocKit fit into the side pockets of them with no issues.  The jeans pockets were a bit of a different story.  Above, I’ve placed the PocKit into my front jeans pocket.  Even with these particular jeans having shallow front pockets, the PocKit fit down into them with little issue.Above is a pic of how I essentially had to adjust the PocKit while sitting—I had to slide it up in the pocket a bit.  Above is a photo of the PocKit after I had just loosely slid it into a back jeans pocket, just to give an idea of how the PocKit fit into a fairly standard-sized jeans pocket.

Above, I have pushed the PocKit all the way down into my back jeans pocket, and although it fit fine, it was a bit thick to sit on.

With the PocKit EDC Organizer – Modern Carry being the slightly smaller of the two, it worked a bit better for me for daily pants pocket carry.  The PocKit Pro’s slightly larger size was enough to make it more cumbersome for pants pocket carry for me.  However, if I were to wear cargo pocket style pants each day, I’d use the “Pro” version daily for sure, especially with its additional notebook pocket.

What I like

• Durable! (1000d Cordura Nylon, YKK zippers, and 550 Paracord are all super durable)
• Thoughtfully placed, well-designed pockets
• Looks cool

What needs to be improved

• A bit expensive, but for the materials and quality, I do understand why this is.
• Maybe more color offerings?

Final thoughts

Yellow Birch Outfitters has something good going on here.  I really like both the PocKit Pro EDC Organizer – Modern Carry and the PocKit EDC Organizer – Modern Carry.  The pocket layouts are well-designed and the materials they built from are nearly bulletproof in terms of durability.  For me, the non-“Pro” version worked better for daily pants pocket carry because of it being slightly smaller.  I do like the “Pro” version’s notebook pocket, however.  While I do acknowledge that both versions of the PocKit appear to be expense for what you are getting, I actually think they are reasonable prices for items that are this well-designed and durable, that you may be able to use for a lifetime.  I liken the design, build and materials to something like GORUCK’s rucksacks—simple but useful in design, built with care in the USA from the highest quality materials.  As for myself, I can picture using both of the PocKit versions in my EDC for a long time.

Price: PocKit $39.99, PocKit Pro $49.99
Where to Buy: Yellow Birch Outfitters
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Yellow Birch Outfitters.

The post Yellow Birch Outfitters PocKit and PocKit Pro EDC Pocket Organizer review appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: EDC, Pouch

Yellow Birch Outfitters PocKit and PocKit Pro EDC Pocket Organizer review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 4, 2018 at 10:00 am.

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