Koch Tools Co x Carryology Amulet EDC Tool

Our first ever multi-tool for Essentials. In partnership with Pennsylvania’s EDC legend, Koch Tools Co. 

A daily companion for your pocket, pack, pouch, or keychain. Custom designed for the Carryology community, crafted from Grade 5 titanium, laser engraved, and made in the USA by an expert in his craft. 

Introducing the Koch Tools Co x Carryology Amulet EDC Tool. 

< PRE-ORDER #2 CLOSED >

(once sold out, the shop page will switch to the batch #2 pre-order)

Koch the King of EDC Pocket Tools

We’ve been longtime fans of Justin Koch, his brand Koch Tools Co, and his incredible US-made products for several years now. 

Launched in 2014, Koch has won over an incredibly loyal fanbase of carriers keen to carry better. Producing small-batch creations that push the needle in EDC – and deftly walk that fine line between art and utility. 

Justin simply states he makes: “Pocket tools to assist with daily routines or emergencies.” His pieces range from knives to EDC tools to beads and more.

You can check out his Instagram and store and dive deep into his stable of awesomeness.

Essentially Best-in-Class

In late 2022, Brandon Vulaj, our Senior Editor, shot off a message to Justin. We’d been in a heavy research phase and hell-bent on finding the perfect multi-tool to join our Essentials ranks.  

Luckily for us (and for you), Justin was equally a fan of Carryology and was down for kicking off development of something special for our Essentials range. 

Essentials are ‘best in class’ pieces of kit, hand-picked by our team, and then given our signature Carryology upgrade. So what would be our ‘platform’ product to work from?

Koch Tools' Kap Lifter, of course. A piece Justin had exclusively designed for “Craft Brew Junkies”. But we took elements from it and his Fragment to form our own play for the community: making its width narrower, with less surface area, while extending its reach and adding a longer, wider pry tip with a chiseled edge.

It would be a scraper, box opener, prybar, nail puller, and bottle opener. Win!

Trusty Ti

First up, 3D CAD modeling to explore features and overall design direction. After a few weeks of tweaks and revisions, the first of many prototypes was born from a 3D printer (3D printed protos are awesome for proof of concept to dial in the proportions, scale, and functionality). 

And next, if you know us, we moved to Titanium. 

For an everyday carry tool we required super durability, corrosion resistance, lightweightness, and well… epic looks and handfeel. Say it with me now… #AllTitaniumEverything! 

Super generally speaking, there are two types of titanium commonly used: Grade 2 titanium which is very strong and awesome and then Grade 5 titanium which is even stronger and more awesome. Due to this increased awesomeness, we opted for Grade 5. 

Then it was time to fire up the water cutter.

Titanium meet water. Believe it or not, water (at high pressure) is the single sharpest cutting blade tool known to man. Via water jet cutting, it makes short work out of slicing out tool blanks from solid titanium sheet stock. Plus, the blade on water never gets dull. Pretty cool, right? Rinse and repeat. Then dry off.

CNC Milling

After we had the titanium blanks cut, it was time to use a CNC mill for the features and details. This gives precision accuracy as well as consistency for all the products, ensuring a quality fit and finish and a readiness for it to be put through the ringer by its end user (that’d be you guys!).

From here, we went through approximately 12 different rounds of physical prototypes, testing each and every one along the process to ensure these would work not just well… but really well.

Bead Blasting

To give the metal a smooth but durable finish that doesn’t hide away the raw sexiness of titanium, we gave the tool a ceramic bead media blasting treatment called Zirblast. Sometimes it’s cool to throw a coating on top of titanium, but exposing it really is the move. 

Lasers

What’s the next move? Lasers, of course. We opted to add on our signature Auxikko pattern, applied onto the titanium surface with Justin’s in-house fiber laser. And of course with the Koch Tools Co logo and Carryology logo, respectively.

Bead and Paracord, a Perfect Combo

Finally, a couple of finishing touch points. First, we added a 550 nylon paracord loop to allow you to hang it from a pocket. 

And second, Justin had one more trick up his sleeve. He custom 3D CAD modeled a unique bead just for this project, made from a 3D printed UV resin in-house. It feels great in hand and works perfectly to keep your tool handy!

An Amulet for Everyday

After months of hard work from Justin and a final production sample approval from our team… it was finished. But there was one last thing… it needed a name. We loved the name “Amulet”. Coming from the Latin word “amuletum”. Pliny’s Natural History describes an amulet as “an object that protects a person from trouble”. So whether you use this to bring you luck to help stay out of trouble (or get into trouble), we hope it’s a loyal companion for your pocket and your EDC along your travels.

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Koch Tools Co x Carryology Amulet EDC Tool.

< ORDER NOW >

Note, this is an Essential and will be restocked. So if you miss out and would like to pre-order, watch out for our socials for a pre-order link for batch #3. 

Carry on!