I'm sorry, but I don't know what EDC stands for.
However, I have both lengths of the ASP.
I worked for 16 years as a Prison Guard/Transport Officer. Often I would be assigned "hospital duty" where we would have to guard a prisoner who was being kept over night or for several nights at our local hospital. Several issues were at play here, they were as follows:
1. We were not authorized to carry any impact weapons.
2. We only had a firearm if the prisoner was level 4 security or higher. If the prisoner was level 4 or higher, 2 officers were required. One with a sidearm and one without. Only the Officer without the sidearm was allowed to get within arms reach of the prisoner. (This was to prevent the prisoner from gaining access to the firearm).
3.If the prisoner was not level 4 or higher, and there was only one prisoner in the hospital at that time, only one officer (unarmed except for O.C. Pepper Spray) was there to provide security.
4.In a hospital full of elderly and sick people, the discharge of O.C. Spray has a real chance of hurting/killing innocents.
My biggest fear was always that a prisoner would grab a nurse and a pair of scissors (all nurses, it seemed, carried them) or a phlebotomist (the technician who draws blood very early every morning) and her needle. The prisoners were not restrained to the bed due to fire safety regulations and often did not have proper restraints do to the cast, or what ever other medical aparatus they were wearing.
Our alarm "RED" button was not in the patients rooms (so the prisoners could not get access to them) but out in the hall.
My fear was that the prisoner would make a grab for a female nurse or technician and her sharp implement. In that case I would have to try to get between them or go push the RED button. In such a situation, the first 5 seconds is the most critical. If the prisoner was able to get a sharp implement near the throat of the female, I may not be able to save her by myself (Yes, many Level 2 and 3 prisoners are murders and rapists serving life. The security level (1-5) is NOT determined by the crime committed by the individual, but instead by how the inmate behaves while INSIDE the prison system. The security levels are used to help manage the prisoners. So if any prisoner behaves himself for a long enough time, he will be placed at a level 2).
If I step out of the room to summon help, we would have an automatic hostage situation.
This seemed like a "No-Win" situation to me.
For this reason I purchased my 16 inch asp. (I much prefer to use the 21 inch, it is what I carry under my jacket when out of my home. I think it is the best edged weapon defense you can get in an arms length situation. I reserve my SP-101 .357 for when I have room to use it without getting cut).
The 16 incher was easy to hide and quick to draw. I kept it retained by velcro straps on the inside of my jacket sleeve. When in a prisoners room with a civilian, I always stand near the prisoners hands. (Due to the different procedures that the medical personnel performed, it was usually not practical to stand between the civilian and the prisoner) I always had my hands clasped together, with the fingertips of my right hand almost touching my 16 inch asp. My plan was always the same: If the prisoner made a sudden grab for the civilian's hands or head/neck area, I would whip out that asp and break his (the prisoners) arm with as many rapid strikes as was needed using as much strength as I could muster, until his arm was no longer a threat to the civilian.
It would have cost me my job, but it would have (I'm sure) saved the civilian from being taken hostage.
I thank our God that I never had to pull the asp out. But I was thankful every night (I worked the Hospitol alot!) that I had it with me.
So my advice to you is to get both. In cool weather the 21 incher is wonderfuly easy to conceal and the extra reach and heft is comforting to have. But when the weather gets warm.....you have to be able to conceal it. That is where the 16 incher really will be appreciated.
Just $.02 (actually $.0047 after inflation) from an ex-prison guard/Transportation Officer.
). Also, (if you're not LEO) check your local laws.