Why do you carry a pocket knife?

You guys make me feel positively inadequate. Big knife collection (don't suppose that means we just like things with sharp edges do you?). I only have a dozen knives of various sorts. 4 or 5 Bucks (Hunter, Folding Hunter, several pocket styles), Kershaw, Spyderco, Case (including a Marine survival knife given me by a retired Marine) and Gerber. Well maybe I'll catch up.... I'm young (not quite 70). I do find myself lusting after a Benchmade though.

On a serious note, I spent 20 years in Uncle Sam's Army and didn't carry anything but an issue TL29. Since retirement I've had several pocket folders and honestly don't know how you get along with a sharp edge. I've never needed one for defense, but there are times a sharp edge will solve the problem and nothing else will do as well.

Keep up the good conversation. I keep seeing things to add to wish list.

Because when I don't carry one, I always need it.

craig87c said:

Because when I don't carry one, I always need it.

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+1!

I have been using a small pocket peanut old timer knife I had since I can remember. I always had knives in my car or in my hunting back pack, inside my tackle box. But just recently a couple of years back got into collecting them. I dont buy $200 knives but I do spend $30-$90 on a knife to use as my EDC. Now I can't leave the house with out my pocket knife. I use it at work opening boxes, cutting plastic wrap, cutting zip ties, cutting tape, opening a bag of chips, sharpening pencils. Its a tool every man should have once you start using it you will see why is it needed. And in some cases if there is a need you can defend yourself. For hunting small fixed blade is a must also when fishing. As long as I can remember my grandpa and some of my uncles always carried one. For me is a hobbie now I rotate between knives everyday as part of my accesories. My wife asks "why do you want so many knives" and I always answer "why do you need so many freakin pairs of shoes".

For cutting seat belts in an emergency...and other things.

I keep this one in my little pocket in my jeans and use it almost every day.



I keep this one in my left pocket and hope I never have to use it.

From above; "...In General carbon sharpens faster, and holds a better edge however it will rust. Stainless is stainless..."

Um, everything in that sentence fragment is a fallacy. The end part fo the sentence where the author states that carbon is his favorite, is a personal opinion and absolutely allowed. Just be aware that opinion may flavor his view of the knives. Every bit the rest of Montroseman's advice is gold! Just don't buy into carbon is best; make your own mind up, it just may be for you.

This is taking the statement for carbon steel as meaning the traditional 1095 carbon steel.

The other view is that of alloys. Alloys cross a very wide spectrum and very few of the alloys are genuinely 'stainless'. High carbon steels are those frequently used for knives and all major knife steels are high carbon; usually meaning up to but less than 1% carbon. In the AISI steel designation system, 10xx is carbon steel. Any other steels
are alloy steels. For example, the 50xx series are chromium steels. In the SAE designation system, steels with letter designations (e.g., W-2, A-2) are tool steels. The last numbers in the name of a steel are fairly close to the steel's carbon content. So 1095 is approx. .95% carbon. 52100 is approx. 1.0% carbon. 5160 is approx. 60% carbon.

Some of the rust resistant steels are alloys specifically designed to resist damage and dulling; as such they tend to also be difficult to sharpen. Rust resistant describes those steels commonly called stainless by users and PR companies.

I've carried and used only carbon steels up to about the mid 1970s; when I purchased my first 'Rostfrei' (rustfree) Puma knife. Now I may buy a knife that is lower on the scale of rust resistance, but no more easily rusting plain carbon steels. I've been slowly upgrading (key word description there) my plane blades to the new A-2 and O-1 alloy steels; please note that O-1 rusts very easily compared to many rust resistant steels and perhaps as easily as 1095.

What makes different steels difficult to sharpen, besides the alloy, is often the temper of the steel. Kbuzbee, Retiredguns and Oldschoolyoungin who've recently posted look to have a broad understanding of the modern steels and most likely can advise on choices for personal use. Where Kbuzbee says "...I think CPM-M4 hardened to 64-65 runs rings around it..." is a perfect example of temper. CPM-M4 hardened to 59-60 or 61-62 will be much easier to sharpen than the 64-65 he mentions. Carbon steel hardened to that level will probably shatter on it's first fall or hard usage.

My most recent knife is an AG Russell whittler in BG-42 steel. It's little, easily sharpened and stays sharp... and is a pretty enough knofe that no-one has freaked out yet that I have a knife. Please note; that I do not take knives anywhere near where people make it a job or requirement to freak out over knives, usually absurdly. It is a terrific whittling knife too.

My main carry knife for years was/is a Gerber "Silver Knight" with MOP handles. It's steel is a basic rust resistant alloy similar to Case and German knives. Holds an edge for work and easily resharpened. It easily cut free graphs/charts from a large "40" plotter with far less tearout than the disposable razor knife (better edge for paper with no flexing). I still throw it in my pocket for some activities.

My list of recommendations for daily carry is fickle:
Custom knives
Canal Street (Canal Street made knives for other companies too)
Queen
Case
USA made Schrades (most all are discontinued and current Schrades are made in wherever)
And several others; but I'm not a fan of the current Gerbers, Benchmade and Kershaw. That said, I have an excellent Kershaw filet knife (cheap too); but I just don't like the design and construction so call it a personal opinion. Shun was purchased a couple of years ago by Kershaw.

First I suggest you decide what kind of knife. If a knife is designed for general purpose, then it may not be usuable for your purposes. You will, however use any knife generally. The only major suggestion I have is that if you will occasionally push hard on your knife tip, get a locking blade. Please note, that I've had liner lock blades start closing on me because the knife flexed. The Gerber 'Silver Knight' I took to work for decades is a locking blade with a drop point. This combination performed almost any task I needed a knife for at work and never sent me hunting up first aid, even when I pushed the blade point through heavy cardboard and tyvek wrappings.

Then, decide on the steel you'd like. With some companies, for example Case and Puma, they have one steel across the board, but their steels are darn good choices and can be trusted for consistent quality and performance. Some other companies, change steels depending on costs, availability and their particular manufacturing processes. I do not consider the latter as trustworthy because you'll be hard pressed to be confidant which steel you bought. A number of companies will happily tell you both the steel and temper used.

Then go for the company/maker. When choosing a knife check over the knife carefully if you plan to spend some cash.
A) Check out the blade. Forging may be how knives are made, but the majority of commercial knives are stamped forged and one can often see evidence of the stamp process on the blade. Be wary of blades whose sharpened edges show stamping evidence, bends, angles, cupping. The only other part of the blade that requires finishing is where the blade rubs against surfaces. Polished is nice, but not necessary.

B) Check out how the rest of the knife fits together. Open gaps, sand paper or sloppy feel to blade opening/closing are not good signs. If you tend to drop the knife a lot, make sure the knife scales on the handle are bordered with drop resistant material; especially with brittle scale materials like abalone or MOP. Work the knife a few times checking for how the knife finishes snapping open and closed (walk) and how the knife feels/sounds when opening and closing it (talk).

As mentioned before, how you intend to carry the knife makes a difference. I don't like clips nor do I like long unwieldy lumps of metal in dress pants. I have noticed that nice leather belt pockets can hold a knife without giving it away to everyone. These are the ones that cover the knife completely and are similar to similar pouches holding flashlights, phones, tazers and whatnot. The leather pockets also keep the knife available for things like cutting seat belts (ever try fishing a pocket knife out of dress pants or wranglers while in a seat belt?).

I carry mine for work.

DE_Dude said:

Do you really find yourself using it that often? I keep a pair of scissors in my car's glovebox for opening packages when out and about, but I don't find myself in other situations where I really need a pocketknife.

But they look really cool, and threads with awesome pictures of pocket knives make me want one even if I don't really need one. Go ahead, B&B, fuel my AD!!!

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I rarely carry one.

Usually two or three is the norm.

TedK said:

Then, decide on the steel you'd like. With some companies, for example Case and Puma, they have one steel across the board, but their steels are darn good choices and can be trusted for consistent quality and performance. Some other companies, change steels depending on costs, availability and their particular manufacturing processes. I do not consider the latter as trustworthy because you'll be hard pressed to be confidant which steel you bought. A number of companies will happily tell you both the steel and temper used.

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Two in particular are pretty good at this. Spyderco and Benchmade. Both have a wide variety of steel offerings including BG42, M4, 0-1, ZDP189, S90V etc. Typically I prefer Spyderco's heat treat but they are both solid brands.

Ken

Perhaps the picture is a bit tiny, but the picture has the knives I'll stick in a pocket or belt on depending on purpose. The Puma White Hunter is the first stainless knife I purchased and I used it a light backpacking axe and camp knife for years til the handle loosened. It was worked far harder than knives should be. The Puma Jagdnicker at the other end of the knives is my primary camp and woods knife now.

I should be embarrassed that these knives are the knives near to my desk. I did not wander even as far as my kitchen to collect the knives there.

Knives are tools to me and are little separated from chisels and axes. Even blades designed for general use are a range of specific designs for that hodgepodge of purposes. As tools tend to collect in the areas they are used most so to are knives. So I didn't bother to raid my fishing, hunting gear nor my wood working and garden equipment. We all keep things with sharp edges where they are most useful; those who fail to keep sharp edges near all too often find themselves struggling to make do with scissors, keys, fingernails, screwdrivers, teeth and whatnot.

Spyderco and Benchmade look to have excellent steels. Outside of a few models that are not inexpensive I'm just not thrilled with their designs. Please understand that this is purely my opinion, but I just don't buy into paramilitary designs without purpose nor particularly the designs for easy open. A caveat, the master purpose fixed blades proven by armed forces use I think are elegant knives. I may not own any yet, but I do admire their minimalist weight and bulk but maximist all purpose use. Folding knives are not fixed blades and I've mentioned that linerlocks have slipped on me before. Perhaps I'm not giving the new linerlocks enough chance; but I don't see why I should worry when I can buy a true locking knife.

Having a humpback blade or one with thumbstuds is not to my liking. In the picture the Puma 'Prince', Buck '501 Prince' and the Gerber 'Silver Knight' are all folding lock blades and I can open them all with one hand, easily. I've opened the Buck 'Prince' and Gerber 'Silver Knight' by one hand for over thirty years; I owned a Puma 'Warden' identical to the Prince but with wood scales since about 1970 and until that knife vanished a few years ago I also opened it one handed. I never cut myself either. All it takes is learning the knife and practicing. I will say that many times when I pulled even that pretty MOP Gerber and opened it one handed from a pocket that many office co-workers shared sidelong looks.


Pretty much everything in this post of mine is opinion and should be viewed as such. (Remember free advice and opinion is usually worth less than their cost) Opinions are personal in nature and should stay as such. As mentioned before, let your purpose guide your choice of a knife and buy the best steel you can. The brand/maker almost becomes a non issue so long as you get the steel and blade you want. I have had far too many blisters from uncomfortable knives to dissuade anyone from buying their own blister makers.

Uh, yeah that's one of them zebra striped Dovo En Vogue No. 105 stainless straight edges in the lineup. It's on my desk for additional stropping. I bought it this past Autumn and it's on the desk for it's seventh stropping, (Stropping belt is under the machete on the right side of the picture). The straight edge just reached shaveable status after it's sixth stropping. Quite pleasant shaving now too, I'm just looking to make it a little smoother. The Dovo straight edge has a wonderful balance, rinses easily, wipes dry and no worry about living near the sink.

I've carried a pocket knife since I was 10 or so. When I was young I was working in and around our barn and needed it for day to day chores. I've used a Kershaw Leek since I was about 11 as I like and prefer a spring assist for my main chore knife. Sure I'm lazy it's just what I like. I recently added a really nice micharta handled EDC blade in stainless to try out for fixed blade carry but haven't made a sheath for it yet. I carry a big Buck 110 on the belt when I'm out and I have a jacket on or don't want to be digging in my pockets (working on something, hands greasy, etc). Have an uncanny ability to lose a clipped knife or bend the clip climbing in and out of machinery so I got a belt knife.

Can definitely see where one might not feel the need but once you do you feel naked without it. Same reason I always have a pen light in my pocket and a better light not far.

I always carry a Kershaw chive. Excellent small knife for any occasion. You can open and close it with one hand.

And another favorite of mine is the Kershaw Blackout. Also can be opened with one hand. It's so sharp it'll shave the hair right off you arm.

Knife collections or any other colletion are for people who don't use them. It's just hubris.

dmalcolm said:

You guys make me feel positively inadequate. Big knife collection (don't suppose that means we just like things with sharp edges do you?). I only have a dozen knives of various sorts. 4 or 5 Bucks (Hunter, Folding Hunter, several pocket styles), Kershaw, Spyderco, Case (including a Marine survival knife given me by a retired Marine) and Gerber. Well maybe I'll catch up.... I'm young (not quite 70). I do find myself lusting after a Benchmade though.

On a serious note, I spent 20 years in Uncle Sam's Army and didn't carry anything but an issue TL29. Since retirement I've had several pocket folders and honestly don't know how you get along with a sharp edge. I've never needed one for defense, but there are times a sharp edge will solve the problem and nothing else will do as well.

Keep up the good conversation. I keep seeing things to add to wish list.

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mongoose said:

Knife collections or any other colletion are for people who don't use them. It's just hubris.

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Maybe it depends on the "collection" and the "collector"? I have quite a few, truth be told. But none of them sit all proper in display cases. All were purchased to be used. But the simple fact is I like some better than others. Far too many sit unused. I know I should sell some but I like that they are there if I want them.

Perhaps a large number does not equal a collection?

Or maybe I'm simply in denial?

Regardless, I'm happy I own the knives I do, and I used some of them every day.

Ken

I've answered before but today I used mine:
1) To open a 40 Kg bag of safety salt to put some on my driveway and walk so nobody would slip on the ice
2) To cut off a piece of P160 shaving soap to refill the container I use for shaving
3) To open a bag of birdseed because it is winter and I like feeding the birds and enjoy watching them

i grew up on a farm and there is countless uses 4 a knife. my father taught me 2 always have a knife, nails (2 or 3), and some twine in my pockets. mom hated this on laundry day. u will find countless uses everyday for one or more of these without hunting for or going to fetch these items. after starting work as an underground miner i kept the knife and nails tradition alive with great need for both every shift (now retired). every since i carried some kind of blade (usually more than one) on my person every day.

mongoose said:

Knife collections or any other colletion are for people who don't use them. It's just hubris.

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Hubris - fancy word for bragging. Okay fair enough. However I do have a collection, I do use a large percentage - some on a daily basis, and I enjoy having them. 'Nuff said.

No worries, I was actually thinking you had no reason to feel inadequate.

dmalcolm said:

Hubris - fancy word for bragging. Okay fair enough. However I do have a collection, I do use a large percentage - some on a daily basis, and I enjoy having them. 'Nuff said.

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