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Best and most useful edc for my needs is Sak of any kind....plus kitchen and paring knives made by Victorinox or similar manufacturer.
A year and four months.
- Thread starter jackknife
- Start date
- Joined
- May 20, 2016
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- 1,358
Classic has mostly been on my keys for a dozen or so years (alternated with a LB1 I cannot find at the moment, and one of those GEC minis). The glow in the dark is strong and useful on occasion. Just got an alox classic I may swap in sometime. Father's P38 has been with me as long as I've had car keys. Some old pics:
Daedric Panther
Gold Member
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2019
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- 456
Gotta love the p38. I’ve had one stashed in my wallet for nearly a decade now and it’s sure seen use. Hell it was my only can opener for years. I remember when with my gf at the time (she’s since been promoted by means of a very expensive shiny rock on a ring) first got our own place, and were making dinner. she asked if we had a can opener. I handed her my p38 and she was very confused how a small folding piece of metal was supposed to open a can. A crank style can opener appeared the next day
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2019
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- 402
Show her Felix Immlers trick with a SAK can opener , then give her a Spartan(or similar) and tell her shes now even faster getting into the canned goodness
I'm not a big fan of keychaining knives, because you have to either disconnect to use it every time you want to, which is a pain or hold your entire key wad along with the knife when using, or let it dangle, adding lots of weight to the end which sounds like a "hold my beer" classic moment
I shirt pocket or pocket pocket classics and otherwise sized, keep them in the back when walking, but then transfer them to front pocket when sitting.
I shirt pocket or pocket pocket classics and otherwise sized, keep them in the back when walking, but then transfer them to front pocket when sitting.
Agree on the keychain thing, that's why I made the little keychain leather sheath for my classic. Can be pulled out from sheath, used, and slid back in.
My obsession was, to have things so that if I grabbed my pants that already had my wallet in the back pocket and keyring on a carabiner on a belt loop, then I had everything I'd need for the day. My friend lived in a mobile home, and one night it caught fire. It went so fast, he and his wife got out with just the clothes they grabbed as they bailed out the back door. All Fred had was what was in the pockets of his jeans. Now, I don't think my all stone home is going to be burning up anytime soon, but I like the idea of consolidated things. Wallet and keyring has my EDC stuff ready to go. All the stuff I used daily in two places that go out the door with me.
I keep all my cat claws and cositas close enough by as to swipe them during a hurry. Thought about a bugout bag and storing them there but that just makes it all the more easier to steal--- being in one place and all. I de lint my pockets because I don't want that building up but I don't worry about skin oils and fingerprints so much anymore. In the pocket and away I go. My CV case I baby more, at least until I can get a Patina on it.
I'm totally spoiled from the weight of these smaller knives. Don't think I can pocket a bigger folder anymore.
I found another use for the mighty 58mm. Driving to Home Depot I could hear water splashing around in my door. The bottom drain holes were clogged up with gunk. Easily removed with the small blade of the 58mm. A larger blade would not have fit in that hole.
Hopefully the image posts. I haven’t tried to post an image on this forum in a long time.
I found another use for the mighty 58mm. Driving to Home Depot I could hear water splashing around in my door. The bottom drain holes were clogged up with gunk. Easily removed with the small blade of the 58mm. A larger blade would not have fit in that hole.
Hopefully the image posts. I haven’t tried to post an image on this forum in a long time.
And the mighty mite 58mm does it again!
Somebody should write a book about how many different ways a SAK saved the day be being used for unusual jobs the maker never dreamed of.
That.
And the mighty mite 58mm does it again!
Somebody should write a book about how many different ways a SAK saved the day be being used for unusual jobs the maker never dreamed of.
I like to watch knife use in TV, whether it's a reality show on survival or likewise, or whether it's shows like walking dead or similar, I will start off by saying I am referring to the use of it as a tool, without regard to form or style, without regard to make or model, blade shape or length, when something needs cutting they take out the knife to use it then put it back away. They don't baby it, don't abuse it none either, they don't nitpick at the edge, don't seem to care if there is a nick in the edge, don't seem to see the blade profile veering off to the left or right. They don't check for blade play or look at the lock when the knife lock engages to see if it's safe. They take it out, use, put it away. Could very well be an issue that's unbeknownst, but don't seem to mind. Because it's just a knife, it's a tool, it's a weapon, there's no romance or fantasy assigned to it, no identity or greater purpose. Just a working blade. That simplicity to me is inspiring
Just last year I had my right knee replaced. I spent the first few months of 2023 going to therapy sessions learning to walk again on a strange feeling join, and in between, laying on the sofa watching tv with an ice bag on the knee. Watched a lot of old westerns like Gunsmoke, Have Gun, Will Travel, Wagon Train. I did notice more knife use than todays shows, and with a huge difference...if a knife was used by Marshall Dillon, Festus, or Paladin, or whoever, it was taken out to cut whatever, then brushed closed and dropped back in pocket. No fanfare, no swelling of dramatic music, no zooming in on the knife. In fact, most times you never got a look at what kind of knife it was. It was all done so anti climatic, Toal lack of drama, that the knife was just a tool being used in a quick fashion to cut someone free, cut off a plug of chew, cut whatever in a quick manor and put away. There was no flashing of the knife as a dangerous weapon or object of intimidation. Okay, one time they did, some idiot pulled a knife on Paladin after they disarmed him of his .45, then Paladin promptly shot him dead with his derringer he always carried behind is belt buckle. Maybe a lesson in there someplace.
Most of these shows were from the late 1950's, and I believe that they represented the outlook of the day, that a pocket knife was just that, a simple tool that was carried in the pocket for us now and then, and after just dropped back in pocket until next time it was needed. I grew up in that era after WW2, and a pocket knife was a ubiquitous item of everyday carry, like a ball point pen is today. Just something to use if needed.
It helps when knives were made by craftsman and tradesman, not brands, brand identity, brand culture wasn't a thing in those days. Cowboys didn't sit about a campfire asking each other about the knives on their belt, and likewise Braves in a tribe didn't pull out their knives and compare each other's and talk about pros and cons, they were tools and weapons, as was the case for thousands of years. No extra focus outside it's use was necessary. Brands like spyderco, benchmade and cold steel really changed all of that, depending on who you ask, for better or worse
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Actually it was the 1950s and later drive to focus on optimum equipment regardless of circumstance. As it were, focusing on the microphone rather than the singer.
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2023
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- 392
And then, with the internet, everything is over-analyzed and argued about...
Everything.
And now --- everything is scrutinized under microscopic focus, people fuss and fret and nit pick and worry and damn near manufacture problems that aren't really there
I didn't grow up fussin n fighting over blade play, but there you have it. People are now, and they pinch and wobble their blades until it's noticeable then say "there see! It's defective!"
I, uh ...
I bet slipjoints of old didn't have "gec quality tolerances" but it also wasn't necessary either. Today people demand a higher and more impractical level of perfection and for what? It's just a knife, stop messing with it
The hard truth of knife use, and it's a hard reality (for some) Is that, outside of food prep, and animal dressing, there really isn't a need for a knife bigger than 2.5, 2.75 inches. Its the same reason why box cutters and utility knives aren't 3.5 inches, because that length isn't needed. When I was a stock clerks, the store issued you a box cutter and make you sign a paper, essentially making sure you wont be thick headed with the sharp blade, and to make sure we understand that only the box cutters can be used, you cant bring your own knife to work. The utility knofe did everything within the scope of the position and even handled stuff not necessarily designed for it, but a longer blade was never needed.
i didn't add gardening because you really don't need a kabar a neck knife, a randall, sebenza, spyderco or whatever or any dedicated 3.5 folder really to gaden, because, you know, they do sell garden tools, and pruners work a lot better than a machete or a garden murderer 5000.
I didn't include bushcrafting because unless you live in the bush or it's been some kind of needed lifestyle to survive, most people go out their way to "survive" on purpose, so they will buy stupid thick large knives for batoning logs and carving at sticks for fire and shelter building, but as I said, unless that's needed to sustain your life and make you not dead, not really necessary, especially when you make your way into town. The knife industry will however convince you otherwise, hell, I was convinced myself for far too long, and no matter how hard I try to fight it I can't get myself to want to purchase a dedicated folder passed 2.75 inches
i didn't add gardening because you really don't need a kabar a neck knife, a randall, sebenza, spyderco or whatever or any dedicated 3.5 folder really to gaden, because, you know, they do sell garden tools, and pruners work a lot better than a machete or a garden murderer 5000.
I didn't include bushcrafting because unless you live in the bush or it's been some kind of needed lifestyle to survive, most people go out their way to "survive" on purpose, so they will buy stupid thick large knives for batoning logs and carving at sticks for fire and shelter building, but as I said, unless that's needed to sustain your life and make you not dead, not really necessary, especially when you make your way into town. The knife industry will however convince you otherwise, hell, I was convinced myself for far too long, and no matter how hard I try to fight it I can't get myself to want to purchase a dedicated folder passed 2.75 inches
Years ago I read both of General Charles Yeager's book's, with his second one, "Press On," being my favorite. It was filled with tales of his decades long obsession of fishing for the California Golden Trout. He and his friend Andy, a fellow pilot of great renown, would spend two to three weeks at a time backpacking up in the Sierra Nevada mountains outside his home in Lone Pine, California. These trips would be unsupported backpacking, with the two of them having to carry everything they would need to survive in the Sierra Nevada's, with the fish they caught being the bulk of their food. Packs of ramin noodles and oatmeal being the food that would do if they didn't catch
enough fish. A box of raisins was desert and to be put in the oatmeal.
In his book, he detailed what they carried, and by nature of being backpacking, they didn't carry much knife. In fact, it became well known that Yeagers knife that he carried was...surprise...a Victorinox Executive. This cleaned his fish catch, opened packs of ramen when the fishing didn't work out that that day, and kept his nails trimmed. He wrote that one could include a fishing knife, but it wasn't needed as his 'pocket knife' did all he needed. If living out of a backpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains, eating a limited supply of ramin noodles and oatmeal doesn't count as 'survival' I'm not sure what does. But by virtue of backpacking, they already had lightweight weather proof shelter that was way more effective than anything a "bush crafter" could make with a large knife or hatchet. Yeager talked about sitting under a water proof nylon tarp during a thunder storm, watching the lightning striking the higher peaks, while eating some raisins. Yeager and his friend covered more ground on their backpacking trips in some rugged mountain terrain, than most weekend bush crafters do, while carrying a little Swiss Army knife that would fit on a keychain.
During the war, when he was shot down over Nazi occupied France, he was on the run, and some French resistance helped him make his way to the Spanish border. On the last leg he was joined by a young guy that had been part of a American bomber crew, and as they fled up to the mountains toward the border, they came under fire from a German patrol. The kid got hit in the leg, doing great damage. Yeager hauled the kid on his shoulders and got away, but he ended up using the kids belt to make a tourniquet and he amputated what was left of the kids leg as it was just hanging on by some shreds of muscle. He used what he called his 'pen knife', So Yeager makes to Spain with the kid on his back, and the kid gets to a Spanish Hospital and Yeager gets tossed in a jail cell to be interred. They didn't search Yearger too well, he had a little issue escape knife on him that had a hacksaw blade on it, and the jail cell window had bronze bars. Yeager cuts his way out, and makes it to Portugal, and eventually back to his unit in England.
If a little Victorinox executive is good enough for a real life hero like Chuck Yeager, that says something about the bowie knife and survival knife wielding 'bushmen' out there.
enough fish. A box of raisins was desert and to be put in the oatmeal.
In his book, he detailed what they carried, and by nature of being backpacking, they didn't carry much knife. In fact, it became well known that Yeagers knife that he carried was...surprise...a Victorinox Executive. This cleaned his fish catch, opened packs of ramen when the fishing didn't work out that that day, and kept his nails trimmed. He wrote that one could include a fishing knife, but it wasn't needed as his 'pocket knife' did all he needed. If living out of a backpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains, eating a limited supply of ramin noodles and oatmeal doesn't count as 'survival' I'm not sure what does. But by virtue of backpacking, they already had lightweight weather proof shelter that was way more effective than anything a "bush crafter" could make with a large knife or hatchet. Yeager talked about sitting under a water proof nylon tarp during a thunder storm, watching the lightning striking the higher peaks, while eating some raisins. Yeager and his friend covered more ground on their backpacking trips in some rugged mountain terrain, than most weekend bush crafters do, while carrying a little Swiss Army knife that would fit on a keychain.
During the war, when he was shot down over Nazi occupied France, he was on the run, and some French resistance helped him make his way to the Spanish border. On the last leg he was joined by a young guy that had been part of a American bomber crew, and as they fled up to the mountains toward the border, they came under fire from a German patrol. The kid got hit in the leg, doing great damage. Yeager hauled the kid on his shoulders and got away, but he ended up using the kids belt to make a tourniquet and he amputated what was left of the kids leg as it was just hanging on by some shreds of muscle. He used what he called his 'pen knife', So Yeager makes to Spain with the kid on his back, and the kid gets to a Spanish Hospital and Yeager gets tossed in a jail cell to be interred. They didn't search Yearger too well, he had a little issue escape knife on him that had a hacksaw blade on it, and the jail cell window had bronze bars. Yeager cuts his way out, and makes it to Portugal, and eventually back to his unit in England.
If a little Victorinox executive is good enough for a real life hero like Chuck Yeager, that says something about the bowie knife and survival knife wielding 'bushmen' out there.
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Not sure about cold steel but thats some genuine Solid proof right there. If you're not familiar, cold steel knives had 'solid proof' videos of their wares handling thick headed stunts to show off the products strength, some of the 'proof' was later scrutinized but anyhow, as I mentioned somewhere ago I grew up backpacking with my dad, but we never did fishing backpacking trips, we always had the food we were going to eat. As not bringing enough only to rely on fishing for the food is a gamble, especially if the tiny mouths aren't eating. Fast forward, when I got old enough that he didn't care to control what I bought with my money, I would for a time carry a kabar, and while I can't remember everything I used it on, I can most likely say it was all recreational, never once did I "need" the length, strength or fortitude of the kabar. Either the time before this or the time after I had some shorter fixed blade from gerber, same deal, it got some use, same as before, mostly recreational, I remember throwing it at a trunk because I was hell bent on knowing how to throw a knife and land hits every time, I never really learned
. I'm not sure what little knife granny gatewood had in her sack, but if nothing her and Mr. Yeager got along fine with something small, then the need for something bigger Is more of a fool's errand, ultimatelyGreat book! Think Ill read it again. If I recall, he had some buddies fly over their camp and drop off crates of champagne and glasses. Love it!