Best EDC for industrial maintenance work

M

mdprice55

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Jan 21, 2016
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I'm a maintenance tech at an automotive parts manufacturer. Just wondering what your alls thoughts were for a nice sturdy knife that can hold up to hard use.
 
My votes for Medford , Strider , Hinderer or ZT .
Just my preference but there's many capable out there I just narrowed it down for you 😛
My Medford has been getting a lot of pocket time at work and at home and this thing is built like a tank!
I think my kids and there kids ... Kids will have this one unless I decide to take it with me when my time is up lol.
 
I'd be tempted to EDC a fixed blade like a BK14 or 24. Small enough for the pocket, holds an edge and it's thick enough that you could pry with it if you had to.
Izulas are great for that too.
 
Hard to answer without knowing a budget. A small fixed blade might be best actually.
 
Good suggestions !
I like barkies fixed blades but for me a fixed blade could be to intimidating to the right and wrong people lol
 
Im a union millwright, industrial maintenance is probably 70-80% of my work with the rest being new construction. The Klein knife mentioned above is not a bad idea, I carried a Klein hawkbill as a tool box knife for years and it worked for its intended tasks, which could get pretty abusive and ugly. My current EDC for work is a Spyderco Endura with G10 scales that I picked up on the exchange, and a leatherman Wave. Honestly, I probably use the wave most of all, for the pliers and serrated blade, the Endura is always kept razor sharp for when something absolutely, positively needs to be cut NOW like when a rigging tag line gets tangled or hung up on something for example. I can honestly say that ive never had to or been tempted to pry, hammer, pound on one of my work knives, i have about $5000 worth of tools that do all of those jobs and better than a knife ever could. The short answer would be, have a couple different knives on hand for different purposes. You don't need a $300 dollar folder for what we do, it might even be a detriment as u might wind up afraid to use it! Lol!
 
I have a light position now, but my last duty station in the military had me in a motor-pool a lot and a multi-tool was the best tool I had. But my favorite to carry for tough work was an XM-18 or Umnumzaan. Still, that was because I loved the knives, the multitool fulfilled every need I had.
I like the Victorinox Swisstool best.
 
Urban redneck said:
Im a union millwright, industrial maintenance is probably 70-80% of my work with the rest being new construction. The Klein knife mentioned above is not a bad idea, I carried a Klein hawkbill as a tool box knife for years and it worked for its intended tasks, which could get pretty abusive and ugly. My current EDC for work is a Spyderco Endura with G10 scales that I picked up on the exchange, and a leatherman Wave. Honestly, I probably use the wave most of all, for the pliers and serrated blade, the Endura is always kept razor sharp for when something absolutely, positively needs to be cut NOW like when a rigging tag line gets tangled or hung up on something for example. I can honestly say that ive never had to or been tempted to pry, hammer, pound on one of my work knives, i have about $5000 worth of tools that do all of those jobs and better than a knife ever could. The short answer would be, have a couple different knives on hand for different purposes. You don't need a $300 dollar folder for what we do, it might even be a detriment as u might wind up afraid to use it! Lol!
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That's right in line with the work I do. I have cable splicing knife and and I carry a Kershaw pocket knife right now. I have a ZT, but I'm afraid to use it at work. The spyderco seems like a good choice. I've been considering a pm2.
 
mdprice55 said:
That's right in line with the work I do. I have cable splicing knife and and I carry a Kershaw pocket knife right now. I have a ZT, but I'm afraid to use it at work. The spyderco seems like a good choice. I've been considering a pm2.
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I have carried my PM2 at work as well, worked well for me also. The best thing I can say is, whatever u carry, keep it as sharp as you can humanly manage. You never know when u have to cut something in a hurry, especially if you do what we do. I have a co-worker that had to cut a coat sleeve out of a conveyor belt one time. No time for anything less than light saber sharp in that case! :eek:
 
Urban redneck said:
I have carried my PM2 at work as well, worked well for me also. The best thing I can say is, whatever u carry, keep it as sharp as you can humanly manage. You never know when u have to cut something in a hurry, especially if you do what we do. I have a co-worker that had to cut a coat sleeve out of a conveyor belt one time. No time for anything less than light saber sharp in that case! :eek:
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That's a great point. I don't want even a semi sharp knife if I have to cut mine or a coworkers free from a machine.
 
I like a PM2 as well but find the tip to be a little bit on the delicate side for industrial use. One of mine broke about 2 millimeters and it was fine after a quick re-profile, but still I like a stronger tip. If you wear gloves that is a consideration too for deployment. How about a kershaw/snap-on skyline? If you want to go spyderco, I think an Endura or manix 2 will fit the bill. Cold steel American lawman with the new xhp steel is a great value at under $100. Let us know what you choose.
 
Given the type of work you're describing I'd carry a multi tool for all everyday use, and then carry a dedicated emergency knife / tool only to be used in those dire situations. Something like a Benchmade Triage would be a good starting point, IMO. Even an Ontario 1403 ASEK strap cutter / mini pry bar might be a very good idea if you can carry it on yourself comfortably.
 
I'd go with something you won't mind trashing or losing. Something you won't mind scraping off gaskets with or lending to a dummy. Recon 1 is perfect.
 
Anything Benchmade or ZT.

This way when you destroy the blade.

You send it in.
 
Personally, I have found carrying two knives works best for me. I carry one fully serrated knife (rotate an Endura and a Delica) and one heavy duty plain edge folder (I rotate around 20 or so different ones) You would be surprised how well a fully serrated knife works, especially for those emergency cuts.
 
Avoid knife shaped objects like Medford and a few others. Terrible geometry will just frustrate you to no end if you want to cut stuff.
Any number of knives will do the job, but a good old SAK is great for some of those dirty jobs you might not want to waste your "good" edge on.
 
So far in this thread I haven't seen what I expected to see.
First you need to state a budget and a size range, and then state if you have any preferences on lock type. There are probably 100 knives that we could recommend, price/size/lock could narrow it down some.
The Ontario RAT folders are frequently recommended and aren't expensive. The Spyderco Bradley Folder is also recommended as a work knife but costs a little more. Personally I have a Spyderco Manix 2 that I use as a work knife.
Depending on exactly what work you do you might find a multitool to be useful but I've never been impressed by the knife blades they have and I've not been able to leave my good folders home while carrying a multitool.
 
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