small knives: is it just me? am i compensating?

If there were no goofy restrictions on knives, i would almost always carry something heavy duty in the 3.5 -4 inch range in conjunction with a small swiss army classic.
 
I definitely find myself buying and carrying smaller knives. I try to carry something appropriate for daily use; most of my cutting is done in an office environment. I don't need, don't want, a large folder when I'm at work. The largest knife I'm liable to carry during the work week is a small Sebenza or, less frequently, a BM 940. Much of the time, though, I carry a Spyderco mini Dyad. It's small, but it works just fine for most things.

Of course, weekends are different. If I'm going hiking somewhere, I'll be carrying a SERE 2000 or a BM 710 or something else along those lines.
 
i cant stop myself bouncing around,
last year was a small-knives-year,
but now i`m looking for bigger ones again.
:D

BTW: my "small" knives are the 4inchers,
anything under 4" i call "very small"!
:cool: :rolleyes:
 
Ryan, great image of a big tanto to open up the hole in a Starbucks lid! :D I get the same thing when I am covertly opening my mail in my office with a big blade and one of my people come in- the eyes get big. So, I really carry and use the small Sebbie, and a nice light Dozier Trapper. I am beginning to buy bigger blades for my outdoor pastimes, but nothing like the Bussie behemoths some guys talk about.

Banger, your Dad sounds like mine- what great memories! I learned that a blade over 4" is overkill for anything. After 40 years of camping I am beginning to learn about using a knife as an axe, but I just wouldn't lug either one along when I am trimming my pack weight by a few grams.

As I fondle my Murray Carter Camp Knife (7"), and await my Strider custom MT, I guess I like em all! But I use 3.5 to 4.5 all the time.

Self defense? I learned in high school (Detroit '68) that if you rely on a knife for self defense, the other bastid may have brought his gun! Your best weapon is between your ears.
 
When I was in law enforcement I usually carried at least two knives, one small one for every day use and the other for those bad times. Never had to use the latter, thank God.

Now I am still working for the same state agency, just in a non-law enforcement capacity. I still hang around the same people. Strange how the absence of a uniform makes people think knives are bigger than they are. My boss, though the light weight 3" A. G. Russel was large. The other day my district manager said, "what a big knife", in reference to my Sypderco Chinese Lum.

Go figure, I am now in the land of the sheeple. Just three years and seven months to go and I get parolled.
 
I too am a big fan of smaller knives. Carry laws are the main reason. I think at the Blade show this year in Atlanta I will try and pick up a Small Sebenza and a Cuda EDC. Just love these two knives. I can't wait!
 
I always have a small folder on me (Camillus EDC, Kershaw Double Cross, or Robeson Wahrncliffe half-whittler). The problem is that I always have a larger folder on me (large Sebenza or BM 710) also.

The small folder can do 95% of everything I need to cut, and do it well. It can do the other 5% fairly well. So why do I bother to carry the large folder? I haven't got a clue. I guess I just dig knives or something. :D
 
I actually switched to smaller knives about four or five years ago. I mostly carry SAK's, Spyderco Salsa/Navigator or a small sebenza. I find that they are perfect for opening boxes and doing detail work. The only time that I need a larger knife is when I go hunting or hiking and then I usually carry a fixed blade.
 
I have always been someone to go for the dramatic...so every so often I walk around town with a large blade strapped to my side...if it's not concealed, it's perfectly legal to carry.
The knives I'm always sure to have with me at all times are my Victorinox swiss army knife on my keychain, and my Leatherman wave on my belt since I'm in construction.
I sometimes wonder why I insist on carrying both of them until I find myself in a funny situation....probably the same reason why I carry a roll of duct tape and some wore coathangers in my back pack :)
 
When I'm in the city working its always been a small knife. My Spyderco Mouse, Dragonfly, or at the largest something like my small sebenza (which actually gets carried the most). At home on the range, I'm into fixed blades, but here too, I've noticed that smaller works just fine.

As I perform various cutting chores around the farm, I keep asking myself how small could I go and still do this job conveniently? The answer is, pretty small, maybe 2"-3" is the most I usually need. The exception is in food prep. There I've noticed that even a 3" blade is a little small for convenience much of the time. 5" works well here, but too obvious on my belt when I wander off into town and forget to change knives. I've discovered that 4" seems to be about right. I can do all the cooking I usually do with much larger kitchen knives. Its small enough to work with easily for all those other chores that could just as well be done with a 2" blade, and most folks don't freak out if I happen to have it on my belt when I go to the store or something (this is (or was) a farming town after all)...
 
I still tend to carry my large Sebenza almost all the time, but I also find myself carrying my Cuda EDC and, more recently, my Pat Crawford Mini-Falcon. With a 3" re-curved blade and a very comfortable,adequate-sized handle, the Mini-Falcon is pretty much a "do-everything" knife.
 
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