Two and a half months same carry.

J

jackknife

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Oct 2, 2004
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In the middle of last August we packed up for our trip out to California to stay with the daughter and her family in the worst of the Texas summer. Came back in early September when it was starting to cool off. For the trip I packed along my faithful SAK classic, and the old standby, my Wenger SI. The Wenger and I go back a very long way, and it's been a default setting for me for decades now. Kind of an extension of my old Boy Scout knife dad gave me when I was 12, and the Demo knife I carried the first several years of my army time.

It's funny, but the old boy scout pattern has been in the background most of my life since I was a kid in the scouts. My knife nut phase saw me go through a sodbuster stage, very short lived. The stockman stage lasted a lot longer, followed by the peanut stage. But as the peanut stage faded, the old scout knife pattern, that was always hovering in the background stashed in a pack, or in the glove box of my car, sort of came back out. Kind of like a weed that you cut off, and a month later it's back growing again.

For the two and a half months that have passed since we went to California, the classic and SI have been on me as my sole EDC. My Christy knife has not been carried once, nor my old peanut. Just the Wenger SI and classic. So far, they've done everything I needed from cutting a sandwich in half to mounting new shelves in the shop building out back, to fixing my better half's blow drier. It's felt kind of weird and liberating to carry them. Kind of like stepping back in time to when Mr. Van, our scout master, showed us how to do so much with the basic scout knife. It's kind of too bad I had to go through the knife nut stage with way too many knives, to find out that the basic stuff I had back then was as good, if not better, than everything I tried since then.
 
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Same thing here. My aunt gave me a Victorinox back in the late 70’s. I carried it all through high school, a year long back packing trip through Europe, college, marriage and kids. I put it up after my last son was born. It held too many good memories. Started carrying my old Case trapper, Spyderco, Benchmade, etc. About 20 years ago, my wife bought me an Alox Farmer for my birthday. I carried it on and off. But around 5 years or so ago, I started noticing that I was carrying my Farmer more and more. I ended up getting a Pioneer. I have that knife or one of my other Swiss Army Knives with me every single day! I use them constantly. Not necessarily the blade, but all the other tools. I don’t think I could manage without one.
 
Agree. The basic Scout knife and/or a SAK are difficult to beat.
I've had both on me for years.
I prefer the Scout/Demo knive's can opener over the SAK's. My SAK's have toothpick, scissor and a multi purpose corkcrew, most have a wood saw, a secondary cutting blade, and (weak gripping) tweezers.
Of course that hasn't stopped me from carrying a stockman, Moose, canoe, Barlow, Buck 110/Old Timer 6OT/7OT, or other knife, or a specialized knife such as a Marlin Spike, when needed, with it.

I'm sure the SAK or Scout/Demo knife could have handled every non-machette knife task I've had over the years, including field dressing, peeling, and butchering game critters, and cleaning fish. (I rarely filet fish.)

The last few years the110/6OT/7OT have not been on my belt, (more or less "replaced" by a LM Charge+ TTi, which does not see the use my SAK's get.🙄).
Habit still puts (forces?) at least one dedicated cutter slipjoint or friction folder in my pocket.

I doubt I'll ever get to carrying only/just one SAK (which one??? 😳😳😳) or a triplet of SAK's (includes Mini Champ on the keyring) or a single Scout/Camp knife, though.
I got too many other knives I enjoy carrying and using.
 
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I too have been carrying my alox SAK no.7 as my main knife since I got it in May of last year. I have carried a few others along with it but now it's the only one that I carry the most. The tools and saw are just to handy not to have on oneself. I used it just the other day to trim some tree limbs from the scout camera pathway so we can see good pics. The small pruning blade is so useful. I use it way more than I would use the can opener it replaces on this knife. I also have a Pioneer x that gets carried if I'm going to need scissors that day.
 
My literally everyday edc has been a pioneer in the pocket for 11 years now. A little over 6 with a black one and going on 5 with a 2018 berry red one. There's also been an alox classic on the car keys (or an alox rambler I made on another set of keys) for that same time period, mainly for grooming. I agree with your sentiments about the scout pattern.

Every so often I'll add a OHO folder if I think I might need it, but that's very seldom.
 
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Some years back, I tried an alox Pioneer. Indeed, I NEVER felt under-knifed or under-prepared. I sold it off, though, just for reasons of personal preference. I'm a stickler for comfort in pocket, and the Pioneer was just a little too big for me. I also missed having a secondary pen blade, tweezers and toothpick.

With all that said, however, to your basic point: the venerable scout pattern. I'm right there with you! I'd be just fine toting, say, a Victorinox Recruit on a day-in, day-out basis.

Last, random thought: I'd bet dollars to donuts that, since it was introduced, the demo/scout knife has seen more use by guys in the military than any other type of knife. Even in war times.
 
Yep.

I've carried an old beat up SOG Powerlock on my belt for nearly 2 decades. Along with a few different pocket knives. The last few years it's been a Russlock. Lately also with a PM3LW as the neighborhood is changing.

I know what I have, where it is and what it's capable of.

I also own an old U.S.A. Paratool but it's kinda sentimental.
 
I went most of 40 years with the same carry - a SAK Spartan that was gifted to me from a groom to his a wedding party. Up until the pandamndemic hit, I carried it to work every day, and then wherever I went on the weekend. It was all I had for most of that time, other than a fixed blade Estwing knife and hatchet set, which wouldn’t have sat too well strapped on a belt in an office. Anyway, I’d use and abuse the Spartan until it wouldn’t cut any more, then run it over a whetstone until it could cut again. I knew nothing about blade steel, very little about sharpening, and not much more about care and maintenance. It’s still in good shape, though showing the wear of those many years sharing a pocket with change and keys. Other than a slightly reground small blade that I snapped the tip off pulling monster staples out of a stack of paper, it’s still perfectly serviceable. It’s now getting a well deserved rest, thanks to working from home for almost four years … and a whole bunch of alternatives I’ve recently collected, making up for lost time. So I’ve kinda gone the exact opposite direction of J jackknife . 😁
 
Danny Linguini said:
Estwing knife and hatchet
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I've looked all over for an American Estwing leather handled hatchet and can't find one locally. Menards, 2 Lowes, a Home Depot and several True Value's.

I'm going to have to order it online.

No wonder American manufacturers have a hard time selling product.
 
Juergen23 said:
J jackknife still with the Classic and SI?
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Pretty much. The SI comes and goes, depending on what I think I'm gonna be doing that day. But the trusty little classic is aways on my keyring. Those two SAK's are my carry these days.
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Edit to add; No, that's not exactly true. The old SI is my question mark knife. Its for when I may not be sure of what I'll be doing that day, but unless I'm going woods walking/hiking/traveling/going to a city function where there's street food to deal with, it still gets left home. If I'm just knocking around Georgetown, to include walks in one of the parks around, most times my daily EDC is still the classic, with my Leatherman squirt on the keyring carabiner. The squirt gets carried for the small pliers, which an arthritic fumble fingered senior citizen needs when dealing with small items that need to be grasped firmly. At my present age, I find small pliers almost a daily necessity, as much as a small sharp blade to cut open all those plastic wrapped packages that resist tearing, ripping, and small amounts of plastic explosives.

I think I use my little classic to open most things that need to be opened. And the SD tip of the nail file is my Phillips driver. I think I could do without my SI far far easier than doing without my classic.

So in all honesty, my real EDC carry is my classic, backed up by my Leatherman squirt, with sometimes carry of my Wenger SI. The classic is used for all cutting/opening, with the SD tipped nail file seeing daily duty as a screw driver, with my squirt being used for the folding mini pliers, and sometimes the bottle opener for a cold one after the job is done. Thanks to Felix Immure, I found that I could use the fixed half of the scissors as an awl for starter holes for wood screws. That eliminates one use of the SI, the awl.

And I have used the SD tip as a bottle opener. Just insert the SD tip under the crimp of the crown cap, and gently twist. It's very soft material in bottle caps, and not much is needed. Do the twist about 3 or 4 times going around the cap and its gets loose enough to just push off with the thumb. Or you can use your house key. Thanks to my oldest son, John, I was shown different ways to open a beer without a dedicated opener. Made me soooo glad that college tuition money was well spent!!!
 
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jackknife said:
small pliers, which an arthritic fumble fingered senior citizen needs when dealing with small items that need to be grasped firmly. At my present age, I find small pliers almost a daily necessity,
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Yep.

As do I.

Another reason I never leave the house without a multi-tool. I prefer the full sized with another knife or two in my pocket, but simply don't like being without one on my belt.
 
Unless I’m flying, I have an Alox Classic on me (worn as a neck knife). Super handy and unobtrusive. Great little knife.

It’s almost always paired with a Leatherman P4 and either a small fixed blade or small CRK Sebenza (usually the Sebbie these days).

Lately I’ve also been carrying a LM Wave. I’m toying with switching the Wave out for a Vic Spirit X. The Wave has saved me quite a bit if time running to the toolbox on small or impromptu projects over the last couple of weeks. I have no idea why I ever stopped carrying it.
 
The ONLY reason I stopped carrying my Wave is because I got a phone, and can't imagine carrying that in my pocket. It rides in a phone case where the Leatherman should be. Annoying, but it is what it is.
 
Well, I am “sporting” both the CRK and Wave in belt sheaths (CRK right hip, Wave left). I work from home and I’m too old to care how it looks :)
 
TrainedBullets said:
Well, I am “sporting” both the CRK and Wave in belt sheaths (CRK right hip, Wave left). I work from home and I’m too old to care how it looks :)
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When I was younger, I wore my SOG on my left and a Schrade LB7 on my right without any guilt or shame. For many years.

I was lumberjacking in those days, and it was quite common to see laborers wearing a multi-tool and a large working knife at the same time.
 
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