What are you seasoned guys carrying?

Well...I have enjoyed reading this thread...so Im going to post too. Ive been carrying/collecting for around 25-30 years now, so I guess I am classified as "seasoned".
My first knife i received for being a ring bearer in my aunts wedding...a SAK...the little guy with scissors, toothpick, two blades and tweezers. I loved that thing...I was 8 yrs old tho, so it quickly got lost.
My father gave me a few older slippies that were his fathers shortly after...they were pretty beat up...and unfortunately I dont know where they went to this day.
I went through a flea market phase for quite a few years, as our family didnt have much money. I couldnt afford anything more than a $20 flea market knife.
I loved our trips to the USA cause I could buy like 10 knives for $50 at a flea market!! Lol.
My real eye opener was when I went fishing with my Dad, and he pulled out an original Ruko lockback to fillet his salmon. Woah!! That is a nice knife, Dad!! Can I have it? Lol. My Dad is a smart man and said NO. Lol. He probably knew i would loose it.
My first purchase of a "quality" folder (with my own money) was a Gerber Gator. I was stoked!! It was MY knife...it was huge!!
A few months later I realized this knife was way way too big for my young hands, and I sold it to an uncle. He carried that for years...my growing up years.
Then I went through Spydies, BM's, Schrades, Kizer's, Extrema's, Lionsteels...you name it. I was looking for the perfect knife.
That in turn got me into higher-end productions (as well as you guys here at BF)...CRK's, Shiros, WE's, Reate's.
Dang...i had found a few that I really liked...but as the knife enthusiast knows...could I find an even more refined knife? This question lead me to customs, and semi-customs....Southard's, Bull's, Burgers, Brown's...you get the idea.
Through these crazy years of trying to find the perfect knife (the knife affectionado's curse), I have found that the perfect knife is one that cuts well. I have also found that these four knives find themselves in my pocket most frequently.
Funny thing is...with all this bearing pivot craze these days (and i own some), the ones in my pocket all run on PB washers.
Ill never stop searching, but I have slowed down.
Here is a pic of the four that make it into my pocket the majority of the time...even tho I never bugged him again, my Dad did end up giving me his Ruko :D (bottom knife).
Ive loved the hunt, and will always love the hunt.
Keep 'em sharp...and love the journey!!

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1. Shirogorov Hati on PB washers
2. Chris Reeve Large Sebenza 21 Carbon Fiber inlay.
3. Gareth Bull Shamwari on PB washers
4. My Dads old Ruko lockback (I cleaned it up a bit and re-peened the pins) not too clean tho, still need it to remind me of my Dad.

Edit: spelling
 
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I've been taken back by the lionsteel shuffler. M390,titanium, and your choice of handle material, I got carbon fiber. Great action, walk n talk. I did a session on the wicked edge, then stropped on bovine, wow, sharp, sharp sharp. Now I'm on the list for the war horse. Lol

Chaparral carbon fiber m390, smooth as butter.

And The farmer, all three of these are my most carried knives lately. But the lionsteel might be my favorite for 2019.
 
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Member here since 2006, but that's when I really started EDCing, so not nearly as many years as other posters here.

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The CUDA MAXX’s are still around. I have bought 4 in the last 6 months.
 
The CUDA MAXX’s are still around. I have bought 4 in the last 6 months.
I assume you're getting them from private sellers. The last time I checked the price on them was sky-high. When they were still current production IIRC they were just over $100 and being a dumb arse I didn't buy one. :mad:
 
I'll make it easy and see if y'all can guess when I got into quality blades ;)
Victorinox Gardener - 6 years
Sabre 617 (Japan) lockback - 3 years
Kabar 2793 lockback - 4 years
Q brand SAK clone - 7 years
S&W Cuttin' Horse - 7 years
Spyderco Endura/Delica/PM2 plus a traditional slipjoint or SAK - 3 years and counting :D
 
I'll make it easy and see if y'all can guess when I got into quality blades ;)
Victorinox Gardener - 6 years
Sabre 617 (Japan) lockback - 3 years
Kabar 2793 lockback - 4 years
Q brand SAK clone - 7 years
S&W Cuttin' Horse - 7 years
Spyderco Endura/Delica/PM2 plus a traditional slipjoint or SAK - 3 years and counting :D
7 years ago?
 
7 years ago?
Lol kind of a trick question. I've always appreciated quality, but it was only about 3 years ago I made the transition into owning better than entry-level Buck and Ka-Bar knives. I started researching better stuff in 2015 and kept seeing BF in the search results so I joined up in 2016 and got a lot of input, you know, other people supporting me spending ;) but I got into Spyderco very soon after joining. It's been a fun experience and I don't regret my investments.
 
Lol kind of a trick question. I've always appreciated quality, but it was only about 3 years ago I made the transition into owning better than entry-level Buck and Ka-Bar knives. I started researching better stuff in 2015 and kept seeing BF in the search results so I joined up in 2016 and got a lot of input, you know, other people supporting me spending ;) but I got into Spyderco very soon after joining. It's been a fun experience and I don't regret my investments.
I was being humorous, you're coming right a long. Next stop handmade and customs ;)
 
Lol, like my Austin Goldman fixed blade in S35VN? Dude does a nice job! Still a few more BF makers to try tho! Will be looking at Duck Childress and maybe a Shannon some day ;)
That's a start :p
 
I've found myself reaching for my small sebenza 21 insingo plain Jane for the past year or so... even when I get a new blade in....after a few days or a week I keep going back to it!

It's to the point that after 10+ years of looking for "the 1" I think I have finally "found it"... havnt been looking for new blades actively for a while now...crazy stuff...
 
My first favorite knife ever was my little blue Camillus Cub Scout Knife. I’ve been through many, many traditional pocket knife patterns over the last four plus decades. From there, dozens of modern automatics going back to the mid ‘90s. So, my current main carry for the last six or seven years is my original favorite pattern in auto form. The Hubertus Camper.
 
After going through hundreds of knives in a few short years. Everyday EDC rotation is an Alox Cadet, CRK Mnandi and Case single blade mini trapper. 95% of the time it's the Alox Cadet.

Work knives are generally a combination of compact or thin and lightweight. More often than not it's a Spyderco Native, Milli (just bc i like the damn thing, it's a brick though), Endura. FRN LW models are preferred over G10. I have a Leek that I use often with some skater grip tape glued to it. One day I'm going to pony up for the G10 version. And in the summer for yardwork it's been a mule team.

I prefer steels that are easy to sharpen to shaving sharp over toughness and edge retention and don't mind cheapie knives with good ergos like a CRKT M16 every now and then. My sweet spot is $50-$150 knives as I don't get any additional enjoyment out of blades with thick stock or mid-techs/customs. I do really enjoy a good design though, especially if its thin or flat scales and sub 3 ounces in weight.
 
My first spydie was a delica, i bought a second delica at a gun show in NC (zdp189) I actually lost the zdp189 delica in my pig pen for YEARS, one day the pigs rutted it up and there it was rusted pretty heavily, beat and scratched. I took it apart and cleaned it, I still have it.

Jeez I was kind of hoping to see a pic of your Delica. I have driven past pig farms on the highway and could almost taste it, so I can only image what that environment did to the knife..............After playing with cutting tools for decades I haven't really changed much. I use average steels like, 1080, 1095, VG-10, D-2, the Victorinox stuff, etc. I had a pristine Spyderco Manix years ago and traded it off on a used Esee 4. A few saw that as an unbalanced trade, but it suited my needs more while on my use exploration curve. The overall simpler steels (most of it) suited my needs for rough wood processing and my learning curve knife sharpening skills. Now years later I stay in the same steel ranges overall, have far better sharpening skills, and tend to use smaller fixed blades and folders. I also went through a big thing with high end axes when I lived up in the forest. I still have them, but prefer the mid size to small axes and hatchets now. If anything there is a trend to smaller/lighter.
 
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