Know your knives...

[Old No7]

Couldn't resist posting this here...

Old No7

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[gamekeeper]

I used to carry a German army knife that had a corkscrew. I never drink wine but it came in handy when other people's fancy ones didn't work.

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[jeepnik]

I’ve heard stories about knives in England. GK what’s the real deal?

[GunnyMack]

I've had a Swiss Army Knife in my pocket for the past 43 years. Unless I'm flying commercial( I don't fly anymore) I don't leave home without it! My buddies always gave me flak for carrying it until ' anyone have a screwdriver, can opener, tweezers' then I always produced. One day when in gummsmiff skool we are gathered around for theory, instructor is rummaging through his tool box for the correct turnscrew, he has a half dozen wrong ones out when I slip my Swiss out and pop open the screwdriver/ bottle opener and pushed it across the bench. He looked up with a disdainful look but darn it if that didn't fit that screw perfectly!

[gamekeeper]

I’ve heard stories about knives in England. GK what’s the real deal?

In the UK you can buy almost any knife you want, a few exceptions are flick knives, disguised hairbrush knives etc.
Lock knives and fixed blade knives are only banned from every day carry unless you are hunting or camping. Every day carry knives must have a 3" or smaller blade and be non locking. We an buy daggers, bayonets, machetes, swords of every description but can only carry them in public with a valid good reason.
A lot of people in the UK including some police are brainwashed into believing all knives are illegal so if you pull out a small Swiss army knife to open a package you will hear a GASP from someone.....
My EDC are two Swiss Army knife knives,one is tiny one is small and a Mercator black cat... which I won't comment on...

[piller]

I feel undressed without a pocket knife. I usually carry a Swiss Army Knife with pliers at work for clearing jams in staplers.

[fordwannabe]

The only advantage to being a fat guy is having jeans pockets big enough to carry a swiss champ in the right front pocket. I have been carrying a champ for 30 or so years in that pocket. I have two identical ones for carry and another in my truck. I now also carry a Kershaw assist opening in the left front.

[piller]

Tom, it sounds as if you are prepared for almost any little task.

[fordwannabe]

in addition there is a Macrostream streamliite flashlight in the right front pocket and either a Glock 23 or Smith 19 on the left hip. I took the Boy Scout motto to heart when it was actually the Boy Scouts.

[stretch]

When I was in college, the only corkscrew I owned was in a Swiss Army knife.

I got that knife when I was 8 years old. My late Dad took me to NYC. I got a bll glove,
a Swiss Army knife, and lunch at the Empire State Building. Still have the knife.

-Stretch

[3leggedturtle]

The corkscrew is very useful fir undoing super tight knots you cant untie with fingers and teeth!

[Ysabel Kid]

I feel undressed without a pocket knife.

+1

Everyone knows I always have a knife on me - at least one anyway (unless I'm flying somewhere). So whenever anyone needs a knife, they simply turn to me. My EDC is usually a locking folder; I'm found of partially-serrated tanto-point blades. Often I'll carry a SAK to have the various tools on me.

Technically, in SC, I can carry any blade of any length... including the one below if I so desired.

[piller]

Texas allows knives. Swords and switchblades are allowed.

[Lastmohecken]

The law changed several years ago, here in Arkansas and you can carry about any kind of knife or blade length. Years ago, the blade length was maxed at 3.5", I think, but I always carried a knife with an average blade length of about 4", like a Buck 110, or similar sized. Frankly, I never liked the Swiss Army knives, because I never thought they were strong enough, but then again, maybe I abuse mine more then I should. Now days I carry a heavy bladed 4.5" knife, folding hunter style, A.G. Russell Texas Ranger Commemorative. They have a good lock and will take a lot of abuse.

[piller]

I figure that if I am close to tearing up a SAK that is time to get an actual tool that will do the job. They always seemed to be just light duty to me.

[Sixgun]

All those corkscrews on the French model.....must be for attaching white material to a stick......that or pulling snails out of the ground.....

[fordwannabe]

SAKs are light duty but they are with you. I got a 7 foot tall tool box in the garage but I rarely have it with me!

[Mike Armstrong]

It's interesting to me that when archeologists are looking at REALLY old sites, they first look for edged tools (or the work chips that put the edge on them) to determine if the site was lived in by humans. I've been carrying a knife for 72 years, since I was 6, and WE'VE been carrying 'em for many millenia. They almost define "human."

And when I'm out working with other volunteers in the field, I'm often the only person (Here in the LA Slurb) who has one....

"I can't open this!" "Oh, Mike's got a knife." Some day Mike and his Spyderco will be permanently elsewhere....

[piller]

Mike, which Spydie do you carry? I like their slim flat profile for the fact that it doesn't take up much room. Their serrated edges are a pain to sharpen. Great until that point.

[Mike Armstrong]

I carry a plain-edged 3" blade with dark green scales, made in Japan and with the blade marked "V8-10." Not sure which model it is; ("Delica" maybe???) bought it about 15 years ago to give to my son when he joined the Marines.

Then he gave it back to me five years later, and I've carried it ever since. Ergonomic for sure. My brother, an Army officer now retired, turned me onto Spyderco.

Before that I carried mainly Case conventional "Muskrat" and "Sodbuster" patterns. I've never liked the "conventional" Swiss Army knives; they seem flimsy to me or have too many gadgets I don't use. I keep a military-style Swiss Army knife in my first aid kit when hiking or doing environmental work--it has a single locking 4" spear point blade, a toothpick which can be used as a awl, and a very fine pair of tweezers which I mainly use for removing cactus thorns, a real problem off-trail in SoCal and Baja.

[piller]

I think that is G instead of 8. VG-10 is some good steel. The types of locks are part of their differences. Liner locks are good enough to usually handle over 100 pounds of pressure before failing. Their lockbacks are good to about 250 pounds. Other companies meet their own standards.

[jeepnik]

A few decades ago I carried Buck folding hunter and a SAK. But the problem was I always seemed to need a pair of pliers. When Leatherman came out with their first tool I jumped on board. But they weren't the most robust and the knife blades didn't hold an edge well. With competition multi tools improved but also got larger. The last ten years before I retired I had settled on Gerber multi tools.

These days, as a gentleman of leisure I now carry a small fixed blade. I have multi tools in all of my vehicles and several around the house. But most often if I need a tool I'll go to the boxes that are in my vehicles or garage and get the correct tool for the job. It makes the job much easier and saves skin.