Let's talk knives: who carries a one.

[LoudRam77]

For years I carried one but then stopped. However the other day I was browsing through a How to Survive book and it dawned on me that it may not be a bad idea to start carrying one again. You never know when you'll need a blade so I bought a Gerber lock back. The blade is 3"and it has an open frame with a pocket clip. Nice and light.

I always had a knife handy but never carried it on me outside of work or camping. I leave one Leatherman in my truck and I carry another one when I camp. Being an electrician I always have one on me when I'm working. That's more of a folding utility knife with a replaceable razor blade

I have a few other knives to. I have a regular Buck lock back and a Swiss army knife and a few others. But the Gerber is the only one with a clip that allows me to carry it in my pocket instead of on my belt in a sheath.

But my favorite blade is a Nazi SA dress dagger my grandfather left to me that he brought back from WWII. It's an older one made before they standardized them. Probably made in the early 1930’s.

So what do you carry?

 

[Jan51]

My husband was a cowboy most of his life, and always carried a knife. No cowboy is without one. About 2-3 years when he started becoming disabled with arthritis, dizziness/loss of balance, and dementia, and I was feeding the horses, still riding some, and doing everything outside, he insisted I start carrying a knife. I tried but it was so annoying in my pocket. I already had my flip phone in one front pocket and that was annoying enough. I searched through the many knives stashed around the house and found a little one that I don't mind carrying. It's a scant 3 inches long and a scant half inch wide. I have used it lots of times.

Our two boys started carrying pocketknives around age 6. A couple years later, they were running gopher traps after school and needed to carry their knives to school so they could go right to work without going home. It was a small country school, 3 rooms, 10-15 in each room. The teacher compromised and let them but they had to put them in her desk during the school day.

Our 6-year-old grandson got a knife this year that he is quite proud of, and loves to carry it when he has permission. He is homeschooled so he gets to carry it quite a bit. He loves to whittle on sticks.

 

[InsuranceGuy]

I travel a lot and do not like taking my handguns with me into states where I'm uncertain of the laws. So, I carry a rather disturbingly large knife in my backpack at all times. My backpack holds my laptop and accessories, but is also home to a very large hunting knife. You can stick it in the small of your back and conceal it with your shirt. I've done this multiple times in questionable areas. It isn't going to save me if someone else has a gun, but it's all steel, even the hilt. I'd say the blade is 9-10 inches and it's very heavy. When I am going from my car to my hotel late at night, it makes me feel a lot safer.
If the grid ever goes down while I'm out of town, you could use this for just about anything.
My 17 year old daughter carries a MTech USA Ballistic Spring Loaded pocket knife. It has a 3 inch blade, but is a switchblade. I think I paid about $12-$14 on Amazon for it. It may have even been cheaper. Very good looking knife. Naturally she had to have one of the "pretty" ones, but I like the fact that she carries it. Pretty cheap metal and not likely to hold up well over the years, but it is razor sharp and would be effective in a time of need. It's cheap enough that you don't care if you lose it either.

I also have a keychain knife. It looks pretty much like a regular housekey, but thicker. I'm thinking I only paid like $5 on Amazon for it. It is on my keychain and I've never been stopped anywhere for carrying it. Now that I'm looking at it, it's larger than a front door key and the blade is about 1.5 inches. It's great for cutting tape on boxes too, but when I go someplace I can't carry a handgun or my big knife, this little thing would work in a pinch.

 

[Círeth]

If it was legal in the UK I'd carry the traditional Scottish sgian dubh or black blade. It's not legal to carry an offensive weapon though so I don't but if I ever emigrated I'd get one. I know it's traditionally a male weapon and I'm female but they're good knives.

http://www.tartansauthority.com/highland-dress/modern/sgian-dubhs/

 

[ShilohRose]

If it was legal in the UK I'd carry the traditional Scottish sgian dubh or black blade. It's not legal to carry an offensive weapon though so I don't but if I ever emigrated I'd get one. I know it's traditionally a male weapon and I'm female but they're good knives.

http://www.tartansauthority.com/highland-dress/modern/sgian-dubhs/

Oh, those are cool! My oldest daughter loves knives and has several. I think she would really like one of these, too. I have a bit of Scots in my background. lol

 

[benmcd]

I mostly carry an early model Benchmade Autostryker, but have started carrying a CRKT Otanashi Noh Ken. For fixed blades I vary between a Strider MT or a Spartan Blades Horkus.

 

[JSTyler]

If it was legal in the UK I'd carry the traditional Scottish sgian dubh or black blade. It's not legal to carry an offensive weapon though so I don't but if I ever emigrated I'd get one. I know it's traditionally a male weapon and I'm female but they're good knives.

http://www.tartansauthority.com/highland-dress/modern/sgian-dubhs/

Well, if you do decide to carry one and get caught, just inform them that you were/are identifying as a Mohammedan

 

[JSTyler]

I mostly carry an early model Benchmade Autostryker, but have started carrying a CRKT Otanashi Noh Ken. For fixed blades I vary between a Strider MT or a Spartan Blades Horkus.

This guy Kinifes!

Seriously, that's some serious hardware. I have a beautiful custom made 3" stag horn handle, skinner that's too pretty to do anything with but open boxes and letters.

I do carry a Gerber Suspension-NXT https://www.gerbergear.com/Multi-Tools/Butterfly-Opening/Suspension-NXT_31-003345
It's a great convenience to have for my two jobs, just not really a self defense tool but I did drop it on my big toe while wearing tennis shoes... Ouch!

If the baddies come at me while I have it out you can bet I'll be watching their feet very VERY closely.

 

[benmcd]

This guy Kinifes!

Seriously, that's some serious hardware. I have a beautiful custom made 3" stag horn handle, skinner that's too pretty to do anything with but open boxes and letters.

I do carry a Gerber Suspension-NXT https://www.gerbergear.com/Multi-Tools/Butterfly-Opening/Suspension-NXT_31-003345
It's a great convenience to have for my two jobs, just not really a self defense tool but I did drop it on my big toe while wearing tennis shoes... Ouch!

If the baddies come at me while I have it out you can bet I'll be watching their feet very VERY closely.

I also have an RMJ Tactical Kestrel Feather which is a great camping/survival/fighting tool. https://www.rmjtactical.com/collections/tactical-tomahawks/products/kestrel-feather

 

[InsuranceGuy]

I also have an RMJ Tactical Kestrel Feather which is a great camping/survival/fighting tool. https://www.rmjtactical.com/collections/tactical-tomahawks/products/kestrel-feather
[/QUOTE]


Ohhhh, this is a nice toy!! I've never seen one of these. I'll be looking online tonight though at this one in particular. I've seen the cheaply made knockoffs you can buy on Amazon for about $50, but they are trash. You can't sharpen the blades on the cheap ones, not enough to make them effective more than once anyways. This one looks unbelievably cool. I may be in love.

 

[benmcd]

I also have an RMJ Tactical Kestrel Feather which is a great camping/survival/fighting tool. https://www.rmjtactical.com/collections/tactical-tomahawks/products/kestrel-feather

Ohhhh, this is a nice toy!! I've never seen one of these. I'll be looking online tonight though at this one in particular. I've seen the cheaply made knockoffs you can buy on Amazon for about $50, but they are trash. You can't sharpen the blades on the cheap ones, not enough to make them effective more than once anyways. This one looks unbelievably cool. I may be in love.
[/QUOTE]

RMJ is definitely of the buy once, cry once quality range. Their Loggerhead designs would probably be better for camping.

 

[InsuranceGuy]

I looked at their other options. I really like the one you posted though. There are knock-off brands you can purchase elsewhere, but the quality is not there. Prior to the knife I carry now (my big one), I purchased one from Amazon that looked great in the pictures. I didn't know to look for something that was all one piece. The hilt broke off and that was all she wrote. Even some of the $50+ knives are pretty cheap and not durable. What you posted is quality. I'm beyond impressed. The price is steep (but only because it is a want, not a need), but as you said, buy once, cry once. I think I'll be making this purchase. Zombies beware!

 

[DanLMP]

This is all making my 2 1/4" Victorinox, with the 1 1/4" blade, nail file with screwdriver, scissors, tooth pick and tweezers look ridiculous.

 

[LoudRam77]

This is all making my 2 1/4" Victorinox, with the 1 1/4" blade, nail file with screwdriver, scissors, tooth pick and tweezers look ridiculous.

That's all MacGyver uses.

 

[DanLMP]

That's all MacGyver uses.

Mine is even smaller than his. It's the smallest that Victorinox makes so it fits in my pocket without a lot of bulges.

Can you believe that I have not been allowed to carry it into certain venues? A 1 1/4" blade that doesn't even lock. If I tried to stab someone with it I'd cut my own fingers.

 

[LoudRam77]

You don't need a large blade just a sharp one. Dull knives no matter the size are at best useless and at worst dangerous.

 

[pixelpusher]

I carry a Kershaw Amplitude flipper that I chose for its smooth profile and lack of thumb studs, and deep carry clip. It tucks in the corner of my pocket nicely and doesn’t interfere when I reach in for something else. It’s fairly stout for a sub $100 knife, but a little heavy in light summer clothes. When I got it also got my wife a Kershaw Leek which is similar in profile but thinner and half the weight. I’m probably going to pick up one of those for my pocket soon.

I previously had a Gerber Paraframe which I think may be the OP’s knife... it was great for about a year but got really loose. I keep that one in the car now. The serrations would be good for seatbelts.

Before that I carried a nylon handled Buck regular lock back knife but broke off the tip prying something.

I want a Spyderco Salt to carry on my kayaking PFD.

 

[LoudRam77]

I previously had a Gerber Paraframe which I think may be the OP’s knife... it was great for about a year but got really loose. I keep that one in the car now. The serrations would be good for seatbelts.

This is knife I bought. It's similar to the Paraframe.

https://www.gerbergear.com/Knives/Folding/Airlift-Silver_31-003314

 

[Amity]

I have a decent sized dagger style knife that Mike gave me that he got while in Afghanistan. I carry it clipped on the cuff of my boot when trail riding. The other is a cheap no brand but decent 4inch, stiletto type knife that is very easy to handle in an emergency. I keep that in my waistband everywhere.

 

[Andy C]

I travel a lot and do not like taking my handguns with me into states where I'm uncertain of the laws. So, I carry a rather disturbingly large knife in my backpack at all times. My backpack holds my laptop and accessories, but is also home to a very large hunting knife. You can stick it in the small of your back and conceal it with your shirt. I've done this multiple times in questionable areas. It isn't going to save me if someone else has a gun, but it's all steel, even the hilt. I'd say the blade is 9-10 inches and it's very heavy. When I am going from my car to my hotel late at night, it makes me feel a lot safer.
If the grid ever goes down while I'm out of town, you could use this for just about anything.
My 17 year old daughter carries a MTech USA Ballistic Spring Loaded pocket knife. It has a 3 inch blade, but is a switchblade. I think I paid about $12-$14 on Amazon for it. It may have even been cheaper. Very good looking knife. Naturally she had to have one of the "pretty" ones, but I like the fact that she carries it. Pretty cheap metal and not likely to hold up well over the years, but it is razor sharp and would be effective in a time of need. It's cheap enough that you don't care if you lose it either.

I also have a keychain knife. It looks pretty much like a regular housekey, but thicker. I'm thinking I only paid like $5 on Amazon for it. It is on my keychain and I've never been stopped anywhere for carrying it. Now that I'm looking at it, it's larger than a front door key and the blade is about 1.5 inches. It's great for cutting tape on boxes too, but when I go someplace I can't carry a handgun or my big knife, this little thing would work in a pinch.

You should check out the laws carrying a concealed knife. Im betting you are walking around with it concealed which is a felony in most states. I was carrying a 4.5 inch knife everywhere I went, but because its spring loaded, push a button and blade flips outs, its not allowed to be carried concealed. Surprisingly, most states laws for knifes are as restricted as carrying guns.

Im buying a new knife today.