A Monumental Experiment? To Carry the Same Knife Every Day for a Year

[jc57]

It's very easy to do. People who are not into knives as a hobby but who do carry a pocket knife as a tool do it all the time. I use pens but I am not into pens as a hobby. I carry the same two Cross pens in my pocket every day that I have owned since the 1990s. They are not even really expensive ones - the plastic-barreled SOLO ballpoints. I am not into multi-tools, but I own three of them. I have carried those three in the same exact places (one in my car, two of different sizes in my laptop bag) for many years.

What is not easy to do, is to maintain a hobbyist interest in something while only using one of them. Especially while continuing to visit a forum where your contentment level is constantly being manipulated by all the images of other people's pretty toys and the newest thingy.

I did a similar experiment in 2014 with a different knife (the rules of that challenge also allowed a SAK) so I carried the same Case knife and the same SAK every day for about 5 months. It was almost like quitting an addiction. The first month was not difficult per se, but I thought more about it. By the end of month 2 it had become habit to just pocket the same two knives, and by the time the challenge period ended (4 months I think), I no longer felt any pressure to go back to what I had been doing before (a weekly rotation) and so I kept going for about 6 months.

Two things had happened by then - my participation here had dropped off a lot, and I had lost the desire to chase after the next new thing. I could also look at peoples posts of their latest and greatest purchase, or whatever the next GEC knife was, or that year's forum knife, and appreciate the knife without also having a desire to buy one for myself.

I did buy a few more pocket knives after that, but very few, with only two purchases in 2015, one in 2016, and none in 2017.

It also helped me realize the silliness of having accumulated so many pocket knives, when really, I only needed a couple. The downside of that is that my collection/accumulation is now more of a burden than a pleasure, as I think of the unnecessary money tied up in things I don't need and will never get around to using, and the dread of having to go through the process of selling all of them. It's a lot easier to click a button and buy something, than it is to spend time taking pictures, posting sales ads, dealing with buyers, packing, and shipping things that, not counting the time and effort spent, you will also end up losing money on.

You may not experience the same mental journey that I did, but I bet if you stick with it you will learn a few things you weren't expecting to learn.

 

[Ernie1980]

Good luck! As I get older and my collection expands I find it difficult to even carry the same knife for a few days in a row. There are a select few knives that are my most common carries, but I would have trouble choosing one for an entire year.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Best of luck to you sir, I've tried time and again to carry 1 blade/knife for a year, neigh a month, even a week with consistency but I lack the wherewithal and conviction to pull this off. Too many choices, I'm like a drug addict locked in a pharmacy. I spend too much time deciding what to carry and always find something I hadn't carried in awhile, something else always peaks my interest so I grab something different as often as possible.

 

[kamagong]

I have a hard time understanding what the big deal is.

I'm with you. It isn't a big deal. This is a hobbyist forum. Do what makes you happy. If that means carrying a different knife every day, do that. If that means becoming a one-knife man, do that instead.

If you honestly want to limit the excess, do yourself a favor and walk away from the forum. This place is a fount of temptation.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

If you honestly want to limit the excess, do yourself a favor and walk away from the forum. This place is a fount of temptation.

That should be the header stickied to the top of each page. Like the warning to pregnant woman on alcohol and cigarettes.

 

[leghog]

I do that every year. I'll carry the same knife daily for a couple of years or a few years then change to some else for a few years.

To make it easier on yourself, vow to give away that knife should you veer from the resolution to carry it daily.

 

[sitflyer]

It's very easy to do. People who are not into knives as a hobby but who do carry a pocket knife as a tool do it all the time. I use pens but I am not into pens as a hobby. I carry the same two Cross pens in my pocket every day that I have owned since the 1990s. They are not even really expensive ones - the plastic-barreled SOLO ballpoints. I am not into multi-tools, but I own three of them. I have carried those three in the same exact places (one in my car, two of different sizes in my laptop bag) for many years.

What is not easy to do, is to maintain a hobbyist interest in something while only using one of them. Especially while continuing to visit a forum where your contentment level is constantly being manipulated by all the images of other people's pretty toys and the newest thingy.

I did a similar experiment in 2014 with a different knife (the rules of that challenge also allowed a SAK) so I carried the same Case knife and the same SAK every day for about 5 months. It was almost like quitting an addiction. The first month was not difficult per se, but I thought more about it. By the end of month 2 it had become habit to just pocket the same two knives, and by the time the challenge period ended (4 months I think), I no longer felt any pressure to go back to what I had been doing before (a weekly rotation) and so I kept going for about 6 months.

Two things had happened by then - my participation here had dropped off a lot, and I had lost the desire to chase after the next new thing. I could also look at peoples posts of their latest and greatest purchase, or whatever the next GEC knife was, or that year's forum knife, and appreciate the knife without also having a desire to buy one for myself.

I did buy a few more pocket knives after that, but very few, with only two purchases in 2015, one in 2016, and none in 2017.

It also helped me realize the silliness of having accumulated so many pocket knives, when really, I only needed a couple. The downside of that is that my collection/accumulation is now more of a burden than a pleasure, as I think of the unnecessary money tied up in things I don't need and will never get around to using, and the dread of having to go through the process of selling all of them. It's a lot easier to click a button and buy something, than it is to spend time taking pictures, posting sales ads, dealing with buyers, packing, and shipping things that, not counting the time and effort spent, you will also end up losing money on.

You may not experience the same mental journey that I did, but I bet if you stick with it you will learn a few things you weren't expecting to learn.

You hit the nail on the head as to my own experience the past few years. Moving into a much smaller home exacerbated the glaring difference in what I need, vs what I have. I keep a couple of desk drawers full of knives that I occasionally take out and fondle and admire, but that is just the tip of the iceburg considering all of the ones in rolls, boxes and ammo cans. I don't even know how I am going to move them all to new homes, maybe I'll find a consignment shop somewhere, or find a local dealer which sells used cutlery. It would take me years to sell them off one by each...so most of the time I just try to ignore the task. It's not going to go away on its own though, and I'm not getting any younger.

 

[Lansky1]

Thats like playing a whole round of golf with only one ball ... I could probably do it, but I would have to play so conservatively, I wouldn't enjoy it ! Variety is the spice of life (at least for my Case's - I make a point to carry every one I own). If the OP can do it, thats quite an accomplishment !

 

[Heirphoto]

I would live to do this and watch it slowly age each day as the year progresses but first I would have to actually own the same knife for a whole year

Good choice though on the 78 bone single. I have one on the way now

 

[Will Power]

You people with too many knives on your hands should stage a giant GAW It could help relieve your burden

Knives are like money, you can't have too much, right? Well.....

 

[JB in SC]

I carried a Hen and Rooster everyday for at least fifteen years.

We have far too many choices these days, and a lot of us seem to go down the got to have that one rabbit hole. I've been carrying only my Bose since September and don't feel handicapped whatsoever. I sold off a lot of my knives I don't need or carry.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

I've carried this Bud Nealy Aikuchi every day possible since the day I met Bud at my first big custom knife show on the east coast. Turned out he lived the next town over from me and Bud is a really nice person and very personable. We became friends and I've carried this knife every day, bought as an SD knife it quickly became a utility knife always in my back pocket tethered with a static cord to my belt.

I carried this since early in 1990 and am still carrying today. Knife consistency based on form, function and quality. So in essence I've already accomplished this task with this knife. My question then would be what do you call all the other knives? Accessories? Alternative backups for your back up or are they just surplus steel?

 

[Lansky1]

I've carried this Bud Nealy Aikuchi every day possible since the day I met Bud at my first big custom knife show on the east coast. Turned out he lived the next town over from me and Bud is a really nice person and very personable. We became friends and I've carried this knife every day, bought as an SD knife it quickly became a utility knife always in my back pocket tethered with a static cord to my belt.

I carried this since early in 1990 and am still carrying today. Knife consistency based on form, function and quality. So in essence I've already accomplished this task with this knife. My question then would be what do you call all the other knives? Accessories? Alternative backups for your back up or are they just surplus steel?

I didn't know there is a bonafide custom knife maker in the pocono's (thanks for posting the pic of the delivery box) - very interesting.

 

[greentrout]

I can relate a lot to what jc57 posted. I have been carrying the same Case Sway Back Jack in my pocket for 7 months straight now. I had been on the forum for a little over a year before I got that knife through the site. I had found the pattern here and fell in love with the discontinued Chestnut Bone CV. Before a member reached out to me, I used to spend a lot of time here in the Traditional section desiring lots of different knives. Once I got this knife, I don't think I have purchased another folding knife for myself. I've been gifted a few that remain in their box. I have also found myself posting less in this section, and I definitely spend less time looking at all of the different threads.

I have noticed the gradual changes brought on by daily carry on my knife. The ridges on the bone are beginning to wear down. The blades have both earned a dark patina from use of cutting fruit here at my desk. We've formed a good bond. I don't see myself straying from this knife anytime soon. I wish you good luck on your endeavor! I don't think it's something to force, use the knife and you will realize soon if it suits you or not.

 

[jc57]

We've formed a good bond.

This is something else I noticed during my period of exclusive carry. The Case Small Texas Jack I was carrying slowly transitioned from being a pocket knife that I carried to being "my knife." It got carried every day. It got used, washed, dried, oiled, sharpened, scratched up, patinated, cleaned up, polished up, repeat. If I needed a bigger blade, if I needed a smaller blade, if I needed a different shaped blade - well, I had to make do with just those two blades. And it did just fine.

If I needed to turn a screw - ok, that's where the SAK came in. No sense in going crazy with it.

 

[B.F.U]

You can do it. I did it with my 2013 Gabon Ebony TC Barlow. The knife you chose is a great candidate and will make your quest more obtainable I will enjoy following your progress.

Here's my tale https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/a-year-to-the-day.1165922/

I remember checking out your thread back when I was first getting into traditionals and got my first GEC, a TC. Enjoyed looking through it again, thanks!

My thoughts are that the two blade 78 would be my choice, but I can see that single blade being all you would need. Good luck, it can be done. Who knows, maybe you'll carry it for longer

Michael

Michael, I actually got a two blade first for this, but found that I didn't like the design. The pen blade was close to proud, and even if dropped it was not tall enough that I thought it would have the usable life it should before sharpenings rendered the proud tip a hazard. The main was also close to proud, and I thought that if I dropped the kick it would make the nail nick too difficult to access (I have to keep my fingernails pretty short for my work, teaching BJJ). I would have liked to have a long main blade with belly and a short secondary with a straight edge (maybe I should have done this experiment with my Banana Bone #35???) but I think a simple single blade fits the challenge.

I have a hard time understanding what the big deal is. I have had a Swiss Champ in my pocket almost every day since sometime around 1990. I don't limit myself to only one knife at a time. But if for some reason I only could have one, it would be the Swiss Champ.

O.B.

I don't think I mean for it to be a big deal. I know lots of people carry the same knife every day; I did before I found the forum. I just think it will be interesting to document the changes on the knife. It already got some good patina today from helping prepare lunch and dinner.

TO CLARIFY: I don't plan to ONLY carry this knife. I almost always carry a modern one hand opening locking knife, and sometimes a fixed blade instead or in addition to. I will continue to rotate those. I also will carry other traditionals alongside this one. I will just always carry this one, tend to use it first and foremost if possible, and document the process.

I would love to carry only one or two knives for the rest of my life, and earn that look one or two of them.
The contradictory nature of this hobby though is that being a knife-nut I have a rotation of knives I carry. With the infrequency by which I carry a single knife, it would take me another hundred years to get that kind of aging and wear that I lust after

I think you'd be surprised. I think a lot of the good looking aged vintage knives we see were not dedicated users / abused, but rather carried and used but also respected and kept care of. I have a TC Sheepfoot that was made in 2014 I believe, so less than 4 years old, but that I used heavily for a couple of those years and it already has a lot of character (though I think some might call it abuse/scars)

It started as Smooth Ivory Bone, and aged really well before I made the poor decision to give it a tea stain (then had to dye it black). It's part of the reason I chose the Smooth White Bone on the #78.

You can do it. You picked a good example to do the experiment with. Looking forward to your progress.

I bought an Uncle Henry stockman at a truck stop in 1970. It was the first knife I paid more than $20 for & it was the only knife I carried for about 25 years, until I added a Buck 703 & gave the UH a much deserved break. (The UH is in the middle & the Buck is on the right.)

Very cool to see the years of use and sharpening on the blade!

I have confidence in you.

Thank you, and may the force be with you @TheFactor

It's very easy to do.
What is not easy to do, is to maintain a hobbyist interest in something while only using one of them. Especially while continuing to visit a forum where your contentment level is constantly being manipulated by all the images of other people's pretty toys and the newest thingy.

I did a similar experiment in 2014 with a different knife (the rules of that challenge also allowed a SAK) so I carried the same Case knife and the same SAK every day for about 5 months. It was almost like quitting an addiction. The first month was not difficult per se, but I thought more about it. By the end of month 2 it had become habit to just pocket the same two knives, and by the time the challenge period ended (4 months I think), I no longer felt any pressure to go back to what I had been doing before (a weekly rotation) and so I kept going for about 6 months.

Two things had happened by then - my participation here had dropped off a lot, and I had lost the desire to chase after the next new thing. I could also look at peoples posts of their latest and greatest purchase, or whatever the next GEC knife was, or that year's forum knife, and appreciate the knife without also having a desire to buy one for myself.


You may not experience the same mental journey that I did, but I bet if you stick with it you will learn a few things you weren't expecting to learn.

Before I found the forum I carried the same knife every day, like most of my family members. I still carry the same pen every day, like you say, since I'm just not into pens enough to buy nice ones or collect them.

I actually did the opposite of you. Rather than carrying one knife and that making me stop posting here and wanting more knives, I recognized that 1) I was spending more money on knives than was intelligent at the time 2) I was spending more time on here than was prudent or productive and 3) I had accumulated more knives than I needed

I decided to stop posting here nearly as often and sold off a bunch of my knives. I think it was not a bad choice at the time, but now that I'm in different circumstances I definitely wish I'd kept some of them. I enjoyed them, and if I didn't enjoy them at that time it was because of other things, and think I would enjoy having and using them now.

So I think that experience has given me some good balance in my perspective. I rarely if ever buy a knife without thinking long and hard about it now. I get rid of them if I don't enjoy them, and I try to be honest with myself about that, but if I do enjoy them I realize that enjoyment over a lifetime is likely worth more than the $50-$150 (my usual range) I could get for selling it (unless of course I need money quick for some reason).

I'm hoping I'll learn something by trying this out, and really appreciate your perspective and experience with a similar challenge!

I've carried this Bud Nealy Aikuchi every day possible since the day I met Bud at my first big custom knife show on the east coast.

Awesome to see such a well used and loved knife! I've seen you post this before and every time I think that I need to make sure I look into Bob Nealy and his other work.

 

[deltaboy]

Have fun doing it!

 

[arizonaranchman]

After about 4 years here in the Traditional Forum and trying a dozen or so different patterns I’ve come to know what I like and what my needs are from a pocket knife. At this point I come to where I only carry a few of them and also that I tend to carry one or two for lengthy periods of time (by Forum standards), like a few months at a stretch, then for no particular reason I’ll decide to go to a different one. I’ll carry that for several months, etc. The ones I have settled on are the sheepfoot #77 Barlow, spear #55 Houndstooth, #66 Stockman, #48 Trapper, Vic Farmer and my yellow Peanut. This little core group sees 99.8% of the EDC time out of the approx 15 traditional folders I own.

I just find I prefer familiar old friends over frequent changing. I enjoy seeing the other folks knives here and I enjoy the discussions, but anymore i don’t have the acquisition bug that I used to have.

 

[ddavis]

I'm curious how L.H.S.'s experiment worked out. One of the reasons I started following BladeFroums was this particular thread that got me hooked.

I have carried the same 78 smooth white bone as L.H.S. every day in 2018 (save for 7 days - 6 when I was out of the country and 1 when I used an SAK while camping and just plain forgot the 78 in my tent).

Here's some pictures as 2018 progressed...

Day 1 - sometime around December 31, 2017

Sometime in June - on my in-laws farm

July-ish

August timeframe

End of December, 2018

This knife has been on many, many adventures with me and will never leave my possession. I learned a lot about this pattern and about the adventures with having one "main" knife throughout the year. Of all the knives I accumulated in 2018, this 78 surpassed them all for my 2019 carry knife........ all but one....

For my daily carry in 2019, the 78 in smooth bone will be un-throned by the grail knife - the 85 in polished stag.

 

[Railsplitter]

I'm curious how L.H.S.'s experiment worked out. One of the reasons I started following BladeFroums was this particular thread that got me hooked.

I have carried the same 78 smooth white bone as L.H.S. every day in 2018 (save for 7 days - 6 when I was out of the country and 1 when I used an SAK while camping and just plain forgot the 78 in my tent).

Here's some pictures as 2018 progressed...

Day 1 - sometime around December 31, 2017

Sometime in June - on my in-laws farm

July-ish

August timeframe

End of December, 2018

This knife has been on many, many adventures with me and will never leave my possession. I learned a lot about this pattern and about the adventures with having one "main" knife throughout the year. Of all the knives I accumulated in 2018, this 78 surpassed them all for my 2019 carry knife........ all but one....

For my daily carry in 2019, the 78 in smooth bone will be un-throned by the grail knife - the 85 in polished stag.

I remember your picture of the surf board with the Corset shield! Congrats on hauling that 78 around for a whole year. It's going to be hard to part with such a faithful companion but God Speed on your journey.

Nice post. I enjoyed reading it.