A thought on slip joint paired with a fixed blade

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Pnwknifeguy

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Apr 12, 2014
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It seems like people used to carry traditional slip joints and when they had a task to do that required more, or went outdoors they added a small fixed blade to pair it up with. Now it seems some people often use a modern 4 inch one hander for everything instead of a right tool for the right job approach. Is the big four inch blade an outgrowth of it being less socially acceptable to cary a fixed blade in public?

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place. I did want this to be a discussion about traditional knives.
 
Tell you what, to keep the conversation on traditional knives. Why don't you say what you do when you feel you need a little more blade as far as traditionals are concerned, and then give your opinion about the idea of people carrying modern 4" one handers as a stand in for a small fixed blade.
 
I work in a non-tolerant setting -- so I carry an inconspicuous slip joint every day (right now a small stockman is my favorite, although I have also carried a muskrat, small SAK, and others). On weekends outdoors I then usually add a BK24 or Canadian Belt Knife. Works good for me.
 
Times change... It is not as socially acceptable to carry a fixed blade knife, and in some areas it is illegal. Besides, they can be cumbersome in every day life.
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The folder is easily carried, and with the exception of the pocket clip, is almost invisible. What has changed is, back in the old days, men knew that a slip joint was perfectly capable of doing a lot of tasks. These days, a lot of people think they have to have a big folding knife with a lock, or it isn't safe.

Used correctly, and kept sharp, slip joints are able to do the daily tasks that most of us use a knife for.
 
Modern folders with a pocket clip have become the norm and in many places (like Texas) it's even considered fashionable to sport one. I think some consider them the natural evolution of an all-purpose EDC knife as the traditional slip joints once were.

I'm one of those who after going through the modern folder phase is now going back to traditional slip joints. They are more than capable of dealing with most daily tasks and to me are just more satisfying to carry.
 
Times change and so do the tools and tasks that need to be performed. Modern folders seem to be taking over but I have reverted to carrying my old school slip joints for the most part. I just order a GEC Nifebrite Bullnose last night and now I have to wait for it to get here. I was taught as a kid how to use a knife and given a SAK so I never learned to rely on a lock so slip joints are quite easy for me to use in comparison to other people I've seen who have to have a lock or they cut themselves in the easiest of tasks.
 
I always felt that modern knives were almost the wrong tool for the job, the blade grinds are so thick that if you lose the edge the knife cant slice at all. So that would leave it as a heavier duty type of grind, but chopping, or battoning aren't suitable for folders. I suppose it must be the best compromise for size, usability, and legality.
 
Some places aren't fixed blade friendly so for many it's not an option. I've carried my Izula recently and enjoy it but it's not an option for everybody.


As a kid I carried slipjoint knives as it was the option available to me. They did their job but I was always paranoid of the knife closing. Ive been cut a few times when the blade got caught on an unseen obstruction and closed.

Today I carry folders I can trust. I almost always have my Dragonfly on me at least. It's a small, friendly knife in a quality steel that doesn't draw a lot of attention like the other knife on me. It can easily handle most tasks I throw at it and since it's in a quality steel I know it will continue to
 
Pnwknifeguy said:
It seems like people used to carry traditional slip joints and when they had a task to do that required more, or went outdoors they added a small fixed blade to pair it up with. Now it seems some people often use a modern 4 inch one hander for everything instead of a right tool for the right job approach. Is the big four inch blade an outgrowth of it being less socially acceptable to cary a fixed blade in public?

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place. I did want this to be a discussion about traditional knives.
Click to expand...

I always carry a traditional pocket knife. It's what I grew up with, and was used to it long before the new one hand folders came out. I don't believe in this new idea of a heavy duty folder. Right tool for the job. If a two or three inch pocket knife is not going to do it, I just don't see how a 4 inch folder wil do it. Since most of my time is spent in modern American suburbia, I trust my pocket knife to cut what I need to cut. If I go off in the boonies, or fishing, I carry a fixed blade. What fixed blade I carry will depend on what I plan on doing, and where.

12346578423_4dc5dbf9dd_c.jpg

Fishing carry.

12994438373_16dc3fe1f8_c.jpg

Camping/hiking carry.

Right tools for the job.
 
jackknife said:
I always carry a traditional pocket knife. It's what I grew up with, and was used to it long before the new one hand folders came out. I don't believe in this new idea of a heavy duty folder. Right tool for the job. If a two or three inch pocket knife is not going to do it, I just don't see how a 4 inch folder wil do it. Since most of my time is spent in modern American suburbia, I trust my pocket knife to cut what I need to cut. If I go off in the boonies, or fishing, I carry a fixed blade. What fixed blade I carry will depend on what I plan on doing, and where.

Right tools for the job.
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I was hoping to see you chime in jackknife, your focus on practicality is always very welcome. :thumbup:
 
If you read some of the older books by Nessmuk, Kephart and some others you'll notice that the slipjoint and the axe/hatchet is what was used in the field to do work. They did NOT carry a medium fixed blade for "heavy use." Carving and general cutting was what the slipjoint was for, wood work like building structures and starting a fire was the work of the axe. I don't remember them ever mentioning the fixed blade for anything else other than for food prep and taking apart animals. Nessmuk called it a hunting knife because that was the task for it. Nowadays a machete like jackknife's and some of the larger chopper knives are being used instead of the axe because for some they work better and/or they're lighter weight. The medium fixed blade survival/buschcraft knife is actually a more modern idea based off of the military's need for a pilot survival knife and rambo movies IMO. There's nothing wrong with that if you want to go light(I do sometimes) but if you're carrying a hatchet or a machete I don't see any real point to having a thick bladed knife on your belt. Certainly no reason for a "tank folder" in your pocket. In my mind they're just dead weight.

For me, I just don't see tactical folders as heavy use knives and never will. I do carry a spyerco military when I'm out traveling/camping but it's because I don't hunt and having a food prep knife that folds is just easier to pack and deal with.
 
Personal preference really, a 4 inch blade is just more useful, versatile for many people. Outside of prying and batonning...what are you doing with a 4-5 inch fixed blade that you wouldn't do with a 4 inch folder? Then people bring up right tool for the right job :confused: Is there a larger margin between a 4" modern folder and a 4" fixed blade or the 2 3/4" slipjoint?

Most of those wise old timers didn't do anything more with a small-medium fixed blade then lots of us have been doing with larger locking folders for years without issues....so why double the carry size and weight?
 
Good conversation guys, loving all the opinions.

Just wanted to clarify though, when I said "right tool for the right job." I meant that having a slipjoint paired with a fixed blade was the right tool for the right job, and that a 4" "tactical" blade was a one size fits all approach.

Another observation is that I find when you see a knife in the hands of an old timer who really knows their stuff, they have technique that makes a small knife seem more than adequate. They know exactly how to grip the work and the knife to preform the type of cut they are trying to make. They have a certain finesse about them. Most of the time when you see someone with a modern 4" tactical blade its more of a hacking and chopping cut rather than finesse.

I'm torn though, it's hard to deny all of the features of modern blades. I do like one hand opening (all though I'm not a flicker, I just calmly open my knife when I'm holding something in my other hand), and I do like pocket clips. I carry both slip joints and modern one handers depending on my mood that day. Although I tend to go for one handers with 3" or less blades, not to thick of blade stock, high saber grinds or full flat grinds...basically blade characteristics of traditionals in a modern package.
 
Shotgun said:
If you read some of the older books by Nessmuk, Kephart and some others you'll notice that the slipjoint and the axe/hatchet is what was used in the field to do work. They did NOT carry a medium fixed blade for "heavy use." Carving and general cutting was what the slipjoint was for, wood work like building structures and starting a fire was the work of the axe. I don't remember them ever mentioning the fixed blade for anything else other than for food prep and taking apart animals. Nessmuk called it a hunting knife because that was the task for it. Nowadays a machete like jackknife's and some of the larger chopper knives are being used instead of the axe because for some they work better and/or they're lighter weight. The medium fixed blade survival/buschcraft knife is actually a more modern idea based off of the military's need for a pilot survival knife and rambo movies IMO.
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Great post. :thumbup:
 
I really like a small or medium slip joint and a fixed blade. That's probably my favorite set up.
 
338375 said:
Used correctly, and kept sharp, slip joints are able to do the daily tasks that most of us use a knife for.
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addylo said:
I'm one of those who after going through the modern folder phase is now going back to traditional slip joints. They are more than capable of dealing with most daily tasks and to me are just more satisfying to carry.
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What they said. Of course, I have a couple, depending on the task, LOL.
 
Locking folders have been around for a very long time.

The Spanish Navaja dates back into the early 1600s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navaja

Navaja2.jpg


Tough as heck folders with blades in the 3" to 4" range have been the choice of working people in Europe for centuries. Consider the German "sodbusters" and the French Opinel to name just a few.

Big "folding hunter" designs have been in the state for a very, very long time as was the large Barlow. And of course, the Buck 110 was, for many years, the top choice among working men, soldiers and sailors and biker gangs.

All of this to say, there have been different approaches to the problem for a very long time.

As much as I'm fascinated by the beauty of normal sized slip joints, my big XL hands and my near daily use of the knife for food prep and wood working make the Opinel #9 my preferred EDC carry (combined with a Leatherman Micra).


EDC Pair by Pinnah, on Flickr

I do more than an average amount of backpacking trips and ski touring trips and to be honest, an Opinel covers 99.9% of my backcountry knife needs.

Just watched a nice video by AverageIowaGuy on YouTube last night on expedition knives and he compares the various knives he used and saw used on 2 of his Amazon treks and concluded a locking folder with a blade between 3" and 4" was all he needed (well, he also carried a parang). Conrad Anker who knows a few things about being outside carries a Bladeo, if I recall correctly.

I find slip joints too small and fixed blades too big and bulky and a locking folder to be just right.
 
Speaking strictly for myself, I only carry "modern" (id est, locking one hand opening with pocket clips) knives in big cities. They are a practical way to carry a cutting tool in an environment were I'll be carrying it a lot more than using it.

However, when I go to outdoors, or to my house in the mountains or any other place where fixed blade knives are common, I leave modern folders at home. A fixed blade paired with a SAK, multiblade slipjoint or multitool (depending on what I'm doing) works great. In my personal case, modern folders are strictly urban tools.
 
I do it nearly everyday, but I live in a hicktown (really I'm in the country, but the nearest town anyway" ESEE Izula, or other similar sized fixed blade, paired with a GEC of some sort or Case Slipjoint, never once been asked about my knife in public, even while traveling, but it resides under an untucked shirt, so it's not totally noticeable. A small fixed blade is my "one hand knife", I've totally lost interest in modern folders.
 
Re: "the right tool for the job"

I carry 3 blades every day. I keep a Wenger Esquire (tiny SAK) and a Spyderco Manix 2 G-10 on body, and an ESEE 3 in my EDC bag. The ESEE 3 is basically an emergency tool. I haven't ever needed it in the course of my day to day life in a major metro area. It's there if I need it, but "the right tool for the job" is consistently one of the folders. I suspect that this is reality for most people.
 
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