Best knife in the pocket?

waynorth

waynorth

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Nov 19, 2005
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After carrying a folding knife in my right front pocket for most of my life (I'm 61), I've come to the conclusion that an older traditional style Canoe is the best knife to have if it's comfort in the pocket you are concerned with. With sunk joints and a slim profile, it doesn't wear out my pockets,and
with the fact that it always seems to sit with the backspring down and the blades up, it's hard to beat. The blade sizes are quite useful as well.
Here are some pics to illustrate my findings. A small sodbuster, a regular jack, a small canoe, and 2 regular sized canoes. My favorite is the older Case, a 1971 9-dot. It's real thin, but the spring is strong, the blades are carbon steel, and the famous redbone handles are nice to look at.
Has anyone else out there concluded that they've found the best knife for the pocket?
 

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Nice knives WN, but then you do have an eye for that. I was always taken a bit with the look of a canoe.

To look at a sodbuster I wouldn't have thought it that comfortable to carry. It has corners ya know. But after recently buying that Case Jr yellow handle I've yammered so much about I've had to eat my words. Just before reading this post I had to pat my jeans pocket to see if I had put it in there. I had, it just was lying there unobtrusive. In either jeans or dress pants (part of the uniform at work) it rides quietly and as with your canoes, backspring down.

I really expected to notice it more, but have come to really love the way it carries and handles. True, it only has one blade, but a fine and useable blade it is.

Maybe that's reason enough to give the canoe a try, eh. The extra blade.

A pattern that many swear by as a good carry is the Barlow. For me, I find them uncomfortable to carry anywhere but in a watch pocket. Nothing wrong with anyone who finds them perfect carry knives. They just don't work for me, even though I have a soft spot for the pattern.

Isn't it great we have such a selection of patterns and makers to choose from? Not all is lost in the world!
 
When I wear heavier weight pants I like a large stockman with round bolsters. With slacks and lightweight pants, I go with a single-bladed gents folder.

Gordon
 
I've always liked the medium round bolster stockman, but I'm also starting to lean toward the sodbuster jr because of it's light weight design combined with a single fairly stout blade. I still carry my old steel bolstered barlow some days, just because I like it (kinda the knife equivalent of a SAA Colt).
 
When I read the title, I immediately thought "Canoe"
You've got a couple of winners there!
Here's mine ;)
canoemarbles.gif
 
I see you haven't lost your marbles!! Queen is the best proportioned modern one there is! It's identical in shape and size to the Queen City in my picture I believe.
 
BTW Ebbtide, are the blades stainless?
 
Thanks for the address,LBG, I just ordered one! Always wanted a D-2, and I just sold a bunch of knives;)
 
I REALLY prefer rounded bolsters on my slippies because of carry comfort. I wish more knife designers would pay attention to carry comfort, as it's a huge issue. Most users carry their knives 23+ hours per day (ok, so I'm not counting sleep time) and are using them much less than an hour per day in total.
 
As much as it pains me to say it, seeing how I love stockmen so much, they are not the most comfortable knife to carry in anything exept jeans. When I have to semi-dress up, and I have on lighter weight slacks, its not so much an issue of bulk, as weight.

A number 7 Opinel carrys very well in lightweight pants. Its kind of like a light sodbuster in that regard. In spite of the slightly bulky wood handle, it does not weigh more than a few onces.

Another knife that carries well is the Victorinox recruit. Compact, light weight, smooth contours that have no square edges to wear pockets.

But then for classy dress use we have the canoe...:thumbup:
 
mnblade said:
I REALLY prefer rounded bolsters on my slippies because of carry comfort. I wish more knife designers would pay attention to carry comfort, as it's a huge issue. Most users carry their knives 23+ hours per day (ok, so I'm not counting sleep time) and are using them much less than an hour per day in total.
Click to expand...


In addition to rounded bolsters, why can't more companies make the tangs sit inside the handle when closed? I don't understand the logic of having sharp corners rattling around in your pocket..
 
Per Levines Guide, exposed tang knives are "stronger" than those with covered tangs. He doesn't explain why.

I like big knives, that's why the 5" Queen/S&M texas toothpick is my most pocket friendly slipjoint. It fits easy in the bottom of the pocket and its slim S shape makes it really pocekt friendly.
 
brownshoe said:
Per Levines Guide, exposed tang knives are "stronger" than those with covered tangs. He doesn't explain why.
Click to expand...
I can't believe that there's any logic behind that.
 
brownshoe said:
Per Levines Guide, exposed tang knives are "stronger" than those with covered tangs. He doesn't explain why.
Click to expand...
I've got a pretty good idea....

On most knives, the corner of the tang is exposed because the pivot pin is "off center", or shifted away from the backspring. In order to get the corner inside the bolsters, you need either A) a thinner backspring (less snap), B) a more narrow tang (leaving less steel around the pivot pin) or both. So you have your choice: a weaker backspring, or a weaker blade tang. Great choice, huh?

A few patterns, like the canoe and the copperhead, take a different approach: C) a larger bolster that covers the corner. Everybody wins! :D
 
Aside from one sharp corner, I think the Buck 503 carries about as well as any single blade pocket knife out there. Very thin, not too heavy but with enough bulk that you know it's there.

My old maroon micarta 503 is seeing a lot of pocket time these days.
 
Didn't Frost cutlery have a little canoe a few years back (when they got their stuff made in Japan) with celluloid handles? Has anyone tried one or were they just junk? Just wondering...
 
Yup, my Canoe is a Queen D2.
Once you get that stuff sharp it is something else :D
I used a hoodoohone (aka mousepad) to convexify the edge.
While I was at it I took of that nasty blade etch.
The blade etch was way more work than the edge...
 
Just like Ebbtide said, as soon as I read the thread title, the pattern that popped into my noggin was the canoe. Funny that I only own a couple of them, cos they sure do carry well!!

My favorite isn't a straight canoe, it's a "canittler", or whittler blades in a canoe frame. It's made by Fight'n Rooster, with that sweet Soligen carbon steel. The main blade takes up both springs, and is a 1/8" thick spearpoint, tough as a tactical, with a shaving sharp convex edge; the other two are a pen and a cope, much thinner of course, at the other end. Scales are "butterscotch and molasses" celluloid, and the nickel silver bolsters are embossed with a wavy pattern that actually adds a bit of grip in an otherwise slippery area. It's one of the most-carried knives in my EDC slipjoint drawer.
 
Sounds like a great looking knife as well as useful! I've never seen one like that; any chance you could post a picture??
 
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