Do you own a vacation knife?

Yup an Orange Delica I picked up while on vacation in Oregon, good enough I don't miss my Seb and though not cheap not expensive enough to be too hard to bear if I lost it. And though not really a vacation knife, I only use my Blackjack 125 while camping.
 
I have a couple of different vacation knives. I have to travel a fair bit, and different places have different laws. Also, I like to make sure that any knife I take on vacation is one that I can lose without feeling heartbroken.

My Kershaw Cryo G10 and Case Sodbuster are my two go-to vacation knives
 
My Delica has been with with across Canada, the States, and to a few countries around the world. It's perfect for most tasks (mostly food) that I need, and I'm not scared that it's going to go missing with my luggage (or into some sneaky TSA hands) since it's not crazy expensive.
 
Depends on the vacation, eh?

Generally speaking, if I am vacationing via car, I carry more knives with me so I have some toys to play with. By air.... doesn't happen much anymore and I dislike flying, but I would have a SAK in my luggage.
 
I seem to reach for a sak, recruit or fieldmaster. Good enough blade, bottle opener since you're on vacation, and inexpensive enough to replace if need be
 
I sometimes end up in knife-unfriendly states so I have recently just carried my SAK. It does what I need.
At home, it stays in my watch-pocket.
 
The knives and tools I take on a trip depend a lot on whether I'm flying (which means my knives will be out of my sight) or travelling by land.

When I fly, I take dependable knives/tools, well suited to my intended activities on that trip but not overly expensive or with any sentimental value. My local airport (as well as others in South America) is notorious for its thieving employees (I've had a few things stolen). For instance on my last trip to Peru for a wrestling tournament I brought a SAK, an American Lawman and a Leatherman Wave. Sure enough, the Wave was stolen from my rucksack on the trip back.

If I'm traveling by car, train or anything like that, I tend to carry anything I fancy from my collection. If I need to pack light and carry a single folder it's something like my ZT 0300 or my Sebenza, and a good multitool. I drive through rural or wilderness areas quite often, on those trips I carry a few extra tools (axe or machete, fixed bklade knife, etc.). Inside my country I always have a nice fixed blade in case I'm invited to a barbecue (in traditional rural barbecues one is expected to have a knife, having to borrow one is rather shameful).
 
Of course, everything is dependent on where you're going and what kind of knife laws are there, but personally I bought a Spyderco Cat to bring with me travelling. Unfortunately for me, it has since turned into my favorite EDC so I would be rather upset if lost. Now that I've had more time to look at more knives, I would probably bring a Ontario Rat 2. Very, very solid knife, and only $25 bucks to boot.
 
I usually travel to the ocean so I take a Dragonfly or a Saversalt as well as a SAK and Usually a small leatherman. None of them raise any eyebrows and I find all of them very usefull at different times.






Plus they match my shorts

 
I'm surprised how many of you don't vacation! I wouldn't survive without it. I suppose we're pretty lucky in Switzerland. Travel is easy and we tend to have a lot of vacation days/holidays.

As for travel specific knives: I have some inexpensive, easily replaceable knives I have for the purpose of travel (Kershaw/Rat, etc). I always seem to grab my expensive favourites at the last minute anyway, though!
 
Do I own a vacation knife?

Not as such but I do seem to end up with a Vic. Mechanic somewhere in my gear when I am going to be gone for a few days. This is above and beyond any knife or MT that I have on my person and the SAK Super Tinker that stays in my wife's Subaru. She won't ride the motorcycle or drive my Mazda, so her Forester is the "go to" vehicle if we travel.
 
I usually take a less expensive knife on vacation , in case it s lost form a checked bag. My Tenacious usually fills that role. At the beach , the ffg Endura with vg10 steel makes a fine knife to use durng fishing, and the vg10 resists corrosion very well.
 
+1 on the SALT H1 series for those times when in/around salt water.

My choice of knife/knives depends on where I am going and what I am doing but for vacations I am usually in/around salt water.

As an aside, or should I say along side the folder, I rarely travel without some type of multi-tool and a fixed blade, activity dependent.
 
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Until recently my main concern about knives and traveling was kitchen knives (you, the knives that actually see someuse ;) ), but the reason for me to come here was to find a bit folding knives - also those for outdoor use. So - once I will decided on the knife (or knives) I want and get it, it will surely be coming with me nearly everywhere unless flying is involved (that I would put something cheaper in the check-in luggage) or unless the local laws are more strict as in Germany.

But to actually answer the question - for many years I only had my Fox multi-tool knife and it served me well, even though the straight and short (about 2") blade has limited use. Recently it was joined by a Spyderco Dragonfly, but it is alone again, but not for long :)
 
I usually just carry stuff that is pretty replaceable, and doubly so if I was flying. Depending on where I'm going, of course, with friends in different countries it wouldn't be hard to have something waiting for me. SAKs work pretty good, and tend to not wander. since most of my "vacation" stuff is camping or fishing, then its pretty well half the collection!
 
If I'm not going outside of the country, it's just something small and gentlemanny (as opposed to something "sturdier" at work). If I go outside of the country, something like SAK does the job well. Replaceable and cheap, non offending etc.
 
Funny you ask this as I've spent some of this evening contemplating what to take with me this weekend when we leave for the San Juan Islands. I echo the sentiment of the Spyderco Salt H1 crowd and think of that as my "vacation knife" due to it's rust resistance and the amount of saltwater we have here, and since that's usually where we find ourselves when we have free time. Even out of state, all our trips end up near the ocean. Half the fun of vacation planning is picking which knives to bring; so far, I think I'll bring the Pacific, Endura 4 FFG, Gayle Bradley, and a PM2 to try it out since I just got it, and then a fixed blade just because. I think I'm pretty well covered in the folder department.
 
All my knives (the folders, anyway) are travel knives. Traditional slip joints and a couple lock backs.
My employer allows us to have a knife, with just two limitations: nothing with a blade 4 inches or greater, and it cannot be mistaken for a "weapon". IMHO, that last one pretty much eliminates anything with a flipper and/or assisted opening. Swithch blades and butterfly knives are not allowed, as they are illegal in most (but not all) locations.

I've found that pulling a traditional knife that takes two hands to open out of your pocket at a restaurant or elsewhere does not cause much of a stir among the other patrons. They see that type of knife as something their parents and grand parents used, whereas a modern "tactical" knife is generally seen by the uninformed news media/movies/popular television brain washed masses as an "all black evil weapon". The LEO's also tend to not consider a traditional knife as a "weapon", even if it is a lock back of the Buck 110 type.

On a side note, there are some municipalities that have maximum blade length laws on their books. Check ahead if you are going to somewhere like the New York City Metro area, which is exceptionally a knife unfriendly area, and the larger Texas cities. I believe the laws vary in California, so it would beca good idea to check the laws if youvare going there.
 
Victorinox Rancher
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Was my edc back when we just carried stuff every day but didnt know what to call it.Whenever I go away I carry it.Pre911 it went on all air planes.It was red but most has worn off. The tip of the curved blade broke off 20 years ago.It came with a cool red lined black leather pouch
SAK is one of the few knives that never get a funny look from people
 
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