EDC knife while wearing a suit?

My suit-carry knives are a fixed-blade Charles May Fireant in the left breast coat pocket and Vic Blue Farmer or Vic Black Huntsman suspended in the back right pants pocket by a black paracord lanyard with a monkeyfist knot tucked under my dress belt.

Almost forgot about the old Spydercard in my wallet, but then that's always in my back left pocket (unless I'm swimming or in a courtroom).
 
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+1 on the Benchmade 707 Sequel. I also love my CRKT Eros - KO calls it a "gentlemen's tactical", but in person it's very slim and elegant. Not very threatening at all.
 
A suggestion not seen thus far is a small fixed blade. I have a few from Alan Davis (Aland on here), that I've worn all day with scrubs. You can get stonewashed/ Hamon/ natural quality handle materials with a handmade sheath for well under what you are looking for. My two are Alabama Damascus with mammoth ivory, and textured Hamon 1095 with stag. Both with great custom formed sheaths by the maker. Check out the maker for sale area of the exchange- many great makers that can see your dreams come true.
 
You might want to look at one of the Kershaw Leeks. They come in numerous different color combinations, and in my opinion they look quite elegant. They are also nice and thin in profile as well as lightweight. The best part is that you can pick one up for around the $40 mark.
 
Some of the knives recommended in this thread are absolutely ludicrous to consider having in the pocket of suit trousers. (EDIT: And I personally won't carry a knife in a suit jacket pocket for various reasons I won't go into.)

Anything over a 3" in blade length is off limits for me when I'm dressing up. But body size and wardrobe choice (even when limited to "dressy" attire) has a lot to do with how much stuff you can tolerate in your pockets.

If you're a big guy and/or you favor more traditional suit designs such as those sold at Sears, JC Penney, Men's Warehouse or any other mainstream American department store, then you might be more comfortable carrying a knife larger than those I've listed below. Traditional/mainstream apparel tends to be cut more generously for comfort, which allows larger pockets.

I'm tall, skinny and like fitted suits made of wool or something like it (not talking khakis or slacks here). In this kind of getup things tend to bulge and print easily and you look stupid with a lot of stuff in your pockets.

So besides light weight, I look for flat profiles in knives.

I go with the Victorinox Bantam Alox, which I continually recommend because I like it so much. It's very classy looking, besides being immanently practical and capable. And light.

Others I've considered are:

anything William Henry
Al Mar Hawk Ultralight
sub-3" Great Eastern Cutlery knife
sub-3" Mcusta of some sort
Moki lockback of some kind
CRK Mnandi
Fallkniven U2
Benchmade Shoki
Spyderco Dragonfly (pushing it because of its broad profile)
Fox Knives Elite
Benchmade 705 or 707

I don't have any of these, but plan to get a Moki Blakiston Fishowl lockback.
 
It isn't fancy but I usually carry a FFG Delica 4 lightweight in RFP when wearing a suit. The clip is removed. This is very thin and light. It could also be carried clipped to an inside jacket pocket and you'd hardly know it was there.
 
For my money, under $200, there is nothing classier than a nice slip joint.


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I'd recommend a Case knife under 3.5". I carry my Case small stockman every time I get in a suit. It's thin, small, and has rounded bolsters. A suit is classy. A traditional slipjoint is classy. It's like the classy version of peanut butter and jelly.

Just in my (21 year old) opinion, I consider carrying a Spyderco or Benchmade in your suit pants pocket akin to whipping out your pointed tactical pen at a professional business meeting. Now a CCW is very different in my mind, but that's another topic...

If you need a locking blade, I second the Buck 55. Although the lock makes it a little heavier than most similarly-sized slipjoints, it is very trim.
 
Buck 503/501 (depending on hand size) would be perfect, but if you want something a little fancier I'd go with an Al Mar.
 
I recently picked up a Boker Anti-Grav for my new dress knife. It completely disappears in your pocket because it is super thin and incredibly light (2oz). Deep carry clip, carbon fiber handle, and ceramic blade; not bad for $60.

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NeoClassic said:
Some of the knives recommended in this thread are absolutely ludicrous to consider having in the pocket of suit trousers.
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CRK Mnandi
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Agreed about some of the suggestions. And the CRK Mnandi is the one I would choose. The pocket clip looks like a fancy pen. It is awesome.
 
I have been thinking about the same. I had been edc a kershaw clash, but it's not classy enough. So I bought a rough rider small bone handle...but too small. I'm waiting on the new cold steel Macinac.
 
For my "white collar edc," I like a small traditional slip joint. Either a Case Peanut or GEC #25 Barlow.
 
I have the 530's older brother the 350 and love it. It's so light and the coffin shaped handle gives it a little class.
 
I would say the CRK Mnandi, but since that is over you budget maybe a slip joint from Coats or Lloyd here on BF.
 
For suit carry, I'd recommend either the Case Sway Back Gent (single blade) or the Sway Back Jack (2 blade) - they have a LOT of handle material choices.
 
As someone who owns the following, I can reccomend them for suit carry:
Benchmade 530
SPyderco Kopa Carbon Fiber or Giraffe Bone
Spyderco Dragonfly (makes a good money clip)
Case Tribal Spear

Of these, my favorite is the Case Tribal Spear.:D But I usually carry it in addition to one of the others.
 
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