EDC musings

[afishhunter]

I grew up thinking that locking was better than non-locking - now, I'm not so sure.

Growing up ... well ... aging from childhood to adulthood, at any rate ... in Iowa, I started with slipjoints (a "DEMO" knife my Uncle gave me at age 4 or or 5 while he was home on leave) was my first knife. It was joined by a Barlow (Imperial or Colonial, I forget which. It was cheap shell construction, anyway, with good carbon steel blades) and a little later, a stockman.
A lockback (Buck 110) was among my birthday or Christmas presents in 1968. It was on my belt everyday until I lost it in 1975 while working in So. Cal.
I replaced it with a Old Timer 7OT, with a 1095 blade. No idea what happened to it ... I didn't get another 110 until 2014.

A blade lock isn't really necessary ... unless you do something stupid, like attempt to cut something with the spine, or don't pay attenton to what your doing. To be honest, the back spring isn't really necessary, either. Folk been totin friction folders for several thusands of years. (I believe the oldest known folding knife dates to 500~600 BCE. Most folks ain't lost fingers or other of their parts to their friction folders or spring knives AKA: "Slpjoints".

My normal carry is still a couple slipjoints. I pretty much retired the lockbacks a couple years ago. Single blades is one of the reasons. That is one of the reasons I don't tote my friction folders very often. I like multi blade knives.

 

[Luke_Chambers]

I'm rotating about two dozen folders, large and small. Still, the most often carried knives look like this:
- Small enough to fit neatly into a pocket. On the other hand, the blade needs to be long enough not to get food into the joint, about 3".
- Good slicer.
- Shape: Drop point or spear point, simply for the optics.
- I like a backlock, not that I ever need it. Frame locks or liner locks are no-no, because they tend to collect pocket lint and are time-consuming to clean. Plus, backlocks are inherently stronger. There is a nice youtube video on this.
- Bladesteel: Since I got an easy-to-use sharpening set, I don't care.
- Knife needs to be totally non-threatening.

 

[Viper84]

I've never needed more than a single blade 47 viper for my usual EDC tasks. Hard to beat a wharncliffe as a utility blade. I rarely carry just one slipjoint though.