EDC Priorities?

Hmmmm,

Cutting Sheet goods
-Cardboard to drywall and all inbetween
Lighting cigarettes
Wiping my greasy face
Cutting dirty stuff
Cutting clean stuff
Cutting tough stuff
Screwdrivers
Prying

In no particular order up there, as each day seems to shift it around. I carry a lighter and heavy use knife in back right pocket, a bandana and my phone in back left, my "tablet" (phone without service but with full wifi capabilities) in front left, and my pocket knife of the day I use for clean and non abusive cutting of small things and food in the front right or watch pocket depending on what it is. Pens go in front right as well, and my SAK goes in back right either as the heavy use knife or alongside it.

Connor
 
My primary EDC that I actually have on my person all the time has to be between 2 and 3/4" - 3" closed and more often than not is a slip joint. Of my favorite slip joints they are generally single spring, single blade, or equal end, sometimes a lock back. My current favorites are a a Case mini trapper, Northfield 72 wharnie and a Northwoods fruit knife. In the past it's been the Rough Rider Half Whittler I carried this one for two years and gave one away, I do miss it).

And I really feel like I need another Alox after a delivery person stole my Alox and Kindle from my table one day while assembling a bed they dropped off. I didn't call the cops as they knew where I lived and I figured they might need that stuff more than me for whatever reason.

For other things I have a drawer with about a half dozen other folders.
Food prep - I use only kitchen cutlery for this
Cutting rope and cordage - my preference is anything with S30v or S35V steel my favorite knife steels. I feel these keep a really good edge for this type of work. I also like 440c a lot.
Cutting down cardboard - Whatever I have on hand.
Shop/construction use (scoring, prying) - Usually a cheaper budget knife in the past it's been a Kabar Dozier or Byrd/Spyderco, I'm using a Mora, Manix 2 lw for these tasks and a Blur lately. While I love the Blur I feel like the Spydercos make it redundant. If the Blur was less than 3 ounces with a thinner blade stock I would think it's perfect as it reminds me a lot of Bob Doziers folders. I made the mistake of trading out an Elmax Blur when they were selling for $75. That knife was very hall of fame as Elmax is just a very nice EDC steel for all around use.
Heavy wood, foliage, crop cutting - hand axe / other from home depot
Package and letter opening, including clam shells - Anything slicey which are all of my folders.
I have a new genre:

Sliim beefy knife carry - I carry a Boker mini kwaiken sometimes, the thing is a light pry bar with an edge. Lots of fun. It's blade stock violates my desire to have a slicey knife though and I'd like to send it in to someone to regrind at some point to make it a super slicer. I don't really believe in having knives that are made of thick blade stock.
 
Oh amd my carhart winter jacket has its own layout too, as I wear it about 5 months a year.

Front left pocket for food and damageable items

Front right carries misc. tools I need that day, leather work/winter gloves, and ALWAYS has a foldout 5 bit screwdriver (one of the style of an allen key set, stamped steel body, US made), and a lighter

Inside left is the velcro poclet, where my cigarettes, a match book, small mechanical pencil, a cigarette holder/tar filter

Inside right is the zip up, which holds wallet, paperwork, my phone if im wearing a snow suit, and any other valuables.

Connor
 
Hawgsnawt said:
opening mail, shipping boxes, potato chip bags, dog treat bags, clam shell packaging, cutting zip ties, breaking down cardboard boxes to go in the trash, just general use stuff....I almost never cut or prepare food with my EDC nor do I use it for heavy work... I have specific tools for those kinds of jobs and they are never more than a few steps away.

all that being said... weither or not I can fend off a mugger or car jacker with the knife also carries weight with me.... sure a gun is preferred, as is beating a hasty retreat if feasible....but as a father, I have to consider I can not always have a gun on me, even with a CC permit.... and my 9 year old son isn't out running a full grown man intent on doing bad things....sometimes a knife is all you have between him and the ugly world....and sadly, that ugly world doesn't always stay in its own little neighborhood and leave good working folk alone....

Better to have and not need than need and not have....
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I agree with this, too.
 
Most of my use consists of food prep and opening packages, but I also like my folding knife to be able to handle aggressive dogs (it's very sad, but some people in my area train dogs for illegal fights) and other animals in an emergency. My EDC blades also occasionally cut hairs, threads, cordage, tape, cardboard and other assorted things.
 
My edc's cut hair all the time! My wife complains about me having missing patches in my arm every time I get a new knife or go on a sharpening binge. 😁
 
cchu518 said:
My edc's cut hair all the time! My wife complains about me having missing patches in my arm every time I get a new knife or go on a sharpening binge. 😁
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That's called knife fighter's mange.
 
I have to vary from your list a little...

1.. Cut everything from packing tape, shrink wrap, pallet strapping, hoses, conveyor belt.

2. Pry/scrape. Gaskets, seals, dampening collars, staples

3. Open boxes, clamshells

4. Breakdown cardboard

Never use my EDC on food. It gets filthy with hydraulic fluid, sand, stone dust.

For casual whittling, playing in the woods I generally have a fixed blade. So it's not a usual task for my EDC.
 
DFCustomKnives said:
Mini rant coming up...

It kills me when people list "Self-Defense" as the reason they carry a knife. The number of people (excluding military and police) who will EVER conceivably need use a knife in a violent manner is so small it's not even worth mentioning. The self-defense capabilities of a knife are 100% not a factor in my decision of what knife to carry.

If you're going somewhere where you're genuinely concerned that you'll be forced to fight for your life... don't go. And if you do go, bring a gun??

Rant over. I'd honestly love to hear rebuttals against this. Am I missing something?
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Totally agree my friend. I look at it like Dumbo's feather (yeah old reference I know, but I'm f'in old), if it gives you confidence, fine. Just be smart and stay out of trouble.

Back on topic; cardboard, twine, mail and yard debris most often fall to my EDC. Anything else I prefer more specialized cutting tools; chef's knife, hand saw, hatchet, wire cutter, xacto etc.
 
1. Food prep
2. Miscellaneous packaging materials (stretch and shrink films, pp straps, various polymers, cardboards, tape, etc.)
3. Various types of wood (from gardening weeds, shrubs and bushes to hiking camping hard-woods, carving, whittling, etc.)
4. Miscellaneous cordage (from paracord to ropes, twines and strings, etc.)
5. House maintenance work (masking tapes, hoses, some electrical cables, plastic cans, textiles, zip ties, etc.)

I always carry a SOG multi-tool anyway, so the specific tooling is somehow covered :). I try to let the knife be a knife :D.

Knife as a self-defence weapon is a rather poor performer in my opinion, already when compared with a rod or a stick. As offensive weapon it can work much better, specially if unsheathed by surprise . Here also we have a big problem with legislation, even if I defend myself or my family from an attack, I can be liable for committing a criminal offence using a knife for this purpose, more than ever if outside my home in a urban scenario. Hence the popular say we have here: “it’s better a bad trial than a nice funeral” :D, but better to avoid to have such experience :p.
 
small repairs,
food prep
opening parcels and boxes
rescue/first aid.

Thats the general order of most use, as much as I'd like to use my knives for more woodsy things, I tend to just break sticks. But thats sort of the thought process. as you can guess, SAKs are the normal main knife.
 
Why EDC?

1) to have a fun and unique trinket in my pocket every day. ie. a toy/conversation piece.
2) to fiddle with/cut stuff/whittle for personal entertainment.
3) to use as an appropriate cutting tool when necessary.
 
DFCustomKnives said:
Mini rant coming up...

It kills me when people list "Self-Defense" as the reason they carry a knife. The number of people (excluding military and police) who will EVER conceivably need use a knife in a violent manner is so small it's not even worth mentioning. The self-defense capabilities of a knife are 100% not a factor in my decision of what knife to carry.

If you're going somewhere where you're genuinely concerned that you'll be forced to fight for your life... don't go. And if you do go, bring a gun??

Rant over. I'd honestly love to hear rebuttals against this. Am I missing something?
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I agree as well. I carry a pistol for self defense (a good flashlight is also a great defensive tool). I guess I could press my large EDC folder into service if necessary, but I'm going to the pistol first. Hopefully I never need to deploy either in that manner.
 
DFCustomKnives said:
It kills me when people list "Self-Defense" as the reason they carry a knife. The number of people (excluding military and police) who will EVER conceivably need use a knife in a violent manner is so small it's not even worth mentioning.
Click to expand...

That number may indeed be small, but it's not zero. To each his/her own, but personally, if I already carry a knife every day anyway, it's not an inconvenience to choose one that - in a tough spot - might be able to keep a bad situation from getting worse. Considering the sorts of knives a lot of people claim to carry daily anyway, it seems that a good number of them may not carry a knife for defensive purposes but might very well be inclined to use one if the need arose.
 
Inazone said:
That number may indeed be small, but it's not zero. To each his/her own, but personally, if I already carry a knife every day anyway, it's not an inconvenience to choose one that - in a tough spot - might be able to keep a bad situation from getting worse. Considering the sorts of knives a lot of people claim to carry daily anyway, it seems that a good number of them may not carry a knife for defensive purposes but might very well be inclined to use one if the need arose.
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I think that describes the majority of BF.
 
I work in a professional office setting, so a discreet deep-carry clip is of top priority for me. Deep carry clips are a necessity and it's not a negotiable thing. So much so that I spent $30 for a deep carry Skyline clip that went on a knife I paid $50 for. No regrets. :cool:

My common everyday tasks are pretty light duty, opening mail, cutting fruit (mostly bananas and the occasional orange), and the odd package heavily sealed with heavy duty packing tape. I have my EnZo Birk 75 for the everyday tough tasks at home, but 5-6 days out of every week my priorities require a classy and discreet blade that won't scare people who haven't come within 10 miles of a Bass Pro in their entire life.
 
pinnah said:
I'd be interested to hear what people's different EDC priorities are. Here's a list of typical tasks. Can you put them in priority order for your own needs?

If you want, describe your typical carry and how well it matches up to your priorities.

COMMON TASKS
Food prep
Cutting rope and cordage
Cutting down cardboard
Shop/construction use (scoring, prying)
Hunting and game processing
Heavy wood, foliage, crop cutting
Fine whittling and wood working
Light tool use (screw drivers, cap lifters)
Package and letter opening, including clam shells
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1. Food prep
2. Letters/packaging
3. Cardboard
4. Scoring/light prying
5. Trimming foliage
6. Light tool use (bottle opening, screws)
7. Cordage and light wood work

And any other misc tasks that require a blade.
 
My EDC Carry outstrips my Proirities...which is the way it should be. I am a little over prepared.

Carry:
Leatherman Wave with bit Kit, telescoping Magnet, 6" Adjustable wrench, Pen with glass breaker tip, Folding knife, Firesteel, mini prybar, Keychain light, small pocket knife with tweezers, mini bic lighter, chapstick, cell phone, wallet, flashlight, Paracord bracelet, and wrist watch.

Priorities:
survival
feathersticks
whittling
food prep
opening packages
cutting rogue strings
cutting boxes
 
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