EDCing an older slipjoint

[GaiusJulius]

Knives wear out mainly because they are opened and closed for years without any oil in the joints, which increases the resistance and causes more friction, hence, more wear. Eventually enough material is removed from the blade tang or the spring to weaken the snap. If you just make sure to take basic care of the knife (don't carry it in the back pocket of your really rough denim jeans where the covers will be worn smooth over time, don't carry it when you know you will be sweating buckets, oil the joints periodically) it should last decades, even if you carry it almost every day.

 

[TsarBomba]

I carry this sometimes. Cool knife. 3 blades and 2 springs. The main blade is larger and uses 2 springs to support the blade. Cool concept.

The venerable splitback (or split-spring) whittler. I really should get my hands on a Case version. I own exactly one, and it's a Taylor-made Schrade anniversary (imported, probably 440A, but really nice bone). Wish Case would make a splitback seahorse whittler.

I have a 1920-1940 Case and a Remington from the same era that are both in my EDC rotation. However, those knives were in used condition when I bought them. I have several 1940-1964 Case knives and one 1965-1969 Case knife that are all in mint or near mint condition. I won't carry those because of their age/condition ratio but that's just my own personal decision.
I can't bring myself to bugger up and old knife in excellent condition but if it's already somewhat worn I'm all for it.
I guess what I'm saying is that if I were in your shoes I would probably not carry that knife if its condition is as you describe. I would look for a more worn version and keep that one preserved.

This is pretty much exactly my philosophy. If it's an old (40+) knife in immaculate condition I can rarely bring myself to carry it, especially if it has some value. If the knife's obviously been carried in the past, I see no problem with continuing the trend. I keep a small wooden box of 'exact duplicate' knives which are part of my EDC rotation and allow me to keep pristine examples of the same knives in the safe.

That being said, as I've attempted to take up leatherwork lately, I've relaxed some of my restraint over carrying certain old or pristine knives somewhat thanks to the idea of custom slips.

Case makes some inexpensive sueded leather pocket pouches with a flap and Velcro closure. Like "5 for $11" inexpensive. Three sizes. When searching look for Case part # 9066, 9067, and 9068. Small, med, large respectively.

They also throw them in with many of the recent Case Brothers-branded knives, I've noticed. I sometimes swap the sheaths around between smaller knives when I want to avoid pocket-dings.

Knives wear out mainly because they are opened and closed for years without any oil in the joints, which increases the resistance and causes more friction, hence, more wear. Eventually enough material is removed from the blade tang or the spring to weaken the snap. If you just make sure to take basic care of the knife (don't carry it in the back pocket of your really rough denim jeans where the covers will be worn smooth over time, don't carry it when you know you will be sweating buckets, oil the joints periodically) it should last decades, even if you carry it almost every day.

Excellent advice. :thumbup:

I don't have an "EDC" per se (variety is the spice of life ) but I do have some older knives that get carried.