Educate Me

J

Joschka

Joined
Feb 15, 2015
Messages
30
I just don't understand all the love for these small, light folders. I'm a small guy with pockets full of the usual stuff and I can carry a 4"/7oz blade all day and never notice it.

Now if your wearing some light clothing like a suit, scrubs or a speedo, I can see where a small, light folder might be more practical. But with jeans or cargo shorts I just don't see it.

Maybe these small blades work better for you than a full size folder? Please educate me.
 
I wouldn't say I am a small guy but I am with you. My EDC is a LionSteel SR1 and it's no trouble at all to carry. Of course I live in a free state where people have common sense and don't freak out at the sight of it.

I do sometimes carry a Bladetech Mouse (a really neat little knife) as well, for when I need to open a bag of chips or some such task, but never as my sole carry.
 
Smaller knife is more acceptable in some places. And in some places is knife law. In Poland I can carry all types of knives [except those hidden in some stuff which doesn't look like knife] but people around can accept usually only swiss army pocket knife. Personally I like how some small pocket knives looks like, but don't carry them. They're too light, usually with too small grip for me.
 
I carry a ZT 0561 in my speedo, just for, uh, first impressions and all.
 
I've never been one to notice the weight of most things I carry. My keys are far more bulky and heavier than my Manix 2 in the same pocket. My other pocket usually has miscellaneous junk, and my back pocket has a heavy bulky wallet. When I cary my pistol, it's a full size G35, and even that doesn't really seem to make a noticeable difference except when I'm getting in and out of cars.

The only time I've ever found the size & weight of my knife to be any kind of an issue is in situations where I've had to carry it in the cargo pocket of my cargo shorts, but it's very rare for me to need to carry anywhere except in my top left pocket.

From an asthetics standpoint, I do sometimes prefer a smaller, more discrete knife when I'm in places where my Manix 2 could result in unwanted attention.
 
ourgon said:
Smaller knife is more acceptable in some places. And in some places is knife law.
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I was also going to point to laws being a deciding factor in some cases... I'll add that I prefer knives in the 3.5" range and often find that 4" folders take up too much pocket real estate... I don't mind hovering around the 3" mark since I can throw it in the change pocket of jeans and keep my pockets clear for other stuff, but I end up missing the other .5" of blade when I'm doing some food prep. If I'm wearing cargos, I sometimes go up to a legal 4" (in my area).
 
Joschka said:
I just don't understand all the love for these small, light folders. I'm a small guy with pockets full of the usual stuff and I can carry a 4"/7oz blade all day and never notice it.

Now if your wearing some light clothing like a suit, scrubs or a speedo, I can see where a small, light folder might be more practical. But with jeans or cargo shorts I just don't see it.

Maybe these small blades work better for you than a full size folder? Please educate me.
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1. Like you mentioned: a suit goes badly with a pocket brick.
2. Light blades (like the Military) make amazing backups. If you are already carrying two fixed blade knives but still want a backup, you might want to consider something very light.
3. Small blades seem to be the trend. 4" are hard to find, I personally hope this trend wont last forever. But there is the new ZT that looks amazing. That being said, this trend might be influenced by the office EDC. A small 3" knife is allot less intimidating then a big 4" flipper. I tend to prefer to be low-key in the office.

Other then that I kind of agree with you. I am also not sure why the market seems to prefer small blades by such a large margin.

- T
 
A matter of taste I understand. I'm not saying small is bad. I always have a small Swiss Army at the bottom of a pocket for 80% of tasks. It's just nice having that full size blade on hand for hard work.
 
I can understand it, but I have never found a small locking folder very useful. If I need a blade less than 3.5" I will always pick a Victorinox or a Case Mini Trapper to carry. The Delica and Mini Griptillian sized knives are very popular, but you will never see one in my pocket.

There is a point though...I find my Contego too darn big for most days.
 
People will carry what they are comfortable with. To each their own. Sounds like if you can carry a hefty blade you don't need to be educated on carrying a lite blade. Just carry what you want.

For me, I like bigger blade, >= 3.5". I dont mind the heft but I don't want the knife to be heavy just because. The weight must be justified.

Plus, my knife is not my biggest weight concern. My glock and wallet out weigh most folders I own.

Finally, 3 years ago I dropped 40 lbs so a couple lbs of edc gear really is of no concern.
 
I think that for most people, a 2" or 3" blade is completely adequate for everything they do on a daily basis. Smaller knives are more nimble for EDC as well. Except for reaching down into the bottom of a peanut butter jar, which I have never done with an EDC knife, few of us "need" a big knife. I like to carry the whole spectrum, but small knives (for me) are preferable for EDC.
 
(Generally) when I go into the city I carry my little Spyderco Dragonfly 2 ZDP-189 as CHI has a 2.5" blade limit. Its small, lightweight, and can be discretely carried in my jeans watch pocket. Sunday I forgot and went into the city with my Manix 2 CTS-XHP in my pocket. I realized too late when I saw that they were wanding everyone coming in. Nothing I could do. They wanded me down and didn't even notice. LOL. Great game though.
 
Part of my EDC rotation I carry either a BM mini Grip or a CRK S21 plain Jane for several reasons. 1. They fit my hand better then a 3.5" or 4" blade, 2. Doesn't take that much pocket real estate, 3. because of the weight they pretty much disappears in my pocket and 4. when using the knife it's less intimidating if someone.
 
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Noswad0208 said:
The Mini Grip can hang with a lot of "heavy duty" folders though.
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No doubt it can. I have found the handle size, not the blade, to the be limiting factor in most small knives when it comes to a heavy cutting job.

I recommended a Mini Grip for my sister several years ago. She carries it everyday.
 
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