Ever Known Anyone to Carry Just One Knife?

From around 1988 through 1997, I carried the same Victorinox Spartan, an older version that didn't have the tweezers/toothpick. It was my only knife when I lived overseas in Taiwan, and several more years after. During that time, I never really felt under-knifed. Back then, you could still carry a pocketknife in your pocket onto airplanes. I also carried it when I took trips to Hong Kong and South Korea, and switching planes in Japan. Obviously, that would be a no-go today.

Jim
 
:):):D:D:(:);):cool::eek::p:mad:
killgar said:
I've carried the same folder for the past six years (Bradley Alias). I have other brands of folders (Benchmade, Al Mar, Spyderco, Buck) but the Alias is one of my favorites and at $300 my most expensive, so I want to be sure to get my money's worth out of it. Aside from my Al Mar SERE and a Buck 110 I've had for over thirty years, I'm not really all that fond of my other folders.

I've also been carrying the same Fixed-blade for the past six years (Wilson model 25). It cost me a little more than $300 so I want to get my money's worth out of it as well. I own several other brands of fixed-blades (Entrek, Al Mar, Kabar, etc) but I feel the Wilson serves my needs the best out of all of them.

I haven't bought any new knives over the past six years. Little things like providing my family with food, shelter, heat, clothes, medical insurance, etc, etc, are more important to me than buying knives I really don't need just to have new ones.

I'd buy more knives if I could afford it, but fortunately for me I'm not addicted to buying new knives. The knives I already have serve me well enough, and I don't feel ill-equipped carrying the same ones every day.

And as long as I don't lose either of them, I expect to be carrying the same two knives for many years to come. And that's just fine with me. :)
Click to expand...
I'd like to see the wear on the Alias and 25. Anyway you could post a pic? :)
 
unfortunately all three knives went to other family members, so no pics.... but my great grandfather, a farmer, always carried a large trapper with bone scales (not 100% sure of the maker, but if memory serves correct it was a Case).... my grandpa who sold cars at a Ford garage for 51 years carried a Case Peanut daily, and then my father who for as long as I remember, carried an old Buck 110 on his belt.
 
My dad carried an electrician's knife when I was growing it. Beat the hell out of it, the blade had side to side play and the screwdriver edge was dull as could be. He's since retired it and carries a Stockman in some type of bone scales.
 
My dad is a 'one-knife-at-a-time' kinda guy. He'll carry the same knife every day until it's either lost or broken (he doesn't go easy on his knives either!)

One summer, my parents drove down for a visit and Dad somehow managed to misplace his knife along the way. Since he prefers small flat folders that aren't too bulky in the pocket, I gave him a little Spyderco Kiwi 3 from my horde o' knives. He thought it was "weird-lookin'" but he liked how small it was and how the choil gave him more room for his giant farmer's mitts. Now he loves it.

kiwi301_zps907dd728.jpg


On a later visit, I asked him how his 'weird knife' was holding up. He got kind of a goofy embarrassed grin on his face, dug the Kiwi out of his pocket, and handed it to me. A bit of the tip was broken off, the spine had some crazy deep dings in it, it looked like he'd sharpened it on a benchgrinder, and the scales were a dull matte grey 'coinwash' from extensive pocket carry. He said he'd gotten the bar of his chainsaw stuck and used the Kiwi to dig it out, which is how the tip snapped! :eek::D I got a good chuckle from that and gave him another Kiwi as a spare. He tucked the new knife into his suitcase and put the old one back in his pocket. "Still good," he claimed. At least he let me put a tip back on it and give it a proper sharpening before they headed back home. I wish I'd thought to take a photo of his ol' Kiwi...

-Brett
 
RedLynx said:
Have you ever known anyone in your life who carried only one knife for years, or perhaps even all the time you've known them?
Click to expand...

Yeah. Me. I carried a Buck 303 (small stockman pattern) every day for over 10 years in the 70's and 80's.
 
Great answers everyone thanks and please keep em coming.

If you have the desire (I'm lazy about pics myself so I'd understand) I'd love to see how your one knife for years of use has held up over the years.
 
I carry one knife only most of the time. Either a customized SAK Spartan, customized SAK Tinker or a Leatherman Juice with a clip on it.

Ohh, and I dont have a 'rotation.' I carry one of the above for a while and when I need a tool for a specific purpose, I clip one of the other knives in my pocket, should they have said tool instead of the knife currently carried.

Or I just carry another knife, if I need a change or need to go (even lower) profile i.e. bring the smaller Tinker instead of the Leatherman tool. Though they are of course all on the smaller side compared to what others carry.
 
First of all, I really enjoyed reading all of your posts, thank you for sharing!

Secondly, one person would be my Grandfather who carried a Buck 422 from when it first came out in 84 till the years up until his passing in 2014. He would carry a couple small pen knives by Case when he wore a suit to church but if he was on the farm he had it on his belt. If he was at the Power plaint he didn't have it too far off. He had a number of knives over the years and my father who was not his son, as my father got my mothers parents in the divorce, stating getting him a Case knife each year for Christmas but that 422 he carried constantly when doing what he loved.

My father was also a one knife guy, while he had several, when I was very young he had a Barlow that he carried for work, I think it's a an old Ulster Brand 2 bladed from the 70s. They were tough but he was tougher and I think replaced them 2 times due to breaking the blade in half. In 95 he got a Case Large Stockman and loved that knife. It suffered a lot of wear and tear and being a CV blade it didn't hold up as well in the pocket of a man who sweated from sun up to sun down working be it at work or at home. He got a replacement eventually but they didn't make them in that scales anymore and he just really didn't carry it. I've gotten him a few knives in recent years like a Kabar version of the 110 with thumb studs as a beater knife and he carries it as well as a Victorinox Pioneer that he loves and uses while he makes things.

And then there is myself, my Uncle (mothers brother) was killed in am accident in 94 at the age of 26. Having Muscular Dystrophy he actually had a license and permit to ride a Four Wheeler ATV on the Road. One night/very early morning he had a collision with a car that hit him while he was turning onto another road. The other person involved was actually someone I knew being the father of a boy I went to school with and in fact was staying at that boys house that night. My uncle was taken to the hospital but died shortly after. That was the day before my 11th birthday. I was shopping with my mother a few weeks later and she said if I wanted to get a knife for my birthday that had just past that I could. I picked out something new and interesting back in 94, The Buck 180 'Crosslock'. I loved that knife and carried it most days when I could even through school/college until 2016 when my Gran (Grandmother on my mothers side) passed away and I chose to purchase a new Buck 110 to carry. I have a lot of knives and do carry a few different ones these days, some of which Im modifying or rebuilding to better suit me, but that 180 and all the things it went through with me and represented was my "One Knife".
 
Just seen this post so will add. My Grandad carried his British army issued penknife from 1940 until near his death in 1981. I still have it and obviously it's my most "valued" blade!
 
This is an old thread, but I’ll join in. I normally carry only one knife at a time, but I keep 2 in my rotation. I have a Boker Whittler that I use as a work knife, and a Buck Stockman for casual carry. Both are old knives with a little character.
 
I carried the same Buck 303 from 1979 until I lost it in Jamaica on my honeymoon in 1990. Replaced it with a 301 that I carried until ‘99 before branching out to modern ( for then) folders.
Even after that I kept a 303 in my pocket as well until the Mnandi retired it almost 3 years ago.
 
RedLynx said:
Have you ever known anyone in your life who carried only one knife for years, or perhaps even all the time you've known them?
Click to expand...

Yes, me. The only knife that I carried for years (before I became a "collector") was an all black Kershaw Shallot 1840CKT.

iu


I now own 9 variations of the Shallot:

2Hhelgb.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top