Everyday carry vs everyday use?

Just Tom. said:
After I started working mostly indoors, I went through a period when I decided I didn’t really need to carry a knife all the time - which proved to be true except all of those thousands of times I struggled to open something with the jagged edge of a key, or cut an apple with a plastic picnic knife. That situation went on for maybe 10 years I think, before I regained my senses.
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I've carried at least one pocketknife in my pocket since I started the first grade. My dad gave me my first knife and a lecture about how great of a responsibility having a knife is and everything. I can't even imagine going anywhere without at least a couple of knives.
Just Tom. said:
Also, once you become known as the guy with the knife, other people start relying on you for cutting stuff. I have had people walk up to me with a box and just hold their hand out without saying a word.
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Well, that gives you an excuse to sharpen your knives more!
 
Just Tom. said:
I have had people walk up to me with a box and just hold their hand out without saying a word.
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People who walk up to me with their hand out get to enjoy a cold, hard stare without me saying a word. If they’re people I like who don’t have a cutting tool (that sure narrows down the selection), I’ll cut what they need cut.

Carry at least 2 every day, use one at least every hour, worn out a few. Construction sites are a target-rich environment, farms and homesteads are too.

Parker
 
I seem to have times I hardly need a knife, followed by days it seems like I don't put one down. I use a machete on the job all the time. Despite not always needing one, the potential remains that I might need one, so I won't ever not carry one.
 
catspa said:
People who walk up to me with their hand out get to enjoy a cold, hard stare without me saying a word. If they’re people I like who don’t have a cutting tool (that sure narrows down the selection), I’ll cut what they need cut.
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The one time it wasn’t a family member, the guy was a coworker and a nice guy - I didn’t mind handing him my knife. Besides, I had seen him struggle to open a box with some ridiculous hipster-looking fixed blade he had with a paracord wrapped handle, and I didn’t want to suffer through that again…
 
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Seems I’m not the only one. Most days my pocket knife sits in my pocket. I can’t carry to work, seeing as I work in a hospital, but in my days off I will slice up diaper boxes or cut food for the kids. Other days I just whittle because I like it.
 
I suspect that for the members of this forum, a knife isn't just something we carry, but rather, carrying a knife is a part of who we are, whether we need it or not.

These past several years I hardly ever use a knife away from home, literally maybe 3 or 4 times a year.

I use folders at home somewhat more frequently, maybe a few times a week.

I often wish I had more need for a knife. Not using my knives, and not having more need for a knife, just feels wrong to me.
 
As a remodeling contractor I usually carry a modern folding knife and a slip joint every day. (Sometimes a small fixed blade) In a day one of them may not get used but at least one gets used multiple times a day usually. But that's just the job. Because of it, I have a hard time talking myself into buying a knife that can't be used at work. Many of my "weekend and evening" knives go for a couple weeks without getting used sometimes. I just want a few titanium bolstered, carbon fiber, s110v, crazy lightning anno knives, but at the moment I refuse to buy a knife that I won't use. I'll definitely end up buying some (and will use them) but at the moment I enjoy carrying the latest new knife as much as possible, and that ends up at work.
 
I'm all over the map in this regard, due to the number of knives I carry at once.

My traditionals are typically carried purely for my enjoyment. Many days they remain in my pocket, sometimes I choose to use them over my modern folder just because I feel like it, and sometimes their main use is simply for me to take them out and admire them.

When it comes to SAK's and my Swisstool, their use is to be there when the need arises, not so much that I need to use them every day.

I use my modern folder fairly often. I'd say I have the need to cut at least something every day, even if it's just packaging. The thing is, my activities vary from time to time. I may go a couple of weeks when my knife is seeing heavy use all day long, or I may go a week barely using it at all. I'll even make a startling admission, when it comes to packages with paper tape (like Amazon), I often leave my knife in my pocket and just tear it open with my hands :eek:

Honestly, when I think about it, my flashlight is equally as essential as my knife. Even in the daytime, there's always the back of a cabinet, or underneath something, in the shadows, etc. I'd say I use it for something or another pretty much every day as well. I'm just as baffled by people who don't find the need to carry a flashlight as I am those who don't carry a knife.
 
All I know is that I use my Surefire Sidekick flashlight 40,000 times more than I’ve ever used any knife (or anything else) that I carry.
 
jlauffer said:
Happens to me quite a bit, especially during the week. Just not a lot of opportunities to use a knife sitting behind a desk.
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That happens when I'm at work, but I could say the same about my wallet may small penlight. When not at work, I could also say the the same about my gun or defensive fixed blade. I would agree that for "civilized" use, most knives are carried a lot a used little. Some have jobs where they're used frequently, but being in the office these days, I really have to use my imagination to pull out the blade.

For off-work carry, I've been carrying a Leatherman FREE P4 as my primary "pocket knife" as an experiment and I find I use that multitool for far more than just cutting. It's become a problem solver tool.

ROCK6
 
jlauffer said:
How often do you throw a knife in your pocket at the start of the day, then put it away at the end of the day, and realize you never took it out in between?

Happens to me quite a bit, especially during the week. Just not a lot of opportunities to use a knife sitting behind a desk.
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Does “Emerson waving” it out when the xenomorph shows up on TV count?
 
000Robert said:
I carry everything regardless of need. The old saying is that when you don't carry it is when you'll probably need it.
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Yeah, like beer openers and cork screws. I drink rarely but when the need arises, I can’t seem to find the dang openers.
 
I always carry an Alox SAK, usually along with a CRK. Even though I have a well stocked tool box in the garage, another one in the basement, a tool bag in my truck, one in my wife's Jeep, and a drawer in the kitchen with tools; the darn SAK manages to get used every single day for tightening a screw, or some light prying, or boring a hole, etc.
 
I can’t think of a day that’s gone by where I haven’t used the knife I’m carrying for something.

Hell, I make excuses to use it if I have to - slash open that ream of printer paper, deanimate that bag of chips with extreme prejudice, break down all those boxes piling up!
 
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I guess I don't really understand what the OP is getting at. I am also an office worker so my daily cutting chores are pretty light and somewhat limited but doesn't mean that I go knifeless. I like having it when I need it. The same can be said about my EDC flashlight and writing pen. I don't use them everyday but it is sure nice to have them when I need them. Makes life easier.
 
DavidABQ said:
I guess I don't really understand what the OP is getting at. I am also an office worker so my daily cutting chores are pretty light and somewhat limited but doesn't mean that I go knifeless. I like having it when I need it. The same can be said about my EDC flashlight and writing pen. I don't use them everyday but it is sure nice to have them when I need them. Makes life easier.
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I think OP is lamenting the fact that he doesn't use his knife more compared to how often he carries it.
 
EngrSorenson said:
I think OP is lamenting the fact that he doesn't use his knife more compared to how often he carries it.
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I can understand that. Some occupations require more knife use than others. I guess the OP could go around their workplace asking others if they need anything cut?
:rolleyes:
 
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