Explain why you carry the way you do

Why carry steel?
I have a fishin' buddy who saw a woman get t-boned by a truck and she burned to death because her leg was stuck.
I also know a widow who told me the first person on her husbands accident scene (who is now her good friend)amputated someone's leg at the knee (w/ a tourniquet in place) and saved them a painful end.
So not carrying is akin in my mind to suicide.
As far as self defense (in town) I only carry tools which can be utilized with non-lethal techniques.
I never look for a fight, like most I know I only wish peace and happiness on all people.
 
IMHO My friend as long as it's of good quality, kept sharp and handy it will can save your life!

btw Gear, thanks I got a good laugh from your closing statement.
 
I carry a Case med. stockman in CV in my right front pocket at home, or running around because I like the edge retention and ease of sharpening of Case's CV. To church, I carry a Case peanut in SS because I know I won't be cutting anything too stout, and to work I carry a Buck med. trapper because it's a beater knife with420 hc steel. The long blades are very utilitarian too. In my opinion a med. stockman is the perfect knife for edc. The handle materials available are endless, the size is perfect (how big of a blade do you REALLY need?). Size has never been a limiting factor for me. Just my 2 cents, hope it helps.
 
I generally have three knives on me on an everyday basis: a CRKT Zillatool on my belt, a tactical folder clipped to my right front pocket (usually a Kershaw Avalanche), and a RAT Cutlery RC-4 in my Maxpedition Jumbo Versipack, which I carry pretty much all the time.
The Zillatool I carry because it's an excellent multitool with a good serrated blade. I don't tend to like serrations, but having one handy is sometimes useful.
The folder I use for general cutting, from letter and cardboard-box openning to harvesting peppers and tomatos in my garden.
The RC-4 I use for serious cutting jobs.
I also go out in the field occasionally and when I do, I carry a Kabar Bull Dozier, a big heavy chopper which I use for firewood preparation, clearing vegetation from geological oucrops, and food preparation.
Incidentally, in my state the law requires that knives not be concealed, so all of my knives are fully visible.
 
jfn said:
I think most of us on this board think of knives as tools first.
Click to expand...

without a doubt most of do, rather than as weapons. and even for those that carry knives as dedicated for self defense, most there see them as self defense tools. the thing is virtualy none of us relate to our tools as purely utilitarian objects or we wouldnt be posting here. if our knives were strictly utilitarian objects to us, they would be on par with a toothbrush. all of us are influenced in some degree by taste. taste competes with practicality in deciding what to carry. sometimes i notice that some of the users here have a refined taste for performance so there is an overlap in that. i get new ideas and solutions from reading these different post and learning about the various rationals that forum members have for their set ups.
 
I carry knives because I've always carried knives or had them right at hand.

I've always been interested in and enjoyed good knives.

I carry different knives because I have several nice knives I like to carry, so I rotate them.

Also, I believe it's our obligation to exercise our rights.
 
masivatak said:
IMHO My friend as long as it's of good quality, kept sharp and handy it will can save your life!

btw Gear, thanks I got a good laugh from your closing statement.
Click to expand...

Thank you I hope you know that one I am being serious and two I hope that was not meant in a bad way. This is the way I feel and I find it pathetic I have to do all of this to keep myself safe in this country.:grumpy:
 
Well, I suppose it's human nature to steal bread if the family is starving but the reality is home invasions for meth. and crack

Anyway no harm done, All here are my friends!
 
I have always carried one knife. The knife varies on mood, dress and activity. Just one knife to cut stuff, just like my dad and grandfather.

Prefer folding knives to fixed, unless I have a specific purpose in mind, i.e. hunting etc.
I think folders are more convenient and unobtrusive.
 
It's been a hot summer in Flordida, and I've been wearing linen shorts for all of it. I've been carrying a Spyderco Rookie with the pocket clip removed (it was destroying the light material of my shorts) and a lanyard added. Very thin and light for a perfect summer carry while at work, yet plenty tough to get the job done.
 
Jigged Bone said:
anybody changed the way they carried in big way from one point in their life to another?
Click to expand...

I have.

I carried a Buck 110 every day for a long time until I got to college in 1999. It didn't take too long for me to realize that a heavy knife on your belt isn't terribly comfortable when hiking across campus.... and a 110 isn't a very pocketable knife when you're wearing shorts.

That was about the point where I started carrying a clipped folder in my right pocket and a slipjoint in my left pocket. And ever since I made that switch, I haven't carried anything on my belt.

I still love the 110 and keep buying them, but I don't carry them. I like to travel light and like to keep my knives slim and as light as possible.
 
for me, one of the biggest changes was giving up, first multi tools and then saks. at an earlier point having some kind of portable tools with me at all times was just a given. but i found that it was very rare that i would be surprised by any situation that required tools. instead i usually would know in advance and be ready with dedicated tools like pliers and drivers,that worked better.i tried going without a sak or multitool and found that i didnt miss it at all.
the other thing for me was the discovery of the relationship between blade length and controll. to me it always seemed that more blade equaled more knife and going short or small seemed like intentionaly handicapping myself. it to a long time for me to finally understand the dexterity and precsicion that comes from a shorter blade. to the point now that in my mind i view blade length from the perspective that for every inch of blade there is a coresponding loss of controll and dexterity. i spend alot time combing for blades with full handles but extra short blades as a result. as a matter of fact i recently handeled an emerson stubby at a local store and may have found my next edc knife. even if it doesnt have jigged bone.
 
Not usually needing a multi-tool doesn't mean that you will never need one, but you can't use something that you don't have. For example, this summer on a camping trip, we discovered that our cook kit didn't have the pot lifter with it. I just used the pliers on my Zillatool. It worked well.
 
bill i hear ya. just found for me that rationale didnt justify the extra pocket space or weight on the belt. plus without carrying the multi tool or sak ive picked up lots of little tricks to compensate, like poping the cap of an imported beer with a lightet, using my bandana to take stuff off a fire. stuff like that has its own charm. and it frees me to carry what i really like and use on a daily basis. like my knife or flashlight.
 
For my day to day it's a Gerber Applegate, horizontal towards the back of my side. thats my security blanket, it's tough enough to count on if i need it but cheap to replace if something happens.
I usually always compliment that with a smaller folder clipped in my right front pocket. The make varies depending on where i'm going, Benchmade Sentinel for out in town, or one of my older more used models for box and wire stripping detail at work.
If I have more pockets open i might throw in another small folder, something pretty sharp and clean, got two Kershaws that usually fill this spot, leek or a scalion.
 
dewc on the subject of security blankets im always interested in how divided posters seem to be on the issue of carrying a dedicated tactical fighting knife for security. some folks just look on it as lunacy and others see carrying a dedicated folding fighter as common sense. i sometimes wonder if the deciding factor comes down to where you live and work. when you are working in areas where you are continualy brushing up against menacing situations, some how that tactical folder just never gets the chance to rotate out of daily edc. beats me. maybe its easier to be folksy and laidback about what you carry when you live in the countryside. it would be a good topic for a poll.
 
I'm kind of a history buff, and that being said, I carry only "Handmade" 1700's-1800's period style knives. I have a Concealed Weapons Permit so I carry both a pistol and knife; and my everyday carry knife is a traditional, old style "Scalper", patterned after the type carried from the 1750's-1830's. I carry this knife in a "period correct" sheath on my left side, slightly canted forward, for a "cross draw".
 
Jigged Bone, where i live it's country enough that it's not unusual to see camo everywhere, and i mean everywhere, during deer season that everyone is pretty laid back about carrying, but IMO, people tend to overlook a folder, even a big one,easier than a fixed blade. Theres some other elements that come in to play around here though that make me think it's smart for me to feel prepared "in case".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top