Fixed blade edc question

[Wild Willie]

I would camp out in the fixed blade for sale section of BF. Some really good pocket fixed blades from individual makers show up regularly.

I will second this. Lots of excellent makers with beyond reasonable prices...

 

[Sonnydaze]

IMO it’s hard to top the G3
Big enough for most jobs but not so big that it freaks people out, and it tucks away nicely. Ive forgotten it’s on my belt a couple times.

post a picture

I've carried the Bradford G3 crossdraw for several yrs...along with a clipped folder. I've owned G3's in about four steels, but prefer the one in Vanadis 4E Superclean. High praise.
their leather crossdraw sheath is ten bucks and works great.

 

[Horsewright]

I've been carrying a small fixed blade for many years now as an EDC. I carry exclusively in a horizontal crossdraw sheath:

This is one of our cattle brandings and the knife in my back pocket is a castrator, or in cowboy vernacular a "nutter". My EDC is on my belt.

While not quite as tall as your 6'5", I'm 6'4" with big hands too. If the handle is correctly designed even a small knife can be comfortable in a big hand. I have carried for years at a time, knives as small as 5.25" to 5.5" oal with 2" blades. While not a first choice for a downed elk, I have yet encountered a task where I didn't have enough knife, in day to day usage. I use my knives often both on the ranch and in the shop and these smaller fixed blades have worked for me. Around here the ladies too carry small fixed blades:

My booth babes at a show:

Heck even when ya have a calf laying on it, a crossdraw knife is comfortable and out of the way:

Its out of the way when your busy and bent over and working too:

Or roping. Ol George has branded so many calves sometimes I have to wake him up:

Usually don't have to wake up Mister Brown:

Its always right there when ya need it and out of the way when ya don't and it don't scare the civilians much if ya go to town.

I have found through experience having made thousands of knives and their corresponding sheaths, with the vast majority being crossdraw, that 7" oal is about the biggest knife ya want to carry that way. My current EDC is 6.5" oal with a 2.5" blade, one of my Paisano models. Prior to that I ran with a Gordo model that is 5 3/8" oal with a 2 1/8" blade. Top one is my current EDC and the bottom one is the prior. Both are 26C3 high carbon steel and sheep horn for the handles:

I make and sell a lot of small fixed blade knives. Probably 20 to 1 for every bigger knife I make (bigger is over 7.5" oal):

Thanks for the shout out @bikerector

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Do you supply your ranch hands with your custom knives?

 

[000Robert]

In Texas I do not think you can carry any knife. The law states that 5.5" is a maximum blade length, so you should start there. I don't know what stores are in San Antonio but if you ever make your way up to Ft Worth go to House of Blades and look around one of the most impressive knife stores that I have ever been to. I lived there in the 1980's so things might be different. Whatever you choose I would say keep it discreat if not concealed. I used to see a guy all the time in public with a 7 inch Kbar on his belt and he looked like an a-hole.

It's called a, "location-restricted knife", that has a blade length that is over 5 1/2". You can start reading at page 75 of the LTC-16, 2019 - 2020.

 

[vjb.knife]

the Texas law confused me a bit, I know we can carry any type of blade now, auto and such, but the wording of the rest im not 100%. Anyone can carry under 5 1/2 anywhere but over 5 1/2 can be carried in non restricted areas i thought? Like schools and government buildings, i could be wrong, and please correct me if i am, but that was my understanding of it

After re-reading it, I believe you are correct but I am certainly not a lawyer.

 

[Alberta Ed]

Cross draw in a horizontal sheath works for me on the few occasions I carry a FB these days. I reviewed a Fallkniven H1 (borrowed from Cliff Stamp -- I sent him my Roselli erapuukko in exchange) and packed it around the office a few days in the Kydex crossdraw sheath. No one noticed, but that was in the Yukon where people pack FBs in the Legislature and no one blinks an eye.

 

[Triple Stripe Knives]

I've found that I can carry my fixed blade very easily, it's just under 6" OAL, it has a 3.25" blade, and a very tiny handle, but since I have small hands (I'm 14), it works well. I carry it horizontally with a slight downward cant in a kydex taco sheath. I have rubberized webbing loops to attach it to my belt. It conceals fairly well, but I'm also a sub 30" waist, so it would conceal a lot better on someone larger. I'm thinking of making a claw type thingie like you might see on an IWB holster to just tuck the butt of the handle in more.

 

[REK Knives]

The Ember is highly concealable and a great size. Less than 3/8" thick in the handle too.

 

[zzyzzogeton]

In Texas I do not think you can carry any knife. The law states that 5.5" is a maximum blade length, so you should start there. I don't know what stores are in San Antonio but if you ever make your way up to Ft Worth go to House of Blades and look around one of the most impressive knife stores that I have ever been to. I lived there in the 1980's so things might be different. Whatever you choose I would say keep it discreat if not concealed. I used to see a guy all the time in public with a 7 inch Kbar on his belt and he looked like an a-hole.

the Texas law confused me a bit, I know we can carry any type of blade now, auto and such, but the wording of the rest im not 100%. Anyone can carry under 5 1/2 anywhere but over 5 1/2 can be carried in non restricted areas i thought? Like schools and government buildings, i could be wrong, and please correct me if i am, but that was my understanding of it

The Texas law as it now stands is very simple - You can carry any blade length knife anywhere you want with the following exceptions -

*You cannot carry ANY knife where prohibited by FEDERAL law, e.g., court houses, federal buildings, secure areas of airports, etc. Nothing in the Texas laws about this. It is expected that one knows that Federal law has its own limitations.

*You cannot carry any knife where prohibited by LOCAL law e.g., court houses, county jails, etc.

*You cannot carry a location-restricted knife into a location-restricted area.

*Local governments can still ban knife carry in specific buildings or portions of buildings but cannot pass broad restrictions such as those formerly in effect in San Antonio (no locking folders), Corpus Christi (no fixed blades at all) and Dallas County (nothing over 4" in any County Building).

All these local ordinances were made null and void when the pre-emption law was passed back in 2017.

That's it - Carry any knife you want except as identified in the 4 *lines above and line 4 is really just an explanation for line 2.

All the rest below is explanatory information.

You cannot carry a "location-restricted" knife (one with a blade length greater than 5-1/2 inches) in any location where BY LAW you cannot carry a concealed handgun or where you cannot carry a location-restricted knife.

Yes, I realize what I said is redundant but that is because Texas law has a section of the penal code that lumps location-restricted knives in the weapons category and then has a separate section that specifically targets location-restricted knives.

This sections of the Texas Penal Code (Section 46.03 (a) and Section 46-03 (a-1)) that specifies the banned carry locations is at -

https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._penal_code_section_46.03

There are NO TEXAS laws that specify signage for the prohibited carry of knives. The 30.06 and 30.07 signage for announcing that a specific business prohibits the carry of concealed handguns and open carry handguns does NOT mention location-restricted knives and the 30.06 and 30.07 statutes make no mention of location-restricted knives.

Whether one could be arrested for carrying a location-restricted knife in a 30.06 or 30.07 signed location is a gray area that has yet to be codified by a court case. I for one choose NOT to be the court case, so I only carry sub-5-1/2" blade knives in buildings sporting a 30.06 or 30.07 sign.

A business may post a sign that prohibits the carry of knives - one of those signs that sport a knife or knives with the "NO" symbol over them. That just means they can ask you to leave if you are sporting a knife they can see. If you refuse to leave, you can be arrested and charged with trespassing for refusal to leave when the cops show up.

And the ONLY reason we have the "location-restricted knife" verbage and laws on the books is bacause of the idiot who carried an "illegal to carry in public knife" (one with a blade legnth greater than 5-1/2 inches) onto the University of Texas at Austin campus and stabbed a student, who subsequently died just a few days before the legislature (IN AUSTIN) was scheduled to vote on the bill removing knife length restrictions completely. ONLY by the huge efforts of the Knife Rights lobbyist Todd, was a compromise developed which was the location-restricted" designation and laws.

 

[zzyzzogeton]

And now I answer the OP's original question -

I carry whatever I feel comfortable carrying. I tend to fall back on what I carried for 20 years before the law change in 2017.

I carry a Kabar-Becker BK11 in my LRP along with the following ---

a pair of Kabar 3/4 length (i.e., the SHORTIES") field/utility knives, both kraton and leather handles in the black plastic "shorty" sheaths.

OR a pair of Kabar 1232 B&Ts

OR a pair of Western L48As B&Ts

OR a pair of Western L48Bs B&Ts.

Occassionally, I will carry a Kabar B&T AND a Western B&T just to be different.

I will also carry "location-restricted" knives in place of one of the B&Ts while working around the farm. I just don't have to take it off if I have to go to town for something. I've carried Kabar 1217s (and various equivalents), BK-7s, and BK-9s with no qualms what-so-ever.

The more you carry a fixed blade, the easier it is, the less "in the way" it becomes and the less self-conscious you are about packing them. Until I had back surgery last week, I always had 3 fixed blades on me. I have not been carrying anything except a small folder for in-house cutting, and actually the LACK of fixed blades is harder for me to get over than the surgery.

 

[joeldworkin307]

I love the Izula for a small EDC fixed blade. I pocket carry mine now but I used to carry it on my hip in a leather sheath in the 4-5 o'clock position. Never got any looks, but I was living in Colorado, working as a guide, and in my mid 20's so it was a little more socially acceptable. Here are my sheaths:

 

[Sonnydaze]

I've been carrying a small fixed blade for many years now as an EDC. I carry exclusively in a horizontal crossdraw sheath:

This is one of our cattle brandings and the knife in my back pocket is a castrator, or in cowboy vernacular a "nutter". My EDC is on my belt.

While not quite as tall as your 6'5", I'm 6'4" with big hands too. If the handle is correctly designed even a small knife can be comfortable in a big hand. I have carried for years at a time, knives as small as 5.25" to 5.5" oal with 2" blades. While not a first choice for a downed elk, I have yet encountered a task where I didn't have enough knife, in day to day usage. I use my knives often both on the ranch and in the shop and these smaller fixed blades have worked for me. Around here the ladies too carry small fixed blades:

My booth babes at a show:

Heck even when ya have a calf laying on it, a crossdraw knife is comfortable and out of the way:

Its out of the way when your busy and bent over and working too:

Or roping. Ol George has branded so many calves sometimes I have to wake him up:

Usually don't have to wake up Mister Brown:

Its always right there when ya need it and out of the way when ya don't and it don't scare the civilians much if ya go to town.

I have found through experience having made thousands of knives and their corresponding sheaths, with the vast majority being crossdraw, that 7" oal is about the biggest knife ya want to carry that way. My current EDC is 6.5" oal with a 2.5" blade, one of my Paisano models. Prior to that I ran with a Gordo model that is 5 3/8" oal with a 2 1/8" blade. Top one is my current EDC and the bottom one is the prior. Both are 26C3 high carbon steel and sheep horn for the handles:

I make and sell a lot of small fixed blade knives. Probably 20 to 1 for every bigger knife I make (bigger is over 7.5" oal):

Thanks for the shout out @bikerector

Dave, the short news is: ain't NOBODY does it all, better than you...

 

[JParanee]

I’ve been carrying fixed blades for a very long time

I’ve evolved to thinking a 3 inch or so bladed 4 inch handled wharnie carried crossdraw horizontal is the perfect blade for me

some examples

john gray

david Mirabile





If you’ve not used a Velcro wrap ro carry horizontal crossdraw it is the ticket

pulls tight to belt and disappears



Current edc’s






Every knife needs a trainer as well

 

[tommytman]

If there is no limit then carry whatever you like!

 

[Smiling]

Mini Pendleton Hunter in 3V should do it.

 

[E.D.C.]

Alberta, Canada here. Openly Carrying knives on my belt is a regular occurrence, almost regardless of where I am. I've had very few issues over the past several years.



Though, I don't exactly work in an office building

 

[cbach8tw]

Dave, the short news is: ain't NOBODY does it all, better than you...

Amen, brother!

 

[cbach8tw]

cross draw carry, or pocket slip, size 2.5 to 3 inch blade with a good grip, I prefer 3.5 to 4 inch handle. Dave Ferry said it right, about 7 inches max and if the handle is designed right and good to hold. My favorite small fixed blades are made by JK. Or an LTW Frontier Valley.

 

[stevekolt]

The Ember is highly concealable and a great size. Less than 3/8" thick in the handle too.

Josh, nice looking blade. I went to your site, but didn't see anything about it...