Folders to Fixed...progression,or coincidence?

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JTR357

JTR357

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Hi everyone,Happy Halloween!
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When I first started collecting knives,I was really into folders & not so much fixed blades.I always EDC'd a folder or two for general use.
Lately,I'm not that interested in folders,but more interested in FB's for EDC.Fixed blades anywhere from 2.5"blade to a 4"blade for EDC & larger ones for camping,etc.
It's like I went full circle.With all the different sheathing options,it's actually more practical & convenient for me to carry a FB.I don't have to unclip it,open it( & worry about locks failing),close it,reclip it...I just unsheathe & sheath.I've grown particularly fond of horizontal belt carry.
I haven't been collecting knives for that long really,only about 6-7 years,but have used folding(locking & slip-joints) knives my whole life.I didn't know about real quality knives,until I joined this forum.In the past year or so, my standards on knives have skyrocketed.From cheap gas station & budk knives, to the high quality knives we all talk about here everyday.I was still into folders though,until the last month or two,when my interests started shifting to fixed blades.I just find it kind of weird,that I would be into one particular knife style my whole life & then (seemingly,out of nowhere) find my preferences changing.....I'm babbling,sorry:o

So what do you think?Has this happened to you?Do you think it's progression,or just a coincidental preference change?Does this happen a lot?

Thanks for taking the time to read my rather strange thread.:o

Take Care,
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I am with you brother :thumbup:

I like IWB carry, the more I carry them the more like them. :D Moving to a FB IWB and a nice Slippie in the watch pocket. Maybe my pockets will last now, clips rip my pockets in a few weeks. :o Slippie is used around NKP, and the fixed is for me! :D

JTR what are you carry'in?
 
So-Lo said:
JTR what are you carry'in?
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Lately I've been carrying a small or medium folder like one of these...

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....along with this custom Harner necker or my Lil' Nessy

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I'm really interested in getting a Gossman PSK & maybe a BRK&T Micro-Canadian as well as other smaller Bark Rivers & customs.

So-Lo,I hear what you're saying about the pocket clips.I've torn up a few pockets already,as well as scratched my car with them.:grumpy:
 
The same for me, started with balisongs, moved to kershaw, spyderco benchmade, then to strider sebenza stuff, but they never really got me. (Although I did give it the 'ol college try ;)) Now I am pretty much a small fixed blade guy, favorite being the Busse game warden. I (horrors!!!) like to be able to pry with an edc. I carry a SAK to use for small cutting or when the sheeple are around.
 
Mostly fixed blades, but folders can be handy for some tasks. Nothing beats a fixed blade for ease of cleaning for game or fish.
 
JTR,

When I first started collecting/enjoying knives about 10 years ago, I never even considered a fixed blade knife. I've always been a small knife person (3" or less blade). I feel out of it for a while, and when I got back into this a few months ago, I still felt the same way about it, thinking I'll never have a use for a fixed blade, and they don't have any mechanisms, how is that fun?

Of course, now that I've been on here talking to these knife-o-holics, they've got me thinking about a RAT or a Fallkniven. I guess the appreciation of a well designed and constructed knife really knows no boundaries after you look at it.

Great topic by the way!:thumbup:;)

David
 
I keep looking at those fixed blades, and can see myself moving into that realm. Right now I am slippie happy, content if you will. I cannot put one of those fixed blades in my hand, or it will be all over. I exist in the burbs, but if I was in a rural setting, I know I would be sporting a Busse or something lidat. I agree that this forum influences my tastes and shrinks my wallet.
Happy Halloween
 
This is actually a really interesting thread. The same thing was happening to me a few weeks ago when I went on a shark fishing trip with my buddies. I had my H-1 steel folders with me, but it was actually my Gerber Freeman hunter that got the most use with batoning, beating, cooking, and anything else that I could think of. It really made me have a change of heart about fixed blades. I still love my folders, don't get me wrong, but it felt nice not having to worry about locks giving out or having to worry about tightening up parts and lubing the pivots :D
 
The state of Michigan made my choice for me. Fixed are a no no unless in a hiking/camping/hunting environment. I've asked a few police officers and Detroit doesn't qualify as a hunting environment. :( Apparently they don't work much on a typical Fri or Sat night.

Folders for me atm for the most part. I did just buy a fixed GL Drew in the dealer for sale thread. I couldn't pass up a ATS 34 beauty with cocobolo handles for $65. :D:thumbup:
 
Well said and there's not much to add.
Anyway, I love their overall integrity and possibility of design.
 
JTR357 said:
So what do you think?Has this happened to you?Do you think it's progression,or just a coincidental preference change?Does this happen a lot?
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Hasn't happened to me, of course, as I always preferred fixed blades (which only makes sense, considering their vastly superior performance :p). But going from folders to fixed blades is certainly progress in my view. Perhaps I would even jokingly call it "evolution". ;) After all, there's really only one thing that folders do better than fixed blades, and that is being small and thus easy to pocket. Everything else the fixed blades do much better. The folder is a compromise, but it makes sense to some, mostly thanks to rather ridiculous legislative culture in various parts of the world. The folder is a new invention compared to fixed blades, and in a sense represents degeneration - going from something simple and good to something complex and crappy. But that's just my rather bluntly stated opinion. I do own some folders, and even like some of them.
 
While I appreciate folders, and I have more than a few, I'm a FB EDC guy and have been for years. Once I started spending time with forums, I learned there are a number of other ways to carry a fixed blade besides hanging the sheath on your belt. Kinda difficult when you wear suspenders and a suit, anyway. Now, my usual EDC is a Blind Horse Frontier patch in a pocket sheath that fits comfortably in my right rear pocket. That changes now and again and I also carry an BHK Patch, BRK&T Mini Skinner or Mikro II Canadian, and a BM Activator.

Greg
 
I'm "Joe the Opposite!" my progression was fixed to folders! While I really like my folders I've really slipped into the SAK world. I like my compact blades to have more tools and function, it just makes sense to me, but I'm still getting more of them all!
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I have done the same thing, I was folders only for several years then I got ahold of a RAT-3 when they first came out and since I have usually carried a fixed blade, and a folder. Whatever fixed blade I am carrying at the moment gets more use than the folder. They are just so damn handy.
 
:thumbup:Yup,The RAT-3 is also on my "to get" list.Also a Busse Game Warden would be pretty darn cool if they're not too much $$$:)

And again with Busses..I just love the look of those Meaner Streets;)

I like a satin finish above all other finishes.
 
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After growing up with slipjoints and using strictly utilitarian SAK/multitool/Xacto/Stanley-type implements for the next twenty years, it was only after I had a child that I began to look at knives from a tactical perspective. Living primarily in a victim-by-legislative-fiat state, folders and pepper spray are the only legal carry option for us proles, and this board was great for learning about the state of the art and choosing some quality items.

From there I moved onto fixed blades for outdoors use, while keeping the tactical option in mind. I'm pretty much done with folders, but more FBs (need a couple more khuks for sure!) and better sheaths for existing blades would be welcome.
 
I might also add that I'm a believer in civil disobedience in the face of egregious state/local regulations that abrogate 2nd Amendment rights.

I've always maintained that if you look respectable and act reasonably, the cops won't look at you twice, and thus the only time the issue of unauthorized carry would arise is when grave peril is at hand -- a situation where the potential legal downside of such carry is less than insignificant compared to the enhanced ability to protect you and yours.

I hate the fact that my out of state CCW doesn't apply in the home state, but I choose the enhanced safety for my family over complying with legislation promulgated by LSD-sucking Berkeley communists (who need to spend a few years in a gulag that they may experience the fruits of their supposed utopia).

With the impending Obama "gay rights over Second Amendment rights" disaster, please join me in supporting organizations such as the NRA, who would build on the Heller decision and strengthen our tenuous legal foothold before the balance on Supreme Court swings in the direction of "San Francisco values".
 
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