How have your knife requirements changed over time ?

sticknstring73 said:
Great question! My knives have gone from lockback to swiss army type knives to a small Buck Lancer. Essentially they have shrunk partly because my jobs gotten less physical and my knowledge has increased, I know how to do more with less.

In addition my ego has also shrunk.:)
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:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

That's a lot of it for me.

As I got older, I figured out to do the same job with less, and that allowed me to carry less weight in gear. Less weight in like smaller and lighter things that do the same thing. My knife and other gear progression has been toward the smaller items. How much knife do I need to cut a piece of rope, or open a box?

Now I'm retired, with lots more time to go fishing, woods walking with my better half of over 4 decades, and traveling. I don't like lugging a heavy bag, so it's small compact binoculars instead of full size, small SAK or Case peanut size knife, lightweight hiking boots, kevlar 16 foot canoe that only weighs 37 pounds. Glock pistol that weighs a bit less than my old Smith and Wesson .38 revolver yet holds much more ammo.

A small pocket knife will do me for what I need to do. I used to carry a Randall 14 for my woods knife. Now I look back and ask myself "What the hell was I thinking?"

And in some ways, knives in general have become less important to me, as I have come to care more about other things. Like traveling with my better half, teaching my grandkids to fish, spending more time with the people I really care about. In the end, knives and other things, are just things.
 
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Ha , I like that question . For me , because I have a traditional (really old design ) sailboat, but more modern line on it for hoisting sails and stuff . Well the old Ka-Bar is doing just fine for cutting the line,we use (New England Sta-Set ) . But now I hear of this new stuff , called Dyneema that can only be cut with a ceramic blade . I think I would like to mess around with this stuff . So I'm thinking of buying this .http://ceramicknife.org/product/riggers-with-marlin-spike/
 
In the early days I carried either a Barlow or an SAK, both gifted by my grandfather. After losing both, I bought a Gerber lockback (can't remember model) and carried it for a while. I think I broke it and threw it away. After that I purchased a spyderedged delica, and for years it remained my only knife until, once again, I lost it. I was pissed about that one. Got into USA made Kershaws for a while after that. The knife that changed everything was the ZT 0200. After that, the bar was set. Now the only sub $100 knife I carry is a Manix 2, and that's just because it's a steal.
So for me it was just a slow progression...and still progressing.
 
I used to have this obsession with fixed blades. Don't get me wrong I'd still rather carry a fixed blade over a folder any day, but the sheeple are too ascurred.
 
I find that I am enjoying simple knives more and more. Five years ago, I did not own a SAK. Now I own about six.
 
Dantone05 said:
Less knives ---> More cost
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Almost something like this. Except mine seems to be more knives, and higher cost. Perfect example: got a Benchmade Barrage about 3 weeks ago, and there should be a Ti-Lock waiting for me after work on Tuesday. Used to be several months between purchases. But now that I get withdrawals if I don't have a new knife coming every week, its getting hard.
 
When I was young I carried a Buck 110. At some point I just stopped carrying it until I got a little older and work related activities plus the influence of an Eagle Scout friend led me to the Spyderco Delica, serrated. I have pretty much carried a Spyderco for the better part of 20 years now. I still carry the spyderco but I also want a super strong folder and that to me means Cold Steel Tri-Ad. So I carry both now. As far as the hobby side I really have gotten in to more bling oriented stuff. Just two years ago I had zero interest in a Cold Steel Espada now it's my favorite bling knife! 5.5 inches of gleaming political statement! I love it! Weird how your taste can change so fast.
 
When I first became interested in knives, almost 20 years ago, I liked big, tactical-looking tantos. Now, at almost 46, I prefer spear and clip point blades, generally around 3 inches or less. My current favorites are my Ritter Mini-Grip and small snakewood Sebenza. I must admit, however, that I'm currently quite tempted by a Case peanut with sambar stag. It looks like a nice, elegant little office carry. Any opinions on that knife? Thanks.
 
When I first decided to replace my broken tac force knife I wanted the biggest folding knife I could find under $30 and "settled" for the slightly smaller than wanted Kershaw lifter. That was last year. Now I carry a delica which is even smaller and think it's just right.
 
jackknife said:
A small pocket knife will do me for what I need to do. I used to carry a Randall 14 for my woods knife. Now I look back and ask myself "What the hell was I thinking?"
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Good thread topic from last year. My brother in law had a few Randalls which I first handled back in the 80's. I craved one. Even then I thought they were VERY expensive. Got a couple. But like you now, I just don't see much need for carrying them both because they are fairly expensive today and secondly because I seldom need a fixed blade of any kind. I keep buying them however..... I just like fixed blades. I do think like you, I'm probably going to sell my Randall's and pass them on to the next generation since when I do choose a fixed blade to carry, it isn't a Randall anyway. I just have not sold any knives and that is a big leap for me.

My knife tasks haven't really changed. Never really got into tactical knives although the Rambo knives really drew me and probably what nudged me from just thinking about larger knives to actually owning them. (Still have not purchased an actual Rambo knife yet.) We all would like to think of ourselves as "Rambo's" as a fantasy. In part that is why I just bought a Condor Moonshiner.... pretty awesome knife at a low price point. Touched up the factory edge yesterday and the beast is very sharp now. I'm just not used to sharpening knives that large in general. I am curious how it will hold its edge with use on normal woody kinds of cutting.

I haven't really changed my using knives in the last year when this thread started. I still carry a large Vic SAK pretty much every day and use it every day. I'd like to change, but it's hard and I'm in a knife rut.

I guess my knife trend is toward more traditional knives in general versus moderns. I don't much like getting a large modern out in public to use for much of anything. It is just not my style. But the "Delica sized" moderns (medium sized) are still used and liked both in public and privately. I don't feel a compelling need for assisted openers or automatic knives even though I can carry what was previously generally illegal in my state now.

But, I still occasionally do pick up what would be considered a larger more tactical knife for the fun of it, but they don't get carried and really don't even intend to carry one even when I buy one. This breaks my rule somewhat.... that all new knives are purchased to be used (with minor exceptions). I guess my mental justification there is that "they may be used".

I must admit, however, that I'm currently quite tempted by a Case peanut with sambar stag. It looks like a nice, elegant little office carry. Any opinions on that knife? Thanks.
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As far as the Case peanut or similar knives, they are nice useful little knives that disappear in your pocket. Get one. Take a look at the Hen & Rooster line too. They have some really nice smaller traditionals in stag.
 
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I'd forgotten about this thread , so I suppose an update is due .
I haven't really changed much since this started .
I carry a Spyderco Delica or Salt 1 daily and an old straight ribbed SAK occasionally for going out to town or out in the evening .

Ken
 
Back in the 70s I mainly a Buck 303 Cadet, or a Schrade medium "razor blade stainless" stockman. Then I stopped carrying a knife for a few years. Later, I started carrying again, a Victorinox Spartan SAK, which became my only EDC knife for about 10 years.

In the late 90s, I started getting into the one-hand opener scene. I still carried a SAK along with the OHO, as SAKs are just too useful, IMO.

I own a bunch of knives, but at this time my main EDC are:
CRK large Insingo
Victorinox Swisstool Spirit on my belt
Victorinox Executive SAK
Victorinox Spartan SAK

TBH, the Spirit can handle anything the Spartan can do and more; I carry the Spartan mainly for the mini eyeglass screwdriver that's held in its corkscrew.

I don't know how much I've changed over the years, except that more is available today, and that I'm way more picky about what I'll buy or carry. I'm also way more willing to carry and use my more expensive knives. I did carry my old 2002 large Sebenza a lot, but that was an exception at the time. Mainly because I had to completely reprofile its edge out of the box. So I'd already done a considerable amount of work on it not to use it.

I still like traditionals a lot, but rarely carry one besides a SAK. I find the features of an SAK indispensable, and more useful day to day than a multi-blade traditional with only knife blades.

Jim
 
I missed this thread the first time around. Second chances are nice.:)

It has been phases and cycles for my knife uses and desires. It was all traditional folders when I was growing up and I returned to them as an adult for a time. There were periods of hunting and frequent camping and backpacking when I needed and used fixed blades a lot. I've loved overbuilt, heavy duty folders since the Buck 110 came along in 1964 (I think). Had my periods of multi-use knives--traditionals like the congress and stockman, SAKs, Leatherman tools. Went through a tactical phase--both fixed and folding knives. Had a switchblade when I was a kid in the '50s before there were laws controlling them and I cycled through them again as an adult (they didn't have the appeal they once did).

When today's modern one-hand opening folders came along, I was a fairly early adopter and that's the style of knife that's dominated my pocket time for about 25 years with only an occasional detour. These days I cycle through various brands and styles and sizes but the modern folder design has been pretty much a constant.
 
As a kid, it was all about using knives. Didn't have the money to just buy a knife for the fun of it. Back then, my go to knife was a Case Barlow (two blade) and that or something similar did me for many years (regular carry, hiking, hunting, camping... the usual uses). Now, I buy knives just for the fun of it. Use them sometimes. Don't worry about it, but the knife clutter is building. Can't stop carrying a Vic SAK which started for me back in the mid-1980's....gosh that's 30 years ago. I would call that a rut.
 
I've only been collecting for about 3 years, so my switch from traditionals to moderns was fairly quick. I started off with traditionals and I still prefer the traditional "look" - there's something special about a stag or wood handle that you just rarely see in a modern knife. My collection is about half and half right now, with the edge towards the traditionals. That said, I rarely carry them anymore. My trad of choice used to be a linerlock, either Case or Boker Tree - both made great ones. But I started getting into GECs and they're such buggers to open and you have to be so careful when closing them. I understand they're made stiff so they don't close on you, but that why moderns have liner locks and frame locks. The ease of opening and closing, plus the pocket clip and generally larger available blade sizes have pushed me into tacticals. I still love and treasure my traditionals, it's what I want to hand down to my kid. But for functionality and protection, I'll take a spring-assisted or flipper any day.
 
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