How to prevent losing a pocket knife

Joined
Sep 15, 2015
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Hey Gents,

I recently lost a benchmade that slipped out of my pocket while I was hunting. I have a Spyderco para 3 in the mail to replace it but I’m nervous about losing it in a similar manner. I am a wildland firefighter and spend a lot of my time working in thick brush. Twigs and branches are constantly snagging my clothes and trying to rip stuff out of my pockets.

I’m wondering if anybody has come up with a creative solution to this problem? Hopefully something better than tying paracord to my belt and to the knife. I was thinking about using some sort of magnetic lanyard like what’d you’d see on a fishing net. Or just using a small coiled lanyard that stretches when I need to use the knife and retracts when it’s in my pocket. Curious to see what you guys have come up.

Thanks
 
If I was losing knives consistently from snagging, I wouldn’t add anything to the knife, I bury it deeper in my pocket.
If that didn’t work, I’d carry a cheap knife that I didn’t care much about.
 
Clipless folder in the pocket, or sheathed fixed blade will both work. Keep doing the good work.
 
It’s problematic using a belt sheathed knife with web gear.
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Here are a couple examples of my web gear set ups. The above example is more for initial attack, high speed low drag. One for hiking my saw and the other for hot shot work (lots of water. Water is fuel for the fight). Carry a knife on the left shoulder strap and water hose on my right strap is a good carry externally. If you have stuff on your belt, it pushes your pants downward as your gear moves and sets in. That’s why a lanyard to the bottom of pocket is better but I don’t like bulk in my pocket so I carry in my cargo pocket or in my waistband at an angle so it does not get in the way of steep hikes.
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Here, in the People's Republic of California, it's law in most counties that a knife must have some part that is not concealed. The little clip sticking out of the pocket suffices.
Quick note: Most folding knives of any size are legal to carry concealed in CA as long as they are carried in the folded position.

Switchblades, butterfly knives, ballistic knives, or other disguised blades are illegal to own.

Any FIXED BLADE, of any size, is illegal to conceal in CA. Also the knife has to be carried very openly - a little bit of a sheathed fixed blade handle poking out of your pocket will probably be considered illegal.

Some countries have size restrictions on folders, but I’m not aware of any county that requires folders to be carried openly.
 
You’d definitely want to be able to unclip it from the retractable line. So you can use it unhindered.

when I put on overalls or a pack. I move my carabiner from my belt to the shoulder strap or the hammer loop. To keep it accessible. Critical small things I can’t loose get clipped to the carabiner. Sometimes it’s just an o- ring.
Years ago I used a lanyard to secure my knife and instead of a keyring or paracord, I used a large fishing swivel. It worked awesome and it was a breeze to free my knife up when I didn't need it on the lanyard.
 
CA state law is as you described but counties and cities have their own restrictions, as well, so you're never quite sure unless you have done a ton of homework.
 
"Use the one on your Multi-Tool. What Knife? I don't have a knife." is what I say when they want to use your knife to do some thing that will damage and destroy their own. Or when they zip off right away type of person when they would respond with what you told them before. "What knife?" I find doing that also has kept my knives from disappearing. Seems they always want my non hollow ground recon 1 spear point to "Borrow"...
 
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