Is the "pocketknife" dead?

Are you talking about single-bladed or multi-bladed pocket knives?
If you are talking about multi-bladed pocket knives, I think the Swiss Army knives have rather occupied the field there. I do believe that many of them are sold so they are by no means dead. In the US we are urbanizing quite a bit so many people are coming under typically urban statutes which limit the length of knives carried in a pocket. This makes the longer pocket knives less popular (also sort of a misnomer, I suppose belt knives would be a better description now). Who wants to mess with a belt sheath all the time? IMHO, most people buy larger pocket knives for camping and fishing, and probably don't use them much otherwise. Smaller pocket knives are probably quite common (I always have my Victorinox Executive on my key chain, love that scissors).
I know less about the popularity of single-bladed pocket knives, but the above-mentioned "urbanization" theory would probably apply to them too.

Auger
 
If regular old pocket knives are passe then me and all my labmates are pretty uncool. I usually carry a Bulldog 3 blade stockman. Black handle, nickel bolsters. Pretty sweet. One of the other guys has a Bulldog too, two have little pen knives with blades under 2". The only big knife in the lab is a liner lock POS, and we just make fun of it. We cut lots of string, tape, cardboard, plastic, paper, etc. I wore my bm705 one day. The fellas thought it was pretty cool, but I had to hide it around the programmers lest they freak out.

David
 
Man..... you SCARED the hell out of me. I saw you topic, and my heart started pounding. I jammed my right hand down into my right fron jeans pocket, and THANK GOD, when I pulled it back out, there in my hand was my little ol' Russell Stockman, alive and well. Do me a favor....... DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT ANYMORE!!!!!
 
Bloodythumb--

First, what a moniker. Better slow down on that shoving you hand into your pocket thing.
smile.gif


Never intended to imply they were dead. Just trying to get a little talk going and find out how endeared we are to those old boys.



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A Patriot's Work Is Never Done--greetings from The Occupied South
 
I consider the Victorinox SAKs to be "traditional," at least the small ones (3" to 2 and 1/4" closed). These small-sized ones are penknives, so they're traditional, and the Classic model is the most common knife I see around, usually on people's key rings. The other most common knife I notice in view is a Buck 110 or similar large folder in belt sheaths. A lot of workmen carry these, more than I see pocket clips on pockets.
In fact, the only place I seem to really see knife pocket clips is at gun shows. On the street, I can count the number of pocket clips I've spotted to under ten. That doesn't mean a knife isn't there, just I haven't spotted it, but it seems a good indication that traditional or "old-fashioned" knives are still probably carried by more people than the newer "tactical" knives, even though the latter seem more popular among the Bladeforums.
Jim
 
James,

I would not wear a large pocket knife on a clip in California. The laws are deliberately vague as to what constitutes a hidden weapon. If a police officer saw the clip sticking out of your pocket he would have at least a reasonable suspicion (all he needs) to search you and upon finding an illegal knife (even if it was not the one on the clip) he would have probable cause to arrest you. Now you could argue before the judge that the knife was not concealed because the clip and a tip of the knife was sticking out of you pocket, but since the laws are vague, you may not win.

Auger
 
No the traditional pocketknife is alive and well! In fact I think they are much more useful than the new locking folders, for everyday use. I think that the new style folders are only better as a weapon! If we were free to carry concealed weapons, I think alot of people would give up the combat folder for a pistol and a stockman! I recently moved to Florida and switched from a stockman to a 4" locker. But when I need to strip wire or something, I go get my stockman! As soon as my weapons permit comes in, guess what I'll be packing?
 
My observations on what non-knife-nuts tend to carry:
* If they're packing a traditional folder, 9 times out of 10, it'll be an Old Timer.
* If they're wearing a belt sheath, 9 times out of 10, it contains a Leatherman.
* If they work in an office environment and carry a blade, 9 times out of 10 it's SAK Classic on their key ring.
* Otherwise, I think most people who carry a knife (again, knife-nuts aside) will tend to pack a small or medium-sized single blade lockback. Gerbers LSTs, BuckLites, Case, Kershaw, and a growing number of Spydies - I see these ALL the time, leading me to believe that, yes, the days of the old-fashioned pocket knife are numbered.
I am glad to read that dealers are still selling lots of trad folders. But I do think the writing's on the wall.
 
Penknives are the best. They are a way of life. Every other knife thing is a tool. Not carrying one is like being without a watch. If you need more leave home with a tool.
I've skinned more, fixed more, lived more with a slipjoint penknife than anything else.
 
Heck no, they are still very much alive! In fact, I used some of YOUR money yesterday to buy myself a Kissing Cranes canoe with nice jig bone.

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Danbo, soul brother of Rambo
 
I think the older generation likes the old style knifes and still buys them. In working in a knife store for almost 2 years I wold say over 90% of the people bying the clasic style was over 40, or buying for someone over 40. On the other hand the people that buy tactical knives seem to be mostly under 30, I would say around 70%.

As for what was sold, I think tactical outsold the multi-blade knives about 3 or 4 to 1.

Why is this?
Well one word says it all, "clip".

A clip allows you to carry a larger knife with out it weighting down your pocket. It is much easer to get out of your pocket, and most can be opened with one hand. This can be a great time saver when you are working on something, need to get a knife, and only have one hand free.

A tactical Knife is actualy more closly related to a fixed blade than a clasic knife. This is also another reasion more people like them, it is the ability to have a knife that is almost as quick and handy as a fixed blade.

For me, I like a rather large knifes, at least four inches or more. Why? Well I have a rather large hand and do not like using something that I can not hold onto. I also do not like knifes heavy in my pocket.

I think there will always be a market thou.
There were always be collectors and those people that say "well that is what my dad had, so that is what I want".

That is about it for this ranting of
Vlad
 
Originally posted by Danbo:
Heck no, they are still very much alive! In fact, I used some of YOUR money yesterday to buy myself a Kissing Cranes canoe with nice jig bone.
Click to expand...

Well Dan, I am glad to see your are making wise use of my (yours now) resources.
wink.gif
I have been tracking that "big honkin Randall" as you so aptly put it, and am now in a high state of anticipation since it is within a couple of hours of my town. It will probably get here tomorrow. Nice "doin bidness" with you.





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A Patriot's Work Is Never Done--greetings from The Occupied South
 
I thought about this as well, 'cause sometimes a smaller knife is just more appropriate. A nice compromise I found, is a Chris Reeve Umfaan. All the positive traits of it's larger brothers in a nice pocketable package. And pretty, too. Too bad it's almost $300.00 though. Oh well.

Although my tastes have become somewhat more conservative, I haven't yet been able to appreciate my dad's vast collection of Case knives. He loves them, though- it took me a while to realize you don't HAVE to have a 4" bladed tactical to open mail and skin apples. Oh well, live and learn- I'm getting there....

clip
 
i tend to think that a lot of people have stopped carrying knives for "political correctness" or at least that seems to be popular excuse. I am constantly amazed at the number of people in the factory I work in who try to stumble through each day without a decent quality pocketknife. I laugh when I see tham trying to make do with a box cutter or a very shoddy bargain basement brand knife. They always seem to come looking for me to borrow one of my usually 2-3 :0 knives everytime they come across something that is harder to cut than a piece of typing paper.
 
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