Keychain Knife

V

Vivi

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Dec 4, 2005
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For the past couple of years I've had a Vic Classic on my keychain. It's served me well, but I'm thinking about upgrading to something a little more robust. Maybe another Victorinox like the Rally or Midnight Manager, maybe a leatherman like the Micra or Squirt. I'm open to suggestions. I want to hear from you guys what all you've used and what's worked best.
 
Does it have to be a multitool or multifunctional keychain knife? Could it be a fixed blade?
 
I have had my eye on the mini champ for a while now. I had a squirt, but lost my keys with it. It was nice. Pliers worked good for how small they were. The bottle openner was a little tricky to use though. Spyderco recenytly changed the ladybug up a bit with better steel, a larger hole and a better handle design. I had the original, and liked it alot. Also, the lights on those vics are pretty disapointing. Nothing even close to a photon or similar light. I also had a cs mini-pal for quite a while and it's a cool little knife.
 
I find the Micra and Squirt just a little big for keychain carry, but it is subjective. I used to carry 2 key rings - one with keys, and the other with a Squirt, Arc light and Atwood tool. See pic.

Were I to do it now, I'd probably stick a Spydie Ladybug on the keys. I really don't like the giant, janitor-sized wad of keys.

Oct-3.jpg


b2.jpg

Ladybug with Arc. (About the size of an AAA battery).

right on
 
I use a Vic classic on one key ring and a Micra on the other.
I use the vic screwdriver for small prying jobs and for its toothpick.
I use the Micra for jobs requiring a screwdriver.
I carry a Native or similar for cutting.

If I had to only have one knife in my pocket, I would go back to carring a Vic tinker as I did for a fair number of years.
 
Thanks Siggyhk for the vic lite tip and I second the lady bug and the photon on the key chain!
 
cash2006 said:
Thanks Siggyhk for the vic lite tip and I second the lady bug and the photon on the key chain!
Click to expand...

exactelly !:thumbup:
I have only 3 "gadgets" with my keys:
1) Photon
2) Lady bug
3) utility key Swisstech

i like it light !:D
 
I'll consider any type of knife but it's probably going to be a multitool style one that I end up using. I actually made this thread at a good time, I lost my Classic today. I do have a spare that has no knife blade, and a rally somewhere around here. If I were going to use a fixed blade I'd probably put a Buck Hartsook on there.

Usually my EDC is my keychain knife + a large locking folder like a Milli or Grip, sometimes I carry a full sized SAK too but I find for most things a SAK gets used for one of the small guys gets me by. At this point I'm leaning more towards a Midnight Manager or something.

I do have a question about the Micra though. How rust resistant is it? Whatever I buy needs to be able to stay in a completely sweat soaked pocket for hours at a time and not give me too much corrosion issues, which is one reason I've liked the Classic.
 
I've had a Leatherman Micra for years. I used to keep it on my keychain, but I kinda like to travel light these days so I took it off.

When I'm going on any kind of extended trip, the Micra goes right back on my keys though. The little screwdriver is perfect for fixing my glasses should they fall apart. And for what it is, the scissors are a lot more useful than pliers.

The knife blade isn't bad either.

I do have a question about the Micra though. How rust resistant is it? Whatever I buy needs to be able to stay in a completely sweat soaked pocket for hours at a time and not give me too much corrosion issues, which is one reason I've liked the Classic.
Click to expand...

It does pretty well. I took it to the beach with me last year and used it fishing a little. It didn't have any major corrosion issues. Treat it just like any other knife, if it gets wet, dry it off before you store it somewhere and it should be ok.
 
I don't have it attached to my keychain, but the SAK I carry most nowadays is a black Vic Executive. It's larger than the Classic/MiniChamp etc., but smaller than the Recruit. It would be a decent size for a keyring knife, I suppose, though I prefer it in my RF pocket. I used to favor the Classic, but have come to appreciate the Executive's larger size and tool selection/design better. It's also easier to fish out of my pocket than the little Classic, which is still an excellent knife, by the way.

The knife on my keyring is my old red Spyderco Ladybug. Been carrying it for many years. It's held up pretty well. There's a slight bit of corrosion around the well of the lock, but not enough to affect it.
Jim
 
If your keychain is slim (as in, a few keys and nothing else) I would recomment getting a stainless Spyderco Cricket, running a small keyring through the hole, and clipping it to the top of you "offhand" pocket. I am doing this right now, and it works great. You don't have to dig for keys or have them bounding around in your pocket all day and you have your knife available at will. Since I wear ACUs most days and the pockets are large, I have a small MiniMaglite on the keychain, too.

Give it a try. It works.
 
If I may put in a shameless plug (sorry :o), the new Ladybugs have a larger spyderhole and VG-10 blades.

sal
 
I used to carry a micra (until a co-worker forgot to return it :mad:)

I've since carried the CRKT P.E.C.K. and it has actually served me well. It's light, slim, and actually keeps an edge.
 
I'll second the shameless plug for the new Ladybug. However, I don't keep it on the keychain because I like it to stand alone with a short lanyard. It's been in the RF pocket for the past few months.

I also really like the Squirt with pliers. The little bugger does a lot of work.
 
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