Knives for the worst places

I just bought the 8.25" ti countycomm bar to replace my izula for weak (left) side 10 o'clock horizontal carry. They recommend a belt sander crude edge be applied. It'll get a cord wrapped handle (Maratac Dacron 3/32) and start doing all the things my other edc tools shouldn't be doing. Pry open stuck hoods, pull hub caps, open boxes, and many other tasks that make you cringe every time you do it with a beloved tool. Yesterday I wished I had it instead of prying a rock out of the ground with my 3" keychain bar so my daughter could break the ice on a pond. I was not about to employ the Benchmade Claymore or cpm-m4 native chief for a prying task of that nature.
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I sweat toxic goo or something walking the mail every day. I have to think about which knives to carry at work during the summer months. What a crappy super power!
Mostly coated blades and heavily oiled is all I can do.
 
BlindMouse2of3 said:
I just bought the 8.25" ti countycomm bar to replace my izula for weak (left) side 10 o'clock horizontal carry. They recommend a belt sander crude edge be applied. It'll get a cord wrapped handle (Maratac Dacron 3/32) and start doing all the things my other edc tools shouldn't be doing. Pry open stuck hoods, pull hub caps, open boxes, and many other tasks that make you cringe every time you do it with a beloved tool. Yesterday I wished I had it instead of prying a rock out of the ground with my 3" keychain bar so my daughter could break the ice on a pond. I was not about to employ the Benchmade Claymore or cpm-m4 native chief for a prying task of that nature.
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That things pretty cool and looks handy. I just looked them up, not too bad on the pricing either.
 
LimpCroissant said:
That things pretty cool and looks handy. I just looked them up, not too bad on the pricing either.
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I've been trying to talk myself into getting a 4-5" for pocket carry for awhile but the decent ones are $60+ and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm hoping the 8" isn't to long that it gets in the way while working under a vehicle. But for $64 I got the bar and sheath shipped. I guess I can always learn to scout carry or shorten it until it works. It may become a 6.5"-7" bar pretty quickly. Easier to remove length than add it 😏
 
BlindMouse2of3 said:
I've been trying to talk myself into getting a 4-5" for pocket carry for awhile but the decent ones are $60+ and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm hoping the 8" isn't to long that it gets in the way while working under a vehicle. But for $64 I got the bar and sheath shipped. I guess I can always learn to scout carry or shorten it until it works. It may become a 6.5"-7" bar pretty quickly. Easier to remove length than add it 😏
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Haha true that. I've never carried a little pry bar tool before, but I can see where it can come in handy for sure. Specially one with an edge for scraping and what not.
 
eveled said:
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I like these old fixed utility knives.

Funny story. My first construction job didn’t allow retractable utility knives. Saying guys get cut thinking they are closed when they are actually open. With a fixed blade knife you know its open and act accordingly.

My second construction job didn’t allow fixed ones saying they were dangerous only retractable ones were allowed.
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The woman at the post office saw me sending a Spyderco off and asked if I was sending a knife, I say yes, and she says some sort of statement of approval, so out of interest, I ask what she carried, and she said they did not allow personal knives, she had to use this cutter thing and showed me, looks a lot like these Stanleys, just thinner and smooth plastic. Seems like these have checkering for grip and metal construction, would be a lot less wasteful than those breaky, slippery things I saw at the post. Seems they would last a lot o' years.

Getting to the point where I don't at all mind a razor cutter, but I want it to be something decent. I was just thinking how much it would suck to work at the Post and not be able to use your knife.
 
davek14 said:
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Underappreciated even by me. Vow to use my Merc more. Just as classic as any Buck, with the age dating from 1869... it is thin but good steel, got the tool factor, got the cool factor, just totally sneezy-deezy...McDeluxe, you feel me?

One day, I want to make a "Bronx style" Mercator that wrist-flicks, I must figure the best way to gently loosen a pinned knife.

The Mercator was my EDC before I got my first Spyderco and after I ditched my BudKs.
 
Hashishiin said:
Underappreciated even by me. Vow to use my Merc more. Just as classic as any Buck, with the age dating from 1869... it is thin but good steel, got the tool factor, got the cool factor, just totally sneezy-deezy...McDeluxe, you feel me?

One day, I want to make a "Bronx style" Mercator that wrist-flicks, I must figure the best way to gently loosen a pinned knife.

The Mercator was my EDC before I got my first Spyderco and after I ditched my BudKs.
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Loosen the pin by "gently" using it as a prybar 😁.

I love mine. May not take a razor edge but seems to hold whatever edge you can get on it. Good spine for striking a fire steel too. Only had mine for... 16 years or a little longer.
 
eveled said:
View attachment 1966295
I like these old fixed utility knives.

Funny story. My first construction job didn’t allow retractable utility knives. Saying guys get cut thinking they are closed when they are actually open. With a fixed blade knife you know its open and act accordingly.

My second construction job didn’t allow fixed ones saying they were dangerous only retractable ones were allowed.
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Those are pretty in a way most tools these days aren’t. I love the old quality.
 
Shorttime said:
I have a huge amount of respect for you guys who use your five- and eight-hundred dollar knives like they're supposed to be used! I get jumpy about carrying anything over one-fifty.....
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I used to have the same mindset. Then one day I realized that there's a real sense of enjoyment in using a nice knife for any situation needed. I know for sure whomever gets my knives after I'm gone won't enjoy using them as much as me. Nor do I care what happens to my stuff when I'm gone.
 
My new Spyderco native chief in cpm-m4 with jade G10 is the first knife I've ever had a hard time getting myself to actually use. I bought it specifically to have a knife with a fine point in one pocket. Been carrying it since I got it but today was the first time I used it. I cut an apple and I feel so much better. Not a cheap knife but I've abused much more expensive blades. Not sure what the hangup was as I've never bought a safe queen.

It's funny how it can just happen one way or the other. I started with a hell yeah I'll use that to cut whatever and now I'm getting to the age I need a few pretty things???
 
I carried an Emerson SOCFK on multiple deployments and training evolutions. It's no longer pretty, but it definitely did the job. My backup was a Spyderco Endura I bought at a PX in Ft Story.

Pick a knife you will walk out the door with and use. Anything else is for personal enjoyment, not hard use.
 
Hultafors GK. I have four. When one goes dull I toss it on the "to be sharpened pile" and grab another one. Also serrated Spyderco salt models, with wharnie or hawkbill blades. The tips of the serrations protect the edges in the scallops when you hit metal or concrete. Lastly, rubber and plastic can be binding, so a convex blade geometry might work well there.
 
For when things are getting REALLY ugly: I still find myself reaching for my Dad's USMC Ka-Bar...
Tough enough to cut or chop anything I need, yet still sharpens up nicely!
 
I know what you mean.. My actual job is working on conveyor belt belts. Splicing, repairing, and replacing belts, skirt rubber, rollers, drive units etc.. most of our customers are coal mines, rock and lime stone quarries, and paper mills.. my real work knife is just the classic good'ol Stanley 199 (sometimes an Olfa if I'm feeling fancy). My pocket knife mostly cuts rope, banding straps etc..
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