"Minimum viable"

Shorttime

Shorttime

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Oct 16, 2011
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Sure, there are special situations where somebody else's rules tell you what size knife you can carry. My employer wants nothing larger than 3" on property. The TSA is.... enthusiastic... about enforcing rules.

But if you're left to your own, what is you opinion about the smallest cutting edge you feel will serve your daily needs?

Personally, I found 3" to be about the sweet spot, years ago,

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But anything from 2.75" to 3.5" can work.
 
Being retired and rarely leaving home a Case peanut or hardware store utility knife will do most of what I need yet I still like to carry a 3" or 3 1/2" folder in my pocket. At this point in life they are more a piece of pocket jewelry or fidget toy than something I "need". I must look for reasons to use a knife most days. Much of the time I just sit them on whatever table I am at so I can play with them once in a while or admire the design and styling. Even with all this I think anything over 4" is too big to carry :)

Yep, this is what I have become most days.
 
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With modern knives, 3.0-3.25" blade length was my sweet spot. But I don't carry modern knives often now unless I just feel like it. In which case the Benchmade Mini Presidio II often gets the nod. I like that knife a lot. Like the Spydie Native and Delica a lot too. I most commonly only have a SAK (Small Tinker with it's ~2.1" main blade) with me and used the most lately.
 
A 2.75 inch fixed blade is as small as I go. My regular EDC is a 4.5 inch fixed blade. I also carry a cheaper 3.5 inch folder.
 
I think that would depend heavily on what your needs actually are....If you are working at an airport screening passengers, do you really need a 4" blade? I can see where such a thing might be intimidating to some, and if you got into a confrontation and somebody took it off you and attacked you or others with it that would be a problem.
If you know how to use a knife a 2" blade will work just as well unless you are hunting Zombies or somesuch thing...3" is fine for me.

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Hang on, hang on! This is the wrong place to be assessing need vs. want!

“Could” I get by everyday with a sub 2” folder or a pen knife? Sure. Am I gonna? Heck no. Lol
 
justjed said:
A 2.75 inch fixed blade is as small as I go. My regular EDC is a 4.5 inch fixed blade. I also carry a cheaper 3.5 inch folder.
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Been carrying a small fixed blade too fairly often. I have a 3" Wallace knife as well as an Arno Bernard Squirrel that gets carried fairly often. Even for outdoor tasks, they are usually enough knife for me along with my little SAK. I don't do much chopping with a knife unless I know ahead of time a need such as this is likely.

Added: Minimum viable > probably about 2" with a Case or similar peanut being the lower limit. My little Vic fits that mold. On fixed blades, I look at total length in terms of carry. Always a possibility that I carry a larger fixed blade in the woods, but I seldom need to use one.
 
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My smallest regular carry knife was a Syderco Dragonfly2.
2" blade for me is as small as will go. Although I much prefer the 2.75"-3.75" range
My reasoning is that any knife I carry has to be able to double as a steak knife. I have come to hate using serrated blades for dining purposes. So whenever I go to a restaurant or friends house for a meal I make sure my EDC is suitable for the task.
2 inches or less and I'm probably going to need to take it apart for cleaning the foodstuffs from the pivot.
4 inches or more and I'm getting stares from wait staff, and having to explain why I need to carry a "weapon".. It gets tedious.
 
My preferred is also in the 3" class. View attachment 1376970Buck 112 LT, Buck 301, Spyderco Native 5, small Sebenza 21, and a Mini Canadian for its overall length for me.
 
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There have been plenty of times when I “only” had a Vic Classic, Secretary, or Case Peanut on me and I managed to get by just fine. That said, if I have my druthers, I prefer something in the 3” - 3.5” range.
 
My personal preference is 3.5-4" range. That doesn't mean that I don't or won't carry something smaller. That's just the size knife that generally fits my hand better.
 
If I had my druthers, 3.60". Hey that happens to be the blade length of my CRK Inkosi, what a coinkydink.

Seriously though, for folders I like blade lengths long enough to do things like: split my cheeseburger to share, gut and gill a 25" coho salmon, process wood for a campfire, etc., yet not so long that it would be inconvenient to pocket or scare people. So I like 3.5" to 4.0".
 
GronK said:
Its size to weight ratio makes it perfect for camping or bike packing. Carbon 5 steel is nice compromise of edge holding and ease of sharpening.
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And the handle doesn't swell or shrink on ya. I'm not a fan of most CS products, but they really got this series right. Wish they still made them...
 
Shorttime said:
Sure, there are special situations where somebody else's rules tell you what size knife you can carry. My employer wants nothing larger than 3" on property. The TSA is.... enthusiastic... about enforcing rules.

But if you're left to your own, what is you opinion about the smallest cutting edge you feel will serve your daily needs?

Personally, I found 3" to be about the sweet spot, years ago,

But anything from 2.75" to 3.5" can work.
Click to expand...

Count yourself lucky. Where I work the limit is a 2" blade.

For a modern folder, I usually like about a 3" blade.
But other sizes also work, depending on the knife.
 
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