Month long peanut challenge

Tyson A Wright said:
I'm going to carry my Zippo Peanut every day for the rest of May. We just bought a house, and are fixing a bunch of minor things before we move in, so this might add something extra to this challenge. I will carry a second knife, but only use it if the Peanut somehow isn't up to the task. I'll try to report back regularly on what I've been cutting, and how well this is going. I suspect that it will be fine, but I haven't carried only a Peanut for more than a day or two since my early teens. I'll either confirm that this size of knife is perfectly adequate for urban EDC, or I'll find out its limitations. Either way I'll learn something.
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Nice looking peanut! Your slip looks a little thirsty though.
 
Well, second Peanut fail today. A fairly thick cane on one of our rose bushes was knocked down (I think something got blown over it by the crazy wind we had a couple of days ago) and my wife asked me to cut it the rest of the way off. The Peanut just couldn't get it done, so I switched to the Blade Forums '21 Barlow and cut it no problem.

The most interesting thing about this experiment for me is that it has me thinking a lot about why I carry I knife, and what I expect the knife to be capable of. I was surprised last week when one of the plumbers who installed our new water filter pulled out his keys to tear the shrink wrap off the filter. The other plumber immediately offered him a knife, but the first guy just finished tearing it off using a key. He doesn't carry a knife, and doesn't feel like he needs one. I'm not a cop or a cowboy or an EMT or anything where having a pocket knife is absolutely necessary. Lots of people like me (living in a suburb, working from home on a PC) don't carry knives at all, and they get by just fine. Among my immediate friends, I'd guess that more than half of them don't carry a knife.

So why do I bother to carry one? Well, first of all, because I like knives. (I suspect that most of you can relate to this.) I enjoy the craftsmanship of a well-made knife, I enjoy the history of people carrying knives, etc.

But I also like the capabilities having a pocket knife provides. As part of this challenge I've stopped using my pocket knife for any food prep - as I said earlier in the thread, that's something I do for fun or convenience, not something I absolutely need in a pocket knife. But the reality is that I could drop every little task I do with a pocket knife into that category - I have garden shears, I have a box cutter, I have cutting tools in my toolbox, just like that plumber I can use my keys to open packages. At some point, I have things I want my pocket knife to be able to do, and the Peanut just isn't a good choice for all of those things. It also kind of undermines the whole value of the Peanut when I have to carry a larger knife along with it - if the goal is to reduce weight in my pocket, the BF21 Barlow by itself weighs less than the Peanut plus the BF21 Barlow.

I will finish up this monthly challenge, still giving preference to the Peanut. It will be interesting to see if I learn anything else in the next 10 days.
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Thanks for sharing honest thoughts and opinions, Tyson.

I used a pocket knife pretty often when working before I retired. It was just odd things that (often) came up, nothing actually pocket knife expected on a daily basis.
In retirement, I don't use a pocket knife but maybe 10% as much as I used to.
Away from home, I rely on having a pocket knife as needed and so I almost always choose something a little bigger than a Peanut.

Not sure if it's because I feel the very capable Peanut won't be capable in some situation or I'm just more comfortable with a larger knife. Maybe a little of both.
Doesn't even have to be a heck of a much larger knife either ... mostly Medium Jack up the size of the BF21 knife, with a longer Laguiole or something catching a ride now and again.
At home, I either have specialized tools for tasks or no matter where I am in the house or yard, a (pocket) knife is close at hand, carry not always required.

I guess my point is I find no reason to settle on one(1) pocket knife and expect it to handle every task for a month at a time ... these days.
Historically before retirement, every day I carried either a Sod Buster Jr (at one job) or a Gerber LST 400 lockback (subsequent job) on a belt sheath I cobbled up for it.
And honestly, had I never endeavored to acquire apparently a vast number of pocket knives for some reason, I'd still likely only be toting a SB Jr or the Gerber 400 every day.
These days I don't often carry the same knife for more than a day or two ... but could ... maybe LOL.

Your experiment has been very interesting but not shockingly so. I can actually see and agree with the same situations you chose another edged tool over the Peanut.
Also from my point of view, the results thus far would be no different when in the hands of any other honest experimenter / reviewer.
Fact is, most EVERY pocket knife has some limitation or another if we look closely and ponder honestly.
As you have found, the only limitation the very capable Peanut has is its size ... well, with steel choice and edge retention aside.
 
Very sane points B BrotherJim The limitations of various pocket-knives are in fact their strength and attraction as Traditionals offer such a vast and alluring range of styles, blades and patterns. Thus it IS difficult to stay tied to any one type of knife- different situations and different moods cause a change in carry, I say moods as the aesthetic aspect of Traditional knives is very important . I've never understood those types who frequent knife forums and then carry the same type of knife day after day posting endless pictures of the same knife, odd. Maybe they've found a Knife Knirvarna , a safe space...I don't know, but why limit yourself to such repetition? :rolleyes:

Tyson A Wright Tyson A Wright experiment and 'navigation' is indeed interesting, takes resolve too. It is possible to get by with one knife but where's the satisfaction really and as he points out most people (nearly everybody now in Europe...) do not carry or use a pocket-knife even in working situations that call for it. We who enjoy knives will inevitably want to have a range of them or at least to carry one that is an optimal size for our main needs. Sitting at the kitchen table writing this, I can see the coffee table in the living-room littered with pocket knives and books. The other week a pleasant woman visited from the housing company to ask something about maintenance. She was eyeing the knives and said " What do you want all those knives for?" I replied that I don't have just one book in the house either and knives are like books you learn from them and that I like them. She burst out laughing and then said they do look quite nice. Yes. Likely putting me down to a pre-dementia case...šŸ˜œ

The Peanut would no 'do' for me I'm afraid, partly out of prejudice- I'm not so fond of same end Jacks with 2 blades- but I have found it too small for some of my tasks. The food prep I do with pocket-knives is seldom veggie slicing and never raw meat prep but I like to cut up apples/pears not eat them from the core and to slice hard salami/chorizo and cheese in blocks, slice up tomatoes and pickled cucumbers for snacks. A Laguiole is ideal or any longish single-blade and pref stainless for this, the Peanut can't handle a moderate apple, and a melon? Forget it šŸ˜„ If you were trying out a CASE Slimline Trapper then I think your results would be different, it's long yet it's slim and lightweight in the pocket plus it's a looker too. Great experiment, keep at it!

Thanks, Will
 
A very interesting thread and great reporting and reviewing by the OP ā€¦ I also feel there were some excellent points made by many folks along the way.
So Iā€™ll add my unsolicited comments ā€¦
I have always gravitated towards traditional patterns with a 3 inch blade (3-1/2ā€ closed) ā€¦ thatā€™s just the sweet spot for me. For example, the 56, 62, and 66 have been my favorite offerings from GEC; the Case 18 is also a favorite. Pretty much enough knife to do anything I need.
That being said, during my working days (I mean my real working days where I carried tools and worked with my hands), I almost always paired it with a ā€œmodernā€ folder, mostly for its one-handed deployment and ability to be abused, worn out, and replaced.
A peanut is certainly ā€œtestingā€ the concept, and IMO, the OP (and the knife) did a fine job!
Thanks for sharing!
 
Ed G said:
during my working days, I almost always paired it with a ā€œmodernā€ folder, mostly for its one-handed deployment and ability to be abused
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I also do that still today.
As a teacher I'm limited to a Traditional knife while at work.
But when I'm off work, I throw a Modern in my pocket for the reasons you mentioned.
The Modern is my quick access, locking, beater knife that I hardly ever have to sharpen or think about. It's just there when I need it and it handles every chore i can throw at it without and limitations whatsoever. But it is lacking one thing... A Soul. My Traditional knives speak to me in ways that a simple tool cannot possibly do. When I can relax and enjoy using a knife, or when I'm just simply sitting around contemplating the world, or when I just want to pull something out of my pocket and enjoy it's beauty and craftsmanship, nothing is better suited than the Traditional knife that sitting at the bottom of my pocket. So, I guess i have to have both to make my knife carry complete.
 
This post isn't structured around a single theme, or directly responding to the preceding posts, but I do thank B BrotherJim Will Power Will Power Ed G Ed G JohnDF JohnDF for their comments. Some of what I'm saying here is inspired by your thoughtful posts.

--I think it's interesting how the standards for a 'large' vs. a 'small' knife are so different between traditional and modern knives. A GEC 86 frame (like my BF21 Barlow) is approximately the same size as a Benchmade Mini-Griptilian. I see lots of comments from traditional knife people about how big the 86 is, but I think most modern knife people tend to think that the mini-Grip is a small knife. My GEC 97 is 'too big to regularly carry' according to some people around here, but it's about the size of a full-size Griptilian, which is one of the more popular EDC knives of the last few decades. Admittedly, the traditionals tend to be much heavier than the same size of modern knife, so maybe weight is the problem (for them). Most of the time, I have no problem carrying my 97, but it is too much for suit pants. I think this is probably a bit part of the appeal of the various 'moditional' knives - they kind of look and feel and operate like a traditional, but having titanium replace brass and nickel silver makes them significantly lighter.

--Without planning it or making much ado from it, I've carried my 97 everyday for more than a month on a few occasions - I pick what I want to carry each day, and it turns out that for 40 or 60 days in a row, I wanted to carry that. When the BF21 Barlow arrived, I carried that for a month and a half or so. Same with the Case Large Stockman. So carrying the same knife every day for a month doesn't really bother me too much, but I gotta admit that the Peanut would not make it every day for a month if I hadn't publicly announced that I was doing that. Even before I bumped into a few things that it couldn't handle, I just wanted to go back to the knives I like more.

--After thinking about all this, and continuing some of the things I was thinking about in my previous post, if I wanted to be a 'pocket knife minimalist', I could just not carry a pocket knife at all. Lots of people seem to lead successful and rewarding lives without carrying pocket knives. And a general purpose pocket knife is always a compromise - I still see how a Peanut might be an excellent choice for a lot of people. There are people on here who firmly proclaim that the Peanut will do everything you need from a pocket knife, and I think they're right - as long as you define 'everything you need from a pocket knife' the same way they do. But for me it will be relegated to the very narrow use case of: "I'm wearing dress pants (doesn't happen as often these days as it used to), and I can still have a knife on me (many times when I'm wearing dress pants I'm also in no-knife zones)". The rest of the time, I'll carry something a bit bigger.
 
JohnDF said:
"... But it is lacking one thing... A Soul. My Traditional knives speak to me in ways that a simple tool cannot possibly do. When I can relax and enjoy using a knife, or when I'm just simply sitting around contemplating the world, or when I just want to pull something out of my pocket and enjoy it's beauty and craftsmanship, nothing is better suited than the Traditional knife that sitting at the bottom of my pocket. So, I guess i have to have both to make my knife carry complete."
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Exactly this ^^^.
Well stated, my friend. And in reading your response, I realize that I still carry both a traditional and a modern knife as well ... although since I am pretty much a keyboard jockey these days, the modern knife is not so much a "beater" as it is a refined or a more "gentlemanly" variant ... and generally a bit smaller than what I carried when I was slinging tools and pulling wire.

But your point about handling and admiring the execution, the fit and finish, the uniqueness of a handle material, the thoughtfulness of a design ... that is the essence of this infatuation that we share ... stopping to smell the mineral oil, as it were ...
 
Ive always carried larger knives but when my first Son was born in 2017 I bought a Peanut with the correct tang stamp for the year with the idea that I would carry it till I felt he was old enough to have it and then it would have a story and some character built up over the years. When I first got it I was NOT impressed but put it in my pocket and carried on. Long story short, its been an absolute work horse and I find myself now carrying smaller and smaller blades without feeling handicapped throughout the day. I wont be collecting the little knives as im still not a huge fan aesthetically but both my Boys will be getting one as their first knives and they will hopefully learn to use and appreciate them for their MASSIVE potential!

Keep the posts coming, it didnt take long for me to realize how useful the little dude was but the more I leaned on it as my sole EDC knife the more its impressed me.

Matt
 
I see no reason to carry a peanut. A medium sized slipjoint is still an objectively small knife.

For me the intersection between ease of use and comfort of carry is 3 3/4" closed. Any smaller and I don't like using it as a tool. Much larger and it becomes annoying to keep in your pocket. 3 3/4" is the sweet spot.
 
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Well, I wrapped up the Peanut challenge yesterday. I don't have too much more to say than I did in posts #42 and #49 above. I know a lot of you like to rotate through your knives, and enjoy the variety, but I've carried the same knife for long periods before, just because I kept wanting to carry the same knife. This has happened with my GEC 97 the most, but also with my BF 21, my Case large stockman, even with my Benchmade Proper. But I would not have made it a whole month with the Peanut if I hadn't stated publicly that I would do so. I'm happy to be carrying my 97 again today.

Finally, to try to answer the question (that very few people seem to be actually asking): Will the Peanut work as an EDC knife? Sure, given the right parameters for what you expect from an EDC knife. Will it work for that for me? About 90% of the time, yes, but that other 10% knocks it out of the running for being my regular carry.

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A few years back I did a "Case Small Texas Jack" challenge along with another poster here that was supposed to be for 3 months - I ended up doing it for 6 months because I found it was a good knife for my needs and I got kind of attached to it.

At a later time in my work life, there was a time where the only thing I could carry was a Peanut just due to the small size of it and workplace restrictions. That was probably for about a solid year.

I got by fine with both of them, though there was a time when I needed to cut up some thick triple-corrugated cardboard where the Peanut struggled a bit. Got it done, but wish I had something else. Was still better than my teeth.

Of course that was only a restriction while at work or to/from. Around the house I'd use whatever I needed. (The Texas Jack challenge was different, it also included household chores.)

It probably helps that my typical daily knife usage needs are modest and easily handled by a small slip joint, so other than not getting to enjoy the novelty of carrying a variety of knives, the actual functionality was fine.

These things are fun to do every so often, and you can learn a fair bit about the knife itself and your actual needs by doing such a challenge. Hope you enjoyed it!
 
Very interesting experiment as others said.
As a 42yo I rotate very rarely.
You tested a peanut and said that it's the handle shortage that could be the matter and I couldn't agree more with You. I bought the medium Jack over the peanut because of this.
My work restrictions are simple as a teacher I shouldn't carry a big blade with me. So I mostly got the Gerber Pribrid X in my pocket. But outside the work Jack was fine enough. That beeing said I got a mini trapper and it took a place of medium Jack.
What Your experiment showed for me and that's a good lesson is that beeing strict and carry one knife for every occasion isn't my thing. As I can predict my tasks for a day I will choose the right tool for a job.
Thank You for that.
 
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