Neck Knife Question/Opinions????

[jeremy1517]

I've been curious about using/wearing a neck knife. Not sure if I feel comfortable wearing a knife around my neck but there seems to be many people who swear by it.

First: What is the preferred size and weight of the average neck knife?

Obviously, lighter is better. I have a blade that is 7 1/4 OAL and weighs about 4 oz. Is that to big and heavy? It has a kydex sheath?


Second: Is wearing a knife around your neck a wise idea?

I know I can get many opinions on this. I do a bunch of hunting/stalking of animals over long distances and a variety of landscapes. Is there more risk to wearing a blade around the neck as compared to on the belt? They are both in sheaths....

What are your thoughts and opinions about neck knives?

 

[sharpguytoo]

Sure, I'll share. For what its worth- I like a necker for ease of use. Almost perfect. That is inverted and open carry (only legal way here). All my small knives work and


I'm sure that each is under 4 oz. I guess I'm not very active or whatever cause I've never snagged on anything or had a problem with wildly swinging around (insert size joke here). Standard belt carry is ok but neck seems to work for me. Got a Godspeed Scout on the way so maybe that will change things up a bit. I personally would be wary of a leather sheath retention but thats just my experience.

 

[R15K]

I basically only carry neckers these days and I don't carry around the neck except maybe while camping but then it's not my primary blade, that is something larger on my hip and the necker is just for smaller intricate work.

For me at least neck carry is just too far out of the way to be efficient or useful, I much prefer a "scout style" set up in a small, minimalist kydex sheath attached to the belt somewhere between the 10 and 2 o'clock positions depending on knife length and what I'm doing that day. Also neck carry gets very old even just while walking as sometimes the knife flops about. Wearing it under a shirt helps but doesn't solve the issue and makes it more difficult to get to.

Helps allot if you make your own kydex stuff, I was stuck carrying many things in ways that I didn't like until I decided to start rolling my own. Not many neck knife sheaths are conducive to hanging from a belt comfortably and some have no provision at all for anything but a lanyard so you'd be SOL.

I think the only way I'd carry around the neck regularly was with a very tiny and light blade as a "hold-out" but I'd have to be in some pretty serious shit to even consider it and probably still wouldn't do so unless it was under armor or a chest harness or something as a back up to my back up blade, presumably in a war zone or other very dangerous environment.

 

[sharpguytoo]

I was just thinking neck vs pocket carry for small fixed blade knives on ease of access. I have several nice leather pocket sheaths that work well in a suit jacket pocket or the rear pocket of any pants. Both less convient than neck carry. Usually have a smallish folder available as well for EDC (carry both clipped and traditional).

 

[R15K]

I was just thinking neck vs pocket carry for small fixed blade knives on ease of access. I have several nice leather pocket sheaths that work well in a suit jacket pocket or the rear pocket of any pants. Both less convient than neck carry. Usually have a smallish folder available as well for EDC (carry both clipped and traditional).

I'd LOVE to try a good pocket carry leather sheath, especially if it was conditioned and "worn in" nice.

Kydex doesn't seem to work well as a pocket sheath (or maybe I'm just not good enough at it yet) because it's always to retentive of the blade and any shape that fits well in the pocket and "grabs" it well enough to be able to draw the knife seems to really dig into your thigh when you sit and move, not to mention they usually take up your whole pocket.

I'd also like to try a pocket sheath with a nice deep clip for something like a BK 13 (small and thin) that keeps it in the general position you'd carry a folder but in my crude attempts I just can't get it to work out correctly, also seems like it would go best with a leather sheath.

 

[JD Mandrell]

I do it often, both under and over my shirt. Only had one time that somebody said something, and that was a Fish & Wildlife agent, at a booth setup in the local shopping mall, that was convinced it was illegal, but got proved otherwise.