Pickin' the wrong EDC

T. Erdelyi

T. Erdelyi

Joined
Feb 3, 2001
Messages
32,359
One of the luxuries of havin' 300+ knives in my collection is bein' able to choose my EDCs for the day, aside from also bein' enjoyable, it can also be time consumin' and my wife is always tellin' me to, "...just pick a knive already."

I usually carry a small traditional single blade pen, a multi blade traditional, a lockin' folder of some type along with a fixed blade for heavier tasks.

Now I don't carry all these knive in my pocket, most ride in the bag I carry with me, (kind of a BOB) anyway, today I grabbed the 2011 Traditional EO Jack, my Dascus Case small Swell Center Jack, and a traditional French Laguiole folding knife.

I was putterin','round the homestead and I figured the choice would be sufficient, I expected to be cuttin' boxes, string, rags and mabbe some hoses, to be followed up with a knice lunch

Well my day strated with cutin some twine to tie up and wound up bein' a major repair fest all up and down the street, nuthin' but car problems and all my knives and not one of 'em desined for this degree of work.

I shoukda pickd my Leather Man 200, a Case Camp/Scout knife, Swamp Rat Howlin Rat for the heavy work a small sharp Gerber Silver Knight for pickin' out splinter, these choices would have made more sense had I know the day that was bein' planned for me,

Nuthin's is more frustratin' than have all the wrong knive to work on your jobs and projects.

Now I know it's not that complicated to choose your EDC when ya only have 3 or 4 to choose from but I'm positive tha I'm not the only person who chose the Wrong EDC today, anyone else ever load up with pocket steel and after gettin' underway realizes his selection was totally in appropriate for the day' tasks at hand.

Confess your mistake, you'll all feel better after ya tell us yer story. :)
 
You bet!

I tend to leave my LM Wave or Deluxe Tinker behind on the exact day I end up needing pliers. And I'll carry my Pocketwrench once in a while, but if I need to actually pry something, it's almost always a guarantee that's the day I leave it at home. Finally, I'll choose either a new and gorgeous knife, or a small and slim knife on the days when I need a down and dirty beater for cutting dirty, sappy, or wet stuff. Alternatively, I'll gear up for lots of use, and not touch a single tool the entire time I'm out. It almost never fails. I refuse to load my pockets down or carry a bag though, so I try to choose wisely based on what I think I'm going to be doing.

And I always choose wrong. :o

Still fun, though.
 
I've only got a few knives, but several times I've had my Spydie Endura 4 FFG, and I've wished that I had my drop point Buck Vantage Pro for the sturdier edge. It seems to me that I do most anything with my knives, so the big mistake I usually make is blade shape/length.

Regardless, my sharp edge and I always prevail!
 
i have about 40 folders and every morning i open up my case and stare at them,which seems like forever. Its a hard descision definetly. Ill pick one up and then immediatly look over at another one:) it takes awhile. With that said i seem to leave my sak home everyday i need it:(
 
First I decided to carry one knife and one multitool for EDC.
So I used to carry Spyderco Dragonfly g10 and Leatherman TTi in my pocket for a while. Then I realized that the tti is too heavy to carry in a pocket. So I bought a Victorinox Pioneer and replaced tti.

That two was just fine for my every day task(cutting box, ropes, bandages, dividing foods, etc) and they were just fine in my pocket. But I couldnt stop buying other knifes:)

So now I changed my mine to decide, what to carry, every morning when I wake up.

Right know I have Boker Gnome in my left pocket, Microtech UTX70 in the other side and Chris Reeve small Sebenza in my bag. It might not be a proper EDC but its more fun:)
 
My issues are usually on the trail more than on the town, but for whatever reason on backpacking trips I decide to go light on, I wound up having to do a ton of tool work with a tomahawk, a machete or a companion knife, and the trips I pack full sized axes on, I wind up having to do no real heavy work. Frustrating, but there's one little niche that goes a long way, and it's the high carbon 2.75-3 inch, 3/16ths thick fixed blades. My HEST does BIG knife work and carries like a folder. That thing is usually in my pocket because I know it can handle all the abuse.

PS to say I'm another Howling Rat lover. I have black canvas/sage blade, the most comfy, high performance companion knife out there.
 
I have a warm spot for simplicity. Still, as a retired instructor, as well as a knife & revolver nut, I like 'carrying'. When I carry - for effect - I carry a moose of a folder and a 'Gent's knife'. Such a combo could be my BM 480-1 Shoki and a ZT-0551 - or my small Sebbie and a Buck 110. When I feel the need for more 'tools', I carry a Vic FARMER SAK. Most days, for most of the last two years, anyway, I have EDC-ed a BM 755 MPR - and I have been adequately prepared, as long as I've kept it sharp. Nothing is as aggravating as being in the grocery store checkout line and trying to cut out a coupon with a dull knife! My everyday uses range from openning packages to slicing apples, from whittling to lunch prep.

Christmas was good for me - my bride got me a backup 755BK.... and, a new similar Boker - their 'Pipsqueak'.

008-1.jpg


Backup for a favorite knife is 'a good thing'.

Stainz
 
Ted I think I Lot of us here on BM wish we had even 30-40% of your knives:eek::D

I have had your problem a couple of times and it's fustrating. I do have a LM wave and a smaller model at home that I usually don't carry...I don't like the added

weight. I carry a LM supertool in my truck so I'm all set if I out. I carry a big folder and a Caly jr. in se everyday so I usually have all my cutting covered.
 
When I walk out the door in the morning without my Leatherman Skeletool I end up in a situation where I need it and have to go hunting for a toolkit in my office. (I am a systems administrator). The same is true when I forget to bring a knife (I know, I am so ashamed :eek: )
 
I always carry the same two: A CRKT folding Hissatsu, and a Leatherman Wave...That way, I don't have to make another decision.:D.
 
glockman99 said:
I always carry the same two: A CRKT folding Hissatsu, and a Leatherman Wave...That way, I don't have to make another decision.:D.
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I wish I could stand carrying my Wave everyday, but it's so danged heavy! I even went so far as to purchase the pocket clip so I could ditch the sheath, but it still just drives me nuts whenever I try to wear it. I do carry it in my work duffel and I live with it on my person when camping, but otherwise the poor thing stays home. Gotta get myself a PS4 so I'll at least have some pliers.
 
Currently I carry a small LM Juice S2 in my back pocket. It's light (at 4.4 oz, it's half the weight of my Charge Ti), and doesn't need a sheath or a clip, and is flat enough that I don't notice it. But this way I have a pliers, small pen knife, scissors, screwdrivers, and other essential small tools always with me. In my bug-out kit, I keep the Charge Ti, which I also take when camping since it has more useful blades/tools, including a saw and an interchangeable bit driver.

As for blades, I typically carry a Benchmade mini-rukus folder for daily cutting tasks, clipped on my pocket. I also carry a small fixed blade for defensive use or if SHTF. It's a Spydie Fred Perrin, about a 3.5 VG10 blade, I usually carry it clipped on front/index position under an overhanging t-shirt. However, I'm investigating changing this to either neck carry or a Mercharness. The Merc looks like a very elegant, simple, safe, and convenient way to carry. I find that the index carry of even a small fb is kind of uncomfortable at times (bending over, etc.). All the more so when you have a CCW carried IWB.
 
i usually only carry one knife on me at a time. and its nothing like someone who isnt a knife enthusiast prodding you to use a FFG blade to try and cut heavy rope or something. They dont realize that its gonna take forever and probably severely dull your blade because its not the right tool for the job. A serrated knife would obviously be better but all they know is that you carry a pocket knife so it must cut everything.
 
I find VERY few operations that I need or want serrations for, those situations are so few and far between that I basically just carry straight-edge blades. In most cases, if I keep my FFG or other blades very sharp, they cut nearly as well as serrations would anyway. There are probably a FEW cases--like cuttin 10,000 pound webbing as he does on knifetests.com--but I've never had to do that, and even if I did, I'd probably want a huge survival knife with serrations anyway, something that I'd probably never carry as an EDC.
 
I keep a few name brand knives sitting on top of the dresser that I like and just pick one for the day. Right now there's a Buck, Kershaw, SAK, Spyderco, and two Uncle Henrys. I do carry a gerber/leatherman multi-tool in my bag which helps with everything. I try to keep it simple because about 90% of the people I am around wouldn't know the difference between a .99 cent grab bag special and a good name brand that cost $50.
 
BuffDrinkLots said:
i usually only carry one knife on me at a time. and its nothing like someone who isnt a knife enthusiast prodding you to use a FFG blade to try and cut heavy rope or something. They dont realize that its gonna take forever and probably severely dull your blade because its not the right tool for the job. A serrated knife would obviously be better but all they know is that you carry a pocket knife so it must cut everything.
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Wha?!! That's why I carry my knife. My FFGs will cruise through heavy rope. What makes you think a plain edge isn't the right tool for just about any cutting task? Sure, serrations are great for cutting through thick and fibrous stuff, but there's no reason you can't effectively cut the same material with a plain edge. Just keep it sharp.
 
i dont know...never had to cut heavy rope. but was just kinda the first thing that popped into my head.

just kind of an example.
 
If you send 200 knives my way, you will have lessened the problem by 2/3.:)

Or you can get a suit made with 300 pockets.:D
 
stabman said:
Or you can get a suit made with 300 pockets.:D
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Or the next time some guy pops up who wants to sell you a watch, steal his overcoat with all those pockets inside.

I used to carry a big multitool on the job, now that I'm retired, I find the Skeletool is ideal. For a while, it WAS my EDC, the little serrated blade took care of any cutting, and i had the pliers for pain compliance if people got in my way. I've gone back to a big folder also, but the Skeletool is always handy, and the Vic. Farmer gets a lot of use too.

Too much knife from a logical point of view, but I'm not Mr. Spock, so I don't worry much about logic.
 
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