I’ll use most of my knives for moderately dirty jobs, but if I know I’m really gonna be beating, banging, abusing, or just doing really some particularly nasty things, I make sure one of these is with me.
Im partial to fixed blades when I’m working. No worrying about opening or closing it with gloves on or greasy hands. No worrying about anything bunking up the pivots. Just pull from sheath, use, wipe off if needed, and resheath. This CRKT Stiff Kiss goes with me anytime I’m working in the garage, doing house projects, or for any other potentially dirty job. If the handle gets really nasty, I just rewrap it with new cord.
Scraping caulking off an aluminum post to replace a screen door
The other two that get designated for nasty work are these two. The BG Ultimate lives in the bed of my truck in an bag of other camping items. It’s done everything from digging makeshift fire pits to scraping roadkill from the underside of the truck and camper. Think what you will about the cheesy BG marketing and such, but this thing has lived a hard life and taken it all in stride.
The other is a Gerber Crucial. Again, anytime I’m planning on working in the garage, or around the house and yard, this thing goes in my pocket. I can’t begin to tell you what abuse it’s seen, but I can tell you, it’s never been babied. You can question Gerber’s quality and reputation all you want (and with good reason in many cases), but these two have served me well for over a decade without much more than an occasional sharpening.