Size preferred

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db

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I have way more knives than I should in all sizes and styles. I have come to find that I really prefer a pocket knife right around 3 1/4" closed. This size does all the cutting I throw at it and to me rides in my front pocket like it isn't even there. I know many of you carry a peanut so I know I'm not the only one who likes smaller knives. What about all of you what is your prefered size edc knife?
 
That is my favorite size too db 3 to 3.25. (I think the main reason is that I wear slacks 5 days a week and that size is just more comfortable to have in my pocket).

When I am in jeans, I might carry something a little longer, since I do not notice it as much as I do in slacks.
 
My favorite size seems to change from week to week.
Right now it is just in the 4" range.

But I usually carry at least two pocketknives with me, right now a 4" stockman in my right front pocket and a 5" 125OT in my right back pocket.

Peter
 
I'm usually in jeans so I normally enjoy carring a knife 3.75" or above.

I find that 3.5" closed is as small a knife as I normally enjoy carrying with the exception of a Barlow.
 
You're not alone, db. I too love the sdmaller knives.

As I have aged through the stages of life, my pocket knives have went down in size. I used to think the 3 7/8 to 4 inch stockman was a great pocket knife as well as my almost 5 inch Eye-Brand soddie, then I went down to 3 1/2 inch knives. These days anything from 2 7/8 to 3 1/4 are good. I've developed a love of knives I used to pass by, like Victorinox cadets, buck cadets, and such size knives. I find for my life these days as a retired "older" gentleman with past times of fishing, walking in the woods with my better half, shooting, kayaking, camping, and general home tinkering, I very rarely need anything over 3 inches give or take a bit.

Like I said before, maybe all those old guys we saw in our youth with the pen knives knew more than we did. When I think back on all my travels and things I did, I don't think there was more than a few times I really needed anything more than a 3 to 3 1/4 inch pocket knife. Certainly the whole ten years and few months I was in the army I did not see any large knives among the non-knife knuts that made up my fellow army engineers. Paul Britton was the only person aside from myself who carried a full size stockman. Small two blade pocket knives in the 3 to 3 1/4 size was more the norm. Small 2 blade Boker pen knives, a few Victorinox pocket pals, and the small Schrade models like middleman and minute man models were common sights.

Only after the mid 1960's did I start to see alot of the black pouches on belts of the Buck 110. I just couldn't see that much weight on my belt for one single cutting blade.

I guess it's a balance of utility vs size. In some packages the smaller knives seem to have the ace up the sleeve. Take a knife like the 3 1/4 stockman such as a Buck cadet or a Old Timer middleman. In one small 2 1/2 once package you have 3 different size and shape cutting tools. In Victorinox cadet you have cutting power, plus some basic screwdrivers and openers. if there is a knife with more field utility than a Victorinox cadet or even a recruit, for the weight and size, I don't know about it. Sometimes less is more.

But then like somebody who skinned a gator with a peanut found out; it doesn't have to be big, just sharp.:thumbup:
 
3 1/4" stockman or a 3 1/2" dogleg jack fits nicely in a leather knife pouch on my belt, which is very discrete for Hi-tech office enviroment EDC.

Non office, 4" slimline trapper or muskrat in a slip pouch in my back pocket.

Of course there is the large 4' congress which sometimes seems to find its way into my pocket!
 
I prefer a 3.25 inch knife Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm. and a 4inch knife from 5pm to 11pm. On Saturdays I prefer a 4 inch knife and on Sundays I like a 2 7/8 inch knife.
I know, I know, it's a little strange. But I also carry around a ham radio and a firearm. So I know I'm a little different. Well prepared but different.
 
As has been said I choose a knife depending on what pants I am wearing. I am seldom out of jeans so my smallest knives don't get much action but even in jeans I want different sizes. With regular jeans and khaki's I normally use a clip on pouch if the knife doesn't have a clip. The Scagel #11 is the largest that will fit in any of the clip pouches I have, it is 3 3/4 closed. I often wear carpenter jeans and when I do I can go bigger as they tend to be roomier. My full sized Soddie is not too large in them and will often go into the tool pocket. on the rare occasion I am in dress pants I will go with the smaller pouch with a smaller 3 inch or shorter knife in a clip on pouch. Concealing the fact I carry a knife really isn't an issue even in dress slack as I am also concealing a CCW gun and BUG.

pouch1copy.jpg
 
I like larger knives. I tend to carry either a Case Trapper or my Northwoods Large Stockman. I have several smaller knives that I also carry in addition to the big ones, but I almost always go to the trapper or stockman. Steven
 
My favorite knife is a large stockman 4.25" long. It's good-sized, but I'm a knife enthusiast and don't mind carrying the little bit of extra weight. Maybe it's more than I need, but I'm used to it. I actually don't have any trouble carrying larger knives (within reason of course) and find that you adapt to them pretty quickly.
 
Add me to the 3.5" max list as well, Bigger ones bug me in the pocket. Med Stockman, Whittlers, Peanuts and Dog leg Jacks I like. I also like a thinner knife. The Queen Dog Leg jack is as thick as I like. I just got a S & M Wharncliff Whittler. By far the nicest knife in my meager collection.

I slimmed down the plastic scales on my Queen Sod Buster and that is what I am carrying lately for clearing cardboard. Just thinning it a bit really made the difference.

For larger knives I use a (don't shoot me:eek:) Byrd Meadowlark. Larger blade but thin profile.
 
I've settled on around 3 ½ inches closed for slip-joints. They're big enough to be useful, but really easy to carry (especially in the fob pocket of jeans).

I used to carry relatively large slip-joints in various kinds of belt sheaths. After awhile though, I started thinking that if you're going to carry a knife in a sheath, then it might as well be a fixed-blade, so now I add a medium/small fixed-blade to the mix.

Slip-joints that are under 3 ¼" or so start to become too small for me. I like to be able to get a four-finger grip on the handle.
 
My favorite is also the 3.25, but I do carry up to 4 inchers on the weekend. I have 33OT my wife gave me over 20 years ago that is my favorite.
 
Right with you db. Pen knives, Eisenhowers, tiny toothpicks, baby butterbeans all fit nicely in the watch pocket of my jeans and cut anything I need them to cut. Even my one and only fixed blade knife is small, an old Western measuring just under 7".
--Kelly
 
3-1/4" seems good to me. Pocketable, yet with useful blade length. Basically anything from 2-7/8" Peanut (which acts like a larger knife IMHO because of it's squared, boxy cross-section which gives excellent grip), up through Senator, Pen and medium-stockman at 3-1/2. All feel good to me, disappear in my pocket and seem to have enough blade.

I don't like having a larger knife, a sheath knife on my belt, or a knife with a clip since I (legally) CCW and don't want to call attention to myself in any way. Going into the woods though, I'll take a small Dozier sheath knife, and I'm currently looking for a larger traditional knife for my back pocket.
 
I prefer something about 3.5 to 4.0 inches closed. I use it a lot for peeling and cutting fruit and that seems to be the best compromise.
 
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