thinking about a new EDC rotation strategy

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bdmicarta

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Feb 16, 2012
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I have 11 knives in my EDC rotation, and that is after paring it down a little bit. My previous strategy was to carry a knife for a week, then switch to the next knife the following week, then the third knife on the third week, etc. Obviously it takes a long time to get all the way through the rotation. I've decided to speed it up a bit. I'm going to try one day per knife instead of one week, in order to run through the rotation quicker.

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I don't want any knives to get left out so I try to stick with the rotation.

(Wow this is a crappy cellphone pic. There is a green Para2 and a blue FRN Manix 2 in there. The rest are probably obvious.)
 
May I ask for the model of the second benchmade from the top on the right side? That looks nice.
 
What ever works for you.
I just look at my stock & think yah I'll carry that one today. Some days I will carry more then one. Sometimes I will carry the same one for a few days.
My Buck Vantage pro is on day two now.
 
I can never seem to get into what I would call a rotation. I get stuck on one knife for a while till I get a new one. If it doesn't make the cut, it goes in the machinist toolbox in which I store my knives and usually the previous one gets out. For the last 3 months it's been the pm2. I love it. Regardless of all the hype, I didn't realize how much I would. Great EDC collection by the way!
 
I have mine set as

Work: ZT 0300
Casual: Emerson CQC 8 BT
Dress: BM Barrage
Tactical /Duty: Strider SMF

Knives however come and go changing the lineup, but still pretty close to this.
 
I just carry whatever I feel like that day, no strategy needed.

Sometimes a Sebenza feels right, and other times a nice flipper feels better...
 
Blues Bender said:
I just carry whatever I feel like that day, no strategy needed.

Sometimes a Sebenza feels right, and other times a nice flipper feels better...
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Same here. I tried daily and weekly rotations, but I always end up carrying whatever jumps out at me that day.
 
Gotta do what works for you. For me, a formal rotation like that would feel like my knives were owning me and not the other way around. I generally have one knife that I'll grab for general carry and some others that I'll select for more specific uses if I know I need to do a particular thing. Right know I carry a Kizer Ki5404A2 most of the time, but I just helped a friend move and I carried my Adamas since I figured it might see some abuse.
 
I carry one folder, the Brad Southard AVO. It fits my needs just fine.
I just have not found a reason to change. I like everything about it. Perhaps you might think about selling eight or so of those folders, and purchasing one really great knife that you would consider a Grail... Yes, I know...just an opinion. :)
 
I usually look at what i'll probably end up doing and choose from there. i almost always carry two knives, one of which is a traditional one a OHO so i have a lot of bases covered. I've just received a Caly 3.5 vg10 and that with my old pen knife seem to cover just about anything. When i know ill be working with my girlfriends father, i usualy cary a sodbuster and a griptilian, he's a big guy and knows how useful a knife is but doesn't carry one :confused: but those fit his hand well and will stand up to the stuf we usualy end up putting them through
 
Sonnydaze said:
I carry one folder, the Brad Southard AVO. It fits my needs just fine.
I just have not found a reason to change. I like everything about it. Perhaps you might think about selling eight or so of those folders, and purchasing one really great knife that you would consider a Grail... Yes, I know...just an opinion. :)
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I absolutely would if anyone made my grail knife. Until then I'll hang on to a few. ;)
 
I'm a variety guy as opposed to a uniformity guy in my knife preferences. I like a lot of different brands, styles, profiles and types; mix it up. You have more of a uniform collection so we may make our choices differently.

My EDC choice daily is whatever I feel fits the agenda of the day ahead. If I can't do it quickly at a glance I just throw a RAT or SAK in my pocket and go. It's pretty quick and free-form for me frankly. It works out that the knives are rotated kind of naturally with little or no thought about, "I have to use this one today to keep the rotation perfect." I don't fret over that any more than I allow myself to develop steel-anxiety. Just one more thing you can obsess over and take the fun out of the hobby.

My folders are vault stored in vintage wine and cigar boxes (each lined in cheap Elvis velvet by God) in groups of 6-10, each group as mixed as possible for knife type/size/style. I take out a group at a time and feed off of that for a week or two then rotate a new group onto the playing field, putting the just used group back at the bottom of the vault rotation.

It all results in rotation without really worrying about it.
 
I know I'm going to be in the minority here but to me if you rotate then that's not EDC. For me EDC means you carry X everyday. For instance I carried the same Spyderco Endura 3 combo everyday for over ten years. That was my EDC. Currently I carry a Spyderco Delica in foliage green most every day but like many here I switch it up depending on the situation. Most often I change when wearing different clothes or different situations. I also regularly carry more than one knife. The Spyderco and a large Cold Steel folder concealed. I also carry a victorinox classic every day, that is an EDC.
 
precisionshootist said:
I know I'm going to be in the minority here but to me if you rotate then that's not EDC. For me EDC means you carry X everyday. For instance I carried the same Spyderco Endura 3 combo everyday for over ten years. That was my EDC. Currently I carry a Spyderco Delica in foliage green most every day but like many here I switch it up depending on the situation. Most often I change when wearing different clothes or different situations. I also regularly carry more than one knife. The Spyderco and a large Cold Steel folder concealed. I also carry a victorinox classic every day, that is an EDC.
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You may be a minority, but you're not alone. That makes two of us.
 
EDC to me simply means that I carry a knife every day - not that I carry the same one! I like variety, but not enough to change up every day. Currently there are four knives in my EDC rotation. If I have a specific use in mind that I believe one of these four knives will fill better than the others, I carry that one. If not, I usually change my EDC knife every few weeks or months, just for variety. The one I'm carrying now has been my daily carry for about three weeks now. When I want some variety, I'll place in back in my EDC box and pull out one of the others for awhile. I don't have a set schedule or anything...
 
Some days its my Leek some days it my Vallotton and hell on the weekend, I find myself carrying my mini hawk.
 
precisionshootist said:
I know I'm going to be in the minority here but to me if you rotate then that's not EDC
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Agreed- "EDC" is not a literal description. To me it means a knife that I carry ordinary days, whether that is every week, all of one week, or a few days a month.


Insipid Moniker said:
For me, a formal rotation like that would feel like my knives were owning me and not the other way around
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I understand what everyone is saying. The reason I keep a rotation is because I read a lot where people say "this knife isn't getting carried so I have to sell it". I have pared down my group of knives to the minimum that I can, I like all of the ones that are remaining and I can't consider getting rid of any of them, so I have the rotation that will have them all carried equally. I mostly stick to the rotation but I will switch knives around if I think I need to for some reason or another.

Tomorrow morning starts the new scheme, with the red Para2.
 
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