Thinking about hanging up my hat

Really, being very honest, for as much (or little) use my knives actually get, a couple of SAKs would be all I would ever need. I just developed an interest in EDC folders at some point, and I think maybe the fidget factor comes into play here, too. I have an Evogrip 11 that would easily cover 90% of my needs, and one or two others that could handle most of the rest. The only thing I need a bigger blade for is slicing up the really heavy cardboard shipping cartons, which a SAK could probably handle but would need a serious touching up afterward. I’m not quite ready to start thinning out the folder collection just yet, but I certainly could if I really had to.
 
Danny Linguini said:
The only thing I need a bigger blade for is slicing up the really heavy cardboard shipping cartons ....
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Or a $10 utility/razor knife. I've been eyeing these on Amazon lately. May pick one up to keep handy for breaking down bigger boxes, slicing open bags of mulch and potting soil, etc.
 
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jackknife said:
What's funny is, even these days living in Georgetown Texas, I see a lot of slip joints. Yes, there's the ever present clips in pockets, but a very common sight is, an open top belt sheath holding either a large stockman or trapper. The sheaths often have nice leatherwork like scroll and figures in the leather, like a fine gun holster. Between Georgetown and the town of Killeen there are some real working ranches with real cowboys. You can tell them when they come to town, their boots are dirty and look well worn instead of the shiny town cowboy that is all hat and no cattle.

These real working ranch hands seem to prefer the old slip joints like stockmen and trapper. Boker is a popular brand I see, as is Case and a company called Moore Maker that seems to be a middle market company that has Case or someone else make the stuff with their Moore Maker brand on it. So there you have it, the townie cowboys have the clipped lock blades, but the real working guys with the horseshit on their boots and sweat stained hats, carry larger stockmen and trappers.

A message there somewhere.

Edit to add; The construction guys seem to carry a mixed bag. My neighbor just had his driveway redone, the old cement that was broken up was removed, and new concrete poured. The concrete guys carried the open top leather belt sheath, with beat up old Case large sodbusters in them. The old yellow Case sodbuster has a strong following here among working guys. Apparently they have no fear of the blade folding on them.
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Construction guy here I live in New Mexico where I see the open top sheaths everywhere but with multi tools and the occasional slip joint most common knife I see on the jobsite is the utility knife as far as I know I'm the only one on the crew that carries a slip joint everyday I carry mine in addition to a locking knife or a utility knife but it's been mostly a utility knife here lately

I carry a slip joint everyday because I like having them as back ups but they do everything I require of any knife and have never failed me but I keep a utility or bigger locking blade close by for the sketchy jobs that need to get done
 
brentondan47 said:
Construction guy here I live in New Mexico where I see the open top sheaths everywhere but with multi tools and the occasional slip joint most common knife I see on the jobsite is the utility knife as far as I know I'm the only one on the crew that carries a slip joint everyday I carry mine in addition to a locking knife or a utility knife but it's been mostly a utility knife here lately

I carry a slip joint everyday because I like having them as back ups but they do everything I require of any knife and have never failed me but I keep a utility or bigger locking blade close by for the sketchy jobs that need to get done
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Slipjoint knives are nifty for those quick cuts you need to just open *dash* and close. No dazzling display is of ostentation. If you're going to work with your knife, one might want to consider other options.
 
ShaiHulud said:
Slipjoint knives are nifty for those quick cuts you need to just open *dash* and close. No dazzling display is of ostentation. If you're going to work with your knife, one might want to consider other options.
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I'm a government contractor, and I'm in and out of offices a lot, so we have a restriction on blade length which says nothing over 2.5 inches. But alot of the company maintenance and us construction guys all carry bigger blades for different things nobody ever questions us about it and security typically leaves us alone but I've found that when I pull out a stockman or a trapper nobody bats an eye
 
brentondan47 said:
I'm a government contractor, and I'm in and out of offices a lot, so we have a restriction on blade length which says nothing over 2.5 inches. But alot of the company maintenance and us construction guys all carry bigger blades for different things nobody ever questions us about it and security typically leaves us alone but I've found that when I pull out a stockman or a trapper nobody bats an eye
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Because those old style stockman and trapper knives haven't been villainized (yet)
 
eveled said:
I don’t know why it had to be such a big decision.

I have several large drawers full of knives. I carry whatever I want to. Some lock, some don’t some fold some don’t.
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This here, for me.

I will always love and use my favorite Spyderco and will always own XL Cold Steel, and keep a CS in my pack, even if my general trend for use has been going smaller and more traditional.
 
Hashishiin said:
This here, for me.

I will always love and use my favorite Spyderco and will always own XL Cold Steel, and keep a CS in my pack, even if my general trend for use has been going smaller and more traditional.
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I was in a hardcore slipjoint way when I made this thread, they have their place in the traditional enthusiast world of novelty use, im sure.
I'm just surprised people dig this thread up, brush it off and still post in it 😎
 
ShaiHulud said:
I was in a hardcore slipjoint way when I made this thread, they have their place in the traditional enthusiast world of novelty use, im sure.
I'm just surprised people dig this thread up, brush it off and still post in it 😎
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they do it because for whatever reason you had in making the post, it hit on a basic truth that many here know, but don't talk about like the gorilla in the room. That he cutlery industry is all about hype, and up sizing to a ridicules degree. This forum, being all about multitools, means that in making that post, you were addressing a large amount of people that are SAK enthusiasts and the huge bulk of SAK's are slip joints. Yet, Victorinox, and Wenger, have been marketing them to people for well over a century with great success to large masses of people on many continents for general use.

Yes, a lock on a blade is sometimes a good thing, but not that necessary, as a few centuries of use of slip joints and friction folders have proven. Working peasants in Europe used large friction folders, and pioneer homesteaders on the American frontier used plain large single blade slip joints for their cutting needs. When you made the original post, you may have been in a hardcore slip joint way, and in 99% of the spirit you were right. They dust off this thread because I have a feeling that there is a large amount of knife nuts that have come to, or are coming to the realization that the knife industry is 95% Bullhocky.

As far as having up your hat, I came to that conclusion about knives in general and forums like this. I find that when I stay away from the forum, I'm happy with whatever is in my pocket. No matter a Vic classic on the keys, a little Christy knife in the pocket, and if I need more blade, the old Buck 102 in the daypack, or the Vic florist knife in the glove box of my car. More and more, I'm staying away from the forums as I just don't have the interest anymore. It's all so overdone it's silly. Lots of over thinking, over hyped, and over obsessing.

Your post was a good one, Shaihulud. May their knife chip and shatter.
 
jackknife said:
they do it because for whatever reason you had in making the post, it hit on a basic truth that many here know, but don't talk about like the gorilla in the room. That he cutlery industry is all about hype, and up sizing to a ridicules degree. This forum, being all about multitools, means that in making that post, you were addressing a large amount of people that are SAK enthusiasts and the huge bulk of SAK's are slip joints. Yet, Victorinox, and Wenger, have been marketing them to people for well over a century with great success to large masses of people on many continents for general use.

Yes, a lock on a blade is sometimes a good thing, but not that necessary, as a few centuries of use of slip joints and friction folders have proven. Working peasants in Europe used large friction folders, and pioneer homesteaders on the American frontier used plain large single blade slip joints for their cutting needs. When you made the original post, you may have been in a hardcore slip joint way, and in 99% of the spirit you were right. They dust off this thread because I have a feeling that there is a large amount of knife nuts that have come to, or are coming to the realization that the knife industry is 95% Bullhocky.

As far as having up your hat, I came to that conclusion about knives in general and forums like this. I find that when I stay away from the forum, I'm happy with whatever is in my pocket. No matter a Vic classic on the keys, a little Christy knife in the pocket, and if I need more blade, the old Buck 102 in the daypack, or the Vic florist knife in the glove box of my car. More and more, I'm staying away from the forums as I just don't have the interest anymore. It's all so overdone it's silly. Lots of over thinking, over hyped, and over obsessing.

Your post was a good one, Shaihulud. May their knife chip and shatter.
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I like the points you bring up, I read posts in threads 80% more than I post in them, mainly because I can care less about titanium frame lock folders or what people buy and stay up until 3 in the am talking about, especially with the prices of these knives, yes, budget folding knives still exist but are now almost twice as expensive as they use to be. A common sight on these retailer sites are knives easily in the 250 to 400 dollar range, and I'll never have the desire to spend that much money on a knife. I am using a locking knife now because I see that there is a difference in the cutting strength and versatility, than with a slipjoint. Not to mention safety, as not too long ago, a slipjoint knife of mine binded with the material I was cutting and didn't know until I broke away from the object and the knife closed on my knuckle, luckily for me it was an older vintage one and wasn't as sharp, but the darn thing flexed here and there. The locking knife has given me the reassurance and ease of mind, if anything else, it unbinds from objects a lot easier and safer. But I'll never spend what people spend on a knife, locking or not, it's a tool, not a barbie
 
ShaiHulud said:
I like the points you bring up, I read posts in threads 80% more than I post in them, mainly because I can care less about titanium frame lock folders or what people buy and stay up until 3 in the am talking about, especially with the prices of these knives, yes, budget folding knives still exist but are now almost twice as expensive as they use to be. A common sight on these retailer sites are knives easily in the 250 to 400 dollar range, and I'll never have the desire to spend that much money on a knife. I am using a locking knife now because I see that there is a difference in the cutting strength and versatility, than with a slipjoint. Not to mention safety, as not too long ago, a slipjoint knife of mine binded with the material I was cutting and didn't know until I broke away from the object and the knife closed on my knuckle, luckily for me it was an older vintage one and wasn't as sharp, but the darn thing flexed here and there. The locking knife has given me the reassurance and ease of mind, if anything else, it unbinds from objects a lot easier and safer. But I'll never spend what people spend on a knife, locking or not, it's a tool, not a barbie
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You speak a lot of truth here I on these forums alot of people posting about pocket jewelry they will never use as what it is a TOOL people obsesse over having the latest super steel or the best handle scales but get so wrapped up in the look and style of the knife that they dont want to use it for what its made for
 
brentondan47 said:
You speak a lot of truth here I on these forums alot of people posting about pocket jewelry they will never use as what it is a TOOL people obsesse over having the latest super steel or the best handle scales but get so wrapped up in the look and style of the knife that they dont want to use it for what its made for
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Yup. It’s a tool, use it like one. I don’t baby my other tools, why should my knife be an exception?
 
Daedric Panther said:
Yup. It’s a tool, use it like one. I don’t baby my other tools, why should my knife be an exception?
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And it feels so good to finally let go of all that, before I was absolutely adamant that each folding knife I bought had to pass a stringent pre-check list of tests before accepting it, perfect alignment, no play in any direction, no loose parts that's not suppose to be shifting, no audible sounds that don't sound right, each time it was used, the blade would have to be thoroughly cleaned, because I convinced myself that if I left it dirty it will eventually ruin the knife. I'll say again it feels good to let go of all that.
now I only knock off loose debris on the knife, I leave all rub marks, smears, smudges and prints on it, my buck 110 slim select has small front and back and side to side play --- the thumb stud spins freely, my kershaw clicks when I close it, these things would have been woefully unacceptable to me before, now I just let it go, use the knife and not fixate and scrutinize everything under a microscope. All my knives are dirty, feels good.
 
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