What are your daily folding knife uses?

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ribeyemediumrare

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Oct 5, 2018
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Im curious to hear what everyones daily knife uses are. What are some general things you use your knife for and what materials do you cut? Are any knives truly better then other for these things?

Off the top of my head some of mine are: Opening packages, breaking down boxes, opening general plastic packaging, opening clamshell packaging, cutting off tags, cutting off loose threads, cutting off loose scabs and hangnails, cutting the tops of plastic bottles, cutting zip ties, scoring and slicing things like leather/cloth, cutting into the plastic seal on milk and supplement containers, prying off a bottle cap, cutting into a beer can to shotgun it, cutting up meat or food if no utensils nearby, cutting overgrown branches, prying open things like battery compartments, prying up the tabs of a can if its too low, cutting up limes. cutting the cap of a cigar.
Possible uncommon uses are: self defense, skinning, cutting rope, opening cans in an emergency, prying open a door or latch in an emergency, light bushcraft in an emergency, cutting a seatbelt, breaking something frozen up.

Main reason I'm asking is due to the debate of usefulness between thin "slicer" knives and "overbuilt" thick blades. I see people claim that knives like the Medford marauder and praetorian are useless bricks that don't cut. I don't have any Medford knives but I would imagine they handle most daily tasks just as well as a Sebenza would.
 
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I moslty use my knives for opening stuff, breaking down boxes, and on the weekends lots of stuff in the woods, but any heavy use I bring a fixed blade.

Medfords can probably handle daily tasks, but I doubt as well as a Sebenza or other more slicey knives with thinner stock. They are thick and don't slice nearly as well. I suspect they would better at prying car doors, but as you said, that is not a common occurrence.

When I started with knives I was really into the overbuilt tanks with thick blades. Then I realized they were really pretty cumbersome for most daily uses, plus they weigh down the pocket much more.
 
Opening boxes, packages, light prying, light scraping, trimming putty from new travel trailers, cutting caulk tubes, cutting shrink wrap and packing bands, etc.
 
jstn said:
I moslty use my knives for opening stuff, breaking down boxes, and on the weekends lots of stuff in the woods, but any heavy use I bring a fixed blade.

Medfords can probably handle daily tasks, but I doubt as well as a Sebenza or other more slicey knives with thinner stock. They are thick and don't slice nearly as well. I suspect they would better at prying car doors, but as you said, that is not a common occurrence.

When I started with knives I was really into the overbuilt tanks with thick blades. Then I realized they were really pretty cumbersome for most daily uses, plus they weigh down the pocket much more.
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I think most peoples tasks involve shallow cuts where a Medford would work just as well as a razorblade. The reason I like a bigger knife is mainly they fit more comfortably and securely in my hand, this means they are more comfortable to open/close, and give me better control of the knife. If a knife is "overbuilt" this just gives me additional confidence to use it for harder tasks without worry and use it for more things. Of course if you wear mostly slacks or have smaller hands you will want a smaller thinner knife.
 
Tommy-Chi said:
I use a box cutter to open boxes. I use all of my knives for self defense and nothing else, so they are unused and I hope they stay that way.
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Interesting, I have guns for self defense and zero knowledge of knife fighting so self defense is more of secondary use for my knives. What kind of knives do you prefer for self defense and what kind of features are most important to you in a combat knife?
 
Today, I used my SAK and my Kizer for cutting up some boxes, slicing lids of boxes of cat food for easy access, opening two clamshell packs (door knobs) and installing, opening a case of Coke (slicing the top off) and a few misc low impact tasks. Pretty normal day overall for me.

I use my knives a lot actually and really miss them if I don't have one in my pocket.

I consider self defense with a knife a bit of a fantasy. If I were choosing a knife for self defense potential, it would be very sharp, probably a fixed blade with a guard (for indexing) and a blade probably about 5" long.
 
Last week I left my knife on the dresser and by lunch time I must have need that knife at least 5 times so I was forced to use my apprentices Milwaukee knife from HD, I know what I'm getting him for Christmas;). On a daily basis I use my knife for opening packages, breaking down boxes, opening general plastic packaging, opening clam shell packaging, and stripping wire and cables. I also carry one for personal protection but I hope it doesn't ever have to come to that for the other guys sake. Like someone here once said, The knife you leave at home is of no use to you.
 
I carry one of these for self defense. Once the blade deploys like the sound of racking a shotgun, it's usually enough to send the bad guy running.

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Lol, actually I carry my PM2 90% of the time for opening boxes at work, zip ties, whatever. Yeah zip ties, I know, but sharpening is half the fun ;)
 
ribeyemediumrare said:
Interesting, I have guns for self defense and zero knowledge of knife fighting so self defense is more of secondary use for my knives. What kind of knives do you prefer for self defense and what kind of features are most important to you in a combat knife?
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Knife has to be 100% reliable so I prefer a fixed blade over a folder. 1 to 5 inch blade. Prefer to be able to cut/slash and thrust and I do not like limitations in design philosophy. I'm currently carrying two - ZT 0095TANBLK in S90V. I also like Winkler fixed blades. I buy two of everything that I plan to carry.

EDC Knives that I have which would probably be more than capable for self defense are:
- Bradford Guardian 3 and 4 in M390 - Black G-10 - False Edge - Stonewashed
- Spartan Enyo Inside Waist Band/Neck Knife
- Spyderco Yojimbo 2, CF, 20CV Blade
- Zero Tolerance 0095 Sprint Run with Titanium Handles and Tan Coated CMP S90V Steel Blade Model 0095TANBLK
- Cold Steel, Code 4, Clip Point and Spearpoint in CTS XHP
- Cold Steel Recon 1 Spear Point Folding Knife (4 Inch CTS-XHP Plain Black DLC Blade) G10 Handles 27TLCS
- Winkler Knives WK II, Winkler Belt Knife - Exclusive Special Edition CPM 3V - Sculpted Multi Cam G10
- Winkler Knives WK II Recon, with "Black Micarta" handles, handle treatment "Sculpted"
- Bradford Guardian 3, M390 - Black G-10 - False Edge - Stonewashed
- Spartan Blades Horkos - Flat Black & Black Micarta Tactical Fixed Blade
- Winkler Knives WK II Tactical Dagger - Caswell and WASP
- Winkler Knives/Jason Knight WKII Pathfinder Fixed Blade Knife Black Micarta (4.75" Black)
- Winkler Knives/Jason Knight WK II Jaeger Fixed Blade Knife Black Micarta
- Winkler Knives WK II Tactical Pick Leather Wrap w/ Kydex Sheath
- Bastinelli Creations, PiKa
- Neill Schutte CUSTOM 8 inch dagger
- RMJ Tactical Raider Dagger
- KA-BAR / EK - Jarosz boot knife
- Les George Galvos Daggers CTS-XHP. (TWO) leather sheaths, (TWO) kydex sheaths.
- Emerson Tactical Kwaiken
- Emerson Karambit fixed blade
- Gerber Strongarm BDZ-1
- Hinderer 3.5 inch Fatty Harpoon Tanto
- CRKT Columbia River 2010K Crawford Kasper Dragon Combat Knife 4.5"

- BRT BLADEWORKS (Ben Tendick) Universal Blade Rigs
 
At work - cutting pallet wrapping, pallet straps, zip ties, split-loom tubing, electrical tape, packing tape, rubber sheet, foam, cardboard, corrugated plastic, other small cutting tasks.

At home - I usually grab my multi-tool at home, mostly for opening mail/boxes/plastic packages, cutting tags off clothes and stuff, and opening battery compartments (Phillips head screwdriver), and random stuff I can do without having to go out to the garage to get a specific tools.
 
I cut zip ties, rope, tape, banding, open crates, mail, packages, skin wire/conductor, score utility poles, etc. I would be totally lost without a knife in my pocket and probably have an anxiety attack if I didn’t.
 
Like many of you, I buy knives with invented purposes when in all actuality a $5 box opener would tackle 90% of my work day chores, and this is coming from a contractor. Actually, my uncle whose daily duties involves even more everyday cutting relies 100% on a box cutter. It's worked for him going on 40 years.

When it comes to actual knife chores, I'm generally way over-tooled. A 4" ZT isn't needed to open mail and boxes, but carrying and using it gives me enjoyment:) I have several thousands of dollars worth of knives strictly for this reason, and obviously that's ok.

Truth be told, I feel way more naked when i dont have a multitool on my person over a single blade. I find myself needing to make a situation "work" more often than just needing to cut something. I think even out in the woods I put a plier based multitool as more important on my equipment list over my belt knife and/or chopper.
 
Large Folders 3.5" - 4". I cut boxes, pneumatic tubes, plastic bags, tape, foil, fruit/food on a moderately regular basis.
 
ribeyemediumrare said:
I think most peoples tasks involve shallow cuts where a Medford would work just as well as a razorblade. The reason I like a bigger knife is mainly they fit more comfortably and securely in my hand, this means they are more comfortable to open/close, and give me better control of the knife. If a knife is "overbuilt" this just gives me additional confidence to use it for harder tasks without worry and use it for more things. Of course if you wear mostly slacks or have smaller hands you will want a smaller thinner knife.
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That's understandable. I think something like the Cold Steel Recon 1 is a nice large knife with a full-sized handle, but it is relatively light and has a blade that is suited for both hard use and still thin enough to cut and slice well. Plus the Triad Lock is darn near bulletproof.
 
I prefer 3" to 4" full flat grind folders. I probably have most of the uses mentioned so far plus food prep, which is 90% of my daily chores. But I've never had to cut a seat belt. And I really don't like overbuilt pry bars. My Shiro F3 is as stout as it needs to be for anything I would ask of it.
 
My daily knife chores for work involve opening packages, breaking down boxes, cutting network cable, trimming network cable jackets, cutting twine and small diameter rope, trimming or cutting cable ties and cutting custom length velcro straps. On my days off, there's whittling wood for various projects, leather working, clearing brush (machete) and occasionally cleaning a rabbit or squirrel. Though not exactly a "knife use", I also split a lot of wood and my axes see almost daily use limbing, splitting or making kindling. I also find sharpening knives and axes a pleasure.
 
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