^^^ This. ^^^
Well, I will temper "this" with a combination of emotion and function.
My first knife at the age of 8 was an Ulster BSA knife. Got 5 stitches in my thumb that summer and proudly carried the knife every chance I could up through the early teens.
Second knife was a Buck 110. Got in it high school after many long hours thumbing through Herter's catalogs. But by then, my BSA knife was stuck in my tackle box and my Buck 110 sat with my camping stuff and through high school and college and for many years after that, my knives sat waiting to be used, but not in my pocket.
The third important knife I got was an Opinel #8 as a part of a trade for some bike parts. On a whim, it went in my pocket and my love for pocket knives was reignited. This started over 5 years ago I guess? Anyway, the Opinel was my primary carry for quite sometime. Functionally, it was like my Buck 110 in that it was a single blade locker. But, it was so light and easy to carry.
But then the battle for my pocket started among the knives. I found a replacement Ulster camper and carried that for a bit. It's capable of opening beer bottles and reminded me of my youth. But the Opinel was lighter so back and forth they went.
Then I got a Schrade 5OT, Buck 112 and a Buck 500. That totally jazzed me because they reminded all reminded me of my Buck 110 and of hunting with my grandfather and all of them were more pocketable than the 110. But none of them had a bottle opener or scissors.
(We're getting close to the end of the story...)
So, about 6 months ago and on a whim, I tried an experiment. I told myself I would never turn into a multi-knife carrying type of guy but for the heck of it, I tried putting a Leatherman Micra that my wife had given me many years ago in my LFP with my change. For many years, it had been tethered to various key rings and I just hated using it with keys attached. To my shock, I now use every single day! This is most shocking because emotionally, I rather dislike multitools. So this is definitely a matter of pure function trumping emotion. The Micra has found a home.
The last piece of the puzzle has been a Buck Ecolite 112 that has been rebladed with drop point blade. It gives me more blade than my Schrade 5OT. It weighs much, much less than my Buck 112 (and a bit less than my 500). And it feels unbelievable in my hand, just like the Buck 112 does, only better. That is, it is functionally roughly equivalent to my Opinel #8.
But the Buck has something that the Opinel doesn't. There is a silver cord that runs from that Buck Ecolite through my heart and directly to the family hunting camp. All my cousins carry Bucks and exchange them at Christmas. The Buck 110 has been my hunting knife since high school. My deepest memories of my grandfather are from hunting and I'll be wearing his Johnson Woolen Makinaw soon as the weather cools down (and carrying his Winchester).
I keep a bowl on top of the fridge for change. I put my money clip there, along with my EDC knives. The Micra is there and currently there are 3 others: the Schrade 5OT, the Buck 112 and the Ecolite 112/442. The latter is now the most frequently carried by far.
That choice is primarily an emotional one tempered by function.
Ecolite drop point left by Pinnah, on Flickr
