Which category fits you best?

[sailfish]

Easily a folder guy. Fixed blades have their place but my day-to-day isn't it and they lack the complicated cool factor of a folder. I have a couple Leathermans but I tend to only carry one at work because I find them a little bulky in my weekend or casual wear. Folding knives have that cool factor like a Transformer or something yet the simplicity I still like. It might sound weird but multitools can stress me out for the very reason they're handy. When something gives you many options but sometimes not quit the one you need it drives me nuts. A folder strips all that away and forces you to either make do and improvise with that one blade or go get a more proper tool.

 

[Steely_Gunz]

Easily a folder guy. Fixed blades have their place but my day-to-day isn't it and they lack the complicated cool factor of a folder. I have a couple Leathermans but I tend to only carry one at work because I find them a little bulky in my weekend or casual wear. Folding knives have that cool factor like a Transformer or something yet the simplicity I still like. It might sound weird but multitools can stress me out for the very reason they're handy. When something gives you many options but sometimes not quit the one you need it drives me nuts. A folder strips all that away and forces you to either make do and improvise with that one blade or go get a more proper tool.

I totally understand where you are coming from. For the last few weeks my Inkosi has been a bit of a fidget toy. Not like a flipper where I could open it and snap it shut rapidly. I just find myself slowly thumbing open the blade to feel the smoothness as it glides. I'll actually hold it up to my ear to hear the detent engage when I close it. That little metallic glass-break sound gets me. It's as impressive of a knife as I have ever owned. And I use it

I could get the frustration of the multitool. I get around they because in my line of work, beyond screws and bolts being somewhat standard sizes, a good deal of repair or band aid fixes require an outside the box thinking. A whole tool box of sockets and drivers and wrenches might not be exactly what I need. It's usually on the fly. How can I pinch this piece to that piece? If I notch some PVC here, it might let me hold this at the right angle until I can get back with specialized parts to fix it. In my day to day, having exactly what i need the first go around is usually only about 30% of the time. What I usually have to do is diagnose a problem, figure out a way to limp it for a few hours to a couple of days, and then come back with the exact parts and pieces once I order them for the specific job. The MT isn't a perfect tool, but it works as a conduit for creative problem solving. As nice as my CRK is, it just can't offer that.

What I find fascinating about this hobby is that sometimes it is build quality of the blade that draws us in. Other times it is work it allows us to do, the ability to accomplish a task. There is room for all at the table

 

[sailfish]

I totally understand where you are coming from. For the last few weeks my Inkosi has been a bit of a fidget toy. Not like a flipper where I could open it and snap it shut rapidly. I just find myself slowly thumbing open the blade to feel the smoothness as it glides. I'll actually hold it up to my ear to hear the detent engage when I close it. That little metallic glass-break sound gets me. It's as impressive of a knife as I have ever owned. And I use it

I could get the frustration of the multitool. I get around they because in my line of work, beyond screws and bolts being somewhat standard sizes, a good deal of repair or band aid fixes require an outside the box thinking. A whole tool box of sockets and drivers and wrenches might not be exactly what I need. It's usually on the fly. How can I pinch this piece to that piece? If I notch some PVC here, it might let me hold this at the right angle until I can get back with specialized parts to fix it. In my day to day, having exactly what i need the first go around is usually only about 30% of the time. What I usually have to do is diagnose a problem, figure out a way to limp it for a few hours to a couple of days, and then come back with the exact parts and pieces once I order them for the specific job. The MT isn't a perfect tool, but it works as a conduit for creative problem solving. As nice as my CRK is, it just can't offer that.

What I find fascinating about this hobby is that sometimes it is build quality of the blade that draws us in. Other times it is work it allows us to do, the ability to accomplish a task. There is room for all at the table

That's one of the reasons I still carry a multitool at work. Sometimes they save the day in a pinch when I monkey my way into a crawl space or somewhere else that's a pain to get to only to realize I forgot one little tool.

 

[schwep]

If the question was 'what if you could only have one of these three types of tool/knife with you the rest of your life', I would have voted 'multitool' because these are just the most versatile - my Rebar has two knife blades and a saw on it, plus the pliers and all the other useful stuff. Plus I also always have a mini multitool on me, either a LM Squirt S or a Micra. Apart from flying I do risk taking a mini with me if I go somewhere (government buildings...) where I may need to pass a security portal, while I will leave my other tools and blades at home in such cases.
But that was not the exact question. It seems the OP wants to know what knife fits our person/personality best. And I have been carrying my Laguiole slipjoint folder for exactly 30 years now, every day (it was a Christmas gift in 1989). rekindles my interset in fixed blades relatively recently, and if I have bene getting through most of those 30 years without frequent use of a fixed blade (not counting in the kitchen), apparently I can do without if I must choose. The folder with my genes embedded in its handle and the patina on its carbon-steel blade is truly my knife, the one I hope to have wth me to the very end. But the way the question is written , it would not exclude owning or using other knives or multitools as well when the situation warrants it. I have many more fixed blades than folders but most are just hard-use gardening/forestry/workshop tools, not truly part of who I am.
One can discuss a question like this for hours during the Christmas holidays, sitting around the hearth sipping drinks and munching too much chocolate...