Why don't I like folders?

Why don't I like fixed blades? I have 3 I think that are either high end or custom and they have never been used. I have probably 60+ folders and have been known to carry up to 6 at a time. I even cook with folders and even gut, skin, and debone various animals with folders.

Different strokes for different folks.
 
If I could carry FB's without issues in my area I wouldn't even own a folder and it's illegal in my area to conceal any FB. ;)

But since I can't I have to carry folders except when I go into the field and they stay home in favor of FB's.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Why don't I like fixed blades? I have 3 I think that are either high end or custom and they have never been used. I have probably 60+ folders and have been known to carry up to 6 at a time. I even cook with folders and even gut, skin, and debone various animals with folders.

Different strokes for different folks.
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Couldn't have said it better.
 
Powernoodle and Ankerson basically said everything that needs saying. I LIKE folders but if it wouldn't cause such a ruckus and I live in the deep south I'd carry and use fix blades exclusively. Again, I LIKE folders but I'm 150% about function I could give a crap about form, so to carry a knife that is already broken into 2 pieces presents a problem for me. That said they've got some manf. and makers making some fairly robust nonsense folders than are really coming along but the fact remains it is a fixed blade cut into 2 pieces.

Powernoodle, I just ran across another post of yours about knife storage and almost put this down then, but after reading your post here, I'm beginning to wonder if we weren't separated at birth.
 
I have several nice edc size fixed blades. I just don't feel comfortable carrying them in public.
A folder with a pocket clip is just more convenient.

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I was a hardcore fixed-blade only guy before I got my first Spyderco... Then I was doomed. With that said, there are still many situations where a fixed blade is king. You will never caught me in the woods with at least a single decent fixed blade-- make that two!
 
I prefer fixed blades also, but I like carrying a folder most of the time for convenience's sake.
 
powernoodle said:
Its a balancing act of competing attributes. I'd rather carry a Remington 870 fed with buckshot, but it won't fit in my pocket so I'm carrying a Ruger SP-101 357 mag. Most of us carry folders because size, convenience and stealth supplants everything else.
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This. I use a knife every day, and while I would rather have a 9" fixed blade for the things I do, I just can't have one more thing hanging off my belt. So I use a 9" folder clipped in my pocket, and have to remember not to use it quite as hard as I would use the fixed blade.

Andy
 
I like fixed blades, but there is one problem.... I seldom use them unless I am out in the woods.

I use folders ever day and find them very functional and appealing. I am honestly moving away from fixed blades to more traditional folders, and leaving the Spydies, SOGs, Kershaws, and others at home. There is just something special about a well made slippie. But I am developing a real love for a good machete and not having an in-between knife except a folder with me in the field.
 
As mentioned, there are varieties in the way folder & the locking mechanism done. Practicality is definitely a major thing for me.
The variety is what makes it fun to open, close & intrigue the mind for those mechanically inclined.

Philosophically, a knife is a sharp instrument meant to cut. Traditionally, it comes as fixed blade (e.g. stone age knives). To safely carry it, it requires sheath.
Folders are invented to have an integral sheath. To make it more portable, the tang is shortened and the 'sheath' is converted to act as handle,
in this light, I disagree with view that it's pre-broken. :)

A well made folder is safe enough for it's intended use.
 
I especially don't like the large thumb hole on folders. Don't care much for black blades either
 
I grew up in the country and in the woods and I have never needed a fixed blade knife. I have never had to baton wood and didn't even know about it until I came here. I was born on the 4th of July and I'm quite the pyro and have lit thousands of camp fires and make a fire everyday in the winter to heat the house. I have never needed to split wood with a knife. I have never needed to make a log shorter and just throw a branch on the fire and let the end burn off then slide more in the fire. I can clean animals just fine with a folding knife and can take a whole deer down to small boneless roasts with just a 3" blade on a folder.

I'm sure there were occasions where I could have used a fixed blade to pry or beat on something but it would have been the wrong tool for the job. So I wasn't missing a fixed blade, I was missing a pry bar or a hammer. Knives are meant to cut and so far folders fill that role for me just as well as a fixed blade would. A folder is easier to carry and put in my pocket. I can throw a folder in my pocket and forget about it until I need it. I am also a mechanical engineer and like to tinker with folders and analyze the locks. I also like to just sit around and hold a folder and flip it open and closed, something like a worry stone. I don't think pulling a knife out of its sheath and putting it back in would have quite the same effect.
 
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