YOUR Keychain Knife

SAK "Signature".
Same as the SD Classic but has a retractable (blue) ink pen built in the pile side cover.
Comes in might handy when your "good" pen dies. (unless you need black ink, of course.)

Honestly, I use the scissors the most. I always have at least four other knives on me. Most times I forget I have it with me.
 
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I thought I had already posted this here, but I'll try again.
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jackknife said:
The keychain knife is something that is ingrained into my memory. When I was growing up. all men carried a pocket knife. In the 1950's, the iconic pocket knife was a little one or two bladed slip joint that didn't cost a lot and was actually considered a semi disposable tool. They were used to cut string that held packages closed, open mail, sharpen a pencil, whatever.

A lot of times in the five and dime stores, there was a cardboard stand up display of very small keychain size pocket knives for a very moderate price. They were by the 25 cent combs and 50 cent nail clippers. Almost always they were about 2 3/4 to 3 inches closed, had thin carbon steel blade that actually held a decent edge for a good amount of time, and had celluloid cracked ice or plastic imitation pearl handle scales.
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My first and second knives came from a 5&10 (Imperials). One even had a pearl handle. (I dreamed at that point of being able to afford a Case.) I guess the modern equivalent to 5&10 store is Dollar General, but only to a point. Kmart and later Walmart put these 5&10 stores out of business as they were often located in the downtown portion of cities and as strip malls and regular malls developed in the 60's, they died. I remember very well of getting banana splits at the counter in some of these stores that had a food area. Now we talk about "gas station knives"..... those knives actually work (usually for awhile).

I see someone brought this thread back from the dead, but it is a good topic. Two years later, the Leatherman Ps4 Squirt is still attached to two key chains.
 
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22-rimfire said:
My first and second knives came from a 5&10 (Imperials). One even had a pearl handle. (I dreamed at that point of being able to afford a Case.) I guess the modern equivalent to 5&10 store is Dollar General, but only to a point. Kmart and later Walmart put these 5&10 stores out of business as they were often located in the downtown portion of cities and as strip malls and regular malls developed in the 60's, they died. I remember very well of getting banana splits at the counter in some of these stores that had a food area. Now we talk about "gas station knives"..... those knives actually work (usually for awhile).

I see someone brought this thread back from the dead, but it is a good topic. Two years later, the Leatherman Ps4 Squirt is still attached to two key chains.
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Yeah, it was a totally different era. Even the so called cheap knives from the five and dime were made in the U/S.A. and had decent 1095 steel. They just economized on the crimped on shell handles that often fell off after a few months. Knife still cut fine without them. They did cut whatever you needed to cut. Noe like you say, we have gas station knives from some Asian country.

Over the past few years I've switched to a Leatherman Squirt for most my watch pocket/keychain duty. I don't even own a classic anymore. I really don't think there are many days that I don't use at least half the features of the squirt at least once a day. I love the chisel ground blade as its soooo easy to touch up. And I never thought the small pliers would have become so used and important to me. I'd just as soon leave the house without my pants as my Leatherman. :eek:

Yeah, good topic. I'd bet there are way more cheap keychain knives out there than any of the name brands that are worshiped on those forum. Remember, most of the worlds population don't even bother to carry any knife at all. Those who do, are not knife nuts like here, and don't spend more than they absolutely had to for some Asian generic knife at the gas station.
 
jackknife said:
Yeah, it was a totally different era. Even the so called cheap knives from the five and dime were made in the U/S.A. and had decent 1095 steel. They just economized on the crimped on shell handles that often fell off after a few months. Knife still cut fine without them. They did cut whatever you needed to cut. Noe like you say, we have gas station knives from some Asian country.

Over the past few years I've switched to a Leatherman Squirt for most my watch pocket/keychain duty. I don't even own a classic anymore. I really don't think there are many days that I don't use at least half the features of the squirt at least once a day. I love the chisel ground blade as its soooo easy to touch up. And I never thought the small pliers would have become so used and important to me. I'd just as soon leave the house without my pants as my Leatherman. :eek:

Yeah, good topic. I'd bet there are way more cheap keychain knives out there than any of the name brands that are worshiped on those forum. Remember, most of the worlds population don't even bother to carry any knife at all. Those who do, are not knife nuts like here, and don't spend more than they absolutely had to for some Asian generic knife at the gas station.
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It was a different era which was dominated by Case and Buck for the most part. I wish I still had those two Imperials, but that was a long time ago. It is possible that one of them still remains in one of my many boxes of junk from years ago that still remain. I recall that I purchased the first one in the 1st grade and replaced it with a larger version in about 3rd grade to fit my hands and developing needs for a knife.

The little pliers on the Leatherman is extremely useful. More than anything it is used to hold small things that I need a firm grip on for some reason. I got the SOG PowerPint a while back and really like it. It is larger than the Squirt (3.2" closed), and does not go in my pocket unless I am using it. It stays inside my pickup to be used as needed. That seems to be the pattern with the larger pliers based multi-tools for me. They are kept where I know where they are but seldom carried. The Leatherman Style PS is also a good one if you don't want a knife blade on the little multi-tool. It is much easier to remove from a key chain if you prefer to do that when using. It would work perfectly fine for me as I pretty much always have a knife in my pocket anyway. If I regularly visited knife prohibited places, I would probably replace the Squirt for the Style.

I remember when I bought the Style and after taking it out of the packaging.... discovering "no blade".... I thought at the time why would I want this? But the answer is pretty obvious.
 
22-rimfire said:
It was a different era which was dominated by Case and Buck for the most part. I wish I still had those two Imperials, but that was a long time ago. It is possible that one of them still remains in one of my many boxes of junk from years ago that still remain. I recall that I purchased the first one in the 1st grade and replaced it with a larger version in about 3rd grade to fit my hands and developing needs for a knife.

The little pliers on the Leatherman is extremely useful. More than anything it is used to hold small things that I need a firm grip on for some reason. I got the SOG PowerPint a while back and really like it. It is larger than the Squirt (3.2" closed), and does not go in my pocket unless I am using it. It stays inside my pickup to be used as needed. That seems to be the pattern with the larger pliers based multi-tools for me. They are kept where I know where they are but seldom carried. The Leatherman Style PS is also a good one if you don't want a knife blade on the little multi-tool. It is much easier to remove from a key chain if you prefer to do that when using. It would work perfectly fine for me as I pretty much always have a knife in my pocket anyway. If I regularly visited knife prohibited places, I would probably replace the Squirt for the Style.

I remember when I bought the Style and after taking it out of the packaging.... discovering "no blade".... I thought at the time why would I want this? But the answer is pretty obvious.
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Those old Imperials were good knives. I remember the local mom and pop hardware stores having Camillus, Schrade-Walden, Imperial, Case, Western, and some German brands like Edge Brand, and Puma, all depending on what store you were in. Case and Camillus was the most popular of the hardware brands I recall from the 1950's. Camillus had an edge, (okay, bad pun) because all the WW2 guys remembered or still had an issue knife from their army, navy, Marine or air corp days. And the surplus stores had Camillus TL-29's for a buck in big baskets.

I don't know how many of those knives Camillus made, but up through the 1950's the surplus stores had tons of them still in the brown oiled paper wrapper for sale. Lots of the old 'demo' knife as well.

Yeah, as an old fart, I use the heck out my squirt pliers for grabbing and holding little things my arthritic fumble fingers can't deal with. Getting old really sucks!!!!!:mad:
 
jackknife said:
Those old Imperials were good knives. I remember the local mom and pop hardware stores having Camillus, Schrade-Walden, Imperial, Case, Western, and some German brands like Edge Brand, and Puma, all depending on what store you were in. Case and Camillus was the most popular of the hardware brands I recall from the 1950's. Camillus had an edge, (okay, bad pun) because all the WW2 guys remembered or still had an issue knife from their army, navy, Marine or air corp days. And the surplus stores had Camillus TL-29's for a buck in big baskets.

I don't know how many of those knives Camillus made, but up through the 1950's the surplus stores had tons of them still in the brown oiled paper wrapper for sale. Lots of the old 'demo' knife as well.

Yeah, as an old fart, I use the heck out my squirt pliers for grabbing and holding little things my arthritic fumble fingers can't deal with. Getting old really sucks!!!!!:mad:
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The Rough Ryder knives are also pretty good, especially when you factor in the cost. Yes to getting older..... changes in your body (aging) seem to be noticeable in about 5 year increments rather than 10 year increments when you're past your teens. I definitely should have listed Camillus in my last post. All I remember about Schrade is that they were expensive like Pumas. But that was a kid's perspective where $0.50 was a big deal. Used to love those hardware store visits; still do in reality. Need to hit a store today. :D
 
22-rimfire said:
Hell. When I was a kid everyone over 21 was old to me, but especially 40.
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My first born is 44.
I'll be 65 (numerically) early next month.
I'm a touch older physically. In 1985 a orthopedic doc told me "Steve, you're walking around pretty daRn good for a guy that's 195 years old!" after looking at x-rays of my knees and hips.
Sadly my knees and hips have to improve before they can be replaced. I don't play Frisbee, so I suppose really don't need new ones.
 
A “Christy” Companion, slide out knife. Nostalgic, light, compact (retracts into handle), ambidextrous, non- threatening, useful length, very sharp, thin, replaceable SS blade, albeit a bit balky opening button. To insure proper operation you must rinse it out and give it some WD-40 or Rem Oil, from time to time, for the opening button to easily unlock on opening/ closing.
 
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afishhunter said:
My first born is 44.
I'll be 65 (numerically) early next month.
I'm a touch older physically. In 1985 a orthopedic doc told me "Steve, you're walking around pretty daRn good for a guy that's 195 years old!" after looking at x-rays of my knees and hips.
Sadly my knees and hips have to improve before they can be replaced. I don't play Frisbee, so I suppose really don't need new ones.
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My wife's oldest daughter is pushing 50. I would have to check but this may be the hit 50 year for her. I suspect I am physically a little younger than my chronological age. It is all genes and your history (car accidents, sports injuries, sickness, and so forth). I am very careful with my body these days in terms of where I walk, especially in the woods where footing may be an issue. No jumping off rocks and logs of any significant height above the ground surface. The bone issue hit me hard a few years back during the NCAA basketball tournament with the one young man breaking his leg from just getting a rebound when he came back to the floor. I thought... hell, this is a young man; this shouldn't happen.... so I made a special point of adjusting my outdoor activities and paying more attention to personal safety.

My scaling down knife sizes may reflect a reduced physical activity level and generally smarter use of tools.
 
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timberweasel said:
Gorgeous work, my friend! :cool::thumbsup: Did you make those covers?
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Yes. I made them myself except for the pieces of scale material. I mod larger modern knives and always end up with small pieces of g10 and micarta. I found a way to put them to use and not trash them. I laminated those 3 pieces onto the brass liner to make those new scales.
I do make my own scale material from time to time. Here’s a few pieces I’m waiting on to cure. That’s burlap and blue scotch brite pad with glow g10 As a spacer at the bottom and some various other pieces I’ve made.
 
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