Your most "hard use,sturdy,ba" SLIPPIE

SODBUSTERS!
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joe-bob said:
Honestly, I never understood why someone would insist on deliberately not using the appropriate tool for the job.

Its a cost/benefit thing. They might say, "Do I pry and scrap with this folder in my hand, or spend 12 minutes tracking down and retrieving a pry bar and some sort of scraping tool?" "Do I scrape the dried grass off of this lawnmower blade in 10 seconds with my Sodbuster (aptly named for the task), or spend 4 minutes looking for a screwdriver?" There is no right or wrong answer, and its not for me to tell someone else how to live. I've seen my 80 year old dad do things with a rusty Schrade folder that I would never do, but magically he has gotten by just fine and never lost a finger or snapped a blade as far as I know.

Though I almost never engage in the "hard use" of any knife, I'd say my recently acquired Schrade 186 is the beefiest slipjoint in my stable.

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Powernoodle you snagged that from the Forums just before I was going to pull the trigger on it. Ha! :D It seemed to me like the only pruning style knife my wife couldn't destroy in her gardening/Farmer's Market ventures. Looks like it could really stand up to some work!
 
I would say my hard use knife is my Buck Canoe. It is a beast that just keeps cutting and cutting.
Also my Victorinox Cadet. It is bomb proof, with all the alox, and as Jackknife said, not a lot on it to come loose. It's the one I have been EDCing of late, and it seems to be able to take whatever I give it.

Although, to be honest with you guys, my Vic Classic is the most hard (and often) used of all my knives. It gets used, abused, and keeps coming back for more. I would have thought it would have given out a long time ago, but it's still there, a bit scratched up-, but still kicking.... or cuttin. LOL.
So I guess to answer the OP, my Classic is my hard use, sturdy ba slippie.
 
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Hi,

I don't use my pocket knives as hard as I did when I was younger. The one I have today that's seen the hardest workouts is probably my Case Canoe in CV. It just seems to be in my pocket when there is some hard work to be done.

Dale
 
First off I am Craig and I am a Buckaholic.

When I worked outdoors for a living, no pig stabbers for me, I carried a TL-29 on the belt and a 303 in the pocket. Usually the watch pocket in demin attire.

But if you gave me only one knife to swim ashore on the island after the float plane sank out in the bay, it would be a buck 307 Stockman. IF by chace we belly landed on the beach I would pick a TL-29 for the usefullness of the screwdriver blade in scavaging material.
The 307 is a HOSS and won't let you down. I carry one on the belt when visiting my ranch relatives. But send me to help someone build something or community project volunteer situation and I will strap on my TL-29 an belt sheath and my 303 in the pocket.
I will second the notion that the right tool is the right tool and a knife even like the 29 just will not do what a screwdriver will. 300Bucks
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Haven't used it much yet, but when I go into the woods this fall she's going with me all the time.
Think Opinel #9 on steroids, with an aggressive saw blade to boot.

Eye Brand #99S-DS with thick stag
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Craig, I had forgot all about the TL-29!

If there's any folder around with a history of hard use, it has to be the TL-29.

I've seen tons of these ex-service knives that have been abused and over used for decades, and look like they just may have won the war all by themselves. But every one of them, even looking like hell, still was out there getting it done.

I may switch my vote for the TL-29. :thumbup:
 
My hard use slippies are the Sodbusters or the Elephant Toenail. Someone told me that the elephants toenail was used by oil rigs workers to cut rope and stuff either in a swing or by being batoned through the rope. I believed him and so far my RR Elephants Toenail has stood up to some pretty abusive stuff. The Soddie is still #1 in my book however.
 
This knife is pretty solid. More solid than any of my production slip joints.

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it's a Menefee.
 
More thoughts on slipjoints as "hard use" knives from a coffee-fueled brain trying to procrastinate getting any work done ...

Like you guys, I see those "What's a good hard use knife?" threads over in the general forum all the time. To be honest, I don't think there's such a thing as "hard use" for a knife - just use, or abuse.

I read posts from guys saying they need something really tough because they'll be cutting linoleum. What's the big deal? I've cut lots of linoleum with a Old Timer middleman jack. And I've broken down carboard boxes with a stainless Case peanut. You're just cutting something, the very job a knife is created for. Certain blade sizes or shapes or steels might make more sense for this job, or that. But I don't think there's a question about any well-made pocketknife being unable to handle cutting tasks.

"On the farm, we cut lots of baling twine." And? You think a cv Case can't spend the day cutting baling twine? I know that stuff's not the same as a thread on your kid's sweater - so carry a three-blade stockman and change blades when one dulls. (Hint: You see a Case display in damn near every feed store in the South for a reason.)

Whittling wood or cutting leather? Again, isn't cutting what a knife is made for?

Now, if you get into prying or - heaven forbid - batoning, then you're more into the abuse category, IMO. Still, for those tasks, any Victorinox SAK with a screwdriver and saw has you covered.
 
mnblade,

I think you answered the question by saying get a stockman, and I agree.

For many years I worked in construction with tools as an electrian and carpenter
Hard work needs hard tool
9" linesman pliers, 20 oz framming hammer, 2 1/2 lbs chipping hammer, and a 12" cold chisel were my main tools.

So what knife for hard work?
A 4" knife is good in the hand for extended work
Which 4" stockman?
A Queen or a Buck feels heavier than a Boker
A 4 1/4" Queen Cattle King is even larger and is great to use.

Then any GEC model is tough in the hand
A Soddie is a solid work knife
Not to forget a Demo knife that when thru hard use in my Army service, which is so similar to the SAK Pioneer

Now. my favorite is the 4 1/4" S&M Cotton Sampler
It has a lot of blade in the knife.
And most important for me, it has a lanyard hole, so I can hang the knife on my belt or work pouch
 
Victorinox alox solo.

Built like a tank, nothing on it to come loose, its an all metal shadow pattern. Plus I gave one to brother in law Roger years ago that I had made an easy opener out of. Roger still is usiing it. If Roger can't destroy it, it must be rugged. Usually Roger can destroy anything.

Well I just opened the package containing my Alox Solo and I must say it feels like a tank.

Other I would say the CV Soddy. Just too bad CV and my body chemestry don't mix. Despite a coat of Ballistol the thing keeps rusting in my pocket.

Sooooo I think I will go with my Solo then.
 
I don't think about pocket knives when I think about a "hard use" cutting tool. Not at all. A "hard use" cutting tool would be a saw, or an axe, or a chisel, or a power tool.

Honestly, I never understood why someone would insist on deliberately not using the appropriate tool for the job.

+1, I completely agree.
 
+1, I completely agree.

While I totally agree in using the right tool for the right job, I kind of read the OP's intent as identifying what knife would stand up to the toughest duty assuming that it was the only tool available to you.
(Such as when caught out on a short/informal hike, visiting away from home, or other occasions where our shop or garage was not available to us.)
 
If it came down to having to really put one to the test, I think I would be comforted to have either one of these in my pocket

Kerry Hampton Lanny's Clip

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And don't let the color fool ya. This Texas Rose (4 1/2" Trapper) is a BEAST!

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I have two an older Puma Senior two blade stockman and an old Krusius granddaddy barlow. The Puma lives in my front right pocket and the Krusius in the right rear. Workhorses for sure, use them all day doing sheet metal construction
 
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