I've carried at least one knife every day for seventy-two years, and can't imagine being without one.

Almost all of the ones I've owned have been traditional slipjoint designs with carbon steel blades. There have been Case, Camillus, Moore Maker, Cold Steel's Country Classics in Carbon V, Buck, Queen City, Henckels, Böker, and lots of Schrade Old Timers. There have also been Victorinox Swiss Army knives and Opinels (carbon steel).

Over the years I've found myself more and more attached to the real, U.S.A.-made Schrades, and coming back to them. If I could only have one traditional pocketknife it would be the U.S. built Old Timer 8OT, the four-inch-closed stockman. I frequently carried the metal-scaled SAK that actually was issued to the Swiss army troops for a long time. That was for the tools, especially the fine awl, which I used a lot for scraping wire insulation, punching holes in leather, etc.

Now, with the hand problems I've so often mentioned on these pages, I have serious difficulty opening a slipjoint knife that has decent springs. For a long time I carried a SAK with a SOG Flash II assisted opener or, more often, a Spyderco Endura. I still carry the Endura frequently, but lately have dropped a Kershaw OSO Sweet assisted opener in a front pocket or clipped in a hip pocket.

Getting old and arthritic is a whippin', but thank goodness for one-hand-opening knives. They protect me from the unthinkable heresy of not carrying one I can use.

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Oh well, what the hell.