Fixed vs Fold

[wingriderz]

I don't own any fixed blade knifes for carry. I do have a bunch of folders. Classic and assist. Heres my question how many dumped their folders for fixed. There a guy locally bulding very nice fixed blades and are affordable. Are they practial for E D C? I already streched. Pretty thin. My E D C is either a M& P 40 c or Xds 45 . IWB strong side. Lock blade stong side rear pocket. Some sort of slip joint strong front pocket.What made your choice to move to fixed blade?

 

[mauser9]

I did start a collection 3 years back. You may laugh but my fixed blade carry is a Gerber Prodigy Tanto Has 420H.C. steel but the blade is thick and full tang. Figured it could come in handy especially for woods hikes.

 

[Marshwheeling]

Every now and again, I carry a fixed blade, not every day, but for some specific purpose. Most often it has been a small Anza; i just drop it in a front pocket in its sheath. Sometimes I will carry a Mora, either a 612 or a Companion, again by sticking the knife and sheath in a pocket. The Moras are light enough to carry comfortably this way. I don’t ordinarily like to wear a sheath on my belt.

If I were going to carry everyday, I would consider a horizontal sheath. I like the small knives and sheaths produced by this guy:
Cowboy Knives Gallery

 

[Mule Packer]

I guess it just depends. Here's what I mean. For everyday carry, I pack a folder in the front pants pocket of my Wranglers...usually this 1920 Schrade push button or occasionally a Case trapper.

However, that being said, when I've got the pack string up in the mountains, I always...and let me emphasize always...have a fixed blade handy.

The reason being that if a pack mule falls off the trail or goes over the edge, you need to have a knife immediately if not sooner, and believe me, you can't cut ropes fast enough. It's just not feasible to be trying to dig underneath your chaps for your pocket knife when you have to cut rope to either free a mule or cut the pack boxes loose.

As a result, I keep a good sharp fixed blade on my belt rig that I can get to in a moment's notice.

So, bottom line, I guess it's up to you and how handy you need to have your knife.

Just my two cents worth.

 

[Kanewpadle]

Your reasons for carrying a knife should be considered in your decision whether to carry a folder or fixed blade.

If you carry a knife for defensive reasons you should know how to use it for that purpose. Most people freely admit that they don’t have that skill.

Most people carry a knife for opening boxes or packaging. Or maybe a seatbelt in an emergency. A good folder serves very well for those reasons.

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

I guess it just depends. Here's what I mean. For everyday carry, I pack a folder in the front pants pocket of my Wranglers...usually this 1920 Schrade push button or occasionally a Case trapper.

However, that being said, when I've got the pack string up in the mountains, I always...and let me emphasize always...have a fixed blade handy.

The reason being that if a pack mule falls off the trail or goes over the edge, you need to have a knife immediately if not sooner, and believe me, you can't cut ropes fast enough. It's just not feasible to be trying to dig underneath your chaps for your pocket knife.

As a result, I keep a good sharp fixed blade on my belt rig that I can get to in a moment's notice.

So, bottom line, I guess it's up to you and how handy you have to have your knife.

Just my two cents worth.

Great post and photos. When are you going to share some more of your mule and packing trip stories? Would love to read some of them.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[Rpg]

Years ago, I carried a fixed blade knife whenever hunting or fishing and usually whenever I was out in the field.

As I’ve become older and as my experience hunting, fishing and being in the field has piled up, I’m less likely to fool with fixed blade knives.

Nowadays I’m most likely to just carry my edc pen knife: a 1935 era Camillus Stream Line pen knife.

It’s all I need bird hunting or fishing and I’ve gutted more than one deer with it.

Hunting big game, packing by horseback or overnight backpack trips I usually carry a fixed blade knife, but have been known to forget it.

In my teens and early ‘20’s I was more enamored with cool stuff and looked for every excuse imaginable to use it. As I matured, I drifted to function over form.

A fixed blade knife is nice for spitting the sternum when field dressing big game but doesn’t have much other advantage over a pen knife with a 2 1/2” blade.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Folder for EDC here in the Burbs of the Burgh..... 2.99" Benchmade "North Fork"......

Out and about in Penn's Woods at the cabin...... maybe "add" a 4-5" fixed blade 50-60% of the time.

Not much you can't do with a good locking folder vs. a fixed blade.

 

[Echo40]

I carry a Cold Steel Ti-Lite VI with a 6" Blade.

It's basically a modern take on the classic Stiletto style folding knives, although unlike most others, this one isn't spring-assisted. It comes open easy (after a short break in period) with just a push of the thumb and a flick of the wrist.
Being a Stiletto spear point blade, it's better suited for self-defense than a general purpose knife, although it is still razor sharp and can be used for more, it's designed as a stabbing weapon rather than a multi-purpose cutting tool.

For a multi-tool, I reach for the smaller, more convenient Victorinox Swiss Army Knife.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for the classics.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Every now and again, I carry a fixed blade, not every day, but for some specific purpose

I'm kind of that way, too. Very often, though, the purpose is "because I can". A few years ago I walked into my doctor's office wearing a small, fixed blade Arno Bernard knife on my belt. Doc sees it and asks me, "Is that your version of open carry?" He's cool that way.

Mostly, though, I carry a folder, usually a switchblade or some other easy opening folder.

I might carry one of these if I am fixing to eat out and want to use my own knife to cut my steak:

This is the one the doctor saw:

This is one of my folders - I need more pictures of my knives!

 

[sophie]

I have carried a folding pocketknife ever since I was old enough to use a knife. I have always been partial to a Case 3 blade stockman with a California Clip blade. Every once in a while I carry a Bench Made Mini-Griptillian also but I am never without my folding pocketknife. I know there are members here that carry fixed blade knives, and for good reason but I have never had the need for fixed blade. Just what we get our minds used to I guess.

Like Paul Newman said "I got my mind right boss"

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Sometime I carry this little Barkie in my front pocket.
Have carried it rear pocket and shirt pocket.
I have cut myself with a blade coming through the sheath.
So the tough scabbards do appeal to me!

 

[kthom]

As I've gotten older, the smaller sized my knives have become, both folders and fixed blades, but especially fixed blades. As has been mentioned, it doesn't take nearly as long a blade to dress a deer as I used to think it did. About the only use I now have for my longer bladed fixed knives is for use when preparing food at the camp site. I'm perfectly happy with a blade somewhere beween 3 and 4 inches in length with either type of knife. My true pocket knifes will have a blade shorter than about 3 inches, simply because that will make the OAL length of the knife to be usually between 3.5 and 4". For me, unless the knife is a single blade and is very thin overall, that's not comfortable in the bottom of my pocket, unless of course the knife has a suitable pocket clip and is carried vertically in the pocket. I prefer the front pocket for my folders or in a belt pouch for anything longer than that. It's quicker and easier to get my hand on the knife and draw it to be opened from my belt than digging in my pocket (with maybe the exception of the folders with pocket clips.)

It's been my habit from long ago to have at least two and sometimes three knives on me, depending on what I'm doing . As has been said, the purpose for carrying a knife has everything to do with the choice of the knife to fill that purpose. But I've always got a small usually two bladed pocket knife that is very comfortable swimming in the bottom of my pant's pocket and either a Case two bladed trapper or a mini trapper in a pouch on my belt. Sometimes I carry the full sized trapper in a horizontal sheath as well. And I sometimes carry a Benchmade mini grip or auto in tip up carry with a pocket clip. As had been said, this is a very personal preference for each of us, and it depends on what you mostly do with your knife as well as how you dress and what is legal for carry where you live. Nearly every choice involves some compromises for varying reasons.

 

[Goldstar225]

Except for a brief period in basic training I've had a folding pocket knife in my pocket since I was 6 years old, 55 years now. For the past 2-3 years it's be a Benchmade mini-Griptilian. I only wear a fixed blade when hunting, woods bumming, and sometimes fishing. My fixed blades range from 4" to not more than 5" a handy and usable length. I don't get into the currently cool trend of "Batoning" my knives, I have other tools that are better suited for splitting wood.

I have skinned out several deer using my old Schrade Uncle Henry pocket knife that my dad gave me when I was 13 years old. Still have it but the blade is so skinny from use and sharpening that its been retired and replaced with a USA produced duplicate.

 

[Fishinfool]

EDC is usually a Benchmade folder of some type. In the woods hunting, I like a 3 to 4 inch fixed blade. An old Cold Steel copy of the classic drop point Loveless is a favorite that I have about worn the checkering off the rubber handle with use.

I like a fixed blade because I know it will not fail as I have seen a few locking folders do over the years, and they are easier to clean after gutting an animal.

Fishing fillet knives are always fixed, long and thin for flexibility, and work well for deboning fillets. Matter of fact, just last night, I used an old Rapala fillet knife to carve a wild turkey fresh out of the oven. That long, thin, flexible razor sharp blade worked great in that role.

Larry

 

[Mule Packer]

Great post and photos. When are you going to share some more of your mule and packing trip stories? Would love to read some of them.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

Thanks, Leon, but I'm afraid most people would find my stories rather boring. But thanks anyway.

 

[nachogrande]

MORE FIXED THAN FOLDERS.

I use both but they gotta be able to open/use 1 handed (for the most part). Smaller (-3") fixed blades have become a favorite. My 24/7 neck knife is a mere 1 1/2" but fairly thick & sturdy. A Gerber trout & bird A325 has been a fav since 1975. A leatherman wave, vintage boyscout, & leek are the most common folders. Cleaning blood/fat/hair out of an old timer folder got old quick for hunting. Hard to beat a schrade sharpfinger for deer, & a trout-n-bird for most everything else. Neck knives a must if wearing waders.

 

[Richard Simmons]

Folder for EDC though I have plenty of fixed. On occasion when I don't want something clipped in my pocket or I just feel like I want some out of site I go with a necker such as a Becker Eskabar or Buck Kaala.

 

[fyimo]

My knife that I carry is a Spyderco 4 inch folder and I've been happy with it. I also carry a Sig P228 9mm as my carry pistol.

 

[tlawler]

I carry a Benchmade folder, but lately I’ve been thinking of getting a neck knife. Which ones are good?

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Funny think about those darn neck Knives.
I have several, but I really have never carried one round my neck!

 

[nachogrande]

IT'S REALLY UP TO YOU.

The important part for me is a good/comfortable/safe sheath. I found someone that works with kydex to make 1 for my Fred Perrin fixed neck knife (The sheath that came with it sucked), & 1 for a leek. Both are open, yet hold the knife securely even if worn open side down. Ya don't want a fixed blade falling inside your shirt.

 

[357-RevolverGuy]

I have tried carrying a few fixed blades for EDC but always go back to a folding knife. My last current fixed blade was a CRKT Hunt'n Fisch. It has a short blade and came with a horizontal sheath. Also carried a Buck 102 for a while too. Shorter the blade makes it a little more comfortable on the belt. I was doing a lot more fishing when I started carrying these which was probably what swayed my decision to do so.

 

[jag312]

However, that being said, when I've got the pack string up in the mountains, I always...and let me emphasize always...have a fixed blade handy.


As a result, I keep a good sharp fixed blade on my belt rig that I can get to in a moment's notice.

So, bottom line, I guess it's up to you and how handy you need to have your knife.

Just my two cents worth.

I believe that is a Randall knife. When it comes to fixed blade knives, there are Randalls and then there is everything else.

 

[Marshwheeling]

This Marttiini works well as a neck knife. It is a little shorter than a lot of my other knives, but its light weight is the main thing.

 

[292]

Leatherman is a case on my belt and a Buck 303 in my right front pocket. Fixed blade is for specific purposes as has been said. Usually a larger Buck when hunting.

 

[H Richard]

I've carried this Kershaw Leek since 2006. It's tough, keeps and edge, opens (and closes) easily one handed. Not too big, not too small.

 

[Marshwheeling]

I've carried this Kershaw Leek since 2006. It's tough, keeps and edge, opens (and closes) easily one handed. Not too big, not too small.

Plus, it is slim in the pocket, looks good, and is people-friendly. It is the only knife for which anybody has ever said to me, “That knife looks really expensive”. A modern classic.

 

[shouldazagged]

Old age and infirmity have dictated my current choices.

I have and treasure some fixed blade knives, especially a Bark River Highland Special with a four-inch blade that will do anything I want a woods knife to do. I prefer a blade of four inches or less for versatility and handiness. But I'm no longer able to hunt or walk the woods, so the Bark River and my remaining fixed blades will go to my son and his boys (they already have a number of them) when I croak.

I love slipjoint pocketknives, and still have several. My favorite is and long has been a Schrade 8OT, three blade stockman, 3 7/8 inches closed. But in the last year or two my hand strength and dexterity have deteriorated so badly that I have trouble opening the blades of a knife with decent springs.

My daily carry now is a Spyderco Endura or Kershaw OSO Sweet assisted opener, either of which I can easily open with one hand. I gave my nephew another assisted opener I liked a lot, a SOG Flash II.

I haven't been without a daily-carried knife for over seventy years. But time flies and the body wears out, so changes have to be made.

 

[mauser9]

Nice to have a variety. Been carrying a Sog Trident Tanto for a while with Aus-8 steel but there are about half a dozen more I have my eye on. Gettin addictive!!