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What do you carry ?

Decent article. To say I am an adocate of knife carry would be an understatement. I have carried a knife since I was like 7 years old everywhere, yes including to school, times were different.

However to say the reason for carrying would be considered defensive would be a great overstatement. Knives have many uses, but only a very small percent is defensive.

I even started a thread here which chronicles the life of the EDC knife, at least my EDC knives. And so far they have gotten tons of use but nothing defensive.

www.thearmorylife.com

A day in the life of an EDC knife.

Yesterday, my birthday, was like most days since I started carrying a knife oh 54, 55 years ago, and just like all those days the chores performwd by the blade where pretty pedestrian. Day started out filling bird feeders Then moved on to cutting zip ties to add faux ivy to the snowglobe...
www.thearmorylife.com www.thearmorylife.com

Which is not to say that training with a blade is not worthwhile, it is, and is important, just in case... I have done so and recommend it.

However, in my humble but rather informed knife nut opinion, choose the EDC knife with utility foremost in mind but able to be used in defence.

My current are a Spyderco Cricket in my right hand change pocket , and a Microtech UTX-85 in my left hand front pocket. In my GHB is Marbles Bison.


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When I retired I wanted to be a Knife collector. I had this list of cool knives I was going to buy, my wife put an end to that real quick.
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This is what I got away with before she stopped me. This is what constitutes my daily rotation I pick one every day and that's what I carry. Today it's the Griptilian.

The Bugout in the upper left-hand corner was a retirement gift from her. The 710 underneath it was a gift from a friend and the Griptilian was a replacement for it when I thought I'd lost it. I found it in the couch cushions a month later.

The Buck on top was a replacement for a knife that I bought at the PX on Fort Carson in the early 90s. I carried that knife in my LBE every time we went to the field and then somebody stole it.

The buck underneath was a retirement gift to myself. I carried it the last two or three months that I was at work because it was a good inexpensive knife and if I lost it I wouldn't care. It actually turned out to be one of my favorite knives.

The Buck LTE was a gift that I bought for myself when I got my last job.

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This is the knife that I carry most frequently because it's in my gym bag. It is a Victorinox Climber I bought it because I didn't own any Swiss Army knives and I thought this would be an appropriate addition. My wife has an identical one.

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This is a Victorinox Trekker, it was a gift from a friend. I feel bad saying this but I was actually disappointed when I got this knife. It wasn't what I thought a cool knife was. Then I took it out in the woods with me and found out how useful it was.
This knife lives in my GHB and it's actually become one of my favorite knives. I was trying to cut a 2x4 for something one day and I couldn't find my saw so I used the saw in this knife and it went right through it.

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And these are the two that I've owned longer and carried longer than any other knives that I own. I bought the buck 110 at the PX on Fort Carson. I think that particular Gerber was a gift from my wife. I carried it when I was in the National Guard and I carried both of them on my belt when I worked as a security guard the entire time I was doing it. Now I carry them when I go hiking.

Okay, that's it. I'm sorry if this was a long boring post
 
My current knife carry rotation (Gerber Remix, Kershaw Emerson, Kershaw Decimus). These are folding knives but I will sometimes carry a fixed blade Karambit or other fixed blade knife.

I have a couple of Benchmade knives but they usually stay in the gun safe but sometimes I'll carry one. I'm not one to use knives as screw drivers or can openers but I have been known to whittle on a piece of wood now and then...:)

I recently turned 65 and was given my first knife when I was about 7. I have carried one pretty much every day since.

I grew up about 30 miles from the Mexican border and moved back to the area in 2021. I have seen knife fights and even witnessed a couple of deaths. Knife fights were common in Mexico in 1960's - 1980's. Now they just shoot each other with semi-auto weapons. The Texas side is safer than it was when I was growing up but the Mexican side has gotten a lot more dangerous. One of my grandpas had a business in Progreso(Mexico) and it seemed like the wild west when I spent weekends and some summers there when I was younger.

I've been involved in training in Escrima/Arnis(Filipino Martial Arts) and Kuntao/Silat since the 1980's. I've been training in martial arts since the 1970's. In Escrima and Kuntao we train a lot with knives/bolo's/machetes/sticks and empty hands. I still train daily. I know about the 21 foot rule. I have taught self-defense classes to civilians and law enforcement on how to deal with a knife attack(Run Forrest Run.)

I worked security part-time and full time from when I got out of the Marine Corps in 1979 until about 2015 when I had a motorcycle accident. I have had knives pulled on me and been cut a couple of times but nothing too deep. I also worked as Advanced EMT in an ER for about 5 years. The doctors always had me work on patients who had been cut either by a knife or self-mutilation. Knife cuts can be gross and the mental scars can last a lifetime.

I find the knife cultures interesting between Hispanic(Mexican Border, Barrios, Mexico, Central and South America), Asian(Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian) and Redneck(Southern United States. I lived in Arkansas for about 14 years and got to know some country boys who could handle a blade real well...Country Boy Will Survive...:) Where's my Bowie, Jim...:)).

Sorry about the rambling. My knife carry choices are mostly based on self-defense. I live in a very quiet area now. And I train with knives and other weapons to stay in shape and honor my martial arts instructors and to answer questions from students(current and past).
 

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