# Guys - do you still carry a small pocket knife? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 14, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714 "2010-07-14T20:51:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/81 "2010-07-15T13:51:10Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I have a newish swiss army knife that is similar to my dads I carry when I dont want to risk losing my dads knife. My dad wore a 1974 Seiko Bell-Matic [like this one](http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/villagepictures/SeikoBellmatic4006-6040.jpg), which he let me have in the '90s. After he died I didn’t want to damage it, so I bid on a couple duplicate ones on eBay. I ended up winning both auctions. I took all three watches to Seiko and had them overhauled. I put dad’s in a Seiko box and put it away with his Vulcain Circket and his Zodiac. The other two and my Submariner are on the watch winder, and I wear them from time to time when I get tired of the GMT II. Maybe there should be a ‘Duplicate heirlooms’ thread. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/82 "2010-07-15T13:53:35Z")
If I have clothes on I have a basic three-blade in my pocket and most times leaving the house I still have a Buck 110 on my hip. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/83 "2010-07-15T14:11:30Z")
I always have a [Gerber paraframe](http://images.gerbertools.com/Lg/1174_1/22-08444_Gerber_Paraframe_I_Stainless_Fine_Edge.jpg) clipped to my pocket. I’d like to get something nicer, I really like Case’s knives, but I’m afraid I’ll lose it. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/84 "2010-07-15T14:14:24Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > Sidebar: I hear people talking about needing a knife to eat an apple. I’ve never seen anyone cut up an apple unless it was going into a pie. > > Using a knife, plate or cutting board and the resulting clean-up seems like a big mess. Why not just bite into it? Because for whatever dental reason, or out of habit, it may not be easy for them. Typically they simply carve off pieces while holding the apple in their hand and eat them. No cutting board is involved. ---
**Author:** ![Khendrask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@Khendrask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khendrask)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/85 "2010-07-15T14:21:47Z")
I don’t carry a multi-tool, or a Swiss Army knife, but I do carry a knife with me at all times. [This one](http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=BMHK14351BT) is my current companion (plain blade version). A decent knife is just too handy to not have in my pocket. If I need a tool, I keep a toolbox in the house, the shed, the car, the boat, and a mini-one in the jet-ski. ---
**Author:** ![cdsilv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cdsilv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdsilv)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/86 "2010-07-15T14:48:48Z")
Leatherman micra on my keychain. Gerber in the glove box of my truck. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/87 "2010-07-15T14:51:57Z")
I used to carry a [Spyderco Endura](http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=208) when I still lived in the US. In Japan, carrying a knife could get me arrested and deported. By the letter of the law, as long as I didn’t use it as a defensive or offensive weapon, and it was under a certain length, blahblahblah, I could carry it. But realistically, no, I couldn’t carry one. There are times when I miss having a knife always on-hand. Now I have to hunt for scissors or a cutter when I want to open things, among other annoyances. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/88 "2010-07-15T15:04:47Z")
\*You forgot \*… LadyDoper here, speaking for the guy in my life - he goes almost nowhere without a small folding knife clipped to his pocket. When we first got together I found it the tiniest bit weird, but now, I’m just used to him being constantly equipped to be handy. (Poking around our yard together, I find an okra that needs to be harvested: “Honey, can you hand me yo-” “Here.”) ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/89 "2010-07-15T15:21:02Z")
Rule #9: Never go anywhere without a knife. My current carry is a Gerber AR 3.5 - ---
**Author:** ![Gruntled](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/34f0e0/32.png) [@Gruntled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gruntled)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/90 "2010-07-15T15:23:53Z")
Why is this question only for guys? ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/91 "2010-07-15T15:36:32Z")
Not on my person, but I keep Swiss Army knives in the glove boxes of our cars, and a Leatherman under the seat of my motorcycle. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/92 "2010-07-15T15:51:36Z")
I carry a Gerber Clutch. It’s caused me a couple problems when entering buildings that I didn’t expect to have security at the door. In the old post office in Washington DC I demonstrated that it was pliers and he let me in with it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/93 "2010-07-15T20:00:28Z")
I’m back, to join the show-and-tell. This is the one that recently I acquired. [http://www.swissknifeshop.com/shop/swiss-army/victorinox/swiss-army-knives/victorinox-grip/swiss-army-2009-soldier-knife](http://www.swissknifeshop.com/shop/swiss-army/victorinox/swiss-army-knives/victorinox-grip/swiss-army-2009-soldier-knife) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/94 "2010-07-15T20:11:16Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > Sidebar: I hear people talking about needing a knife to eat an apple. I’ve never seen anyone cut up an apple unless it was going into a pie. > > Using a knife, plate or cutting board and the resulting clean-up seems like a big mess. Why not just bite into it? I don’t know about others, but when I bite straight into an apple, the skin tends to get stuck under my teeth, and it’s a bitch to get out. Cutting up the apple, even just quartering it, helps keep this from happening. As for me, I carry around a leatherman multi-tool I bought back in 2000. I’ve taken it onto a plane post 9/11, and into a courthouse once, after that judge got shot. Not intentionally, just forgot I had it in my pocket. I’ll probably carry it until it breaks, or leatherman comes out with one that also has a flash drive. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/95 "2010-07-15T21:09:56Z")
Can I vote, even though I’m not a guy? I have a small knife on my keychain. I mostly use it for opening boxes. I occasionally use it on food. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/96 "2010-07-15T21:33:14Z")
I’m a woman, and used to carry a Swiss Army knife. I don’t anymore because there are so many buildings with security here, and I’m also in and out of the kids’ schools a lot. I miss it. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/97 "2010-07-15T21:39:06Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I carried one from when I was surveying 30 odd years ago. I am pretty sure that back then anyone could carry a pocket knife if the blade was less than 4 inches long and it had to be opened manually. A couple of years ago I pulled it out to open an awkward package and people at work were horrified. They informed me that it is illegal to have any kind of knife in your pocket and so it is. The Summary Offences Act 1998 makes it an offence for a person to have custody of a knife in a public place without reasonable excuse. So no knife no more. Really? Does this mean a person can’t even carry a Swiss Army knife in their pocket? ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/98 "2010-07-15T21:49:41Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I usually use keys to cut tape or string. However, I would probably curl up and die if I didn’t have both a flat head and Phillips screwdriver at hand 24-hours a day. I carry the round screwdriver on my keychain. Hell, I almost have a full tool kit in my purse. I’ve got a multi-tool with pliers and four screwdrivers, then a tiny screwdriver with four blades on my keychain. I still need to put a way of making fire in my purse. I doubt it would be necessary often, but y’know. \ ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/99 "2010-07-15T22:41:49Z")
> [@DfrntBreign](#): > > I’ve carried [this Gerber](http://www.gerbergear.com/index.php/product/id/187) for better than twenty years, but only when I’m wearing pants. What do you carry when you’re _not_ wearing pants? Though I rarely use it, I would feel naked without the Boker One Tree knife Mrs. SMV gave me for Christmas last year. I would use it at work all the time, but for the fact that I could get fired for carrying it. I’ve got no fantasies about using it to defend myself against raging muggers or zombies; I’ve just learned that a pocket knife is a damned useful thing to have around. I will confess to a prejudice against Swiss Army knives, on aesthetic grounds. I like a knife to be a knife. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714/100 "2010-07-15T22:48:45Z")
I had a nice kershaw for a while but I broke it. My SW rusted out from kayaking in the ocean. I’m in between knives right now but I always carry as large a knife as I can get away with in California (which, I guess, isn’t very large at all). They’re very useful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-do-you-still-carry-a-small-pocket-knife/546714.md?page=6)