Based on a number of comments in the “Banning Knives” thread it appeared we could use a dedicated place to just talk about our knives.
So let’s talk about your knives! Any kind of knife: pocket, kitchen, hunting, whatever. What have you got, what do you like, what’s your EDC, how do you maintain them, whatever you want to talk about.
My EDC is a Kershaw Blur. I paid a little more for the S30V version. Had it about 5 years, and aside from honing and some light hand sharpening on a ceramic stone it’s still mostly got its original edge. I’ve also got a Buck 397 Omni Hunter that’s way too big to EDC, but a nice knife.
My “big knife” for outdoors/camping stuff is a Ka-Bar Becker BK2. It’s a solid quarter inch of steel at the spine but with a 5.25" blade it’s not unwieldy.
I’ve got a bunch of other stuff but those are the highlights.
I use a Work Sharp for heavy duty sharpening, though it primarily gets used on the kitchen knives, and I like the Lansky C-Sharp for daily maintenance and spot sharpening/honing.
For kitchen knives, I’ve got a no-name Chinese cleaver I bought at the Asian supermarket years ago and pretty much just use that for everything except bones (have a heavy bone cleaver for that).
I’ve always been really happy with Kershaw knives. I had a fixed-blade hunter that I used to keep in my car, but it mysteriously vanished. I have no idea what happened to it.
When I was 18 or so I had this old Case XX pocketknife that belonged to my grandfather. It was wicked sharp, and I used it as a box cutter in the grocery store where I worked - we were only allowed those crappy “safety box cutters.” I cut myself dozens of times with the “safety box cutter” and never once with Grampy’s knife. At some point I lost it… There may have been a hole in my endlessly-mended work pants, or I may have just set it down and it walked off. I don’t know, but it made me really sad. 14 years later I finally got around to looking it up, and amazingly, Case still makes exactly the same knife. It’s much shinier than Grampy’s was, but the chrome-vanadium steel is slowly building up a lovely patina with use. Soon it’ll look exactly the same.
I have a classic Italian stiletto that is very satisfying to open. It has the sharpest point, damn. I also have a modern automatic maybe a Shrade. Very sharp and handy.I have another small Shrade on my keyholder. But the knives I use most often are simple shop knives like C on this page with a 4" blade. There were a stock item at NASA. They are (or were) made of superb steel and very thin. I have heated the blades and made left and right bent blades for trimming along an edge. Ground the front edge into chisels. You can hammer one to break spot welds, they are that tough.
I’ve also recently started carrying a Leatherman Free P2 on my belt. It’s a multi-tool, so it doesn’t really belong in this thread. I just wanted to mention that and I love it’s one-handed operation.
And I just bought a Kershaw knife that I will carry. It hasn’t arrived yet. It is the Kershaw Emerson CQC-6K and I’m looking forward to its arrival.
All 3 might sound like a lot to carry but it’s a lot less than all the field gear we carried.
All my knives live in the kitchen, and they’re Old Hickory / Ontario Knife Works. They can’t go in the dishwasher or be immersed in the kitchen sink because they’ll rust. I have whetstones and I sharpen them at least once a month, usually after handwashing them. I’m a water and stone person, not an oil and stone person.
They make short work of large butternut squash and rutabagas, and I butcher whole chickens and cut ham or fresh pork off the bone with ease.
The more trendy Wusthof and Henckels knives are probably capable of being sharper, but most people buy them and then don’t keep them as sharp as when they bought them, let alone bring them to the sharpness of my knives. Because they’re stainless steel and a whole lot futzier to sharpen properly. Mine are like razor blades with handles. Especially the oldest butcher knife. Over the years they gradually get sharper as you continue to work them with the whetstone. I suppose you could get them there immediately if you had the patience to work on them with coarse then medium then fine whetstones for hours and hours and hours. But I think a person gets a feel for how they perform by using them and then works on the areas of the blade that feel like they need to be sharper and it’s a more organic process that way.
My EDC is a Kershaw as well - the 1605. I collect sharp things, so there are countless knives of all sorts around the house and garage. Kitchen-wise the majority of the sharp stuff is semi-pricy Henkels, tempered with a scattering of others ranging from Cutco chef’s knives I’ve had since college to a no-name cleaver that has been a workhorse over the decades.
EDC is a tiny Case pocketknife, with two blades opening from the same end. I have no idea how old or what model it is. I can’t find an exact match on their website, but this seems close. Comically, they call that model the “Peanut”, which is appropriate.
Hunting knife is custom made one-off, by an old guy at deer camp. It’s also very small (approx. 3" blade). I’m not a big knife person, and this one has worked well, dressing everything from deer to feral hogs.
Fishing knives are just my old Boy Scout folding knife from the 60s which lives in the tacklebox. And a cheap Walmart filet knife.
I have a Buck knife and a Leatherman tool in the truck’s glove box. Not actually EDC but with me most of the time.
A mixture of Henckels, Wustof, Shun and a retro Chinese cleaver.
At the bottom right is a Kershaw pocket knife i keep in my tool box. Next to it is a Global paring knife. That was sent to me by a guy that was part of a book related chat room group on AOL back in the stone age of the internet. He was a Chef who was writing a book, and one evening the talk turned to kitchen knives. We knew him as QJWIN625.
Opinel makes an interesting, classic folding knife. I like the bare-bones design, although I’ll acknowledge that it’s not particularly sturdy. Mine is actually a knockoff that someone sold me used for just a few bucks. I use it for everyday stuff like opening letters and packaging. Check out the link to see images.
My only EDC is a gerber multitool with it’s half serrated blade. My kitchen knives are a mix of Victorinox, Detrees, a bunch of other randoms, and a Kickstarter Knasa knife.
enipla I agree with the PITA about plane travel. I frequently have had to check my gerber in my luggage which I hate.
They’re very popular knives. I’m a fan. There’s a certain set that like to complain about “made in China,” and to be fair the company used to be a little cagey about it (they listed models that are “designed in USA” but manufactured in China under the “USA Made” section of their website, but looking at it now it appears they have remedied that situation) but still, they make a good product at a good price.
My Blur was made at their Oregon facility (as are all the Ken Onion-designed models except the Clash and the OSO Sweet). I got it on amazon for $69 five years ago. I see it’s now $95.84. Probably still worth it at that price; I’ve been very impressed with it since I got it.
I got a nice chunk back in a refund from the IRS and while I dutifully socked away 90% of it I gave myself a couple hundred bucks to treat myself to something and I’m currently looking at a Buck 192 Vanguard, and internally debating between a Buck 119 and a Ka-Bar USMC with the half-serrated blade. The Ka-Bar is the most practical and complementary to my current collection of the three, but Buck makes a truly beautiful knife and me wantee.
My favorite carry knife is a Benchmade 710. They created the Axis lock style that is now copied by other knife makers. It’s an ambidextrous locking mechanism that keeps tension on the blade when in the closed position so it will never open in your pocket. The locking mechanism rides up the blade so even if the blade tang wears at the contact point the mechanism will always ride up blade and maintain an absolutely tight lock when open. It’s probably the best locking mechanism every invented. It’s not a semi-assist blade but you can open it faster than a switchblade.
I keep it sharp enough to shave the hair on my arm with a 2 angle grind. Haven’t tried to get it sharper than that because I’d never use if for fear of dulling it.
For some reason I really like knifes and have way too many, one of my hoardings.
My EDC is a Spiderco Endura. Great knife, I’ve had it for going on 20 years. Very easy one handed opening and closing and it holds an edge.
When wearing dress pants I switch to a SOG Twitch II. Smaller and lighter for better concealed carry.
I have a few puukkos from Finland. The first one I got (a Marttiini, purchased online), I had my father’s true family name engraved on once side of the blade, and my mother’s maiden name on the other. I tend to buy the knives from a guy in Ita-Aure, Finland who makes the handles and sheathes for blades he gets from a blademaker in Pietarsaari, Finland. Love my knives!
Some airports have self mailers where you can send the knife back to you if you forgot you still had it with you. I’ve done that once or twice.
Other airports don’t have that. In that case if I’m in the security line and realize I still had my knife on me, I’ll spot an arriving passenger and ask him or her if they want it, and I’ll just give it to them. I’ll tell them that it’s going to get confiscated anyway so it needs to go to a good home. I’ve done that once.
Another solution, if there is time before my flight, is to leave the security line and head to the ticketing counters. I did this once. I found some packing tape on an empty counter and some paper. I wrapped my knife in the paper and wrapped that in tape. I then went to a rack of luggage carts and taped the package underneath the rack. When I came back home a few days later, the knife was still there.
It’s like going to a museum where they have a metal detector and they’re going to confiscate my knife. They usually let you take it back to the car to leave it there, but sometimes I’ve gone to a tree or a planter box or somewhere where I can bury the knife and hide it. The trick is to remember to retrieve it when you’re done at that museum or hospital or building. I’ve done that before too.
