Is everyday carry for use or wardrobe?

[MissouriGuerrilla]

Hey folks, I was wondering if your everyday carry was an actual part of your usage of the knife or if you carried as a part of your everyday clothing without using it? In other words, do you carry because you know it has work to do that day or do you carry just as pure enjoyment to have it on you?

[Railsplitter]

I have 2 primary reasons why I carry a pocketknife.

1. I just simply like them. I take them out of my pocket and admire them far more often than I actually use them.

2. Same reason I carry a flashlight on my key ring. Just in case I ever need it.

Sometimes I use my pocketknife 3 or 4 times a week and sometimes I can go 2 months without ever needing to cut anything. I use kitchen knives a lot more often but I don’t carry those.

I also carry a small Leatherman tool on my belt and the last time I needed to pull it out of its sheath was about 6 weeks ago right after I got the sheath.

I carry more for pleasure than need but I don’t want to be without a pocketknife for both of those reasons.

[ThatWeirdKnifeGuy]

Both. I carry a trio of knives every time I leave the house but in reality only ever use one, and I find cause to use that one probably less than half the time. They're mostly for me to take out and look at occasionally. The knives then usually match each other or have a theme, though never matching with my wardrobe. My wardrobe barely ever even matches If I am in a situation where actual work must be accomplished and my pocket carry could come into play, I almost always carry my leatherman and a sturdy lockback.

I will however have a fancy ebony pocket carry in my fancy pants at the next black tie affair I attend, so I guess that matches

[Gtrclktr-351]

I carry because I have done so for so long that I feel naked without my knife, much like I feel without my glasses.

I also carry because a knife comes in handy for everyday chores like opening mail, cutting tape on boxes, cutting plastic wrap on many products and opening the devilish clamshell packaging so many products are sold in.

Then there's the "what if". I don't want to be caught in a dire situation in which a knife would feel more of a necessity rather than nonessential. Chances of such a situation are probable unlikely, but "what if'.

[knife7knut]

I carry one every day for the same reason l carried a Detonics .45 for many years: l would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I prefer small pocket carry models to belt carry as most of the pants l wear now dont use a belt. Same reason l preferred a shoulder holster to a hip carry; weight distribution. Knives with secondary nail files &&& scissors are preferred. Also a secondary knife(currently a Kershaw 3600R for heavier work. A Leatherman Wave resides in my glove box and paint kit.

[garddogg56]

My EDC's are ones I actually carry in three categories,work ,leisure and outdoors i.e. Hunting ,fishing and sports

[C-WADE7]

I carry 2 daily one for heavy or rough use and one that or honed razor sharp for light work. Heavy knife is the same Gerber Propel 99% of the time and the smaller sharper one rotates.

[Dinadan]

In other words, do you carry because you know it has work to do that day or do you carry just as pure enjoyment to have it on you?

Definitely for both reasons. Most afternoons I spend some time in my garden enjoying and maintaining it. I think that most days I will trim or prune something, though not every day. Some days I carry a fine knife, Bulldog or GEC, that is just a pleasure to see when I pull it out of my pocket and a pleasure to use. That is enjoyment in work.

Other days I carry a worn old Schrade with reprofiled blades. The old Schrades work just as well or better than the nice GEC or Bulldog knives and to my senses they are almost as appealing. Using one of those is enjoyment in work also. I have been carrying pocket knives for well over sixty years, and my knife is almost like a part of me. Albeit an interchangeable part.

[philco]

I have carried a pocket knife since elementary school and as yesterday I’m now 70 years old. I have a satchel full of EDC Knives but more often than not I carry a Canal Street congress with amber carved stag bone handles. For me it checks all the boxes. It’s a beautiful knife and it’s also a useful tool with four razor sharp blades ready to cut anything I need to cut.

[dlr110]

Like several folks have said I carry a pocket knife because I have for as long as I can remember.
As an adult I carry according to what I have planned for the day and the clothes I'm wearing. If it's Sunday and I'm wearing dress slacks I like something such as a penknife or a small lockback. If I'm wearing jeans and working in the garage or helping my youngest over on his property then most likely I'll have a sheath on my belt with a Buck 110 or a Kabar folder and maybe a Barlow in my pocket. That's just me (TJM)

[Reverand]

I carry one because I use it often, and have had one in my pocket most every day since I was old enough for my Dad to trust me with a knife.
I often choose which knife to carry based upon what I am wearing or what work I expect to do that day. If it is a job that is potentially damaging to the knife I may switch it out and use a "made in China" knife instead of a good knife.
Or sometimes I carry a knife that I have repaired, in order to show it off.

P.S. - I also carry a knife because the last time I tried to open a bag of chips with a Ruger .380, people got upset!

[dlr110]

I carry one because I use it often, and have had one in my pocket most every day since I was old enough for my Dad to trust me with a knife.
I often choose which knife to carry based upon what I am wearing or what work I expect to do that day. If it is a job that is potentially damaging to the knife I may switch it out and use a "made in China" knife instead of a good knife.
Or sometimes I carry a knife that I have repaired, in order to show it off.

P.S. - I also carry a knife because the last time I tried to open a bag of chips with a Ruger .380, people got upset!

[garddogg56]

Reverant you gut that right

[bighomer]

I grew up in a time that no self respecting man was without a pocket knife on his person, I carry on that tradition.

[GSPTOPDOG]

P.S. - I also carry a knife because the last time I tried to open a bag of chips with a Ruger .380, people got upset!

[toomanyknives]

I grew up in a time that no self respecting man was without a pocket knife on his person, I carry on that tradition.

X2 I'm with Homer...

[edgy46]

I grew up in a time that no self respecting man was without a pocket knife on his person, I carry on that tradition.

X2 I'm with Homer...

X3
I carry a case red bone 64052 vintage 1965-1969 every day.
Right front pocket keys, knife, lighter.
Most days it only gets used to clean my fingernails, but if something needs cut, it’s there

[Jeepergeo]

There are two types of men. Those that carry a knife, and those that just hope to borrow a knife when they need one from someone that does carry. I suspect most on this AAPK site are the former, and the latter are hanging out on the skinny jeans fashion site.

I EDC. I don't start every day thinking whether or not I will need a knife that day because every day is different and it is hard to predict what a day may yield. So I go prepared and carry. Everyday. For days when the known use of a knife is very likely, I may switch up what knife I carry, from a simple slip joint for a dressy occasion to a full on fixed blade hunting knife when going into the deserts or mountains.

BTW, after a knife loan mishap about 20 years ago, I don't loan my knives to anyone except to maybe my son, and he does not borrow often because he is an EDC type too. If someone asks to borrow my knife, I just say I don't have one to offer. No apologies.

[MissouriGuerrilla]

Wow. Great responses, folks. Very informative.

[CountryBoy77]

I carry for functionality,however when I buy knives I do try to match them up a little bit. My watch has a blue face as well as blue bezel,like a light royal blue. So when I saw a 9" blue pearlex version of my edc knife (Fox leverlock auto)I bought it and i find i wear lots of jeans so I find myself matching quite often.Now whenni want my knife to accessorize with whatever I am doing ,Stag is Awlays a Class act,goes with anything and everything from the hunters cabin to the Taj Mahal.From blue collar workan mans hands to the High Society Buissnessman.

[Potrzebie]

... the last time I tried to open a bag of chips with a Ruger .380, people got upset!

People are SO sensitive nowadays. Sheesh!

[Potrzebie]

I grew up in a time that no self respecting man was without a pocket knife on his person, I carry on that tradition.

I'm not sure which is sadder: the bladeless souls scrounging about for a key or scissors with which to open a box or clamshell, the people who insist on using scissors or keys even when a perfectly serviceable blade is at hand, or the people who go about with dull, filthy objects that once were knives.

[Potrzebie]

... do you carry because you know it has work to do that day or do you carry just as pure enjoyment to have it on you?

I have carried a pocket knife (at least one) since I was eight. (That was 1969, if anyone should be curious.) From 1979 through 2018, I worked as a paramedic on 911 ambulances. I'm still a paramedic, but now work in a clinical setting. I won't leave the house without at least my Victorinox Climber. On the ambulance, I had something a bit beefier on the belt. Nowadays, in my current role, I need to open a lot of boxes and later break them down. For that, my belt knife is now a DeWalt utility knife.

My knives see service. Usually mundane and workaday, but occasionally a little exciting. I do choose what I consider to be pretty knives, but for me quality and functionality are what makes a knife pretty, not ornament.

[bighomer]

I been tote'n one for better than 70 years, I think I was 7 years when my folks finally got tired of me begging and gave me one.

[zzyzzogeton]

I have carried 1 or more knives every day since the 2nd weekend of September 1961, when my grandfather gave my first pen knife, saying -

"Now that you've started school (1st grade), you need to have your own knife. We can't have you borrowing one from someone else when you need one."

The only time I do NOT have my knives is when I go into the court houses, or into police departments, DL renewal offices every 12 years and 60% of the hospital building I go to that have signs prohibiting them. I try to only go to two county court houses 1 time each every 10 years. PDs have been 5 times in the last 20 years to report crimes or for a follow-up visit. The knives get left in the vehicle and are put back on immediately after returning to the vehicle.

I'd rather have them and not need them than to need one and not have it. When I leave the house, it's only after a "knives/wallet/keys" check. I'll be leaving the house with no pants on before I leave with no knives.

I have carried at least 2 folding knives nearly every day since August 1965. I have carried at least 2 folding knives and 2 small fixed blades nearly every day since 15 May 2001 when I permanently left the corporate world and became self employed.

Prior to that (1991 to 2001), I carried paired fixed blades only attached to my EMS equipment belt as the corporate world frowned on them being on my physical person but turned a blind eye to what was on my gear belt as I was also on the company's 1st response team.

I have permanently lived on a farm since 2002. I use my knives multiple times per day and I don't care to have to walk 50 or so yards to get a knife when I need one. I'm dang sure not gonna drive 3 miles back home from the lower farm to get a knife to cut something. Well, wouldn't happen anyway since I have at least 4 knives/cutting tools in every vehicle - folding knife, fixed blade, machete, bolt cutters.

Packing cutlery is as natural to me as putting on my pants - which is literal, in my case - I have folding knives and fixed blades in my pockets/on my belt when I take my jeans off in the evening and leave them with the pants. The shorts I change into after the outside work is done for the day already have knives in the pockets.