Pocket knives

Throughout my life, from the age of 7 I have nearly always had some kind of pocket knife on my person. Sadly until I became an adult I didn't think much of what I carrried, didn't take care of them, lent them out only to have them stolen, mistreated them and plain did stupid things with them.

In my career in the Active Duty Army I lent out a Spyderco Endura to my barracks neighbor who was also my squad leader. He returned it the next day and the blade was ruined. I don't know what he was doing but it involved trying to pry on something in the outlet or the light switch in his room and the blade was litterally melted looking. That was the last straw for me and from that to now I have a very difficult time lending out a knife or multitool, especially when I am with my fellow soldiers who all are issued one now.

I cringe now thinking of all the times I have had this sort of conversation.
 "Let me see your knife."
"Why? Use your own."
"I don't have one, just let me see your for a minute."

Usually at this point I am done and tell them it's not happening and have to deal with some hurt feeling for a while but I keep my knife so I am ok with it.

So, in my 40 years of life I have carried quite a few models and types in my pocket. Tactical types, Buck types, you name it. I now have it down to just a few styles depending on my activity.

Right now I am down to really just 2 that see most use. I laugh to myself because I think of them as my "In town" knife and my "outdoors" knife, but honestly, as you will see they arent very different.

And here they are, 2 Alox scaled Victorinox Swiss Army knives.  one is the Bushcrafter model and the other is the Farmer. Which is funny because I use the Farmer when I am bush crafting and the Bushcrafter is in my pocket when I am just hanging around the big city.

So, lets look at them. Both have a good main blade, not too thick or too long, easy to sharpen and holds an edge well.

Both have the well know Swiss Army Knife saw blade. Anyone who has used one knows how well this blade goes through wood. It is a great design and works wonders.

The last similar tool is the bottle opener. It is what it is and does what it's supposed to so.
I find that these threetools are all I need on a day to day basis for my city life.

The Farmer includes a can opener, which works well enough but expect to have to do a bit of work with it. And finally an awl which is found on many SAKs but not in this exact location. It is the location,being on the end of the knife instead of in the middle back as it is usually found on SAKs that is what sets this apart.  Many bushcrafters have found that the awl, in this location on the Farmer, makes it ideally suited to act as a ferro rod striker/scraper. It's one of the reasons for this knife's popularity in the bushcraft community.

Betwen these knives, I have all the tools I have found that I need in the bush or in the city, at least on a regular basis. I do use and bring other tools (Fixed blade, hatchet, pruning saw) with me to the outdoors in addition to these but this is what is always in my pocket.