What's in my pocket?

This was Bilbo Baggins improvised riddle for Smeagol/Gollum. The object of course was the all powerfull ring. The accouterments of a man about town have changed radically in my lifetime. It used to be a pocketknife,
a zippo lighter if a WW2 vet or a box of strike anywhere matches for their fathers, a briar pipe and leather tobacco bag,cigarette or
cigar case.
Smoking is a unhealthy habit rapidly losing ground in the USA through legislation and social pressure and Knives are subject to metal detectors
and,again, social condemnation.
I ALWAYS carry some manner of blade. Daily it's a SHRADE 3 blade slipjoint with stag handles. It's looks and diminutive size skirt the panic over 'tactical' black knives.
I use it at least once a day fom opening Phil's packages to slicing italian sausage and peppers for my morning omelet.It gets many calls when I see people trying to open packages with car keys
or the day I cut a woman from her seatbelt when her car caught fire. 9 men stopped to help and I was the ONLY man with a knife!
I pity young men with all this BORG electronics so remote from the real world.
What's in your pocket?

I have a Kershaw auto-assisted (I think that is the term) pocket knife for opening all of my boxes. It comes in very handy, is highly practical yet is fun to open one handed. I forget the model but it was named after an Amaryllidaceae (onion, scallion, leek, I don't know).

Usually carry a Spyderco Cricket..small and amazing blade..I,m also a pocket knife collector and have most every knife ever made..but the Spyderco wins hands down..small but deadly (to the box) can also be used as a money clip...as for wallets check out ROGUE wallets made to fit in the SIDE pocket..can buy them on line and they are made in Maine USA

I've been carrying a Buck 112 in my right hip pocket every day for about 5 years now. Before that I had a small Gerber. The Buck has I believe a 3 1/4 inch blade and is a lock back. I've never cared too much about tactical ninja knives, or the ones with the more exotic super hard metal that is almost impossible to sharpen for a novice.

Interesting thought is that some "collector' knives NEVER get used..they are just for looks like jewlery (rings,bracelets etc) Spyderco,s have serrated curved blades and are meant for using and they can be sharpened (never had to mind you)

I carry a small Shrade/Old Timer single-bladed knife with a carbon steel blade. It fits neatly in my watch pocket. It is such a good little knife that I would have bought two of them if I had known Shrade was going under.

I also have a slightly larger Old Timer Middleman (a small stockman-type 3-bladed knife) and standard-sized stockman knives by Old Timer and Cold Steel. I've found that smaller pocket knives work the best for me, as they are capable of more finesse and they are easier to carry. (In the kitchen, on the other hand, I do almost everything with an 8-inch chef's knife.)

- Murray

I try to always have my Gerber on me, and if not, I have a nifty credit card sized multitool my girlfriend got my last Christmas that stays in my wallet. I almost always carry my Zippo as well, being in a college town it usually comes in handy of gives me something to fiddle with.

I carry a Sog Trident every day and have for ages. I've lost more pocket knives than I can count. I also carry a SOG Multitool as well. I agree on the collecting knives. I'd love to have a Case XX but I'd lose it and much like razors, I don't like to leave em sitting on a shelf.

My everyday knife is a small Case single blade lockback. It's a commemorative of the 75th anniversary of Hastings Automation, the company that built the assembly line used to produce the Model T. It takes a nice edge and holds it well.

Weekends I carry a Protec Godfather, a fully automatic with a blade of 154CM steel. It's absolutely razor sharp and I keep it that way.

New Hampshire realized the problem is not with the knife, the problem is with the reprobate and repealed all restrictions on full auto knives last year. Our state motto is "Live Free or Die" and that truely is the attitude in NH. Now cross the state line into Massachusettes and it's a whole different story. You couldn't pay me enough to live in Massachusettes.

My favorite knife is an Al Mar lockback I bought over 30 years ago. It is a thinner knife than most and comfortably dissappears in your pocket. I'm not sure what grade of steel the blade is made of but this one is also razor sharp and easy to maintain.

I'm right there with CMur12 about the Schrade Old Timers, had I known they would be bought out by the chinese I would stocked up. The carbon steel they used in the Old Timer line was an absolute favorite of mine. The various stainless steels they use in knives today are ok but nothing beats a good carbon steel blade!

Manticore, I agree with you about carbon steel, and I look for knives with this kind of blade. In fact, if you look at my interests in my profile, I include "carbon steel knives!"

- Murray

Left pocket: Small two blade Case pocket knife, car keys, a tube of chapstick, and a small pipe lighter.

Right pocket: Small wallet, pocket change, and a Irish worry stone.

Left rear pocket: Empty

Right rear pocket: Hanky

what I carry in my left pocket is R rated, but in my right pocket, I carry my phone and wallet.

The demise of SHRADE was heartbreaking. They were a family owned company with an exemplary record of employing disadvantaged people and giving them job skills and work experience. They were under a LOT of pressure from Woemart and SNEARS to shift manufacturing to red china for a cheaper product. At the same time their workforce decided they were underpaid and went on strike in concert with the workers at Camillus- the huge fellow New York knifemaker. There were, and are an overabundance of cutlery makers- much like GM before reorganisation. SHRADE's knives were viewed as rather dated.
What the buying public didn't realise was Camillus made SEVERAL lines for people like COLD STEEL.
Both went under and A LOT of product lines or specs had to be reorganised. The ultimate insult was the Shrade family had to sell their name and paterns-and SNEARS got them and moved it to mainland china.
Now the people who ignored both seek out old stock at premium prices.

(03-06-2012, 08:35 PM)kav Wrote: The demise of SHRADE was heartbreaking. They were a family owned company with an exemplary record of employing disadvantaged people and giving them job skills and work experience. They were under a LOT of pressure from Woemart and SNEARS to shift manufacturing to red china for a cheaper product. At the same time their workforce decided they were underpaid and went on strike in concert with the workers at Camillus- the huge fellow New York knifemaker. There were, and are an overabundance of cutlery makers- much like GM before reorganisation. SHRADE's knives were viewed as rather dated.
What the buying public didn't realise was Camillus made SEVERAL lines for people like COLD STEEL.
Both went under and A LOT of product lines or specs had to be reorganised. The ultimate insult was the Shrade family had to sell their name and paterns-and SNEARS got them and moved it to mainland china.
Now the people who ignored both seek out old stock at premium prices.

Very sad story but one that is repeated over and over again. I remember Shrade having a plant or office out of Ellenville, NY. I still might have mine need to look around.

Carry a small SOG multitool in the laptop bag at all times. I have a half dozen spyderco knives, a gerber gator and a crkt in the carry rotation. I carry a leather business card holder as a wallet and I do my nest to not have anything else in my pocket because I hate the feeling of a things touching me.

I've had leathermens, gerbers, and all sorts of multi-tools but I still just use my SOG.It has the fold out pliers and I really like that

A SAK complete with micro screwdriver in corkscrew a para cord lanyard with a Danish coin attached to the end ,this is my constant companion , leather Fossil wallet and cell phone.And in my motorcycle jacket a early Leatherman .

Always have my Benchmade Axis Lock 710 with me. AND MY Agent P keychain I got from my 4 year old Grandson : )

Depends on what I have planned for the day or sometimes my mood. Weekends or days with outdoor activity I will usually carry a SOG Trident with a half serrated blade. Other times it is an older Case XX that has been in the family for more years that I have been around. Days at work or with certain dress pants I will carry a Case blackhorn. I have always enjoyed knives.

(03-03-2012, 07:58 PM)bullgoose Wrote: I have a Kershaw auto-assisted (I think that is the term) pocket knife for opening all of my boxes. It comes in very handy, is highly practical yet is fun to open one handed. I forget the model but it was named after an Amaryllidaceae (onion, scallion, leek, I don't know).

Phil, it's a melon, isn't it? Just browsing, didn't read all the posts, so kindly disregard if I'm too far off topic, which I sometimes am.