You should always have the necessary tools on your person to react to a disaster or survival situation, but if you are like most Americans, it’s impossible to walk around with a backpack full of gear and a well equipped utility belt. Packing that sort of gear just doesn’t work around the office very well. Still, most people will find that they can easily and comfortably carry a knife on them just about everywhere, and a knife makes a great multi purpose tool. In fact, if you don’t at least carry a knife, you’re really shorting yourself of a tool that can:
- Act as a defensive weapon in a pinch
- Cut a multitude of things from cordage, packaging, fire starting materials, and even lifesaving tasks like cutting through seatbelts and clothing
- Pry and unscrew things and generally help out with most everything
At American Family Survival, we’re not ashamed to say that we love big, fixed blade knives. They’re strong, versatile, can do anything a small knife can do, and they are by far better than folding knives for serious work. There are some problems with fixed blade knives, however:
- Fixed blade knives have a bad perception in most states from a law enforcement standpoint and will usually get you extra scrutiny.
- Fixed blade knives are more regulated overall through a multitude of city and county ordinances than folders.
- It’s tough to carry a fixed blade knife in some environments like offices.
Overwhelmingly, we have arrived at the conclusion that your everyday carry knife will most likely be a folder, since you are apt to have it with you at all times due to its portability, and at the end of the day, the knife you have on you is the knife you will use. Yes, fixed blade knives are superior in every way to folders since folders are inherently a compromise, but you can’t carry fixed blade knives everywhere. Therefore, we will look at folders first, and then in a future buyer’s guide, we will look at fixed blade knives. Both types of knives have a purpose, and you should have both, so let’s take a look at them in a two part series.
