The past few revolutions ’round the sun I’ve endeavored to keep track of what knives I carry each day for the whole year. This last year, 2019, I dutifully tallied consistently enough that I feel the outcome paints a relatively representative picture of my carry across the last 12 months. So, since I took the time to do this without too much of a sensible reason, I’ve decided to provide myself with such by sharing the results with you!
2019 was not the first year I’ve tried to keep track of my carry, but it is the first wherein I haven’t missed large swaths of time. A couple years ago I did well enough that I decided to share it on BladeForums, but ended up taking the thread down. This past year I used Google Keep on my phone to write down my carry, even keeping it handy with the widget version of the app. By only changing the date in the title once I’d updated the tally for that day, and seeing it when I swiped across my home screen, I was able to keep up with the process without getting more than a day or two behind.
Of course, this isn’t a statistical survey from which an in depth and accurate view of my EDC habits can be mined. I didn’t note when I first started carrying each knife. This would affect the average of how often each knife was carried, being that I had some at the beginning of the year, and even those I got during the year I didn’t immediately start carrying upon acquirement. It also doesn’t take into account whether I simply carried the knife but didn’t use it or carried the knife and used it. There are also times when I use a knife heavily without actually carrying that knife that day, instances of which were not included in the tally. So this is more of a general look at what I carry, than it is an attempt to garner real insight.
But it’s still a fun exercise that I don’t think many people have done! So please peruse the data below at your leisure:
Fixed Blades
DCL Kwaiken: 2
Blind Horse Woodsman Pro: 3
Logan 1: 1
Reverse: 21
Culberson: 1
RR pen knife: 2
Mora Companion: 1
TOPS ALRT: 4
Spartan Harsey 2: 5
Buck 119: 10
Buck 475: 1
Relentless: 57
Canadian belt knife: 1
Shaner GEC: 2
In Bag / On Keychain
Stainless Ladybug wedding date: 102
SwissCard Lite in wallet: 245
Leatherman Squirt in bag: 340
Traditional Folders
GEC 98 Texas Camp Knife: 11
GEC Kifer 97: 23
GEC 93 Waynorth White Lambfoot: 33
GEC 86 white: 2
GEC 82 Dixie Stag: 5
GEC 82 possum Skinner: 47
GEC 78 Glitter Gold: 31
GEC 77 single spear AF: 21
GEC sfa 2019 74 white stainless: 3
GEC 73 casein: 2
GEC 71 orange: 43
GEC 71 tortoise: 1
GEC 65 Black Gold: 11
GEC 56 Glitter Gold: 10
GEC 56 clip pen weave Jigged: 10
GEC 53 Cuban stainless Stag: 15
GEC 45 Pioneer Muscle: 15
GEC 44 Cocobolo: 15
GEC 35 Banana: 14
GEC 29 acrylic: 14
GEC Schrade (loaned from Clay R): 3
GEC 22 Magnum sea: 20
GEC 18 Beagle: 15
GEC 15 TC Black Bone: 41
GEC 15 TC Rendezvous 2014: 1
GEC 13 Office Knife: 7
GEC 06 Pemberton: 27
Jeffery Mitchell: 20
Remington guide lockback: 7
Remington master guide: 3
Remington Apprentice?: 2
Sanrenmu from Paddy aka Steve: 2
Opinel #5: 2
Opinel #9: 1
Rough Rider Sowbelly 5 blade: 5
Rough Rider white mini Barlow: 7
Rough Rider ceramic trapper: 3
Rough Rider moose: 1
RR 818 work yellow liner: 1
Rough Ryder Congress: 1
Rough Rider gold mini toothpick: 9
Rough Ryder RR2038: 2
Rough Ryder easy money canoe: 3
Ozark pen: 2
Queen Birdvis Hunter: 10
Queen Utility Trapper: 9
Queen abalone copperhead: 2
Buck Deuce: 2
Case Trapper Yellow: 7
Case Sodbuster Jr orange: 14
Case Tribal Lock: 9
Ag Russell Rancher Yellow: 7
Spyderco Roadie: 13
Victorinox Farmer: 5
Victorinox Huntsman: 8
Victorinox Picnicker: 15
Victorinox Classic: 8
Higonokami small black: 2
Earl’s Imperial mini teardrop: 2
Modern Folders
Isham Blackstar: 1
MassDrop x WE x Laconico Keen: 53
Spyderco Native Ti: 29
Spyderco Ouroboros: 23
ZT 0561: 23
Benchmade 940: 11
Steel Will Gekko: 13
Geralt: 15
Kershaw Cathode: 4
Cold Steel micro recon: 3
Kershaw Bareknuckle: 7
Rough Rider Pastel: 4
Kershaw Cinder: 1
Kershaw Thistle: 11
Spyderco Endura grey: 48
Spyderco Chokwe: 5
Cold Steel Code 4: 7
Kershaw Decimus: 15
Chasm 2.5: 1
Kershaw Leek: 2
Cold Steel FGX Balisong: 4
Spyderco Domino: 19
Spyderco Pacific Salt: 2
CRKT Peck: 1
Spyderco Native Chief: 5
Victorinox Hunter Pro: 3
Ontario Rat 1: 26
CRKT Ruger Hollow Point: 11
Spyderco Shaman Sprint: 3
Benchmade Griptilian: 19
So, my top five most carried modern Folders were the MassDrop produced WE manufactured Laconico designed Keen, the Spyderco Endura 4, the Spyderco Native 5 Fluted Titanium, the Ontario RAT 1, and the Spyderco Ouroboros. My top five traditional pocket knives were the GEC Tidioute #82 Possum Skinner, the GEC Farm & Field #71 Bullnose, the GEC Tidioute #15 TC Barlow, the GEC Waynorth #93 Real Lambfoot, and the GEC Tidioute #78 American Jack 2018 SFA. My top three most carried fixed blades, all the rest being carried significantly less than these, were the Relentless Tactical, the Spyderco Reverse, and the Buck 119.
What do my top fives in each category show about my carry habits? For modern knives, I prefer Spyderco. However, I’m not surprised that I carried the Keen the most overall, because Ray Laconico is my favorite custom folding knife designer / maker. For fixed blades, the data mostly shows that I carry them far less frequently than folding knives. I ended up carrying the Relentless Tactical a lot because for some reason it was just very easy and comfortable to carry, unlike most fixed blades. I also carried the Spyderco Reverse a good bit because of the great sheath I have for it from Dark Star Gear (check them out!). So it would seem that the sheath and carry style is the most important factor in what fixed blades I carry. As for traditional pocket knives, I am clearly a fan of Great Eastern Cutlery (but you probably already knew that). More specifically, I like the practical workers and Charlie Campagna SFOs. Honestly, there’s no real surprises in what I carried knowing my history and taste in knives!
Another benefit of this little endeavor is a more general and broad view of what knives are worth buying and/or keeping for me. If I buy a knife, carry it a bunch at first, then don’t carry it much for the rest of the year, I can see that in these numbers and make a note that I might not have enjoyed that knife as much as I expected to. Also, I think these numbers have actually led me to be more comfortable with buying a knife as a collector piece. If I’m going to carry a select few knives most of the time, it seems less worth it to use a knife that could be kept in good condition. However, I always swing back toward the user side of things and every time I get a collectible or rare knife I have a great desire to put it to use, so we’ll see how long I can hold out on not using the rare ones.
Overall, I am glad I took the time and effort to do this little every day carry knife experiment. Will I keep up with it this year? I don’t know. I just know I enjoy carrying and using my knives, and this give you a glimpse into which I favor.
