If you are used to carrying an everyday carry (EDC) blade, whenever you are without one you feel half-dressed. Oftentimes, I will choose my EDC according to what I think my day will be like. If I am doing a lot of maintenance work or construction, I pick a multitool-style carry. Going outdoors, I’ll choose something suited to those tasks perhaps. If all I am looking for is a blade, the world is my oyster. I am a firm believer that there is a tool out there for every job. Therefore, what do you carry, say, if you are going to a tradeshow and opening a lot of boxes? Now add the fact you are flying to these tradeshows and you need something that TSA won't confiscate.
My company started sending me on the tradeshow circuit. Not wanting to be without an EDC, I started looking at utility blade-based EDCs. Surprisingly, there is more than one supplier of these, yet the market is not flooded with them. I grabbed some utility knife EDCs from four companies. These knives traveled with me to the shows and got a workout just as my EDC knife when I wasn’t traveling.
The models I chose were the Outdoor Edge SlideWinder, the Gerber Exchange-A-Blade (EAB) (EAB Lite), Gerber Prybrid, the GilTek Ruk, and the Big I Design Titanium Pocket Tool (TPT) (TPT Slide). For me, these tools fall into the categories of convenient and functional. So, no destruction tests or cutting trials. It was simply, do they work and are they easy to use. Anything else would be pretty much a bonus.
OUTDOOR EDGE’S SLIDEWINDER
(MSRP $14.95)
This story is from the March-April 2021 edition of Knives Illustrated.
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This story is from the March-April 2021 edition of Knives Illustrated.
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TIP TALK
UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BLADE TIP SHAPES AND WHY IT MATTERS
HOLDING FIRM
GETTING A GRIP ON KNIFE HANDLE BENEFITS, MATERIALS, AND FUNCTIONALITY
EDGE UP
TIPS, TRICKS, AND TECHNIQUES TO SHARP WHEN ADVENTURING FAR FROM HOME
THE COMBAT KITCHEN
SLICE, DICE, CHOP, AND CUT: FOOD PREP WITH BLADES FROM POPULAR TACTICAL KNIFE COMPANIES
MORAKNIV Classics
THESE TIMELESS BUSHCRAFT KNIVES HAVE BEEN UPDATED AND ARE BETTER THAN EVER
ONE FOR THE ROAD
CHOOSING AN “EVERYWHERE KNIFE” CAN BE DIFFICULT DUE TO COMPLICATED KNIFE LAWS
TRAVELING LIGHT
SOMETIMES, INEXPENSIVE UTILITY BLADES YOU PICK UP AT YOUR DESTINATION CAN GET THE JOB DONE
MATCHED PAIR
JB KNIFE WORKS LAYMAN KNIFE AND GAMBIT HATCHET COMBO: ONE PICKS UP WHERE THE OTHER LEAVES OFF
WHEN BIGGER IS BETTER
THE CAS IBERIA CHOP HOUSE IS A MACHETE THAT PROVIDES BIG BLADE CUTTING POWER
KITCHEN KNIVES DON'T HAVE TO BE DULL
I have a confession to make. See if this sounds familiar. I take meticulous care of the knives I use for everyday carry, hunting, and general woods wandering. I wipe them down with an oily cloth after use and I never let them get too dull. Seldom do I have to restore a damaged edge. Most of the time I simply touch up the edges of my pocketknives with a few careful strokes across the rough bottom of a ceramic coffee cup. That’s usually all that’s needed. I don’t use my knives as screwdrivers or pry bars. As a matter of fact, I still have the very first knife I ever owned, an old Boy Scout knife that was handed down from my older brother. The blades have a deep patina that comes with using carbon steel over the years, but the knife is very usable still.
