Pocket Knife

[TLW '90]

My latest pocket knife purchase which I have really been loving, an early 80's Schrade LB1 cub that I bought in mint condition for a good price on Ebay.

I love small pocket knives because I get a lot of satisfaction out of knowing that most of my daily knife needs are handled by a little pocket knife, I love the little ones and the Lb1 is the smallest production lockback ever made in the USA.

I think the only other reputable company to ever make a quality lockback this size or smaller is Moki in Japan and even theirs are intended as a necklace pendant.

 

[Peacoat]

My latest pocket knife purchase which I have really been loving, an early 80's Schrade LB1 cub that I bought in mint condition for a good price on Ebay.
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I love small pocket knives because I get a lot of satisfaction out of knowing that most of my daily knife needs are handled by a little pocket knife, I love the little ones and the Lb1 is the smallest production lockback ever made in the USA.
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I think the only other reputable company to ever make a quality lockback this size or smaller is Moki in Japan and even theirs are intended as a necklace pendant.

That is a cool little knife. Sort of a miniature version of the folding Buck Hunter.

 

[TLW '90]

That is a cool little knife. Sort of a miniature version of the folding Buck Hunter.

Sort of.
The Schrade LB7 bear paw is a copy of the Buck 110 folding hunter ( basically, on a Sodbuster shaped frame ) , and the LB1 cub is a miniature version of the LB7.

Bucks smallest lockback was the 505 knight with the 524 525 & 425 minibuck being made on the same frame, but they have drop point blades.
Their smallest clip point is the 055, intended as a miniature 110 but they are 503 prince sized.

 

[DaveProc]

For the past 30+ years My buddy and I have given each other knives for our birthdays.
Several years ago I received this Colonial take on the folding hunter

 

[Fifty150]

 

[Fifty150]

It's called the Gerber ArmBar Cork. For me, it does what the Swiss Army Knife didn't do. There's a lever for pulling the cork. For anyone who has ever tried opening a bottle of wine with a Wenger or Victorinox, you know that the corkscrew by itself just damages and breaks up the bottle cork. Sometimes you damage the top of the cork, and the bottom is still stuck in the bottle neck. The scissors are just a little bigger, which makes it more functional.​

 

[Fifty150]

So here I am, buying another cheap MultiTool. So that I don't lose or break one of my good MultiTools. This one seems okay. The price was right. It doesn't feel as "cheap" as some of the others I've handled in the past. I like that it comes with replacement parts for wear items. I also like that I can use t-shank saw blades of any size. It has a bit holder for 1/4" standard bits. How long will it last? How long until I break it? I don't know. I paid $25. What can I expect for $25?


What I have to keep in mind that a MultiTool is not a replacement for a real tool. It's only a light use item. If I find a loose fastener, or something like that, I'll try to tighten it down with a MultiTool, before going to the garage to get a real tool. I might use it to open the battery door on a toy. The can opener will probably see the most use on bottle tops.




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[Trenchfriend]

Yeah, these multitools can be seen everywhere in the stores, these days. But I can't imagine, who's really buying them.

 

[Edward]

So here I am, buying another cheap MultiTool. So that I don't lose or break one of my good MultiTools. This one seems okay. The price was right. It doesn't feel as "cheap" as some of the others I've handled in the past. I like that it comes with replacement parts for wear items. I also like that I can use t-shank saw blades of any size. It has a bit holder for 1/4" standard bits. How long will it last? How long until I break it? I don't know. I paid $25. What can I expect for $25?


What I have to keep in mind that a MultiTool is not a replacement for a real tool. It's only a light use item. If I find a loose fastener, or something like that, I'll try to tighten it down with a MultiTool, before going to the garage to get a real tool. I might use it to open the battery door on a toy. The can opener will probably see the most use on bottle tops.




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I remember these becoming a thing first in the 90s. Seemed to me at the time, still does, that their direct competition was never "proper" tools, but the Swiss Army Knife. For, as you say, light duty stuff, though arguably more robust than the stereotypical SA Knife (as opposed to the alu-sided issue models) and with the addition of the pliers. Sort of thing a lot of guys would keep handy or in the car, as they're compliant as EDC with knife laws in the UK, as long as they're the model with no locking blade.

Yeah, these multitools can be seen everywhere in the stores, these days. But I can't imagine, who's really buying them.

Back about thirty years ago when I was a Saturday Boy in a DIY & building supplies store, we used to carry both the branded Leatherman multitools, and a range of cheaper alternatives. Older guys in the building trade tended just to carry a decent penknife (the German Army equivalent of the issued Swiss Army knife was a popular option as they were widely available for a few quid in pretty much any army surplus place on the go, so easily replaced if they got lost or damaged on site. Younger guys, and DIY guys, tended to buy the budget version of the multitools for much the same reasoning; they would look at the Leatherman, and then buy the budget alternative that was maybe 70% as good for a quarter of the price. The actual Leatherman branded tools tended to be bought most often by ladies looking for a birthday / Christmas / Father's Day present. I wouldn't be at all surprised if that's all still the way it is.

 

[Fifty150]

I can't imagine, who's really buying them.

Me. I'm the guy who is buying and using them. I used the scissors today, to open packages. Then I used the serrated blade to cut up the cardboard boxes. I was at a doctor's office, and fixed some plumbing. I can't count how many times times there was a loose screw somewhere. It's great for those little battery doors on clock radios. It's my go to tool for dialing in potentiometers. Handy for changing the blades on hair clippers. I was surprised that the tool was all that I needed to change a shower head. Very light jobs like taking the cover plate off a vacuum cleaner to clear an obstruction. Changed more than 1 car battery. Not bad for minor jobs like installing a car stereo. They do work for light electrical wiring jobs. Pliers are good enough to pull a screw or nail out of a tire. The awl acts like a reamer if you don't have one handy. The blade is sharp enough to cut off the excess tire plug.


I have opened countless bottles of beer.


All for nothing, really. I could have always called a tow truck, and paid someone else to repair a flat, change a battery, and whatever. Obviously, there are many people who wouldn't do any of the things that I do. They would just call someone else to come fix it.

becoming a thing first in the 90s.

Leatherman first came to the market in The 80's. I still have a leather holster designed to carry a Mini Maglite and Leatherman tool, side by side. So it would make sense that in The 90's when other competitors entered the market, that they really got popular. I still have an Eddie Bauer Tool made by SOG, from that era.

knife laws in the UK, as long as they're the model with no locking blade

In The USA, knife laws vary from state to state, to federal jurisdiction, and are unevenly enforced. I guess you can't bring a knife on an airplane. Nobody has ever gotten charged with attempting to bring a knife onto a plane. That's why there's that big barrel at airport security checkpoints, for passengers to voluntarily dispose of their knives, MultiTools, etc.


In my local area, a knife could be charged as a concealed weapon. So the obvious thing to do, is not conceal it. That's why you see so many Americans with knives on their belts. Carry your knife openly. It's not a problem. We already have a law against murder, and attempted murder. We'll charge you with that if you pull out the knife and try to stab people.

Perhaps it's commonly accepted in The USA. Maybe cultural. I grew up carrying a knife. As far back as being about 8 years old, I had a Buck knife and a Swiss Army. Back then, it was customary and ordinary to have a pocket knife. Even today, people own and carry knives. From what I have seen over the years, stabbings do not happen often.​

the budget alternative that was maybe 70% as good for a quarter of the price

I wouldn't say that the lesser cost knives are 70% as good. I haven't seen every "cheap" tool or knife. The ones I have seen, were mostly poor quality. I have seen lower cost options that other people have bought. I had a cheap model from Wal*Mart. The cheap tools are usually poorly constructed, have bad fit & finish, and are usually made with low strength components. I have seen those break. I broke the Wal*Mart tool. The knives are usually very bad. You can't sharpen them, and they snap. The hinge pins are weak, causing the whole thing to fall apart under pressure. The attachments are either too tight, or loose and wobbly. I saw a can/bottle opener snap off. For the most part, they work until they break.

Just like hand tools, power tools, or whatever: you buy what you can afford. Not everyone wants to spend $150 - $200 on a pocket MultiTool. If your budget is under $50, then that's what you buy. It doesn't mean that you can't get a good quality tool for less money. It's possible that 1 or 3 out of ten cheap tools could be good.

I've got a small pair of MultiTool style folding scissors that has worked great for cutting zip ties, retail packaging, and the odd package of junk food. Pretty good for cutting pieces of shrimp, anchovies, squid, worms. But I don't pretend that they are full sized scissors or tin snips. $13, I'm the most popular guy around the cooler at back yard parties, because I have the bottle top opener. Every tool, including the cheap tools, can have a purpose. I wouldn't use a $200 Leatherman for beer bottles, cutting bait, or pulling fish hooks, while I'm saltwater fishing. What if it drops into the water?


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Remember that a MultiTool is not a substitute for real tools. Nuts and bolts are supposed to be turned with wrenches and sockets, not a folding pair of needle nose pliers. The correct screwdriver will fit correctly and turn without stripping the screw, or the tool snapping off. When you need a file, you never really need a file smaller than 2 inches. That's why hardware stores don't sell 2 inch files. And you're not building a house with a 2 inch saw blade.​

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Before I was more weight-conscious, my Leatherman was my go-to tool when backpacking and hiking. Used it a fair amount too. The serrated blade is still so sharp that it was the second reason I stopped carrying it in such instances. I'm no bushcrafter or mountainman, so avoiding dangerous/precarious situations is the name of the game when you're 10 or 15 miles away from the nearest road. Each time I broke out that Leatherman, I worried I was going to need stitches from that blade. It was indeed a gift, but from my primary hiking partner, who also bought themselves one too. I've since used it around the house a lot. I did have to grind down the plier grooves a little. They were so "sharp" that they left marks on everything. Maybe I've always used ****py tools, but I've never had a set of pliers leave marks like that so often.

 

[inosaris]

Just picked up a Chris Reeve Sebenza 31 with my son's birthday. For anyone else out there looking for a specific date (birthday, anniversary, etc.), Penny with the Chris Reeve customer service team was kind enough to send me a list of the knives / configurations that were manufactured on that day.

I saw a Reddit post mentioning that if it's a recent enough date that she would even be able to provide which authorized vendors the knives were shipped too, though I haven't tried that myself.

 

[TLW '90]

My belt knife choice this week is a '92 Buck 112, and my pocket knife choice this week is a modified Case Barlow.
Last week just happened to be an orange Buck 110LT, and this other modified Case Barlow of mine.

I only carry traditional knives ( this means no pocket clips, screws ,or one hand opening) and don't touch anything made in Taiwan or China.
I've got some stuff made in Europe and a few belt knives from Japan but most of my knives are American made just like every jacket I buy.

 

[Fifty150]

Buck 110

One of the best knives.

 

[ShadowXY]

I like Buck! Have a few some 80's 110's & a few others. Built to last.

 

[DamoLynch]

I love my traditional folding knives, but sometimes you want a very slim, light knife that disappears in the pocket. This Böker Kihon Bifold 42a meets those requirements, feels surprisingly great in the hand, and is legal to carry here in Germany.

 

[Trenchfriend]

@DamoLynch

How was the sharpness out of the box?

 

[DamoLynch]

@DamoLynch

How was the sharpness out of the box?

Shaving sharp. But some have not been so lucky.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Shaving sharp.

My Böker Worldwide 2.0 same.

 

[rogueclimber]

Böker Kihon Bifold 42a

And designed by Luc Burnley -- A great guy!