Lifehacker weighs in on the five best EDC knives

[MillCreek]

http://lifehacker.com/five-best-everyday-carry-knives-1700075192?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lifehacker%2Ffull+%28Lifehacker%29

Nowadays, a Leatherman Wingman is in my NiteIze smartphone carry case, and a Benchmade triage is riding in my front left pocket.  I on occasion carry a Victorinox Rescue Tool or a Kershaw Cryo instead. 

[SADShooter]

Interesting. I own variants of three out of the five listed.

[RoadKingLarry]

Crap.
I'm "trendy".
I'm packing A Kershaw Leek.
may have to reevaluate my choices.


Naw, it's a decent little knife.

[Mannlicher]

Lifehacker, whoever he is, seems to have a pretty limited view of what is out there in the knife world.   

[French G.]

I dislike best of lists because they are invariably colored by the writer's world and choices. All 5 listed are not hard use knives and how could you make a top 5 list and not include a SAK?  I tend to carry at least 2 knives, one a good cutter and the other while sharp must be one-handed, positive locking and have the blade geometry of a prybar.

[lee n. field]

I dislike best of lists because they are invariably colored by the writer's world and choices. All 5 listed are not hard use knives and how could you make a top 5 list and not include a SAK?  

Yes to that.

I've carried tacticoolish sharp pointy things.  They're just not as practical as my SAK Deluxe Tinker.

[MillCreek]

As the article notes, the five best knives were selected by the number of votes to an online survey.

[tokugawa]

These types of ratings are foolish. The worst sharp knife beats the best dull knife any day.
 

[HankB]

Before I started carrying an automatic knife, I carried a CKRT M16, which was rated "runner up" in the survey.

But personally, IMHO, SO many of the EDC-suitable knives on the market are minor variations on a theme, that surveys like this are pretty useless.

[cordex]

They didn't choose my current favorite so they are wrong.

For the record, the Spyderco Byrd series Meadowlark2 is a darn fine stand in for a Delica. The blade is a little thinner (actually an advantage in some cases) but at a third the cost I was sold. My Delica is ten years old and the tip has gotten a little rounded. I will probably regrind the blade, but the Meadowlark can fill the pocket until then. I like the thin, smooth stainless grip. Doesn't shred pockets or take up much space.

[dogmush]

I have a Leek and several CRKT M16 variants around here.  My current EDC is the Gerber Propel Auto.  I know it sucks that you need credentials to get the auto, but it's a tough knige that I've been abusing for a while now and holds an edge.  I sometimes also grab my Benchmade Auto APB 6800

Like scopes, while there are some fine <$50 knives, you also get what you pay for.

[freakazoid]

Don't really know much about what's out there in the knife world. I always have a CRKT Mini My Tighe on me. It has served me well for cutting things.

[brimic]

Fail.
No mention of Spyderco Delica.
They mentioned the endura 4 wave- its too big for EDC and has a lousy grind profile.
The lack of Benchmade griptillion on the list makes me not take the author seriously.

[MechAg94]

These types of ratings are foolish. The worst sharp knife beats the best dull knife any day.
 

Sharpen?  Just buy a new one.   

I guess I don't use my carry knife enough to dull it down.  It looks a lot like the Gerber mentioned.  It got it becaseu it looked light, compact, and had the serrations.  Some of these and the honorable mentions look good. 

[tokugawa]

 That would get expensive. I use mine many times a day.

[HeroHog]

Leatherman Blast in the bag, SOG Twitch II clipped in a pocket with the end sticking out for quick and easy access.

[Scout26]

Back in Middle school, before I could afford a Buck 101, I had an Opinal (like the one pictured) for several years.  I loved it.  And it seemed like every time I had saved up enough to buy the Buck, some other shiny would come along, and I'd simply soldier on with the Opinal.

I want to say it was around Junior year in HS before I finally saved enough to by the Buck.   

I wish I would have seen this when I was in Indy.  I would have looked around to see if the Opinal was still there, somewhere.

[Perd Hapley]

Fail.
No mention of Spyderco Delica.
They mentioned the endura 4 wave- its too big for EDC and has a lousy grind profile.

I would disqualify most of the knives as having blades too short (but also for unsatisfactory blade profile). I don't understand why people think that a 3-1/2" to 4" folder is in any way a "big knife," when it's no larger than a common table knife or steak knife. (Especially when you fold it in half, for carry.) They also have handles that are very appropriately sized. They are also a small to medium sized knife, when compared to most fixed-blade knives.

 

[MillCreek]

^^^I wonder if it is a function of knife laws.  For example, Washington state does not have uniform knife laws, and so each county and/or city or town can create their own knife laws, usually having to do with blade length.  I most commonly carry a 3.5" Benchmade triage, and that is illegal in the city that I work, but is not illegal in the unincorporated county that I live or some of the other cities that I travel to for work.   In this area, pretty much everything up to 3" is legal almost everywhere, and everything over 3.5" is illegal almost everywhere.  So based on that, I can see how someone would think that a 4" knife is a 'big blade'.

[dogmush]

Does your CCW not cover knives?

[Perd Hapley]

My first reaction was to say that the knife laws must have come from the idea that 4" knife blades are large, and not the other way around.

But I could see how anything above a certain size might be considered more useful as a weapon, and they might be outlawed for that reason.

[Perd Hapley]

Does your CCW not cover knives?

Missouri's CCW used to be ambiguous, but it wasn't considered wise to rely on it to cover a knife. I think it was recently clarified, so that the CCW now explicitly covers guns, and nothing else. 

[dogmush]

Bummer.  It would seem logical that if you can carry a gun, pretty much any knife you can strap on would be a downgrade.  I know logic and .gov.

FL is a "License to carry concealed weapon or firearm".  It hadn't occurred to me that some states would limit it to only handguns.

[Perd Hapley]

It hadn't occurred to me that some states would limit it to only handguns.

You're not an idiot.

[MillCreek]

Does your CCW not cover knives?

Washington state does not.  When I got my first carry permit, in 1981 in Seattle, the state permit was called a 'CCW' for 'carry concealed weapon'.  After a number of court cases over whether a CCW allowed the carry of other weapons, several years ago the state permit was changed to a 'CPL' for 'concealed pistol license' to better clarify that it pertained only to handgun carry.