Forums › Forums › Gear – The Stuff We Carry › Knives › How much blade and why?
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September 6, 2025 at 6:26 am #2609
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KeymasterI know there are similar threads, but they are old and the approach to the subject is slightly different.
Since diving head first into this rabbit hole, I’ve been reading, watching and researching quite a bit on the topic of folding knives, and I’m a bit amazed by how popular the large folders are.
For me, I quickly found my preference to gravitate toward the smaller pocket knives with modern features such as one hand opening, pocket clips and locks.
For me there are just so many advantages in keeping the knife small and light:- I carry the knife infinitely more than I cut with it.
- I don’t like to have a lot of things in my pockets, especially things that make them bulge, restrict movement when sitting down or trying to get passed obstructions or bump around annoyingly when running or moving fast.
- I only cut small stuff with my EDC knife (tie wraps, wire insulation, opening boxes / packaging etc.)
- I want to be a good ambassador for the knife community, and executing my limited cutting tasks with an unnecessarily large or scary knife just seems counterproductive when trying to promote the knife as a perfectly normal and useful tool.
In all my time spent reading on different forums, watching YT and so on, I rarely see anybody mention other cutting tasks than opening boxes (often of new knives), cutting cardboard or cutting apples (apples, really?).
I get it if we’re talking food prep, but if that was my jam, I would have a dedicated knife for that. Both from a functional and hygienically perspective I think that is more than justified.
If we’re talking outdoor use or hard work, we’re quickly moving into fixed blade territory.What inspired this thread is my recent quest (and accompanying thread) to find a large-ish do-it-all folder for backpacking. And I’ve got to say that after some initial trials, it seems I’ve hit a dead end. Even in that setting I seem to not develop a liking for a large folder, and rather take a weight penalty and throw a suitable fixed blade in my backpack. I’ve yet to conclude, but that’s how it looks atm.
This is purely meant to be a friendly discussion, there is no problem here that needs solving. I’m just curious why so many (apparently) prefers large folders, and what they are using them for?
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