let's talk EDC

[Matt Walker]

In a recent trade with a blade-smith friend, I'm to get an every day cary knife of his making. All I've told him so far is small, thin and pointy with desert ironwood. Anyone have ideas about what makes a great EDC? He can do nice damascus but I'm leaning to carbon mono- steel. Looking forward to your opinions!

[Geoff Keyes]

This is what I have carried for the last 10 years or so, blade is about 3.5"

 

 

 

This one I traded for a custom hat

 

More like 5 inch blade

 

 

Blacksmith rat tail edc  3 inch blades

[Matt Walker]

Thanks Geoff, that's exactly what I am looking for. Liking the simplicity of the top two.

[Gerhard Gerber]

Check out the Creely Mako.

I have to design and make a small EDC fixed blade for a lady within fixed size constraints, came to the conclusion for that application the sheath is what makes or breaks the knife.

[Gerald Boggs]

EDC is dependent on your daily life. The needs of a cowboy and the needs of a warehouse worker are going to be different. A while back I forged a blade for myself for use around the shop and yard. By the time I got done, I had a stout box knife. I did a survival course back in the 80's. We were allowed one knife, I chose the Swiss Army Knife, which at the time was my EDC, and it easily did all that I needed.

[Andrew Gillespie]

for edc I prefer stainless

[Matt Walker]

Thanks for the good ideas. When this happens I'll post what we come up with. I'm sending him photos of the last couple of small ones Jake Cleland recently posted, for inspiration. What a treat this to have input on ones own knife. 

Edited October 19, 2021 by Matt Walker

[Garry Keown]

There is a reason that @jake cleland latest offering   was the EDC of its day and would still be a superb knife for the same chores today. 

 

Edited October 19, 2021 by Garry Keown

[Daniel W]

An ever day knife, first thought that comes to mind is keep it small. No more than 3 inches of blade, and a small palm held handle. A blacksmiths knife/ ladies knife comes to mind as the best edc for a fixed blade.

 

Pocket knife, my favorite pocket knife is a slim knife. Just about everything on the market today has some kind of fat blade that doesn't fit well in the pocket.  Old timer knives have it right.  For a while I got a kick out of some youtuber knife channel showing off all these new pocket knives, and in my opinion, very few of them are piratical. All of them big fat blades, big fat grips, and someone trying to use them like an axe. 

 

Of the few knifes I've made, I've found that I'm really liking stubby handles more than a knife that has a full hammer handed grip. They are just so much more agile in the hand. 

 

I personally have not carried a knife in over 10years now.  Most work places do not allow them anyway.  But I do find myself with a leather man more than anything when I'm at the home shop. 

 

 

[Matt Walker]

Yeah, hard to remove a splinter or metal sliver with a fat thick tool. As well as clean under finger nails.

[Gerald Boggs]

10 hours ago, Daniel W said:

No more than 3 inches of blade, and a small palm held handle. A blacksmiths knife/ ladies knife comes to mind as the best edc for a fixed blade.

Perhaps for some, but in many parts of the world, Rwanda comes to mind, EDC is a machete.

[Joshua States]

On 10/13/2021 at 5:42 AM, Gerald Boggs said:

EDC is dependent on your daily life.

This.

This is the determining factor.

What is your daily life's needs for a knife? Mine are probaly very different from yours, and I used carry two knives daily, because my needs changed dramatically during the day. Now I can get by with a single folder with a narrow, 4 inch blade. If I were to carry a sheath knife on a daily basis, it would be this one, that I made a few years back.

[parsha]

That is a beautiful knife Joshua. Making a frame handle has been on my to do list for a long time. 

Edited October 20, 2021 by parsha

[Matt Walker]

Thanks guys, Point taken about lifestyle. And Joshua, yeah that one would work well for me. I'm a retiring damascus maker turning to jet boat trout fishing. 

[Joshua States]

22 hours ago, parsha said:

Making a frame handle has been on my to do list for a long time. 

Parsha, I make a lot of frame handles. They are my favorite. Check out this thread. It is a little more complicated as it starts by showing a Damascus frame, but the second page shows a plain flat stock frame. As Alan pointed out, the technique is basically the same.

 

11 hours ago, Matt Walker said:

I'm a retiring damascus maker turning to jet boat trout fishing. 

In that case, I would go with something more like this. Full tang with stainless bolsters and stabilized wood for the scales.

 

 

Edited October 21, 2021 by Joshua States

[Matt Walker]

43 minutes ago, Joshua States said:

Parsha, I make a lot of frame handles. They are my favorite. Check out this thread. It is a little more complicated as it starts by showing a Damascus frame, but the second page shows a plain flat stock frame. As Alan pointed out, the technique is basically the same.

 

In that case, I would go with something more like this. Full tang with stainless bolsters and stabilized wood for the scales.

 

 

Oh, That's sweet!

[parsha]

I made this edc some time back with the thought of having a strong and wide blade to tang transition.

[Pieter-Paul Derks]

I carry an slim bladed lockback folder, Joshua might know exactly which one :).

it use it mostly to open packaging and getting rid of splinters, where a big blade would be unwieldy.

 

As I live in a urban area, the most important characteristic of an edc for me is that it looks non-threatening, carrying a fixed blade is frowned upon here.

For a more outdoors lifestyle a bigger knife is handy.

 

[Matt Walker]

Thanks for all the ideas. Here is what we came up with. I'm quite happy, he got everything I asked for. Total length 5-3/16" , .036" at the thickest part of the blade. The 15N20 blade is flexible and I look forward to using it on some trout.