Knives – Every Day Carry

By William Connor - October 8, 2015

They are sharp, dangerous, and necessary. What are we talking about? Knives. That sharp cutting tool that our ancient ancestors first invented to simply survive. The knife still has many uses and is why I carry one everyday.

Every Day Carry (EDC) is a term people have used to describe what they can’t get through a single day unless it is on their person. For me one of those items is a good knife.

Don’t Other Tools Work Better? A pair of scissors might be safer, a set of wire cutters might work faster and a things might be better at a particular job – but a knife gives you a much more diverse range of capabilities in a single package. You can easily carry it, use with one hand, and if need be cut your steak with it.

Day in and day out I am around military, police, and firefighters – they all have knife clips sticking out of a pocket. If the people saving lives and protecting us need and use a knife we can all find a daily use if we think about for a minute. Carrying one – along with knowing how to use it safely and effectively – is just part of being prepared.

Being Handy: Ever need to open a box, a blister pack, or cut a zip tie? Ever have the tool you need right where you need it? If you said yes I bet you carry a knife. Day to day tasks become a lot less time consuming when you carry. Loose shirt string, need kindling for a fire, how about fixing a tangled fishing line?

Having that cutting tool with you and immediately accessible is a crucial component of being prepared to handle any “Murphy’s Law” moments life throws at you every day.

Eating Food: In parts of the world it is customary to bring your own knife to dine. Considering how useless many steak house knives are – to protect the consumer from themselves – it pays to bring your own. Clearly keeping your blade maintained and clean is paramount but how many of us have gone entire weekends in camp using the knife as our fork, stirring spoon, spatula, and cutting utensil?

If you carry a multi tool or Swiss army knife you may have scissors, a cork screw and more.

Saving Lives: Remember the police and firefighters from above? When someone gets injured you may need to stop their bleeding. In order to do that you need to get through clothes, make a tourniquet, and possibly more depending on the wound and your skills. A knife makes short work of all of that.

Fire: The discovery that allowed man to rise above all beasts, to create civilizations, and to thrive in this vast wild world is fire. Know what makes making a fire easier? Yep, a knife. You can’t carry an axe everywhere it is impractical. Even the smallest knife can whittle wood into tinder and get to the dry center of small pieces to create the ideal fire starting situation. Combined with a fire starter stick it can even give the spark that lights the fire. Do you need it in downtown Baltimore? Yes, but not to start a fire.

Security: A knife is not the best weapon in a gun fight but it will win a fist fight. People notice those little tangs in your pocket, you become less of a target to criminals when you carry.

Tags: EDC, Knife

Knives – Every Day Carry

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