When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

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TwoFlowersLuggage
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When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by TwoFlowersLuggage »

This is another of my infamous "I'm just curious..." questions. When you have a carry knife that you have grown to like, and through use, accident or neglect you lose or damage it, what do you do? Do you replace it with an identical, undamaged knife? Do you switch to a different knife from your pile? Do you repair it (if possible) and keep carrying it? Does your answer change if it is an inexpensive knife vs an expensive knife?

And yes, I do have a story to go with this question. Several months ago I lost an inexpensive Kershaw folder that I had been carrying. I had really come to like that knife. It is a lockback that has a style that seems to be a cross between a traditional folder and modern knife. Stainless handles with carbon fiber inserts. I really like the look. One day it simply disappeared. I looked everywhere - nothing. 3 months later, my wife found it under the door seal of the clothes washer. The knife was a mess, it must have been tossed around pretty good before it became wedged, and it acquired some scratches and dings. Over the weeks of wash loads, those scratches & dings allowed rust to start. The blade edge also seems to have become chipped in a couple of spots. I have tried cleaning it, but my lack of skill & patience means it's just not the same knife.

The knife is not expensive, and although it is discontinued, I can still find them new in the package on ebay if I'm patient. This got me thinking: What will I do? Will I replace it? I long ago started carrying other knives, and I certainly don't need to replace it. I can probably eventually work the chips out of the edge and it would be a serviceable knife - but everytime I look at it, I get mad at myself for letting this happen...

So, how about you? Are you a love 'em & leave 'em type? Do you kick them to the curb when they are no longer the cute little puppy they once were? Or, do you stick by them regardless of their flaws & foibles?
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by cody6268 »

One, I've stopped carrying ANYTHING outside the house that is really old or hard to replace. I lost a SOG Micro Toolclip (the first version, made in Japan; which can be expensive; but the little tool is so tough for its small size); looked and looked, none were as cheap as the one I lost. About two months ago, I finally settled for one in a little worse shape, and a little bit more expensive. Still carry it, but I no longer use the pocket clip (which was how I lost the thing in the first place). I also no longer carry sentimental knives. The problem is the 34OT that my Granddad gave me when I turned 10. I try to retire it, and I keep taking it out and carrying it again. Heck, I not only have a TON of Stockmen in all sizes, but another USA 34OT (it was Schrade's biggest seller, and still not an expensive knife), but still. I choose that same 34OT. Thinking I'll try an 834UH--different, but still the same basic pattern.

I'm ordering, as I speak, a Crescent/Bear Jaws Toolzall Pocket Pro multitool I lost earlier this year (thanks a lot, slick Reebok gym shorts with the shallow pockets!) I will be purchasing two; one to leave in its card, a second for EDC, and then, maybe a third as a backup or a gift to someone else.

If I break it, usually I carry stuff which the company is still in business and I can send the knife or multitool on warranty to get fixed. Leatherman has fixed two I broke; a Super Tool 300 (which I messed up the smallest screwdriver; and a guy I loaned it to broke the pliers; doing something STUPID); and I tried to bend a coathanger with a Squirt PS4--which did NOT end well for the Squirt.
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by Railsplitter »

This has only happened to me once that I can remember. Back in the 1980's I carried a Buck 703 for several years. Then one day I used the Spey blade to loosen a battery post screw on my motorcycle battery. The battery arced and fried the blade. Left a big burn and a crescent shaped gouge right at the cutting edge which was much too large to sharpen out.

I carried it for a week or so afterwards trying to convince myself that I didn't mind because the knife still had two more good blades. Truth is that it did bother me and the knife just wasn't the same anymore. For reasons unknown to me I never even thought of sending it to Buck for repair or replacement. I ended up tossing it in the trash instead.

I bought a small single blade lockback knife to replace it and I got by with that knife for a few more years until I gave it to a friend and bought something else.
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by 1967redrider »

My dad only likes Schrade 8OT stockman knives, so I "replaced" the Chinese one he was carrying with a USA one. He lost the one I gave him baling hay, but wouldn't you know the following year one of the guys helping us bale hay found it in the field. Of course it was rusted/locked up tighter than a bull's . . . well you know. So I got him another USA made 8OT to use and a replacement USA made 8OT that I'm hanging on to just in case he loses it.

The funny thing is he fell in love with the 8OT pattern because I gave him one for Christmas when I was working part-time at a sporting goods store back in 1990. It was new, not sure if it was a USA made knife or not, but it hooked him on that pattern.

So I guess my answer is I would find a replacement of the same knife that I lost. I do not carry old knives I would hate losing; they are hard to replace and sometimes not replaceable (rare and hard to find to begin with). But a Schrade 8OT is pretty common.
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by orvet »

1967redrider wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 2:49 am The funny thing is he fell in love with the 8OT pattern because I gave him one for Christmas when I was working part-time at a sporting goods store back in 1990. It was new, not sure if it was a USA made knife or not, but it hooked him on that pattern.
Just for the record: In 1990 the Schrade 8OT was only made in the USA.
The Chinese made Old Timers only came into being after the Schrade bankruptcy and closure in 2004.
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by rangerbluedog »

I have about a dozen knives in my EDC collection, so for me it's "next man up."
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by KnifeSlinger#81 »

Well it hasn't happened yet but what I would do highly depends on the knife. I am pretty careful using any of my knives, even the "beaters". Some I am really careful with, enough that I carry another knife with those in case I have to do something I don't want to do with the certain knife, which is rather silly practically speaking but I can't help but do it.

If I were to bust up an 8ot or similar knife I would fix it up and still use if possible. If beyond repair or lost I have many replacements. Basically anything common, cheap, and easy to replace I wouldn't get very bent out of shape.

If it were a nice knife that is expensive, hard to replace, or I have multiples of I may not keep it if the damage is bad. If that happened I don't think I could keep said knife around without it bothering me. This would have to be something like a big chip out of the edge, snapping the tip, busting up the handles, heavy corrosion, getting run over, and so on. I am pretty picky about condition and other specific things and have sold or traded off knives for only very minor things that bothered me (which weren't actual issues).
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by 1967redrider »

orvet wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 3:12 am
1967redrider wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 2:49 am The funny thing is he fell in love with the 8OT pattern because I gave him one for Christmas when I was working part-time at a sporting goods store back in 1990. It was new, not sure if it was a USA made knife or not, but it hooked him on that pattern.
Just for the record: In 1990 the Schrade 8OT was only made in the USA.
The Chinese made Old Timers only came into being after the Schrade bankruptcy and closure in 2004.
Thanks for the info, Dale. ::tu::
Pocket, fixed, machete, axe, it's all good!

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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by tongueriver »

I carried a Boker large congress knife for more than ten years (20?) and actually wore it out and threw it away. Never looked back and the replacement was a stockman which I never liked. I finally did end up with various pocket knives which I like very much. If one disappears, the knife won't be important but the MYSTERY will be! I don't develop deep emotional ties to most knives, as I have plenty of replacements. At my age what matters is relationships and health. I do have a couple of knives which have nostalgic importance because of long use and memories of events, mostly hunting. It would make me sad but 'move on.' I am not clever enough to repair a knife and can barely sharpen adequately. As far as my friends, family and dog go, I am there to the last.
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by Mumbleypeg »

Can't recall ever having damaged one. I use them as they were intended to be used - not pry bars, hammers, screwdrivers etc. But I have lost a couple and it gives me a kind of sick feeling somewhat akin to being robbed.

When we married my wife gave me a Case 3318 stockman. She knew it was a favorite EDC pattern of mine. I put it in the rotation and carried it for several years, until one day I lost it in the pasture. That's when I realized how much the knife meant to me sentimentally.

Several months later our youngest son found it. Other than a little rust on the CV blades it was fine so I cleaned it up and retired it. Replaced it with a new one.

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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by JnBama »

When a kid dad gave me a Case knife and told it was the last series of certain type metal. I lost it while on a church group fishing trip , suspect one of the other boys swiped it from my tackle box . :( I learned to be more vigilant and keep pocket knives where they belong in my pocket.
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by zoogirl »

It’s kind of silly, but my work edc is the most disgusting thing ever. It’s a China made, three bladed something or other, with the worst thin plastic fake bone scales I’ve ever seen. It’s held together with pink duct tape and clear packing tape. I have to periodically whack it on it’s bolsters to keep it from completely self destructing. The pins are trying to escape, I think. ::paranoid::
I have a perfectly good, almost new replacement. It’s sitting in a display box. Identical knife, bought specifically as a replacement. I figure I can batter it with a clear conscience as it’s such a pos.
Do I take it to work and toss the old one? No, I do not. ::facepalm::
I will probably curse and repair and repair and curse my pocket partner until we both retire!
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by djknife13 »

Before I started collecting knives, I carried a Parker canoe whittler for 20 years and absolutely loved that knife. I set it down in my chicken barn one day after using it to help a weak chick out of it's shell and forgot to pick it up and forgot I had used it there. I thought I had dropped it at a small guest cabin I was building for a friend and hunted all over for it for weeks. I finally replaced it, twice with knives and didn't like either of them. The friend, who I was building the cabin for brought his wife over to see my chickens and game farm ( I had a state and federal game license and a bunch of wild and tame birds) and while looking around my barn, he noticed the knife sitting back on a shelf and asked me if it was the one I was hunting all over the county for. After starting collecting knives, I purchased several identical ones for backup and even a pearl one of the same pattern for a Sunday carry, but I never liked any of them as much as I did the original. I did the same thing with a hammer I really liked that left a job site with a plumber and was gone for several years. His assistant had mixed it in with his tools thinking it was the plumbers. I bought an identical hammer, but never liked it. One day I was working at the same site as the plumber and mentioned I had lost my hammer a few years back and didn't like the one I replaced it with. He said, oh yeah, it's in my truck. It got mixed in with my tools and he had meant to call me and get it back to me. Somehow replacing a favorite item with an "identical" one just doesn't seem to work. I retired the knife to my safe and have carried a number of different knives and still carry both hammers in my truck and use them both, but still like the old one better. It just feels better in my hand.____Dave
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by tongueriver »

zoogirl wrote: Sun Oct 20, 2019 6:47 am It’s kind of silly, but my work edc is the most disgusting thing ever. It’s a China made, three bladed something or other, with the worst thin plastic fake bone scales I’ve ever seen. It’s held together with pink duct tape and clear packing tape. I have to periodically whack it on it’s bolsters to keep it from completely self destructing. The pins are trying to escape, I think. ::paranoid::
I have a perfectly good, almost new replacement. It’s sitting in a display box. Identical knife, bought specifically as a replacement. I figure I can batter it with a clear conscience as it’s such a pos.
Do I take it to work and toss the old one? No, I do not. ::facepalm::
I will probably curse and repair and repair and curse my pocket partner until we both retire! 3584D098-975E-42A3-9F28-C07F135426E0.png
Cal "likes" this.
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by Eustace »

I look differently at the EDC knife and the knives in my collection. I work as a warehouse manager and use a knife everyday. Cut cardboard, wood, nylon, straps, cables, plastic containers, plasterboard, conveying belts ...The EDC knife for me is simply a tool, that has to meet certain conditions - to be sturdy and can be taken out from the pocket and opened with one hand, even with a work glove. I don't care what it looks like, as I do not care what it looks like a screwdriver or pliers. And as my other tools, knives serve me to the end. When it breaks or I lose it (which has not happened for a long time), I buy the next one.
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by Jody744 »

Something different. Lost the S&M scout I carried new at my wedding in 2008. I have replaced with a Vic alox pioneer. Victorinox was my first love in pocketknives, if it gets messed up their warranty will repair or replace.
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by 1967redrider »

I used to carry this Remington R322 in black composition to work every day even though it was a bit on the large, clunky side for an EDC. No etch but decent, gently used blades and a pattern I don't see often. I think I paid around $35 for it at some online auction.

One day on returning home, the knife was not in my pocket. The pleated pants I was wearimg that day had shallow pockets and I thought for sure the knife slipped out when I was having lunch because I was sitting on a bar stool. A few days later I went back to the restaurant and the same waiter/bartender was working. I asked about a found pocket knife but he said no one turned anything in. I kind of felt wierd asking because Alexandria ain't the friendliest place for knives and firearms.

A few months later I was cleaning out my car and there the knife was on the rear floor mat. It must have slid out of my pocket driving home, worked its way between the seats and ended up there. I decided not to EDC this knife anymore, not so much because of value, but because I had become attached to it.
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by tongueriver »

I had a case/bose dogleg jack that I carried as an EDC for a year or more. I set it down on a trailer fender and it went from there to somewhere in the ether or maybe a lucky fellow's pocket. So.... I bought another one. At one point I gave it a rest of a few days in my dresser drawer. When I retrieved it, BOTH springs (backsprings is redundant) were snapped in half. CASE fixed it for me; I don't think there was a charge. I never knew a knife to self-destruct. The little fellow and I are still together now, off and on. Good knife.
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by Old Hunter »

If I really like a particular Brand/Model of knife I will lay in a supply of extra's - so if I do lose or break one, I'm covered. I really like the Case 18 pattern for EDC - I've got a dozen of them. I really like the Case 32 pattern for EDC, got three of them. I really like the Buck 118 for my prime hunting knife - I've got half a dozen of them. I could go on, but you get the picture. That is how I deal with a favorite EDC - I'm a "redundancy is good" kinda guy! OH
Deep in the guts of most men is buried the involuntary response to the hunter's horn, a prickle of the nape hairs, an acceleration of the pulse, an atavistic memory of his fathers, who killed first with stone, and then with club...Robert Ruark
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by blade objective »

I lost many a knife till I started using only pocket knives with either a lanyard ring or hole.
I tie the lanyard through a belt loop on my pants.
Never lost one since.
You can also use a pocket knife sheath with the lanyard tied the same way.
If the knife pops out of your pocket or sheath it's safe from lose or theft.
::tu::
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by KnifeSlinger#81 »

tongueriver wrote: Sun Oct 20, 2019 2:53 pm I had a case/bose dogleg jack that I carried as an EDC for a year or more. I set it down on a trailer fender and it went from there to somewhere in the ether or maybe a lucky fellow's pocket. So.... I bought another one. At one point I gave it a rest of a few days in my dresser drawer. When I retrieved it, BOTH springs (backsprings is redundant) were snapped in half. CASE fixed it for me; I don't think there was a charge. I never knew a knife to self-destruct. The little fellow and I are still together now, off and on. Good knife.
Both springs breaking, now that's strange. I once had a gec spring break. They fixed it, then I sold the knife. I was already thinking about selling it before the spring broke. It was stainless for what that's worth.

I have a schrade 8813 SS with a spring that may be ready to break, it's only cracked now, probably has been for decades. If that ever goes it will be a mite tougher to get fixed.
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by petesknives »

I just remember that it went to knife heaven along with so many. Then I cry !
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Re: When you damage or lose a favorite EDC knife, what do you do?

Post by Lansky1 »

before I got serious about knife collecting, I used to lose them, leave them in my pockets and run downstairs when I would hear them rattling around in the dryer, etc. Since I really got into it ( 5 years or so), I've only lost one knife ... I just pay more attention now. I use everything I own ... some more sparingly than others though 8)
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