By Chad McBroom
People are constantly asking me for recommendations concerning defensive blades for every day carry. This is always a difficult question for me because it’s more complex than just recommending a particular knife. It’s actually more akin to answering the question, “What car should I buy?”
Well, that depends. Are you a construction worker in need of a working vehicle? A college student who can barely afford to pay rent and needs a cheap option? A race car driver with sponsors who needs the fastest car on the planet? Or someone with a long commute who needs a car that gets 45 MPG?
Most of the time I don’t know anything about someone’s level of skill, personal knowledge, physical limitations or even personal preferences. I don’t know how much they can afford or are willing to spend on a blade, or how much inconvenience they’re willing to tolerate in order to carry and conceal a blade. I probably don’t even know what knives are legal to carry where they live.
All of these things come into play when choosing an EDC blade. So while I can’t give a definitive answer, what I can do is offer some guidelines and considerations for choosing an EDC blade based on my own knowledge and experience.
Folding or Fixed Blade
There’s no arguing a fixed blade knife has structural advantages over a folding knife. The saying holds true, “A folding knife is just a knife that’s already broken.” A fixed blade is also much faster to deploy because it omits the additional opening action required of a folder. Everything else being equal, a fixed blade is generally preferred over a folder. With that being said, there are obvious advantages to a quality folding knife.
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