recommend me a good utility knife that i can keep on my person mainly for firefighting activities. something that can cut through a variety of material.

thread inspired by this story: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/320065...-today_people/

 

size, opening style, blade style preference, do you sharpen your own, what materials, folder, lock style?
lots more info needed

 

I carry this around:

 

Depends on style you are looking for but I will stand by my Benchmade knives all day long if my life depends on it, and that is how I plan my purchases of this kind.

American made and honed, free sharpening and lifetime warranty. They are well worth the cost.

 

whatever is legal, fold?, serrated, no, wut? yes, no preference on type of lock

baden != zombie society

cool i will check them out

 

i loved my benchmade. smoothest opening knife i've ever owned and opened with the flick of a wrist. too bad i broke the tip using it as a screwdriver.

 

well i have been researching a decent $100-200, 3-4in folder for a while so heres me 2 cents
for extreme wet carry and bashability i would look at either

benchmade griptilian or griptilian mini (not small just smaller) with 154cm plain edge blade
spyderco salt series, any number of sizes, in s30v or 154 cm plain edge

im a huge fan of benchmade axis lock opening design, spyderco uses a thumb hole that is also very good for ambidextrious opening, i just prefer the bm design

both of these knives have handles that are good when wet, and steel that is easily sharpened by a beginner, which you will need to learn to do and buy a setup to sharpen with (sharpmaker gets good reviews, i plan on getting one)

lots of other knives out there, handle a few in person and see what opening and lock design you find yourself liking, then pick good steel and a grip thats good when wet

 

have to be careful on the length of the blade if you are carrying on person. there are different laws in each state for knives. check into that. i got a small flip out blade i carry on my persons at all times. its a small 3 inch blade. it says Duluth Trading on it. cuts good through most things (not counting metal), i keep it sharp. cost me 10 bucks or so at walmart. has not failed me yet.

 

I've got a few Smith and Wesson fold outs that work reasonably well. I had one come unscrewed, but it was put to HEAVY use cutting boxes/shrinkwrap/wireties all day long for about a year.

Other than that, they've been pretty good to me. I'm sure it would have been more than adequate to cut a seat-belt.

 

I have this is Black and in Silver



I have this one in kinda an olive drab. This one is much bigger.



And I have this one