How much is your EDC affected by your job?

[vampyrewolf]

Was going to put this under the ultimate EDC thread but got thinking that it'll probably go a while.

How big of am impact has WHERE you work affected what you carry, ignoring WHAT you do with it. I'm fully aware of how far a ss dragonfly can be pushed and I know it'd probably be sufficient for 90% of users :p


I'm in an office job now, with light cutting at work. As in bags and tape, other than food prep. I could easily get by with a LM Juice on my keys and a 3-4" paring knife at my desk (have to get to the bottom of the jar). If it wasn't for the smokers causing me so much grief that's exactly what I'd be carrying.

I rotate 4" knives at work, with the other pocket's carry in a case in my bag for 4pm to hit. I'm limited to a multitool and a single knife at work, so they get to see me using a large blade to cut tape. If spyderco made a 5" folder I'd carry it to work.

The only impact the NKP had on me was in limiting the number of knives on me.

[The Deacon]

Well, I retired now, so it's never an issue anymore. But even when I was working, it only affected it on those rare days when I knew I'd have to be dealing with security stations and metal detectors and that was mostly to avoid embarrassing my supervisor by dumping a bunch of knives in the tray. :D

[Whieee]

I wonder what 'the smokers' have to do with it actually? The only grief smokers cause me is the smell and the arrogance of polluting my fresh air, but their smoking habit doesn't do anything to my choice of EDC :)

* if you're a smoker and feel offended by my statement; don't be. Just don't smoke near me :) *

I do actually run into my fair share of NKP at work, which certainly impacts my choice of EDC a little. Fortunately I don't own any >4" blades, since I don't really have a need for large blades, and I believe 3" is enough for me. However I did get strange faces over my Salt I SE and my Sage 1. The teeth were perceived as 'scary' (but after a test-drive even NKP could appreciate its cutting abilities); and the Sage was called 'large'. Most of the time I carry my UKPK or my Delica 4 ZDP-189 PE, and most of my coworkers are fine with that. And so am I, cause both are excellent EDC blades :)

[Piet.S]

Quite a bit.
I want to be able to cut without risking to puncture anything underneath.
With a three inch blade, I can do just that.
I can shroud the tip with my fingertip and make a precise cut.
So three-inchers for me.

[Donut]

Not much, but I don't feel comfortable or feel it is appropriate to carry anything larger than a 3.5" blade unless it is casual Friday.

I usually stick to my White Goddard (I think this is an amazing dress knife if you're wearing light colored clothes, I would love a black Micarta Goddard!), Stretch, or Delica if I'm wearing Khakis and probably go to just the Delica or Stretch when I'm wearing darker pants.

I was trying to stick to a 3" or smaller blade, and I feel the Goddard is an innocent looking knife. The Stretch's FFG makes me want to carry it.

[vampyrewolf]

I wonder what 'the smokers' have to do with it actually? The only grief smokers cause me is the smell and the arrogance of polluting my fresh air, but their smoking habit doesn't do anything to my choice of EDC :)

* if you're a smoker and feel offended by my statement; don't be. Just don't smoke near me :) *

I complained about the smokers standing 50' closer to the door than thier actual designated smoking area is. Because I nailed a dozen of them on policy that does exist, they tried to nail me on one that doesn't exist. It took me bringing up the discrimination factor into play before they cowered back on it.
I was complaining about some smokers fairly high up in the company and only because I have to walk through either of the smoking areas at my building to go between the buildings.

So rather than carry what I need to do my job, I carry what I want to. So a 4" instead of a 2". I COULD carry my 5.5" fixed blade, but it's fully exposed and overkill for tape.

[Whieee]

@vampyrewolf: that's some grief indeed. But apparently there are quite a few smokers who can't deal with anyone or anything getting in the way between them and the way they want to enjoy their addiction.

[jackburton9807]

Well, being a paramedic you would think I would have a preference. We can no longer carry knives at work so I guess I should not post. Used to be dictated by what I felt worked best for what I used it for, cutting clothes and such. Now my work "knife" is a rescue hook...only good for opening bottles I think.

Jeff

[clovisc]

hmm... ignoring WHAT i do with my EDC... that eliminates most of the fun of talking about it. :D

i guess where i work -- Alaska -- impacts my EDC by not really causing any sense of restriction. the only restriction is the rain/salt water, which makes me much more inclined to carry H1. it's a "must" for outdoors activities. i compromise -- the chokwe and mili come with me to work quite a bit (when i'm not expecting to be outdoors), but i always have an H1 knife (or two, or more) handy in my bag, or on my person, just in case there's an oil spill emergency, or i find myself cutting near water... and 3 out of four seasons in the year, when spontaneous fishing adventures are prone to occur... gotta have H1.

i'm still waiting for the dressy H1 knife that can look good in my pocket at work, and accommodate sudden, unexpected oil spill or fishing excitement. (H1 centofante would be PERFECT!)

people here don't see knives as any sort of threat... at least, not when they're in the pockets of responsible adults, or being used for a normal cutting task. i don't think kids are allowed to have them in schools, but i think probably some older kids have swiss army knives / multitools in their pockets anyway, and it's no big deal.

[yablanowitz]

Where I work does have quite a bit of effect on what I carry. I carry a larger assortment of knives than I used to. Instead of doing everything with a 6" fixed blade, I carry smaller folders in varying degrees of scariness so I can match the knife to the surroundings. Use the peanut instead of the Military around the timid people, that sort of thing.

[demtek9]

I work in an office on the Air Force Base. Lucky most of the guys are ex army or air force, so they carry blades too. I picked up bunch at the 2nds sale and now half the office has blades :D

The "in town" office is a little different. I've gotten looks there like :eek:

[FIMS]

For work I prefer full serrated blades or at least combo edge.

For seat belts, ropes, wires, clothing, belts, whatever.

Some knives I EDC in plain clothes are vastly different from on-duty capacity.

[DMgangl]

My work actually causes me to carry more knives then I usually do. I work in a machine shop, and the company policy is you pack out the parts you machine. The other factor is there are a lot of temp workers who don't know how to use a knife properly. So I carry my regular knives plus a rescue knife to lend out to others.

DM

[vivi]

Not at all. Granted i dont work office jobs, but ive always carried what i wanted. One knife, four knives, millies, fixed blades, serrated hawkbills etc. All my knives are legal by state and federal law and i use them responsibly. Some places ive worked at, like an atm repair job, had more restrictive rules on knives, but i ignored them and there were never any problems. I dont believe in restricting my choices due to irrational fears of others. Its not like ive ever stabbed someone, nor plan to. I just cut food, boxes etc

[jylong_away]

Well, being a paramedic you would think I would have a preference. We can no longer carry knives at work so I guess I should not post. Used to be dictated by what I felt worked best for what I used it for, cutting clothes and such. Now my work "knife" is a rescue hook...only good for opening bottles I think.

Jeff

That's really a shame. There was an off duty medic over here (Aus) who saved a young girl's life when her jumper/sweater(and hair) got caught at the top of an escalator, and nearly 'hanged' her as it was pulled in. The medic apparently had a knife on him/her and cut the sweater and hair free in time.

I often joke with friends about what an irony it would have been if said medic had been brought up on charges for carrying an 'offensive weapon' while off duty :p The way knife laws are going here, I wouldn't be surprised if that happened one day...bah!

[mikebandw186]

My company policy manual states I'm not allowed to carry a weapon at work.

So I just carry a Manix 2 most of the time. Lately it's been a serrated Native. I have been issued a disposable safety cutter, and that's the blade I use 99% of the time. The real knife only comes out when absolutely necessary.

[SmoothOne25]

none at all i guess. cant carry a weapon at the pharmacy. although i can carry a "small" knife on my keys like ladybug, goddard, bug, etc without any probs. although i could still be violating the rules technicaly but no one ever said anything. my job is easy- pouring and typing and talking does not require sharpness. lol

[tonydahose]

none whatsoever :) i carry a big axe usually along with my jumpmaster and whatever i decide to carry in my front right pocket, today it is a big manix CE.

[sarguy]

Workplace policy states I'm to have no weapons whatsoever, so I just carry a couple of "tools", instead. Namely, a CE delica for utility cutting, and a larger folder for SD. I've found that this setup seems to work quite nicely for me on most days, although in the name of thoroughness I must purchase more Spydercos to find the perfect EDC setup. :D
If anything, my workplace knife usage is a bit more discrete than it might otherwise be, but it's not dampened much.

[Halfneck]

At my old job I was limited due to wearing scrubs. Anything bigger than a Delica & it dragged down on my pockets. Serrated Edge was also preferable due to a lot of box cutting.

With my new office job I wear khakis Mon-Thurs & jeans on Fri (casual day) so my EDC options are better. Mon-Thurs I usually carry a PE Caly 3 with a Victorinox Compact in my left pocket. Fridays I get a little crazy an carry either my Strider GB, Emerson EDC Tanto, or my CE FG Endura 4 - with the Vic Compact still in the left pocket.

Of course at my new job I hardly use a knife. Open envelopes, cut out stick people when bored... that's about it.

Now if the new color Enduras/Delicas come out in Tan/Coyote Brown I will have to try one out to see if they are khaki camouflage.