"what's in your pocket"?

My hands until right now! I just came in from running an engine and it's COLD out there!!

Roddie and Kari,

Only the "Swiss Army" knives fit the category of pocket knives in the UK. Get caught with any "locking" knife and you will get and unlimited fine. Get caught a second time and you will be detained at H.M.P. (jokingly referred to as Her Majesty's Pleasure but Her Majesty's Prison) for up to four years.

https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives

Kari's locking knife is a prime example - Roddie's is debatable. If you were a painter and decorator specialising in wallpapering then it would be acceptable providing you were in your working attire or it was in a tool box with the rest of your tools. In your pocket while strolling in public and ........ try explaining it away.

"Excuse me officer but I make model aeroplanes and I use this to trim tissue and slice balsa wood". Reply "You're nicked!"

I have had a leatherman for the past 20 years and just missplaced it in the last month. Im bummed. Hope it turns up

My pocket ...  http://makeagif.com/TeYCcH  wait for it !!  When you're done with that .. https://www.iheart.com/live/1057-man-up-1633/ sorry ...

Here's another old favorite of mine..

akjgardner wrote:I have had a leatherman for the past 20 years and just missplaced it in the last month. Im bummed. Hope it turns up

That reminds me of a story and my Gerber multi-tool. Took it on a trip with me and used it while on holidays. Day before coming home, realized it was missing. Checked all over the house we were staying at, and even asked our friends where we were staying if they seen it, it was all a big NO. So upset and all, having carried this tool over 10 years, I was very angry with myself. The day after getting home the better half went and surprised me and bought me a replacement. Slightly larger and different, but nice none the less. A few days later, I spotted one, identical to the one I lost at WalMart! So I bought it and was very happy. Started carrying it and breaking it in immediately. Fast forward to fall hunting season. Getting ready to head out, all dressed up only thing left is to put on my boots. One on, second one on, WTF? What is in my boot? Yep, that's right, the MISSING multi-tool! Over half a year later, but I still got it back.

So, don't hold your breath, yours may return when least expected.

You guys carry around a lot of stuff in your pockets. All I have is lint and dirt!

I am maintenance tech of sorts for the Air Force, have been for over 20yrs. I have had numerous Leatherman and Gerber type tools issued to me over the years. Probably the most misused tool I have ever come across. Responsible for more stripped screws marred bolt heads and broken hardware. I usually give them away when I receive them. I'd rather use the correct tool than cut corners, it costs more time and effort in the long run.

I hear you, Ron. Until I found this one, I'd had
it with multitools. I know people who won't
even try one, because of their lousy reputation.
This one's a little pricy, but I've had it for at least
10 years and it's TIGHT as new. Phillips and flat
drivers are all still good. I carry it 40hrs a week
and am on my third holster. Not taking anything from
most of the other tools out there, but I don't think
they're meant for full time field use(mho).
Forgot to fold out the pruning saw, sharp as all get out.
Victorinox 53936. Saves a lot of trips.

Sorry about the crappy photos.

Of course.. the mobile-phone is a tool in itself that most of us carry on our person. It can also be a flashlight, a camera, a web-browser, a TV, a radio, a personal music-player, a level, a GPS transceiver, a control-transceiver.. the list of apps goes on and on.

Here's my Leatherman. My brother gave it to me (used) last year. It cleaned-up pretty well.

The only one  kept in my pocket is the bottom one in the picture. The other two have belt clips for quick retrieval when needed to. I think they are ALL banned from being carry -on in Airplanes.  Especially the Iranian hijacker tool ( box cutter ) for you Breaking Bad fans.


After reading the Linc Ian sent on rules for knifes in the UK, I am reminded of our favorite Austrialian in New York:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iQrLPtr_ikE

is the top knife a Ka-Bar knife? My grandfather had one on him all the time when he was hunting. It looked very similar.

Ken Cook wrote:            is the top knife a Ka-Bar knife? My grandfather had one on him all the time when he was hunting. It looked very similar.

Ken, this one is made by "Kinfolk" and probably older than me.
http://kinfolksinc.com/knives/hunting.htm

I have managed to lose a Gerber and a Leatherman - well misplace! They were gifts and all I have left is this horrible Chinese thingy.



To say "poor quality" is an understatment. It is "stainless steel" that stains, the cutting jaws on the pliers are not tempered and galled on 22 swg mild steel.

The scissor baldes do not meet and, like most multi tools, the screwdrivers are to be avoided.

Cross head or flat blade drivers/crewdrivers are a nightmare at the best of times - lets face it - we have Philips No 1 to 5, Posidrive No 0 to 4 - not to mention Superdrive! The cross head on the above doesn't match anything but, luckily, is likely to give way before the screw head!

I find this a problem on all "multi tools" and the temptation to use a poorly fitting cross head or flat blade driver can be a disaster. If it hadn't been a well intentioned gift I would have consigned it to the bin.

I like the little "Swiss Army" kits - thsi one has a nail file, scissors that work and a nail file.




but my favourite baldes are these folding ones that use standard "Stanley" replaceable blades.



Unfortunately, the blades lock and have to be released by pressing a lever. Thgey are technically illegal to carry in your pocket here but OK in a tool box.

Next on my list are these.



In the UK we have an overwhelming array of spanner sizes and these are ideal. ALthough if something is stuck really tight, I wouldn't use them especially on brass or aluminium. On steel nuts - they work a treat!

I have a similar problem with allen keys. I have every sixe imaginable but they get mixed up and even hough I have sets of the T handled versions as well as many loose - these are great or keeping themselves together.



both metric and imperial.

I liked these so much I bought the ball ended version pluse a full set of Torx drivers.

.



It is a pity I haven't found a cross head driver equivalent!

Hey Ian!  Do you wear cargo pants?  Or do you have a Yoda style tool belt for all those neat tools?  Once you use them, you don't want to be without them!

Watching this thread progress and feeling left out because normally I don't carry anything in my pockets.  Then Looking at this (big time cropped) picture I had a revelation.  



A recent necessity. Walmart 2.5 powers a constant companion if I want to see anything close-up.  Hate-em.  I'm always losing/misplacing  them then having to chase them down.  Big time wasters. Got to find a string and hang them around my neck like a cow bell.

But hey, I'm now a player here!  

Bob

rsv1cox wrote:Watching this thread progress and feeling left out because normally I don't carry anything in my pockets.  Then Looking at this (big time cropped) picture I had a revelation.  



A recent necessity. Walmart 2.5 powers a constant companion if I want to see anything close-up.  Hate-em.  I'm always losing/misplacing  them then having to chase them down.  Big time wasters. Got to find a string and hang them around my neck like a cow bell.

But hey, I'm now a player here!  

Bob

Yup.. I used to feel your pain... Now I wear prescription-eyeglasses (no-line bifocals) but I must have at least 12-18 pair of those readers, in various places around the house. I still keep a few pair in a plastic bag in the car. My eyesight really diminished when I became a computer-user in the late 90's (I was a late-bloomer..)

Where these aren't "pocket-tools".. I HIGHLY recommend them for the shop. Lighted magnifiers. They actually do make some nice LED lighted pocket-magnifiers now, that are great.



Several of these were being thrown away where I used to work. All they needed was either lamps or a starter to fix them. I need good light when I'm working on something. I'm constantly telling my wife to turn another light on.. especially when she's reading or working in the kitchen.

'bout the only things in my pockets of pants are lint and the odd coin I get as change...less so now that I predominately do NOT use folding money much any more

Hell it has been years since I wore* my wedding ring and I know for a fact that I have not worn a watch since I retired for active duty on 1-1 1996

*Wife and I were both mechanics, electrical geniuses, and safety Nazis in our former employment so each of us has lost the (Taken off for safety reasons) wedding rings several times....

Now they are just part of dressing up to go out, funeral (many these years), and visiting family or relatives

At one point I had quite a few must carry tools in belt pouches.. Lineman pliers, Sheath knife, Good version leather-man etc

I can attest for a fact, and any one can prove,  I carried a too full Zippo too often...by the permanent skin burns on both outer thighs...grin

Thank God for Colibri.... Humm I wonder what my 25ish collection of Zippos is worth?

ian1954 wrote:Roddie and Kari,

Only the "Swiss Army" knives fit the category of pocket knives in the UK. Get caught with any "locking" knife and you will get and unlimited fine. Get caught a second time and you will be detained at H.M.P. (jokingly referred to as Her Majesty's Pleasure but Her Majesty's Prison) for up to four years.

https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives

Kari's locking knife is a prime example - Roddie's is debatable. If you were a painter and decorator specialising in wallpapering then it would be acceptable providing you were in your working attire or it was in a tool box with the rest of your tools. In your pocket while strolling in public and ........ try explaining it away.

"Excuse me officer but I make model aeroplanes and I use this to trim tissue and slice balsa wood". Reply "You're nicked!"

I checked the Finnish regulations the other day, they are a lot like the ones in the UK. The level of enforcement varies, I think that a carpenter or just about anyone in overalls could carry an ordinary non-folding knife without a problem, even though technically one should leave it in the toolbox when leaving the van or the worksite. I have had a knife visibly with me many times without thinking about it... My overalls have a dedicated pocket for a knife, located in the right pant leg, and that's where my "work knife" is. If I go to the hardware store or lumberyard, I rarely remember to leave my knife. Well, should it get confiscated, I can get another for 5 euros This is what I am talking about, I have several of them for general use and abuse:




Then again in the street in the nighttime one would get into trouble if searched by the police or security guards, in "non-work" clothes but with a knife. But one would already have to be in trouble to get searched in the first place.

fredvon4 wrote:

I can attest for a fact, and any one can prove,  I carried a too full Zippo too often...by the permanent skin burns on both outer thighs...grin

Thank God for Colibri.... Humm I wonder what my 25ish collection of Zippos is worth?

I have a few (5 or 6) Zippos.. but this one is by far my favorite..




It was my Grandfather's. He worked at Clark-Cutler-McDermott (the Mill..) until his retirement sometime in the 1970's. Air-Loc is a product that was manufactured there. It's anti-vibration padding for keeping heavy stationary machines from creeping during operation. Another product that was made there was a felt-batting, used on the inside of automotive door-panels and under carpeting.

I have a Camillus rigging knife, often a little Cree flashlight, keys, wallet. There is a really cool flashlight on my keys, a really really cool Prometheus Beta-QR in copper.
http://darksucks.com/store_BetaQR.html

On multi tools I used to carry a Gerber pliers tool with all the blades in the handle Unlike the Leatherman style the Gerber pliers slide out so the grip surface is not the open part of the channel. I carried it for years. I received one from my uncle, which ended up getting misplaced at some point so my big brother replaced it. A few months later the original showed back up. I don't have need to carry one so they are put up for now.

Phil