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Types of Pocketknives Print E-mail

There are many types of pocket knifes each with a different use. There are some that are small and some that are large and there also some then are more for show and others that are for heavy-duty use. Knowing what knife is good for what is very useful to know. To see a bigger picture of the knives shown click on the image.

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One type of knife is this one. This knife is a small knife made by Barlow. This knife has an image of eagles in the handle of the knife. This is mostly a show knife due to the possibility of the image becoming destroyed or worm during heavy use.

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This is another example of a Barlow knife. As with the Barlow knife above this knife keeps going with the Eagle theme.

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This knife is the complete opposite of the knife above. This is an official Boy Scout knife made by Camillus. The knife has considerable weight and a four inch blade. This knife while it has its uses is usually to big for anything that a Boy Scout will need a knife for. Due to the weight and the size of the knife it does not fit well in a pocket which another draw back of the knife. This knife does function well when a strong rugged knife is needed.

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This Gerber knife is slightly smaller than the official Boy Scout knife above and part of the blade is serrated. A serrated blade on the knife is very useful for doing things such as cutting meet. The serrated part of the blade on the knife does not become dull as fast as the straight blade. The problem with serrated knives is that when the blade does become dull it takes skill and time to sharpen it.

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Most of the knives shown so far are lock blades and have only one blade. This knife by Wenger has a lock blade with the release on the side oppose to most lock blades that release at the bottom. This knife also has many other useful tools instead of just a blade.

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This knife made by Victorinox is an example of the many knives on the market that contain many other tools other than a blade. This pocketknife contains things such as 2 blades, scissors (which at times are more important on a pocketknife than a blade), file and a saw. The saw on most pocketknives really does not serve a significant purpose. The biggest size twig that the saw on the pocketknife can handle can be easily snapped into pieces with two hands so the saw really does not serve a large purpose. The big draw back with this knife is the weight created by many tools on it that are not needed in most situations.

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This knife is a smaller knife made by Victorinox that is very useful for everyday use. It has two small blades, scissors and a screwdriver along with other tools. While this pocketknife is small and therefore it can fit easily into the pocket it can still handle most everyday uses.

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This is a tool made by Leatherman. It is not really a pocketknife however it can be very useful to a scout. When all of the tools are folded into the handle it provides a good-sized pair of pliers. In the handle of the pliers there are two blades a straight blade and a serrated blade along with many other useful tools. The Leatherman really is too big for everyday use however it can easily be put into a backpack for a camping trip.

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This knife is one of the Official fixed blade knives the Boy Scouts of America sold. The blade is 4.5" and 8.5" overall. The handle is wrapped in leather. One side of the blade is stamped 'Western Boulder Colorado Made in the U.S.A'' and the other side is marked 'Be Prepared' and 'Official Boy Scouts of America.' The reason the Boy Scouts no longer sell fixed blade knives is because while there is no official BSA policy against fixed blade knives, most Boy Scout camps do not allow scouts to carry them. Many scouts in an attempts to out do their fellow scouts started to bring larger and larger fixed blade knives till the point where the knives were more of a safety hazard than having a practical use.

What is shown above is only a small sample of the types of knives that can be found on the market. What is shown above only represents a range of knives that can be found useful to a Boy Scout.