For better or for worse, I live in a conservative city in Virginia. I have become accustomed to some of the cultural affordances, like being able to acquire a concealed handgun license or carrying a pocket knife in public without people thinking I’m a terrorist. As such, it’s weird when I go to places in the city that don’t follow the same train of thought. My employer is pretty squeamish when it comes to pocket knives. I may be in technical violation of their “no weapons” policy by carrying a utility knife. I can’t really help it: I was taught by my father at an early age that a real man always has a cutting tool on hand. Even if I could help it, I wouldn’t. It’s a stupid ordinance, and until someone says something, I will do as I please.

That being said, I don’t want to wave my disregard for the rules in everyone’s face. I typically carry an X-Blades folding razor blade knife, but it is fairly conspicuous. No reason to raise any hackles if I can avoid it. I do, however, like the idea of using disposable razor blades instead of a standard permanent fixed blade. I own a few traditional pocket knives, but I am too lazy to sharpen them at the end of every day like my father.

I had been carrying my old Spyderco Cricket knife until I found the Gerber EAB Exchange-A-Blade razor folder on sale at Target. Would it be discreet enough to take to work, and effective enough to handle day-to-day cutting tasks?
Read the rest of this entry »