Bottom line here is that your hiking gear is telling you that you are carrying too much knife. It is getting in your way and weighing you down. Leave it behind and the problem disappears. Stuff a folder in your pocket and get on with life.

Honestly, I just can't imagine having a large knife strapped to my pack strap. It seems like it would get in the way too much when the pack goes on & off.

This reminds me of a story. Once my dad took me and my brothers to a threshing show. This is where the demonstrate the way farming used to be done with these huge, steam-powered tractor-thingies. One of these threshers scared up a rabbit which took off running. A dog (not ours) broke free from the kid holding it and took off after the rabbit. It was a big dog, mostly black lab but with something else mixed in, maybe springer of some sort. Anyway it was FAST and was soon on the rabbits tail. The rabbit was freaking out, zigging and zagging, the dog was rushing after it and the kid was running after the dog. The rabbit circled around like they always do (which is a good tip for rabbit hunters) and headed straight back towards the maw of the thresher. The dog followed the rabbit and the kids followed the dog. Everyone was screaming at the thresher operator to shut it down but it was too loud for him to hear them and the machine was too big for him to see over the front at the oncoming disaster. Suddenly a one-armed man (I can't remember his name but he and his family always sat behind about three rows in church) rushed out and scared the rabbit away from the thresher, followed by the dog and the kid, then he jumped out of the way of the thresher.

I'm not sure in which pocket he (the one-armed man) kept his knife.

-Blast, subtly trying to make a point about the difference between a useful answer and a pointless one...or maybe just babbling after being awake for three days.

I vote babbling, but entertaining, too.

Is it just me, or do "useful" and "pointless" have this sneaky way of being up to each of those who consider them? [My babble.]

Get some rest, Blast.

More pointlessness - was the one-armed man left handed or right handed?

And now, the rest of the story.

The one armed man lost his arm as a boy when he chased a dog chasing a rabbit into a threshing machine. The dog belonged to his finace and he had to choose between his arm and the woman he loved. Sadly, while he was recovering in the hospital she ran off with the deaf threshing machine operator.

...then the one armed man killed a doctor's wife, and they made a TV series out of it...

I have carried a large knife, a 3' long machete for trail cleanup, but I have never worried about getting it out quickly. Usually I slide it in its sheath down the tunnel under the side pockets, lash the belt loop on the sheath to the load control strap and catch the sheath under a couple of compression straps. Being 3' long it is really too long to pull out with my arms.

If anyone is dead set on carrying a Rambo blade you can use a drop strap so it hangs lower to avoid the backpack belt. Lashing it to your calf or boot is a popular choice for military folks. Any way you do it your going to look like a dork if you aren't in a combat zone, hanging with survivalists, or people pushing the mountain man look. There is no accounting for taste.

IIRC upside down shoulder strap carry was addressed in an early version of "everybody's knife book". It was indicated that it was thus for combat access, and wired in place with copper for jump security that could be overcome with a firm tug in emergency. The author hoped that the reader would live in peace and never be required to wear his knife inverted.

+1 with what NurseMike just said.

Soldiers sometimes wear a knife upside to give them quick access in combat. But unless you feel directly threatened and you are using your knife for self-defense - then this is not your best solution for survival purposes. Better to just attach it to your pack ... maybe the sides, or the back, of the pack. Try zip ties or small leather straps.

Large knives, machete's and parangs can be useful in some environments (esp. jungle) - but they tend to be heavy. Take a look at the knife that Bear Grylls uses - it's not that big (Bear uses a Bayley knife, can be seen at Bayleyknife.com, but they cost a small fortune!).

otherPete