Craig,

As for legal work environments, half of the lawyers I know are at least partial do-it-yourselfers. That trait is especially so in small offices. They predominate in the legal community. I am a sole practicioner. My next door neighbor who works in a medium size law firm only recently gave up rodeo riding. My recently retired state senator spends much of his free time working on his classic car. Don't sell us short.

Frankly, I do not normally carry a multitool (on my person) at (law) work for a variety of reasons. However I do keep one handy, as well as other basic hand tools. I nearly always carry my Leatherman Supertool when working at my ranch.

It all depends on the circumstances and the individual.

John

John,

Interesting. Thank you. I stand happily corrected. At one time I read the exact opposite regarding lawyers. Maybe here, maybe on another forum.

-- Craig

Right now I work in a typical small IS office for a small OEM. Tools are certainly not discouraged but as you state open display brings a lot of akward comments though it would not get me fired or anything like that. I wear jeans or cargos most days and Kakis on the other days. Some office parties meetings etc require more formal dress. Right now my Wave (new style) is living in my front right pocket or my back right pocket (back pocket is painful) and fighting for space with my large RSK which at the moment has lost and is actually sitting on my desk! I really think that with the 3" blades on the Wave that carrying the RSK is redundant. The only reason I still debate between the two is because given how infrequently I use a tool on the Wave other than a blade, the fact that the RSK is hald the weight of the Wave scored it some points. Anyway, that's where I'm at. I think I will end up shelving the RSK for a while and carrying the Wave exclusively once the pocket clip arrives. I will have to just see how it goes. The irony here is that there is a real good chance that starting this fall I will be working in a new location (a public school) with extremly tight security and knife/tool restrictions so I will be faced with a whole new set of "challenges"... but I'll save that for another thread if/when it happens. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I keep my wave with the rest of my PSK in a maxpedition fatboy.

The only items I always have on my person is a small sebanza carried lose in the pocket, not clipped on, with a miniFox40 attached to the lanyard, larger folder IWB on my boxers so the clip won't show, fresnel lense in the wallet, & a Micra w/ Photon II on my keychain.

As much as I would like to carry more on the person or the belt, my thighs make any contents in my pockets bulge out, and hanging a larger belt bag or visible knife clip on the pocket or belt would be conspicuous.

Before the white collar work I wore a New Sun pouch that carried my wave, surefire E2E, & earplugs.

Now my maxpedition carries:
mechanix gloves (good for cold steering wheels)
latex or nitrile gloves
Ti Spork - great for eating lunch leftovers
Rite in the Rain notepad
Space Pen
E2E
Ritter PSK
Vaseline lip jelly (good for lips, fire, lotion, nice small tube)
Ear Plugs (riding the train, naps, or trying to cut out office noise)
USB flash memory
Wave
RSK Griptilian
Lighter
Energy bar or two
Garmin Vista

My bag just stays at my cube. While it isn't as handy as having it on person, it is still readily available.

Are you being transferred or would this be a new job?

Where is this public school?

None in our area have metal detectors, to the best of my knowledge. Where will the tight security come in?

New job.

Here in Texas.

I'm not sure of the exact regulations for faculty/staff yet.

Seems like in most urban areas about 1/3 of schools have metal detectors but this will be in a rural area so the odds of having metal detectors in slim though it is possible.

Not sure exactly where I'll be yet... I just know that (after almost getting divorce but then working things out and getting back together) the wife and I decided to raise our son in the country rather than the city so we are looking for jobs in a bunch of different small towns here in Texas along the coast and I am about to become certified to teach so I will changing my career from IS/IT to teaching English/Grammar/Lit (if/when I find a job) <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />.

I teach school and have always been able to carry pocketknife, multi-tools and the like around with me. Just help out and the teachers won't mind you having them. The students might fuss but too bad.

Good luck finding a job. I am finishing up my 20th year and I have been RIF'd due to school consolidation. I am having to recertify in other area to try to find a teaching job too.

Then allow me to wish you luck. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'm glad you're becoming a teacher. That means I don't have to. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

-- Craig

You state you wear cargos most days - so do I - just drop the wave in a cargo pocket. Heck, the left cargo is where my cell phone lives <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />