First keep in mind that I'm not in the military and don't carry a knife for "protection". I live in the suburbs with a wife, two kids, two horses, two dogs, two cats, two birds, three guinea pigs, and untold numbers of guppies. I work 8-5 M-F for a moderately well-known corporation, and my time outdoors is with my family and/or the Boy Scouts in the "wildernesses" of Illinois and Wisconsin.

Most of the time (at home & work) I carry a mini-Rittergrip clipped to my right pants pocket. Its uses range from cleaning fingernails to opening packages and bags of dog or horse feed.

When out camping and hiking I carry a fullsize Rittergrip either in a sheath or (more recently) clipped to my right pants pocket.

When car camping I'll usually also throw a Leatherman Charge Ti and a fixed blade knife (Mora or Becker BK10 - still waiting for the fixed Rittergrip!!) into my bag, but I won't carry them around on my belt. I'll likely also bring an axe and a bow saw for fire wood. The Rittergrip is for finesse and misc. uses. The Leatherman is for fixing stuff, though it isn't used very often. The fixed blade is usually used for food preparation, and the axe is for chopping small wood & splitting.

When backpacking short distances I'll usually throw a Swiss Army Victorinox StayGlow Climber in my bag instead of the Leatherman and fixed blade. If backpacking longer distances its back to the mini-Rittergrip in my pocket. When backpacking we don't chop or split wood - we just use whatever I find on the ground that can be broken by hand (or foot).

Ken K.