Fixed or Folder

This seems to be a frequent question asked by the EDC community, myself included. I had started collecting with folders and was completely against a fixed blade for a long time. I was in to the steels and locking mechanisms and so on and the fixed ones I saw were all high carbon rust boats if you forgot to wipe it once. Not my game. As well a knife is very personal as everyone says, what are you using it for?

I slowly was coming around to the idea of a fixed blade and started looking at the Izula in 440C but realized that it would be too short and too crap of a steel for my everyday use. I have always had great experiences with Spyderco and started looking up their Mule Team series.

So many great steels that I know and like. I ended up settling on the Elmax, lucky number 13 in the Mule Team lineup. A steel I wasn't fond of because I owned a Zero Tolerance 0561 and the steel was screwed up somehow, maybe the heat treat or something and the way the blade was ground didn't help it either but I wanted to really see how Elmax was. But the Mule Team is a beast, second knife to give me stitches. The other? The Elmax 0561 haha. Anyway I bought a fixed blade and haven't rotated it out of my pocket yet. A good size with enough leverage and great aftermarket Halpern Titanium black 3D G10 scales.

Now... Do I need a fixed blade? Not really. In my day to day life I need the most rust resistance while at work mainly, great edge retention and durability. I have that in almost all my folders as I try to only use better steels. I won't be batoning the folder but either way, they could stand up to it. I won't be prying, nothing too crazy at all. People have to understand, even with a small Izula neck knife it could take up less space with say a mini griptilian from Benchmade. I love my Doug Ritter M390 mini griptilian. Light, small and just as durable as a neck knife for daily use.

For a survival pack a folder would be just as sufficient as a fixed and take up less room in your bag. That as well as you can pack multiple folders or other tools for other jobs. Not counting a machete of course but for small work.

I'm not against fixed blades but for EDC they aren't totally needed although I love my MT13P I can safely rotate it with my folders and feel the same amount of confidence when using them.