- There are two primary types of knives---fixed-blade knives and folding knives. As the terms suggest, the blade of a fixed blade knife extends from the handle where the tang is fixed, while the blade of a folding knife folds into the handle. The pocket knife is a type of folding knife. It is differentiated from other types of folding knives only by its size. A pocket knife is, quite simply, small enough to fit into your pocket.
- No one knows the original inventor of the pocket knife. Early examples of these handy knives started showing up in the Roman Empire around the time of Christ, although fixed-blade belt knives were far more popular until the 1500s. The basic design of pocket knives changed very little until the development of the Barlow knife in England in the 1600s, the Opinel knife in the Savoie region of France in 1890s and the Swiss Army knife in Switzerland, also in the 1890s.
- Pocket knives have been called the greatest invention of all time. Early pocket knives were used for everything from cutting twine and fabric to slicing fruit. With the advent of the Swiss Army knife, the pocket knife became a universal tool. In addition to the normal one or two blades used by most pocket knives, these knives might also boast a screwdriver, a can opener, a reamer, tweezers, scissors and bottle opener, and contemporary models may even include a flash drive and laser pointer.
- Nail marks were forged into the blades of pocket knives in the early 1900s to aid in opening the blades. Because this type of opening mechanism may be cumbersome and requires the use of two hands, the thumb-lug opener was developed to allow for one-handed opening. Locking knives were introduced around the turn of the 20th Century, and the locking collar made its debut in the 1950s.
- Although pocket knives have a long and storied history, due to increased violence in society many municipalities consider some pocket knives to be weapons and have put restrictions on their possession and use. Knives with blades of a certain length may be regulated, and pocket knives may be banned altogether from some locations such as airports and schools. Automatic-opening knives, such as switchblades and flick knives, are almost universally banned in the U.S.
