@Zee
Don’t you carry an IFAK close by or on you? Knives are excellent rescue tools. Hint hint.
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I have a folder I love - my brother gave me his favorite knife when I moved out of CA, and it’s a good one. It’s a now-unavailable Benchmade TSEK with the 4" blade (so it’s MI legal but Ann Arbor illegal) with the thumb peg and an axis lock. I’m pretty swift with opening it as It’s my EDC pocket knife for the last 7 years… except there’s Ann Arbor.
Since I’m learning about knives (thank you, all my teachers 
) and have wanted a fixed boot knife for a while, I’m using this as an opportunity to learn EVERYthing 
Avoiding how to set myself up for a felony arrest seems a reasonable course of study 
The education on what makes a great fixed blade has been excellent here.
I’ve seen the TSEK or it’s follow-on the AFCK (IFAK?) in the smaller size for sale (although not cheaply) and might look at one of those for an Ann Arbor-legal version of the one I have. Still, I want a fixed blade as a part of my kit. I might need to carry my fishing kit in my truck for while I’m in MI. um… guess I need to learn to fish 
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I don’t know why I keep forgetting them so frequently, I have several and they are great knives. My only negative criticism is that many of them are too thick for comfortable concealment and the one hand knives open so easily as to be problematic in your pocket at times.
Extremely good steel and very good machining though.
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IFAK = Individual First Aid Kit
The big knife I carry was actually designed as a large fixed blade multi tool for fire & rescue and wilderness rescue. Without credentials i probably couldn’t get away with carrying it downstate.
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thank you @Spence, clearly not enough coffee in the world to make my brain work right this morning.
BTW if you know a blade smith you can make an incredibly fine, flexible, very usable shiv out of old saw blades or even lumber banding material. Today there are lots of plastics you can use that are totally undetectable and both are highly concealable and comfortable.
At one time I made my own out of the latter. Just used a thin layer of duct tape for the handle material and ground out notches to keep my fingers from slipping. I carried them in a cutout pocket in my belt or boot.
Don’t ask me if they were legal at the time… . Not sure.
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Found this on Amazon and I have always had good luck with Gerber knives…I maybe investing in this myself as I’m wanting a boot knife.
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That is very inexpensive for a Mark II. Make sure you check your local and state laws to make sure you are allowed to carry that length (and type) of blade concealed (in your boot most places would be considered concealed).
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That’s one main reason I posted it as the price can’t be beat especially for a Gerber.
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and… yeah. the state and local laws. 
I love it that you know your laws, @Damon!
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Way too big for reasonable carry and rapid access in a fight. Gerber has come and gone several times quality wise but since Fiskars bought them out the quality has remained excellent.
They make some much smaller and more practical boot and survival knives that are well worth a look.
Also in many states a knife that large would be unlawful and in quite a few states any double edged “dagger” which this would classify as is also illegal.
In just about any state where carry of a fixed blade is lawful any knife with a 3" or shorter single edged blade will be lawful.
For conceal ability you really want to stick to an OAL of 6.5" or less and even a 1.5" blade is more than adequate for self defense.
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That’s one good thing about living in Tennessee is we can walk around with a Bowie knife if we want and it’s legal… it may not be practical, but it’s still legal.
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This might have been mentioned in another post I didn’t notice. I have reached a point where I wanted a custom knife and found a blade smith willing to make one to my specifications. I was thinking Damascus and was informed that real Damascus, the process was lost years ago, just wasn’t made anymore but they can get close. however for what I wanted then could make a mixed high carbon knife that would stay sharp longer and hold up better. The welded knives advertised as Damascus will look very good, I love the look, and work very well. However after talking with the knife smith for a while we settled on a mostly 1090-1080 high carbon knife. about a 3.4 bowie. I have two pictures as it was being worked on and later I will have to upload the finished knife and sheath. I was very pleased and it stays pretty sharp. I can also share a link on Damascus steel.
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Just one link on Damascus Knives. http://www.thetruthaboutknives.com/ask-a-knifemaker-the-truth-about-damascus/
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@Robert5 thank you for the links! I’ll read those in the morning. And that is a Beautiful Knife.
@Zee
I am pleased with it. My smith gave me a link to how a knife is made by a journeyman and a master smith. I didn’t know about the bend test. A forged carbon and a Damascus have to pass a 90 degree bend test. I was impressed when he demonstrated a test forged knife made with the steel used on my knife.
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@James makes his own knives too. 
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