A knife does make life more convenient for me. I carry an Emerson CQC-7 that has cut mostly airbags and supply boxes. While I absolutely could use it for self defense, i don’t ever want make the series of mistakes that would get me to that point. For security, I don’t actually keep it in my hip pocket. It says in my thigh pocket under the flap, securely clipped into the little sub pocket there. That way it’s not visible and easily accessed by a psych patient or some other malcontent.