I've been carrying one with me everywhere for 15 years now. You never know when boredom hits and you have five minutes to kill all by yourself and there you have it!
I also have a chromatic harmonica but I never quite got into it. Plus it's so big my brain gets really confused.
Hi, @littlejohn (that was my nickname from an old man back when I was a young boy)! Nice to meet you.
I too always have a blues harp in my pocket -- been that way since about 1986. My chromatics never hit the spot with me -- as you say, they are just a little too large. And mine always make too many valve noises and they need to be cleaned rather often (which is not much fun to do), plus I am just too stretched trying to perfect my blues harps and harp playing while maintaining my flute skills. Nevertheless, I sometimes pull one out and give a short run just to see if I might have subconsciously improved since my last attempt :-)
Hey, @bartender! Give @littlejohn whatever he wants to drink and put it on my tab.