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Author
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Topic: The Cutting Edge
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The Outdoor Tripp
Knows what it's all about
Member # 619
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posted April 24, 2006 09:01 PM
On the Cutting Edge
Common as keychains they once were. Pocket, pen, or sheath, everyone carried a knife back in the day. Grandpas did, dads did, and we did. But times have changed and like so many simple pleasures before it, the carry-knife is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
My favorite boyhood possession was a Buck Bowie knife. Just one of these at the Alamo and Jim Bowie would have made it to retirement. It was huge – somewhere between a boat paddle and a Cessna wing. When packing, a swaggered walk came naturally, particularly for someone about the size of the knife.
Looking back, the amazing thing was that I wore it to school and with nary a discerning nod. Kids, staff, and teachers alike admired it. Most boys in my junior high carried knives anyway, if only for slicing the occasional apple or employing the overkill approach to fingernail hygiene.
Today, school-bound with any more than a butter knife promises a warm SWAT team welcome, expulsion, and a free ride in the paddy wagon. My, how times have changed.
Buying a knife used to be special – you didn’t just make a purchase, you took on a new friend. Knives were displayed in fancy cases, sold in sturdy presentation boxes, and made of the finest American steel. Today they’re displayed on pegboard hooks, sold in plastic clamshells, and made of the finest exploited-country-of-the-week steel available.
If changing times weakened the knife-carrying tradition, 9/11 surely killed it. Several years ago I lost a bladed friend of twenty-years to airport security. Cabbing it and late to the airport, I had no place to stash the keepsake until my return. I finally taped a business card to the knife and handed twenty bucks to a security guy who promised he’d mail it to me. He promptly yanked open a drawer and pitched my pal into the mother pile of all knife collections. Five years later I’m still checking the mail.
Obviously compensating for a slimmer carry-knife market, manufacturers are producing an ever-growing selection of branded specialty and collector knives, reasoning that if you won’t carry a knife, they can sell you a drawer full of clam-shelled Chinese pig iron to stash at home.
Look out old-schoolers – they’re coming, marketing a puzzling array of new knives under brand names you trust. Say hello to names like the Illusion, Vector, Vapor, and Blur. What on earth was wrong with Woodsman, Hunter, Champion, and Skinner?
Though steadfastly old-fashioned when choosing my friends, I admit I’ve made mistakes. Not long ago I stupidly paid a premium for two new-fangled hunting knives with camouflaged grips. Think about it – out and in use, your hand covers the camo. Put away, the sheath covers the…
Personally, I’ve never understood why one would collect knives, but owning a number of firearms myself, I’m not about to call the kettle black. I just don’t get buying outdoor gear you get more enjoyment from looking at, than using.
Instead, I wax poetic, fondly remember another time, and continue toting one of a few trusted friends, including my beloved Buck Bowie and current carry-knife, Old Rusty.
I’m betting they’ll more than suit my needs while providing a lifetime of friendship – school visits and airport travel notwithstanding.
Tripp Holmgrain is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys cutting up. Email him at tripp@theoutdoortripp.com.
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The Outdoor Tripp
www.theoutdoortripp.com
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
Posts: 805 | From: Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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Kokopelli
SENIOR DISCOUNT & Dispenser of Sage Advice
Member # 633
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posted April 25, 2006 07:19 AM
What amazes me is the fact that we were able to put a man on the moon BEFORE we invented the Leatherman Multi-Tool. The ultimate knife with gizmos!!
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And lo, the Light of the Trump shown upon the Darkness and the Darkness could not comprehend it.
Posts: 8235 | From: Under a wandering star | Registered: Apr 2005
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted April 25, 2006 08:52 AM
I've managed to lose more pocket knives than socks; singular.
There has to be a way of conveniently mailing things to a home address, rather than surrendering them at the detector?
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32368 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Jack Roberts
unknown comic
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posted April 25, 2006 06:41 PM
A pocket knife I have carried for 10 years disappeared 2 days ago. I have no idea where it went. Still hoping it will turn up, after 10 years I was attached to it. Thankfully I do have a duplicate spare.
Jack
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Cal Taylor
Knows what it's all about
Member # 199
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posted April 25, 2006 07:48 PM
I don't consider myself terribly anal about most things, but if there is one it is a pocket knife. I absolutely will not leave the house without. I have had days where I lost or misplaced a knife and if I can't find another handy, I will drive to town and get a new one. I just absolutely can't function without one. I have a big cup full of pocket knives on my dresser, from times I misplaced a knife, replaced it, and later found the one I misplaced. I have gotten really fond of the knives with the clip for your pocket and the ability to open it one handed. I'm not into cheapos either. And I will sharpen one nearly daily if I'm using them at all. I'm fanatical about a sharp knife. And I have also found that I prefer a lockback blade. There are just so many things that you find a knife a must for in everyday stuff I do.
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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
FoxPro Field Staff Member
Posts: 1069 | From: Wyoming | Registered: May 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted April 25, 2006 09:40 PM
Wow, Cal. I'm the same way, my knives will shave hair. As soon as I use it for anything, I must resharpen it.
Good hunting. LB
PS funny story. Down in Texas, Tom Moore was going to dress his hog, and I offered him my best custom capeing knife, which he used. Afterwards, he gave it back and I could see it was all nicked up, and dull as hell. He was too polite to mention it. I have not asked, but I think either my son or grandson must have used it to open a can of beans or something, and never told me? As a man who prides himself on my ability to put a keen edge on a blade, I was very embarassed. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32368 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Cal Taylor
Knows what it's all about
Member # 199
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posted April 26, 2006 06:43 AM
Thats funny, Leonard.
Another story, it's funny how people differ. On my dads side of the family, a knife was a knife and if you had one it was expected it better be damn sharp and treated well. But from my mothers side, my grandad was the worlds worst. To him a knife was a multi tool, before there was such a thing. His knives were dull as hell and used as a pry bar, screwdriver, hammer, or anything else he could think of. I would cringe if he asked to borrow one of my knives for anything, because like you said, he may take your best sharpest knife and go to opening a tin can with it. My grandmother gave me his last pocket knife after he passed away, and true to form, the tip was broken off square, and it was too dull to cut warm butter, but I still have it in a tackle box for a screwdriver or hammer emergency.
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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
FoxPro Field Staff Member
Posts: 1069 | From: Wyoming | Registered: May 2003
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Rich
2,000th post PAKMAN
Member # 112
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posted April 26, 2006 08:15 AM
I carry two pocket knives everywhere I go. Both are three blade models. The one I use most says Camilus and New York on the blade, and I have had this knife for at least 25 years. The other knife is a Buck folder that I picked up about ten years ago. My sharpener goes with me everywhere also. It looks kind of like a box cutter, and has a short carbide blade. I have used the little carbide sharpener so much that I usually don't even look at knife or sharpener during touch up process. It is all done by feel.
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If you call the coyotes in close, you won't NEED a high dollar range finder.
Posts: 2854 | From: Iowa | Registered: Feb 2003
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varmit hunter
Knows what it's all about
Member # 37
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posted April 26, 2006 08:21 AM
Cal. You could not state it for me any better. In my Dad's side of the family you were expected to be able to produce a shaving edge by the time you were eight. Like you I have drawers full of them. I even have four of my Dads Boker Tree Brands.
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Make them pay for the wind.
Posts: 932 | From: Orange,TX | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted April 26, 2006 09:40 AM
My father made two hunting knives in his life, when he worked at a Defense Plant in the early fifties; who knows, maybe on Company time?
One was smaller, I guess it had about a 3½" blade, and the other was about 6-7"? I promptly started throwing mine at trees, and eventually it got lost somewhere?
But that other was a genuine work of art, the proportions, the stacked leather washers with a brass cap and brass spacers, it had heft, and it was well executed.
After a while, he gave it to my grandfather. When he died, my father got it back. When my father died, my mother kept it in a drawer under clothes just like everybody else. My brother finally wound up with it. I'm sure he has never actually used it.
So far as I know, it has never cut anything, always kept in a drawer, but shown to friends, once in a while. I hate to say it, but other than my Dad's ruby ring, which I have, that knife is the single possession of my father that I wish I owned.
Funny how some "things" have such meaning. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32368 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Az-Hunter
Hi, I'm Vic WELCOME TO THE U.S. Free baloney sandwiches here
Member # 17
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posted April 26, 2006 10:37 AM
Ditto Cal, Im a big fan of the clip on knives, I carry a spyderco every day, and touch up the edge every morning after my first cup of coffee.
I have around a dozen custom knives in my safe, that will most likely will never cut a thing, three or four of them cost more than any of my rifles, but they are a thing of beauty,and have a pride of ownership for me.
I'd feel lost without my knife clipped in my front pocket, I use it literally every day, from cutting hay strings,to feed bags. Im not a fan of pocket knives, I always lost them somehow. Besides, I have the bad habit of chewing at my fingernails, so the little blades are just to damend hard to open:)
Posts: 1670 | From: 5 miles west of Tim | Registered: Jan 2003
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Tim Behle
Administrator MacNeal Sector
Member # 209
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posted May 03, 2006 07:22 PM
For those Leatherman Lover's amongst us, I thought I should point out that Sinclair's is having a close out on Leatherman Tool Adaptor
And if you call, can you ask when my new rings will get here? This waiting for the UPS truck is enough to drive me nuts!
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Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take
an ass kickin'.
Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003
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