"Less than forty years have passed and I am astonished to see how times have changed since my father bought this knife for me as just a small boy. I do still have it, which by today's standards is an anomaly. I'll leave the discussion of our "throw away culture" for another time". Continue reading.
I stumbled across this short piece the other day and really enjoyed it. I think most here will too. The author makes some very good observations and recollections about men who carry a pocketknife. This piece received 371 comments. Many of those are interesting too. I carry at least on knife everyday (a Case two blade trapper and either a Kershaw or Swiss Army Tinker). Do you carry every day and if so, what kind?
Though the author is a fellow Alabamian and not too far from me, I do not know him, but do stop by his blog every now and again. Here is the link to his homepage The Natural South
This is my four year old grandson's pocket knife (made safe of course).
I carry a CRKT lock blade on a pocket clip and a Queen Steel 9A folding.
ReplyDeleteHave been carrying a pocketknife since age 10 or so, including to K-12 school in the 1960's. Every bod had one. Initially a small two blade swiss army given by my father, later other versions of same brand and a nice 4" folding buck in leather holster. Used to board flights with that on my belt in the early 70's, no one thought anything of it and I was not the only one either. Then 9/11 and the concept of personal liberty and responsibility went haywire. As I refuse to be without a knife, ever, it became a game when boarding flights (and I fly a lot). Over 18 years of this game with TSA I would say they picked off 2 in 10 flights, this being a small 1.4 inch blade swiss folder with nail file, toothpick and tweezers, which to TSA is a deadly weapon. I buy them by the dozen online (from TSA liquidators - where all confiscated knives end up) for a couple to three bucks each, then continue the game. One in my carry on and a spare in the checked. Good to be retired now but the game continues afoot.
ReplyDeleteNot having a knife on me is simply not doable, feel naked if not there. My son's and daughter have the same attitude, so done my part for the future.
Thanks for sharing and never quit Terrapod!
DeleteI was in second grade when I got a small 2 blade Case. That disappeared quickly, but other knives took it's place. I'm carrying an Old Timer 3 blade I was given in 1984... Thanks Papa Looney. I still remember. And a Kershaw quick open. I usually keep a spare Kershaw in my left pocket... Along with a multi-tool on the belt.
ReplyDeleteA man has tools to meet the unexpected. They aren't weapons. The weapon is between the ears, or it isn't.
You are exactly right STxAR. Looney is a fairly uncommon name. There are still a few around here in north Alabama. Ever heard of Bill Looney (aka: The Black Fox)? Oh well, that is another post.
DeleteNope, but I'll go digging to read about him. Papa Looney is in his 90's now, spent the last 4 months of the war in Patton's army, then occupation for 2 years. Cotton farmer in north west Texas. He was and is a role model for me. I love that old man. And I ain't no sprout!
DeleteI really can't remember a time when I didn't carry a pocket knife. Now my absolute minimum is 2, a Swiss Army knife (with the indispensable corkscrew) and one of several lock blade knives. When I'm backpacking, the Swiss Army Knife is so critical that I tie it to myself! Depending on the place and situation, I'll carry more including a Gerber Multi-tool and a fixed blade. Don't even get me started on what I was carrying in Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteI, and I am sure others, would like to hear about what you carried sometime Bill Chunko.
DeleteI carry a Case lock blade. I've carried many others, but always carry.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed by how many young men don't have a pocket knife, but more amazed at the attitude of schools, and parents, that are so appalled by such things. They're pussies, and don't have a clue.
I always have a Case Peanut on me. Work days I have the Peanut, plus a cheap Buck folder to abuse and a Bessey folding razor blade knife, plus a bottle of superglue - stupid blood thinners. I cannot remember a day I haven't had a pocket knife on me.
ReplyDeleteAlso, liked the link
Don't remember how old (young?) I was when I was given my first blade, but there have been very few days I didn't have one on me since. I have a box full, different sizes and styles for different dress and type of work for that day. Found this one a few years ago
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Kershaw-Pocketknife-Satin-Finished-Glass-Filled-Reversible/dp/B00172A3DE?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00172A3DE
Its become a favorite for work as I'm pretty hard on blades while on the job. Its easy to open one handed and decent blade for almost no money. Pried the door hinge pins out to remove a door once in HS after one of the near do wells jammed tooth picks in the lock broke them off so as to try and freak everyone out. The teacher thanked me afterwards. Try that today and the kid would go to jail?
Gerber Paraframe.
ReplyDeleteEvery day, every where.
Kershaw in the pocket, and Swiss Army on the keychain.
ReplyDeleteSchrade Old Timer & SOG Flash II
ReplyDeleteYep...Everyday except when I hafta encounter TSA
Every day since about 1962.
ReplyDeletea small 3 blade shrade uncle henry, a 3.5 inch coldsteel in my carry bag clipped where it is outside. and a sog dessert dagger inside my carry bag
ReplyDeleteI carried a Swiss army or a folding Buck every day for ~20 years, till the TSA took my Buck (I almost missed my flight rather than let those fascists have it). Then I got out of the habit for about 15 years when I was a keyboard jockey.
ReplyDeleteNow I am a rancher, and I carry a 3.5" Steel Will Cutjack in D2 steel. Not a fancy or expensive knife, but it's tough, flicks open smoothly, and stays sharp. I use that knife at least half a dozen times every day.
Leatherman Surge, lately. I've carried a knife of one sort or another since I was a kid, when it was a badge of honor; a right of passage, to be allowed to carry one. Frankly, I feel like an amputee without my blade...
ReplyDeleteFew people I know carry a knife now. ...Must be that testosterone deficiency thing... ...God help America...
" A good man should carry a good knife. It is a measure of a man among men. If he takes care of it, it will take care of him, for a lifetime "
ReplyDeleteSomething someone told me once.
Case, Camillus, vic. nox, and a leatherman on my belt daily
I have also carried a pocket knife since my dad gave my first one back in the late 50's. Something always seems to happen to them. Lose one, misplace one, wife misplaces one when washing the jeans. Had one my son gave me that i carried for 14 years and took it on a half dozen flights until they decided i couldn't anymore and kept it. Now have a buck 3" blade and a kershaw i alternate on. Both good enough for what i do with them
ReplyDeleteSchrader Old Timer lockblade, every day for many years. The blade includes the magic runes "Made in USA".
ReplyDeleteI EDC a Kershaw Speed Bump, and a Leatherman Wave. This is at any point not involving a metal detector. I also carry a small light but I am a recovering mekanick, so it helps
ReplyDeleteAnother CRKT fan here.
ReplyDeleteI was about 7 years old when my dad bought me my first folder (I don't remember what brand it was). I do remember that my thumbnail wasn't strong enough, and the blade would snap back when I tried to open it, slicing a piece of hide off the knuckle of my thumb. My parents divorced when I was in second grade, so the whole knife thing faded away.
For more than a decade now, I have been carrying a CRKT M16 EDC similar to this--
https://www.crkt.com/m16-01kz-spear-point-black.html
Mine is an M16-01K. Aluminum handles, British racing green, and pre-Automated liner safety. I got one for each of my kids.
If I anticipate going "off pavement", I switch to this--
https://www.crkt.com/homefront.html
My dad passed away in '89. I keep his folder in my desk. It is one of these--
https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/knife_forum/viewtopic.php?t=31851
It is fitting. Like so many of his generation, he was frugal when spending himself. He was a B-17 pilot and flew 35 combat missions over Europe.
My first knife was identical to the one in the first photo. My Dad gave it to me, and I had it all the way through my divorce, and then I either lost it, or gave it to my son.
ReplyDeleteCarried it all through grade school and high-school, and junior college, etc, etc.
Depending on what I'm doing/where I'm going, I either carry a SOG "Rescue" knife, or a Gerber locking knife.
Just can't imagine NOT carrying a knife every day!
I really didn't start carrying a knife on a regular basis until after I retired from the Army. Late bloomer.
ReplyDeleteOn my right hip on the belt, a Casselman with a Toyota logo engraved in the handle.
On my left hip on the belt, a Gerber multitool (2nd? 3rd? gen) in a pouch, and a Gerber Gator Serrator in a pouch.
EDC is always at least one.
Toxic Deplorable B Woodman
Kershaw clipped in my pocket right now - Gerber folder in the door of my SUV. And an in-expensive one that says "Best Dad Ever" from my daughter. Cold Steel SRK in the Get Home Bag in the back and a Glock fixed blade attached to my CamelBak - also in the back. Victorinox Swiss Army Knife in the Survival tin inside the CamelBak.
ReplyDelete"A wayfarer should not walk unarmed,
But have his weapons to hand:
He knows not when he may need a spear,
Or what menace meet on the road." – Viking proverb
Red in OleVirginny
When I was a kid, my father gave me an electricians knife. The kind with a non-locking knife, but a locking straight blade that was meant to be a screwdriver. I still have it in my desk.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.idealindustries.ca/products/prodSelect.php?prodId=35-285&div=3&l1=miscellaneous_hand_tools&l1b=knives&l2=electricians_knife
Since then, I have had a assortment of folders. Buck, Old Timer, Gerber, Kershaw, and what ever catches my eye at Tractor Supply. I literally have dozens of knives, and consciously had to stop myself from buying them whenever I saw one I liked.
I currently carry a Byrd, Meadowlark on one side of my wallet, and a 1/8" blade Craftsman screwdriver on the other - everyday. I have had the Byrd for the last eight years, ever since I put my good Buck folder through the mixer wagon at The Farm. I left it stuck in the top of a round bale, and all I found later was just the blade. I was just about heart broken, as I had that knife for about twenty years.
Leigh
Whitehall, NY
I always carry a swiss army camper. I lost it once and it felt like I was missing a limb until I replaced it.
ReplyDeleteHave ALWAYS carried a pocketknife ever since I was a little girl. Like wearing a watch, it's just part of me. My favorite has two blades. Have had it for more years that I care to remember.
ReplyDeleteEchoing the above respondents, I have been carrying a pocket knife since my granddad gave me a Case when I was 10. My everyday carry is by Draper Knives (Riverton, Wyoming). When I turned 70 last December, I treated myself to a Spartan Blades Harsey Folder "Kraken," my beauty.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bad shot....work best close in......
ReplyDeleteHi Irish,
ReplyDeleteWhen I met my late "Peggy" she had 2 grown sons.. the younger was a Computer whizz the older was a Gunny sarg. in the Marines (ready to retire) ..each Christmas I would give him a "Classic Knife" with the comment,"Two things a MAN can never have enough of are,'GUNS AND KNIVES!!!!"
skybill