August 9, 2017—Closing Thoughts
The 33 days' project is over and I've spent some time reflecting on the experience. The stated goal was to see how I liked carrying a jigged bone-clad knife on a daily basis and whether there would be any discernible difference in the bone after a month of daily carry.
The answer to the first question is an unequivocal thumbs up. I like the look and, even more so, the feel. It's hard to describe, but the combination of feeling sturdy yet organic and individual at the same time is appealing in a way I've not experienced with Delrin. Jigged bone is a handle material that I will continue to seek out in the future. That being said, I still am a fan of my Delrin-clad knives. They have not been supplanted in the least.
As for the bone, there were a couple of rough spots that have eased up a bit, but, in general it feels the same. I'm glad on both accounts. That little bit of roughness was a bit annoying, but I'd be concerned about how the knife would hold up over the long term if significant differences were noted after only a month.
Here's an after photo:
The lighting quality is a bit different than the before photos, making them hard to compare, but you'll probably notice that the main has a nice patina forming and the both secondaries have been sharpened to a more acute angle than they came from the factory. I haven't had to sharpen the main at all: a bit of light stropping has kept it acceptably sharp for how I've been using it.
That's the report on the experiment. Now on to a few other observations if you'll permit me.
I've not been a huge fan of spey blades in the past for whittling. Quite frankly, I hadn't really given them a chance. I decided to take this as an opportunity so see whether I should rethink that. I used the #66 as my only whittling knife for the 33 days and in many situations the spey blade did fine as a small curved blade. In some cases I liked that the point didn't dig into the work. On the other hand, there were other cases where I was really wishing for a much pointier and slightly more narrow curved blade like a pen or a small clip. I plan share more thoughts on that in the Whittling Corner thread in the future.
But, I did find the spey blade to be delightful useful every-day, non-whittling use. This one will not be getting a pen conversion and I also look forward to having it available for certain whittling applications.
I also really enjoyed the other two blades for every-day use. The shortish sheepsfoot is fantastic to use for opening ornery packaging and other times when you want to start a cut midway through something. And as for the clip, I think GEC really nailed it from an aesthetic perspective. And, of course, it works really well, too.
In closing, I didn't find it hard at all to stick with this knife for 33 days. I did miss the act of picking out whatever knife suited my whim for the day, but also appreciated not having to make that decision some times. I never felt as though it was lacking capability, though. The #66 Calf Roper has proven itself to me to be an excellent interpretation of the medium stockman pattern and this one has earned its place in my pocket for a long time to come.
Thank you for following along with me on this 33 day journey. I've appreciated your comments, compliments, and well wishes along the way. And now, happy trails to all as this Calf Roper heads off into the sunset for a well-deserved rest. It'll be back on duty soon, though, you can rest assured.
P.S., it did make it through almost all of the work on that chain that I began with it early in this project. Here's where it stood at the end of the 33 days just before handing off to a Camillus 72 to handle the tricky bits where I was struggling without a small pointy curved blade:
). I'm sure you'll get your kicks with that 66!
I imagine it will take quite a while for me to get used to the new (and worse) normal here.
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, except for knives assigned to kitchen duty for the week. (Or, if I make time to try to get some whittling in.)
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