Great idea for a thread,
Will Power
! I've enjoyed reading everyone's posts.
If the question had been posed to me a year ago, I would not have been able to answer with any degree of clarity. Over the last year, though, I've learned a lot about my preferences and what knives work well for my uses. Coincidentally, I've been reflecting on this topic quite a bit recently and I've narrowed it down to three patterns that are my clear favorites and, if pressed, I'd be willing to commit to them as my three patterns going forward. They are: the carpenter/whittler's knife, the lambsfoot, and the puukko.
The carpenter/whittler pattern is my favorite for whittling. At 3 5/8" it fits perfectly in my hand and the size of the secondaries is ideally suited to the small projects I prefer for whittling. I adore my GEC #38 Grinling whittler and its ancestor (?) the Schrade Walden 804, but if I can have only one whittling knife, it would be from the Camillus 72/Schrade 863/Craftsman 9494 family. My primary whittling knife is a Camillus 72 in BSA livery, but, as my favorite thing from this pattern, I'm opting for my Craftsman 9494. I actually prefer its coping blade shape to that of the Camillus 72 and there's just something I dig about this particular knife. If I'm carrying a three-bladed knife, more often than not, it's this one:
Next, the Lambsfoot knife. An unassuming working pattern of remarkable utility, this is what I usually have in my pocket on a day-to-day basis. I didn't think I was a one-blade folder kinda of guy until I met my first lambsfoot. From the ergonomics of the handle to the versatility of the blade shape, I can't say enough good things about this pattern.
This buffalo horn lambsfoot from A. Wright was my 2016 Knife of the Year and most definitely one of my favorite things:
Finally, the puukko. I wasn't interested in fixed blades until
Will Power
mentioned the Marttini Lynx Lumberjack in a thread I started on $100 traditional knife collections. I kept coming back to look at it and the more I learned about the pattern, the more I was intrigued. I view it as the fixed blade brother of the lambsfoot: an unassuming working pattern with immense versatility and a rich history. After ordering my own Lynx Lumberjack and tweaking the wooden handle a bit to better fit my hand, I was completely smitten.
My favorite puukko also happens to have been my 2017 Knife of the Year, this beauty from Pasi Hurttila, which I frequently use for greenwood carving and am looking forward to taking into the woods the next time I go backpacking:
Thanks for putting this thread together, Will. I'll be following it with interest.
That Oily Creek Bone is superb 
A packet arrived yesterday with these two stunners inside, CASE Redbone Pen and Queen City Stag Pen, and what Stag! So happy with them Ron, wonderful surprise
