a japanese folder and a changing view on knives

[jackknife]

Its weird how this year i used my small keychain saks and an alox soldier or farmer more than everything else i have gathered over the years. Now ill give this little fellow a chance, and for what i used it so far, it is a wonderful slicer, extremely sharp, even with that rust on surface, the edge was pristine, and pushed cut in paper easily. From what i've read, it is some carbon steel called aogami hagane (blue paper steel), also laminated with some softer carbon steel.
Anyway, im hoping my case peanut and medium stockman will arrive soon, as my philosophy and use in knives and knife carry is about to take a major turn.

Jack, can you elaborate how your knife philosophy has changed?

Carl.

 

[parbajtor]

Guys, just a small word of correction, the word Higonokami can (strictly speaking) be only used for this type of knife made by a select group of smiths from Higo province, who formed a guild called the "Miki" and trademarked the name Higonokami. There is only one maker left in the guild, all others have stopped making them.
The only « real » and « historical » higonokamis are easy to spot. They are the ones that are sold in the little blue and gold paperboard boxes.
They are made by Motosuke Nagao, established in Miki, descending from four generations of blacksmiths. Today, Motosuke Nagao is quite old, his succession is not ensured and the trademark might disappear with him.
You will have more luck by asking (if in Japan) or searching for a Higo-naifu which there are a few smiths still making. Once every school child had one for sharpening pencils, now mainly used by traditional carpenters. There are two types of laminated steel used in these, Aogami (Blue paper steel) and Shirogami (White paper steel)- The Aogami is slightly harder but produces a toothier edge. The Shirogami is known for a more refined edge and can be made much sharper than its Aogami equivalent. We are splitting hairs here though, literally.
This is the shop I visited in Kyoto and bought a couple of boxes from http://www.hayakawa.ws/hamonoten/31-hamono/index.htm. the higonaifu's are towards the bottom of the page. There is only one other smith in Kyoto actually making higonaifus and he isn't online. There are other places where you can buy these knives but they are manufactured elsewhere and then only engraved and sharpened in the shop. There are a number of top bladesmiths making very upmarket versions of these one example http://japaneseknifedirect.com/Page82.html

 

[jacktrades_nbk]

Jack, can you elaborate how your knife philosophy has changed?

Carl.

Ill try...
Im 31 years old, so what i talk about here happened mostly in a bit more than 10 years or so..
I used to carry knives like spyderco military, endura, delica as the smallest, cold steel recon 1, and so on, knives that are entirely different from the traditional folders.
The clip, the fast one hand opening, the super steels, were what i was looking for, and the full serrated endura and delica were my favorites back then.
I also played with, and carried balisongs, loved those too, after all, i am a knife nut. I still like them now, but i don't carry them anymore. I do use them though, mostly home, or outdoors, but out there i prefer a small fixed blade most of the time .
Of course, i also had my douk douk, my opinels, and a soldier sak, but i still thought of the above modern folders as superior, in every way.
It seems that now, i just see them as different tools, for different purposes. Anyway...
While i carried only my military for months, or other 4 inch folder, found out that i wasn't using it, except in the outdoors, or home. Why ? to big, scary to non knife people, and i was afraid to use it in public. I was carrying a big folder, hanging on my pants, without being able to cut a pizza in a restaurant, or any food for that matter, couldn't even cut a string without getting attention.
Almost all my folding knives had this problem..
So i was carrying big, capable knives, in case there was a need for some cuting, but when those needs came, i couldn't take advantage of what those knives had to offer.
i bought the buck 110, and 112, beautiful knives, and while i do appreciate the modern materials in a knife, like G10 or FRN, the toughness, the resistance, the classic look of the brass, with wood, and the feeling in using such a knife, blew me away.
but they were still to heavy, no clip, not easy to carry, and certainly not small.
So i started to carry my sak, or the douk douk, as an addition. I could use them all day, and have no problems in doing that. So the modern folder was just weight on my pants, and in a while it went in the drawer.
Soon i only carried my soldier SAK, bought more of them just in case, and a few more alox variations, like the farmer and solo.
Found out i didn't need a 4 inch blade to get along, the soldier was everything i needed.
Then, recently, came to this traditional forum, and found beautiful, small knives, and great stories built around them, found mature, good people, helpful and passionate about those simple little knives.
took out from the drawer the old japanese folder, and carried that for a while.
good knife, sharp, small, enough for most jobs, but i wanted something else, a bit more nicer, so not long ago, i bought the peanut, and a medium stockman, in bone and in yellow delrin, which are simply among the most beautiful tools i own.
now i alternate carrying one of those two everyday, in addition i always have the rambler on my keys, which gives me many options in a small package, and i didn't find yet a situation those small tools can't handle. Also, i enjoy using them even more, because i can take any of those out and cut something, even in public, and not raise an eyebrow, or scare anyone, maybe just for curiosity.
So Carl, with your help and your outstanding stories, and my own experience, i can say i refined my use and taste in pocket knives
next, there will be a buck 301 and a 303, because, as i said before, i am a knife nut, and now, a traditional knife nut, having the nut in my pocket to prove it
Hope all this makes sense.

 

[whetrock]

A couple of days ago I bit the bullet and ordered one in SK-5 and another in Blue paper I haven't been this excited about getting a new knives in forever.

 

[Daniel Dorn]

Guys, just a small word of correction, the word Higonokami can (strictly speaking) be only used for this type of knife made by a select group of smiths from Higo province, who formed a guild called the "Miki" and trademarked the name Higonokami. There is only one maker left in the guild, all others have stopped making them.
The only « real » and « historical » higonokamis are easy to spot. They are the ones that are sold in the little blue and gold paperboard boxes.http://japaneseknifedirect.com/Page82.html

The dealer I ordered through made it clear that this is the "One True" Higonokami. I feel privileged to have such a distinguished piece of historical cutlery. Thanks for the great info. It's sad to see the end of 4 generations of knife-making. That puts just that much more value on the one I have.