Recommendation? American Icons, cont.

[baxtrom]

IMHO, the Buck 110 is the knife that changed forever the concept on what constitutes a “pocket knife.” Without the 110 and its strong lock system and fairly large size, I don’t think we would have the proliferation of the modern (non-traditional) locking knives we see today. The 110 is the bridge between the traditional and the modern “pocket knife” and is thus a landmark in the world of knives.

A Buck 110 and its second cousin, twice removed, the Rigid Apache which took the concept of the 110 to an extreme back in the day (1970s and 1980s). View attachment 1870476

Wow, now that is…

View attachment 1870534

 

[baxtrom]

Now for purely traditional, the Boys Knife with cap lifter is an American classic.View attachment 1870508

The “Radio jackknife” seems to be a very practical pattern indeed - those are basically the tools I use on my SAKs. A cellidor-free traditional SAK alternative

 

[waynorth]

Now for purely traditional, the Boys Knife with cap lifter is an American classic.

A caplifter/screwdriver sure makes a handy knife!!

 

[Will Power]

I'd say all of the knives displayed so far have elements of the icon in them

The Barlow and Stockman may have had their origins elsewhere and fine examples have been and are made outside the USA but they are to me at least, as a non American , very Americanesque knives due to context and evolving history.

The Trapper is key too- although not a knife I'm fond of - but it's a good icon!

Surprised nobody has mentioned the Congress knife though The name says it all and I believe it was a knife that was formerly much more popular than nowadays. Can imagine people cutting plugs of tobacco with them Plus the Riverboat that sank with all those knives on it, as referenced earlier, contained examples of Congress knives I believe. It is undeniably an ingenious pattern but not perhaps so practical.

Anyway, here's a couple I rate or should I say, revere, as icons,

The Sharpfinger, an extraordinary innovation

 

[baxtrom]

I'd say all of the knives displayed so far have elements of the icon in them

The Barlow and Stockman may have had their origins elsewhere and fine examples have been and are made outside the USA but they are to me at least, as a non American , very Americanesque knives due to context and evolving history.

The Trapper is key too- although not a knife I'm fond of - but it's a good icon!

Surprised nobody has mentioned the Congress knife though The name says it all and I believe it was a knife that was formerly much more popular than nowadays. Can imagine people cutting plugs of tobacco with them Plus the Riverboat that sank with all those knives on it, as referenced earlier, contained examples of Congress knives I believe. It is undeniably an ingenious pattern but not perhaps so practical.

Anyway, here's a couple I rate or should I say, revere, as icons,

The Sharpfinger, an extraordinary innovation

The Congress was mentioned in the original thread, and I ended up getting the RR Tobacco Road Congress (which turned out to be a complete nail assassin, but that issue was treatable by careful machining using my Dremel).

I entertain a romantic attachment to the Trapper and Stockman patterns and have ordered a Case mini trapper as a suitable edc here in Sweden, where the knife law is somewhat ambiguous. Now I am getting a little into muskrats but they seem to be harder to find over here…

 

[baxtrom]

Any thoughts about the Moose pattern? Not sure of its history. Does it have a place in the great American knife tradition?

 

[baxtrom]

This post is causing confusion and concern among some forum members. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was written by Mark Twain, not Beach Hiker of Bushcraft USA. Yes, there is a well-known thread on Barlow knives on BF.


Also, I quote Beach Hiker of Bushcraft USA,

thought this might be interesting to some. .. Tom Sawyer is gifted a knife. I think many of us can appreciate his joy....

From "the Adventures of Tom Sawyer", chapter 4, page 20:

"Mary gave him a brand new 'Barlow' knife, worth twelve and a half cents; and the convulsion of delight that swept his system shook him to his foundations. True, the knife would not cut anything, but it was a 'sure enough' Barlow, and there was inconceivable grandeur in that- though where the western boys ever got the idea that such a weapon could possibly be counterfeited to its injury is an imposing mystery, and will always remain so, perhaps. Tom contrived to scarify the cupboard with it, and was arranging to begin on the bureau, when he was called off to dress for Sunday school. "

Anyone have photos of old Barlows??

 

[Markeologist]

Also, I quote Beach Hiker of Bushcraft USA,

thought this might be interesting to some. .. Tom Sawyer is gifted a knife. I think many of us can appreciate his joy....

From "the Adventures of Tom Sawyer", chapter 4, page 20:

"Mary gave him a brand new 'Barlow' knife, worth twelve and a half cents; and the convulsion of delight that swept his system shook him to his foundations. True, the knife would not cut anything, but it was a 'sure enough' Barlow, and there was inconceivable grandeur in that- though where the western boys ever got the idea that such a weapon could possibly be counterfeited to its injury is an imposing mystery, and will always remain so, perhaps. Tom contrived to scarify the cupboard with it, and was arranging to begin on the bureau, when he was called off to dress for Sunday school. "

Anyone have photos of old Barlows??

You didn’t have to leave the BF pages to find that quote and you just have to search for and READ the what makes a good barlow thread…relevant knife content:

 

[baxtrom]

You didn’t have to leave the BF pages to find that quote and you just have to search for and READ the what makes a good barlow thread…relevant knife content:View attachment 1877939

I know of the Barlow thread.

If you have an issue with how Google lists its search results for “tom sawyer knife”, take it up with Google

 

[Just Tom.]

Anyone have photos of old Barlows??

Not sure if this is you asking this question or the writer of the blog post you are quoting, but here goes, again from the steamboat Arabia, in a picture I believe first posted by Will Power :

 

[baxtrom]

Not sure if this is you asking this question or the writer of the blog post you are quoting, but here goes, again from the steamboat Arabia, in a picture I believe first posted by Will Power :

Thanks, I am familiar with the Barlow pattern, I just quoted the Bushcraft USA post in its entirety because it popped up in my Google search and I thought it was an interesting quote from this American literature classic. The steamboat Arabia story is relatively new to me however, I just learned about it a short time ago reading here on BF

 

[Arathol]

Any thoughts about the Moose pattern? Not sure of its history. Does it have a place in the great American knife tradition?

The moose pattern has been around for many years, at least well back into the 19th century. If you have ever read GW Sears book Woodcraft, his folding knife was a large moose pattern.

Also, I quote Beach Hiker of Bushcraft USA,

LOL your quoting Samuel Clemens, not some guy on another forum.....

 

[baxtrom]

The moose pattern has been around for many years, at least well back into the 19th century. If you have ever read GW Sears book Woodcraft, his folding knife was a large moose pattern.

LOL your quoting Samuel Clemens, not some guy on another forum.....

Thanks for the feedback re the Moose pattern.

Also, I am aware that the Adventures of Tom Sawyer was written by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and not a guy on a forum. Apparently that post triggers people. Maybe I should put a trigger warning on it

 

[DirtDawg]

I've got a few icons that are American.View attachment 1864406View attachment 1864409View attachment 1864415View attachment 1864405View attachment 1864424View attachment 1864425

Peanuts & Jeeps... like Peanut Butter & Jelly. I like the bail.

 

[kyhunt]

Good and interesting thread. I hadn’t seen it before.

 

[ea42]

So, muskrat…

Here is a mr Gibson (a forum member perhaps?) talking about the Muskrat pattern, how it started out as a single back spring design and subsequently was improved by means of double back springs, that it has a sibling with a sheepsfoot blade et c

And, here’s a clip on how to actually skin a muskrat, alas not using a “muskrat”.

The first "Improved" muskrat was a knife with a hawbaker blade taking the place of one of the clip blades. It was developed by Stanley Hawbaker, I think in the 1930's. Sold by both Case and Schrade Cut. Co. . Those were single spring knives. Canal Street Cutlery made some too around 2012ish. :





Eric

 

[baxtrom]

Ever since Bloodloss mentioned the muskrat pattern in this thread its double clip point blades have been gnawing on my mind. So now I ordered a simple case muskrat, the 18232 with black synthetic scales…

 

[Henry Beige]

Now for purely traditional, the Boys Knife with cap lifter is an American classic.View attachment 1870508

If I had one of those at age 15, I wouldn’t have started opening beer bottles with my teeth.

 

[baxtrom]

What about the canoe?
I rarely see it mentioned. I will venture to guess, totally without authority or references, that the canoe’s spear point blade appeals perhaps more to the European gentleman whereas the American outdoorsman and pioneer prefers a clip point blade? I base this feeling solely on the fact that most pocket knives I come across over here feature spear point and pen blades. And cork screws…