Are we going back?

[hunter s thompson]

I don't know of it's just me, but it seems like a very marked population is seeking something from the old days. In the automobile world, retro is in and selling very well. Mini's are still going like hotcakes, Fiat is now making a modern version of the old 500 that I remember from the early 60's, and The Mustang is still running fast.
Carl, Grand high muckba of old things.

I wonder if it is all nostalgia or if at least some of it is a rediscovering of timeless designs? especially the part about the cars and the Traditional pocket knives? The Mini Mustang and Fiat all were ridiculous fun that put a grin on your face just to be behind the wheel puttering through traffic, I am sure the new versions are the same. With traditional pocket knives, they just do what they are supposed to do, cut stuff (particularly slicing) so much better and in a smaller easily pocketable package than their modern cousins. I love the old Schrades, (especially Uncle Henrys) and the modern counterparts, such as GECs seem as well put together or perhaps even better put together. I honestly believe that a large margin of modern knife lovers would be shocked to discover that a knife made out of carbon steel will out slice their favorite Super Duper Deanimator 5000 (made from the finest Unobtainum) for about half the price and take up much less real estate in pocket.

 

[stockdog]

Well I sure hope jackknife is correct. I sure enjoy my older knives and older outdoor items and wonder who will enjoy the next.
Bob

 

[pvicenzi]

I'm reminded of the audio world. There was something soothing about properly cleaning a vinyl record before listening to it. Much the same as keeping a nice carbon blade clean and sharp. People are in too much of a hurry to be bothered with such things.

 

[meako]

There was a Fiat bambino down the shops the other day.

 

[Nerfin]

I'm 17, so I don't really have anything to go back to as far as personal experience. I think sometimes nostalgia can gloss over the reality of past events. Surely the growing up years of the boomers were as fraught with peril (just of a different kind) as the growing up years of my generation! When you get right down to it, I believe that the good old days are a figment of the imagination. Therefore, I don't collect and use my various 'traditional' or 'nostalgic' accouterments to try to resurrect the unattainable, Utopian past, but rather to remind myself that it was really just the opposite. I'm absolutely certain that my life to date has been far more comfortable and leisurely than my dad's, or my grandad's, or my great-granddad's were during their growing up years. For a number of reasons, I think my generation is the softest, most spoiled in history, and I try to combat that in myself by a) spending as much time as I can listening to, conversing with, and working for all the 'geezers' I know, and b) carrying and using the kinds of tools they used and carried. Hopefully some of their preparedness and DIY mentality will wear off. Thanks G.H.McB. for bringing this topic up!

Edan

Well said Edan. Just remember the sharpest tool is your mind, and that will always be with you. You are on the right track. Live, learn and be happy!

 

[waynorth]

I'm 17, so I don't really have anything to go back to as far as personal experience. I think sometimes nostalgia can gloss over the reality of past events. Surely the growing up years of the boomers were as fraught with peril (just of a different kind) as the growing up years of my generation! When you get right down to it, I believe that the good old days are a figment of the imagination. Therefore, I don't collect and use my various 'traditional' or 'nostalgic' accouterments to try to resurrect the unattainable, Utopian past, but rather to remind myself that it was really just the opposite. I'm absolutely certain that my life to date has been far more comfortable and leisurely than my dad's, or my grandad's, or my great-granddad's were during their growing up years. For a number of reasons, I think my generation is the softest, most spoiled in history, and I try to combat that in myself by a) spending as much time as I can listening to, conversing with, and working for all the 'geezers' I know, and b) carrying and using the kinds of tools they used and carried. Hopefully some of their preparedness and DIY mentality will wear off. Thanks G.H.McB. for bringing this topic up!

Edan

A refreshing attitude!! You have a great future ahead of you young man, though not without its trials!

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Nostalgia never goes out of fashion, but the way things are with the world today, I think a lot of us wish that everything in life could be as simple and dependable as a good old traditional pocket-knife. When I open my knife to use it, it sort of feels like I step out of time for a minute, and am minded of when I was a lot younger, and had fewer cares and worries. I don't like disposable things, I like quality, stuff that lasts, and when I handle my pocket-knife, I'm handling something which probably has greater longevity than myself, and is probably better engineered too

Well said, keep in mind that we're dealing with patterns that have withstood the test of time, modern/tactical patterns have been around maybe 30-40 years versus knife patterns that have been around 200+ years.

Longevity is usually a result of good design and quality materials culminating into an attractive tool and keepsake.

 

[Old Hunter]

I've never left; been hunting with pre-64 Winchester rifles, hunting in Filson clothing, cleaning my game with Buck 100 series knives, and carrying Buck and Old Timer pocketknives, since 1970. I do own some newer stuff (such as a Goretex jacket and a Benelli shotgun) and it is good, but not it's not better overall than the old stuff (like oiled canvas and Belgian Auto-5's). I am glad to see people discover (or rediscover) the best of the old stuff. OH

 

[glennbad]

It's sad to see that this country on the whole is now a consumer society. We don't really manufacture anything anymore, we just buy it from someone else. And all that stuff is made with planned obsolecence, so that after a few years, we have to go out and buy a new one.

But I do think alot of people are getting tired of the fast pace and having the latest "whatever". That's why we try to go back to an easier lifestyle. I guess I am somewhere in between. I use technology to keep up to date, but try to repair my stuff when it breaks.

The traditional knife is a great bridge to that easier time. Maybe carrying a good old fashioned knife in your pocket allows us to maintain a hold on the past.

Glenn

 

[300Bucks]

Well Carl let me expound on your starting post. First things first, I am saving for a matched pair of Ruger Vaqueros. I may even sell some Buck knives to do it. SASS , Single Action Shooting Society is the organization. The Guys AND Gals like old folders and especially older looking small fixed blades on their gun belts. Carl, what makes this shooting fun is the people. You don't have to have the most expensive equipment, the latest laser sight and you don't receive the looks like your trash if you are slower than the in-crowd group in shooting your turn on the 15 shot pistol steel plate range. There is humor, friendship, safe fooling around and everyone takes time to show you the ropes. There is usually a campfire and cooking. Food is a standard item on the range. My local group has built its own little store front cowboy town, even has a gallows. I don't intend to become a quick draw artist or a deadly shot with a lever action rifle. But I do intend to have a good time and make many new friends. You are required to wear a cowboy hat and to go by a made up cowboy name. I think I will go by Ranger Buck. And I am sorry to the companies involved, but oiled leather just has something over nylon. Now where did I put that old stag stockman........ 300Bucks

 

[Planterz]

I've been saying this for a while. Personally, I think it's a backlash from the oversaturating trend of the "tactical" folding prybar fad. People are realizing that they don't need a knife they can carve a car door in two with. You don't need a lock that can withstand 1000 lbs of force when all you need to do is open a letter or cut a loose thread. A 1/4" tanto slab sucks at cutting a bagel. Titanium, carbon fiber, and G-10 are cool, but have zero character compared to wood, bone, or stag. And most people don't want to spend as much on sharpening equipment as they do on knives. Modern knives have their obvious advantages. Most of us traditional fans probably carry a modern knife as well, because they recognize those advantages. But we also have realized that a thin blade cuts far better than a thick one. A slipjoint is perfectly safe if you don't behave like an idiot. And multiple blades in a small package is more useful than a single blade.

 

[Old & In The Way]

For me at least, its a matter of appreciating timeless and artistic designs where the care and skill of the makers are apparent. Nostalgia I'm sure plays an important part, but somehow still seems to play a secondary role to my appreciation for the beauty and 'feel' of a well made traditional. There are lots of patterns that appeal to me, but I only buy/collect specific knives that 'speak' to me - which is not easy for me to quantify, other than to say that aside from the aesthetics of the materials used, I also want something that I feel the maker took pride in making and that I will feel proud to own. Perhaps the term that best sums up what I'm looking for is craftsmanship. While modern and tactical knives (of which I own a few) often achieve superb tolerances and function excellently, they somehow feel more sterile and less personal to me. For what it's worth, I'm still south of 50, if only by a few years.

 

[arizonaranchman]

It's much easier to adjust to a slower/more relaxed lifestyle than many imagine. I go to bed between 7:30pm AND 9:00 PM every night and get 7 hours of sleep every night. I don't work excessive hours. Heck I don't work extra hours. Been there. Done that. Never again. I just prioritize. Not everything gets done. What must be done at work gets done. Not everything I'd like to get done must get done so some of it doesn't get done. We don't live in squalor but aren't worried about dust either. There are many weekends I never even put shoes on and my car isn't moved. Sometimes you just need to erase the calendar or refuse to put things on it. Sometimes you just have to tell others no. Sometimes you must tell yourself no.

This is so true. I've tried to keep my life as simple as I can. I've learned to be CONTENT in life and in my situation and not constantly be wishing for something more. Nothing wrong with trying to improve yourself, but the problem is few people ever know contentment. They get far too wrapped up in chasing the next rung of the ladder upward. The more they get, the more they want and it's a perpetual pursuit that does not bring happiness.

Do your best, work hard, but stop to smell the roses along the way and don't just live for money or success. It will kill you and in the end you realize material things are all meaningless. Life is too short for that. Learn to be content and thankful for what you've got. Appreciate the blessings you do have and enjoy time with your family and loved ones. Take the time to enjoy just being alive. The sunrise in the morning, the sound of a bubbling stream, the smell of the fire in a woodstove, the aroma of the coffee brewing in the morning, peaceful time reading a good book, an old classic movie, relax with a pipe and a cup of hot cocoa as the sun sets in the evening...

I generally dislike what the world has become, but I hope we'll see a change for the better. What I see doesn't give me much hope really, but I never give up hoping that it will turn around. In my own life I just take things as easy as I can, live within my means and take things SLOOOW and more deliberately. I specifically make sure I spend quiet time with a book each day. I give thanks for the things I do have and I don't worry about the things I don't have.

To me an old fashioned pocket knife is a symbol of times past, when things were a bit slower and more simple than what we have today. Life was hard then, but if I had a choice I'd prefer that to what I see ahead.

 

[davek14]

I wonder if it is all nostalgia or if at least some of it is a rediscovering of timeless designs? especially the part about the cars and the Traditional pocket knives? The Mini Mustang and Fiat all were ridiculous fun that put a grin on your face just to be behind the wheel puttering through traffic, I am sure the new versions are the same. With traditional pocket knives, they just do what they are supposed to do, cut stuff (particularly slicing) so much better and in a smaller easily pocketable package than their modern cousins. I love the old Schrades, (especially Uncle Henrys) and the modern counterparts, such as GECs seem as well put together or perhaps even better put together. I honestly believe that a large margin of modern knife lovers would be shocked to discover that a knife made out of carbon steel will out slice their favorite Super Duper Deanimator 5000 (made from the finest Unobtainum) for about half the price and take up much less real estate in pocket.

I agree. In other words our geezer "they just don't make 'em like they used to" really applies in our modern throw away business model.

People on this forum at least are aware of the better modern folders. Many are junk from junk steel. I have gotten as many of my tools as possible used from yard sales and flea markets because they are usually so much better. Have you perused the shovels, rakes, and such at a big box hardware store lately? Compare them to an old one. You would replace the handle a few times in the life of the tool and pass them on to your kids. Machinists and mechanics tools are the same way.

Old tools are better, and so are old fools.

 

[Grateful]

I will be 41 years old this year and I have liked traditional knives for as long as I can remember. Part of the attraction for me is nostalgia, I freely admit that. Most of it I believe comes from my attempt to emulate the men I grew up around. Hunters and fisherman, carpenters, farmers, truck drivers and the like. They all carried a pocket knife, a Stockman, Muskrat or maybe a Barlow or a simple Jack knife. They did the most amazing things with them.
I was in my mid to late 20s before I lived in a structure that had a telephone. Got along just fine. Now I carry one everywhere I go. They are handy sometimes but I feel foolish most of the time paying for it. Growing up we had a big garden and butchered hogs every fall. Hunted and fished and filled the freezer with our harvest. We ate out of that freezer, now the wife and I mostly eat out of cardboard boxes of processed food.
Ah the good old days. I had know idea how good I had it. My life is easier now than it was then but except for my wife and daughter and my dogs I think I was happier then.
Still I hear the wisdom in this thread in trying to live a simple life and be content with what I have. Most of the time I am.
I really hope that our society is moving back towards simpler times. That really isn't the impression that I get from the people I meet in my daily life but I can hope.

Jim

 

[Invoice]

Nostalgia never goes out of fashion, but the way things are with the world today, I think a lot of us wish that everything in life could be as simple and dependable as a good old traditional pocket-knife. When I open my knife to use it, it sort of feels like I step out of time for a minute, and am minded of when I was a lot younger, and had fewer cares and worries. I don't like disposable things, I like quality, stuff that lasts, and when I handle my pocket-knife, I'm handling something which probably has greater longevity than myself, and is probably better engineered too

Jack you nailed it.

 

[Codger_64]

Some very good thoughtful posts here from divergent perspectives. No, there is no going back. Only forward toward whatever it brings. That does not mean discarding the craftsmanship of the past, but preserving and using it. And handing down what we accumulate. Knives, knowledge, skills, whatever. Appreciation of those things does not preclude appreciation of advancenments of the present and future. Rather it enhances them. I am pleased to no end to see so many young people here on these forums honeing their knife knowledge and interpersonal skills. As much as I miss the liars' bench in front of the local store, I enjoy meeting and learning from people here across the nation and around the globe. Nope, only going forward appreciating the past, living in the present and looking toward to what marvels the future holds.

 

[timberweasel]

I cast many photos of my traditional carry knives into the General Forum waters and get the occasional nibble of curiosity and interest. I think it's important to show the newer members that there are other options available to 'em and that the traditional community is alive and well!* I get quite a charge out of seeing more and more traditional knives pop up in the General thread EDC III Which knife or knives are you carrying today? Some real nice ones, too! :thumbup:

I know several of you folks have also been envoys and ambassadors for traditionals and I applaud your efforts!

*ETA: it's important to spread the attitude and atmosphere of the Traditional Forum to other parts of the site, too.

-Brett

 

[Liberando]

I too gravitate to "old stuff." That Old Timer stockman feels just right in the pocket and in the hand. I sometimes still enjoy drinking that first cup of coffee of the day from my old GI canteen cup (1951 model) that I've had since I was a scout. Our modern Coleman tent is great, but my old canvas BSA tent is much more enjoyable to spend the night in. There are many weapons I'd like to buy, but the Ruger 10/22, Remington 870 and Winchester 94 all meet my needs.

Old things--traditional knives, cooking at home, eating dinner together as a family, going for walks, making a jar of sun tea in the summer--bring back that sense of boundary. The sun doesn't shine on us every day, but we can rely on those old things to get us through to the next day.

The best part is passing it along to the next generation. My daughter loves old things. Her first knife was a Case peanut--her request!

 

[rockgolfer]

I will be 35 this year. My father only carries a knife when he goes camping. He uses needle nose pliers that have a cutter on them when he goes fishing. I was not handed down the knowledge of carrying a blade every day. I still have my first slipjoint that I purchased at the age of 12 or 13 at my first summer camp in boyscouts. I went down the modern road for a long.time and just over the past 2 years or so have I really found how useful these knives are. For me it comes down to use and always perfecting my tools and technique. Slipjoints simply work better for most tasks in my life(construction and urban edc). The history is fun to learn but not what got me into them. As a stone fabricator I am in a new house every day. I can tell you that the technology is only taking ahold of everyone more and more. Just this Christmas my wife and I struggled at the decision to get tablets for our 10 and 5 year old. It came down to pretty much one thing....how will they compete in school and for jobs later in life if they dont learn the same thing their piers are? Now we have set strict rules and limits and I counter balance the technology with outdoor time. This simmer the 10 year old will be starting to learn basic automotive upkeep. All my girls love the outdoors, fishing, hiking, camping. My wife and I agreed a long time ago that we would do our best to teach them to be as self sufficient as they can be. They need the technology to compete. Knowing how to take care of yourself and live without the technology will be to their advantage later on. Make them stronger and give them more confidence. Our long term goal is to build a homestead that melds the old and new together. It wont happen anytime soon but it is our goal. Its what I am working towards and some day it will happen. Are we going back? Nope. But if we keep the techniques and skills alive we can continue to raise kids that can make it in any environment.