"Carl's Lounge" (Off-Topic Discussion, Traditional Knife "Tales & Vignettes")

Congratulations Dan.
Nice pictures Kevin. Sounds like you have some hours of processing ahead of you.
For a drink, a Bushmills will do.
 
jackknife said:
Naa, donsen't interesting until the third one. :D

Congrats, your off on a great journey!

Carl.
Click to expand...

I have a close friend who just had his third kid and told me something similar. He said that it took him a while, but he now realizes that he and his wife are outnumbered. :eek:

- Christian
 
kamagong said:
I have a close friend who just had his third kid and told me something similar. He said that it took him a while, but he now realizes that he and his wife are outnumbered. :eek:

- Christian
Click to expand...

We were outnumbered when we only had one kid LOL We wound up with six. They are a great bunch to be around.
 
These tornadoes are unnerving! already had to grab the animals and get in the basement...glad I bought a 110 year old place thats built like a tank.
 
Robert.B said:
These tornadoes are unnerving! already had to grab the animals and get in the basement...glad I bought a 110 year old place thats built like a tank.
Click to expand...
Stay safe man.
jackknife said:
Naa, donsen't interesting until the third one.
Click to expand...
Well, when you have two, they usually become friends, enter the third and they will learn to take sides. :eek:
It'll be fun, and an experience you'll never forget. I mean that in a good way though. ;)
-Bruce
 
Thanks guys, ended up missing the brunt of the storm but there were a few touch downs not too far away but far enough that we're all safe.
 
Robert.B said:
Thanks guys, ended up missing the brunt of the storm but there were a few touch downs not too far away but far enough that we're all safe.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:
glad to hear you and your family are ok
looked pretty hairy there yesterday on the news
 
I've come to a conclusion about some things in life, but about myself as well. I don't like modern stuff.

Oh yeah, I'm typing this on a madern apple macbook pro, and I go to the doctor when I need and am grateful for the modern x-rays and stuff. But in my everyday life I just don't like the "new" stuff. New jelly bean shaped cars that all look alike, plastic stuff where it does not belong, disposable stuff. It seems like everything these days is disposable. Razors, lighters, tools, eating utensils, pens, and so on. Don't even get me started on pocket knives.

I guess that's what I get for growing up in a time when you got something, no matter if it was a purchase by yourself or a gift, it was a cherished item, and you took care of it because it was built to last. Houses used to have frames of real wood, like oak or other real trees. Today, the homes are thrown up with what looks like scrap pine that ain't no 2X4 even in a dream. Pocket knives were assembled by men known as cutlers, who knew how to pin and straiten blades with a tap here or there. Krinking by eye so three blades could lay together with no touching. A lost skill to be sure.

I only got on this kick because over the weekend we went to the gas and steam tractor show at the Montgomery County Agraculture center. Seeing all this old steam tractors working at their intended jobs was a thrill, and of course all the other old stuff that is on the periphery of such events, like the Model T club. Looking over a 1922 Ford was a thrill. Real hand stitched leather upholstery, real steel in the car, and a simple little flathead 4 banger that looks like if you had an adjustable wrench and a screw driver, there' nothing you can't do. Idling, it sounded like a little sewing machine. I can only wonder if 30 or 40 years from now, people will bother to restore a 1980's Ford Taurus?

I guess when picking up a nice jigged bone pocket knife with a patines gray blade, it's easy to see in your minds eye, how it used to be. I can only wonder if we, the traditional knife knits, have that in common with the guys of the model T club, or the Volkswagon beetle club, or the antique aircraft owners association. A mild to moderate dislike of the modern stuff, so we spend our weekends fixing up the old ones to lay with. Kind of like our own little time machine for our inner selves, where we can go back for just a while. Like riding an old 2 stroke Vespa down country road. If one squints a bit, it's just like back then. There's the smell of the oil burning in the gas, the popping of the old motor that sounds like back when. Taking a stockman out and pulling open the blade, is just like some cowpoke would have done. In fact, the cowpoke would recognize the knife right off, maybe even having one in his pocket. Or riding down a country road, woods shading and over hanging the cracked asphalt, you can squint your eyes and almost pretend it's 1959 again, Eisenhower is president and everything is good. Yesterday we went on a Vespa ride, and I found myself doing just that. It was a shaded little country road, and it could have been a different time.

I can only wonder if other traditional knife people are also discontent with the modern age, and wish they were back someplace. Someplace where the hardware store was a little building down the street with creaky wood floors, and the old guys who knew where everything in the place was. And right up front was a big glass display case with all kinds of knives in it. Stockmen, barrows, pens, peanuts, trappers and even tuxedo's. No plastic in sight because it wasn't invented yet. None of that new fangled so called stainless steel either. The car you came in smelled of leather instead of fake nylon carpet. It was socially acceptable to have a whiskey today with your breakfast, and a pipe on the front porch. Life was slower, and you actually knew your neighbors because people talked tone another.

So I sit here and fondle an old traditional knife and think of a better time in this country.

Carl.
 
Good question Carl.

I've wondered myself if the yearning for older simpler times is what fueled my interest in traditional pocket knives. Maybe it is a tie to the old timers in the town I grew up in. Maybe all of that and more.

One thing I will say though, and that is that for me (and only for me, I'm making no criticisms here) I have to watch out for consumerism in my interests. I know first hand how what I call 'gadgetry' can take all the fun out of things I enjoy. What does that have to do with knife collecting or carrying? Simply this, if I get too caught up in getting "one of these and one of those and, OH! One of those too!" it takes away from the simplicity and enjoyment of knives for me.

If I had 20 knives in an EDC rotation it would ruin it for me. Id have 20 knives and none. A bunch of slightly used knives but none that I could point to and say 'That is my knife.' And to me this is part of that simplicity that I enjoy. Maybe it is because in the hardscrabble upbringing I had there was no money for frivolous spending. No offense but in that world owning 113 pocket knives would be considered frivolous. I try to walk the middle ground. Collect a few interesting ones, carry a select one or two. At least that is how I manage it.

TBH it didn't start with knives though it started with rifles and hunting. One of the great loves of my life was getting cluttered up with nonsense. When I finally started my career and had a little extra money I finally bought a first class rifle... then the reloading equipment. Then all the special tech gear. Then all the other gadgets that I never seemed to need growing up and chasing deer all over the mountains when I was younger. Anyway it snowballed and started taking the fun out of it. I went old school and have never looked back. I hunt for the experience not to own the latest and greatest gear. I have a lot of high quality gear, now my goal is to wear it out having fun.

As far as knives go I like having some good, high quality knives around. But I like to keep it in the spirit of fun and under control.

Will
 
Carl,

Thank you for another of your thought provoking comments.

I would like modern stuff just fine if it was built to last.

I see nothing wrong with driving a car for 200,000 or 300,000 miles. I understand that I will soon be told that this is illegal.

My 17 year old TV, which works fine, has been legislated as now obsolete.

We used to return bottles for re-use. We washed the kid's diapers. Plates, knives, forks and spoons were washed and put back for re-use.

There were no "Mount Trashmores."

The arrogant government overseers could not force you to use a light bulb that has enough cyanide and mercury that if it breaks you must leave the room for 15 minutes.

Yes, I agree that modern stuff is not better.

Mike H.
 
Carl,

I can't disagree with anything your saying but you also made my mind go in a million directions. Instead of a long winded response I will post another airshow pic for you :)

You said you liked the last few and I just started looking through the bunch. I thought you would like this old dog :)

KRG_9944.jpg
 
What's not to like? In the opinion of many, the finest fighter ever designed.
 
Frank,

They were so awesome. Most all of the pilots are ex Military and they flew in formation and did the coolest high speed passes. That sound they get when they are diving so fast is so distinct.

Kevin
 
Carl and Will,

Very good comments. I think I may have learned something from both of your posts. Or maybe I just discovered something within me that I didn't quite realize was there. Thanks!:thumbup:
 
Carl's posts will do that for you. Lots of hard earned wisdom in them. Any wisdom from mine is purely coincidental and does not reflect any affinity for learning on my part. :p

I like having equipment with some age on it. For whatever reason I enjoy having a history with my knives and guns and clothing or whatever. I remember reading about when the late Duke of Windsor's wardrobe was sold at auction after he died. A relevant quote from that artofmanliness.com article:

"The simple fact is this: well made garments can last for decades. Recently the Duke of Windsor’s wardrobe was sold at auction. More amazing than the fact that his clothing was still wearable (despite much of it being 70 years old) was the way a person could see how a former King of England was so attached to his favorite shirts that he repaired them with material cut from his own shirt tails to ensure the fabrics matched."

END QUOTE

I found it amazing that one of the richest men on the planet lived his life in such a manner. I'm betting it had more to do with his natural tendency to be comfortable with the clothing he had and an absence of a need to have the latest and greatest than any fiscal concerns. Goes right along with what Carl was saying.

Will
 
jackknife said:
I've come to a conclusion about some things in life, but about myself as well. I don't like modern stuff.

Oh yeah, I'm typing this on a madern apple macbook pro, and I go to the doctor when I need and am grateful for the modern x-rays and stuff. But in my everyday life I just don't like the "new" stuff. ... Don't even get me started on pocket knives. ... Pocket knives were assembled by men known as cutlers, who knew how to pin and straiten blades with a tap here or there. Krinking by eye so three blades could lay together with no touching. A lost skill to be sure. ...

I guess when picking up a nice jigged bone pocket knife with a patines gray blade, it's easy to see in your minds eye, how it used to be.

Carl.
Click to expand...

I hear you, Carl, believe me. At the same, regarding the physical things you talk about (vs. the general feeling of a longing for slower, more contented times), I feel like we as a society have decided that for the most part, if crap sells and is profitable, then it's not crap. I disagree vehemently, of course (my wife's hamburgers are WAY better than MacDonald's), but that's the way it is. At the same time, there ARE still master craftsmen producing fine work. Take Great Eastern Cutlery. I can't remember you ever saying much about them, other than their knives are too hard to open. And sure that may be true with some of their knives (most of the early ones, so I've read), but I definitely think they deserve recognition for what they're doing, and how they're doing it. A rising tide floats all boats, and GEC is forcing everyone to up their game. And of course, they're producing a damn fine product, built to last generations. No built-in obsolescence there!

Same goes in other sectors. Within the realm of music (my main hobby), there are loads of examples of one-man shops who are developing GREAT built-to-last products and selling them over the Internet. I'm talking about instruments and gear that are every bit as good as what came out of Leo Fender's shop in the 1950s. Sure, the big boys who constantly cut corners and outsource as much as possible still rule the market, but thanks to modern technology (your Apple Macbook Pro, and the internet), those of us who know what quality is, are able to seek it out and purchase it .... and then tell others about it quite easily.

My wife was born and raised in a communist country. After the Berlin Wall came down, people where she's from had a hard lesson to learn: That freedom and democracy, while GREAT, are not easy. There are no streets paved with gold, and with freedom comes immense responsibility. You have the freedom to do anything you want -- including fail.

It seems to me that America is in the process of re-learning that lesson. Except in this instance, it's not political freedom, it's the freedom to choose to buy and consume virtually ANYTHING. The American consumer has never had it so good. Products are incredibly plentiful and cheap. But with that tempting bounty comes an immense responsibility. Each purchase is a vote, after all. And the price of each good purchased is more than just a number. Factory-farmed meat is surely less expensive, but is that savings worth the other costs (less healthy, potentially harmful food, bankrupt family farms, etc.). Salty or sweet snack food with a shelf-life akin to the half-life of plutonium is cheap and readily available, but is it really worth the cost of obesity and diabetes? Plastic, made-in-China widgets are unbelievable cheap and plentiful, but do you like what that's done to the manufacturing sector in the States?

With the changing pace of the world this past 10 or 15 years, most people in developed countries (I don't want to just pick on America), have access to anything they need and want. We have a standard of living our grandparents couldn't even dream of! So it's up to us to learn when to step back from the metaphorical buffet and put down the metaphorical fork. It's up to us to slow down, learn contentment, learn to value the things you've earned, and not get distracted by the things some plastic-faced twit on television tells us we need. There's a lot of wisdom in Will's quote -- "I have a lot of high quality gear, now my goal is to wear it out having fun." I think that's a very very healthy outlook; one that will lead to a happy life.

Here endeth the sermon. I think I'm going to go find a bench somewhere and whittle!

-- Mark
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top