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

My condolences on your loss. It sounds like you have many memories to cherish, and you gave him many, as well.

I'll carry bone knives tomorrow in honor of Pa.
 
redsparrow said:
Randy, great boating story! Reminds me of a little adventure of mine.

My brother, me and another pair of brothers built a wooden raft inspired by the famous Kon-Tiki. We were going to be great adventurers by setting it and the four of us boys adrift on a small lake.

Since our raft was really just a number of small diameter logs loosely fasten together with twine and tied by inexperienced 10 year old hands, it didn't hold together well for long. There was quite a bit of shouting about our sinking condition and one of the boys in a panic chose to grab hold of a dead tree we were passing when we were still about 50 feet from shore. His bailing out lightened the raft and the three of us remaining managed to paddle to shore mostly dry before the raft completely disintegrated.

Now the tree the panicked boy was clinging to wasn't much more than a four inch pole jutting straight up out of the water. He valiantly clung to that wooden pole for dear life, all the while screaming about his inability to swim. This was a surprise to us but explained the poor kid's panicky condition. As the three of us who were safely on shore argued about how to go back out to rescue him, he ever so slowly slid down the tree until he stood chest deep in water and embarrassingly waded to shore.

We of course were very relieved our fellow adventurer made it to shore but, he still took a serious ribbing the next few days each time the story was retold.
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Another maritime saga -back in about 1975 I lived in the southern sydney suburb of Sutherland-(also known as The Shire pronounced "Shaaar" by the inhabitants of today and home to the infamous Cronulla Riot).
At that time the sewer system was being constructed. Lots of plant and equipment were left at the weekend in a compound at the end of my street. There were also massive trenches and tunnels under the road to explore for young Meako and his band of merry men. They had to divert a creek watercourse which involved digging a huge steep sided hole in the rocky, gravelly terrain. Like an ant lion pit.
One of the chaps decided we should build a raft out of all "the junk" left lying around the compound. It may have been inspired by a scene from the movie "A Bridge Too Far" you know the one -where Robert Redford and the boys paddle across the river under fire.
We lashed together some metal drums,timber poles and rope.
We slid it down the steep, slippery, loose side of the hole which had filled with water over 10feet deep. Brown ,murky ,treacherous looking water with who knows what under the surface (I should make clear that no large aquatic predators would have lurked there).
Down she went like he launching of the Titanic (who knew?). Followed by Matt and Hostie into the deeps. By this time she was listing badly and being decidedly awkward to board. Neither could get on and the more they tried the faster she sank. They abandoned the attempt and then it dawned on us -there was no way out of the pit of death.The sides collapsing into the water as they frantically tried to scramble up. Now clinging to up ended hulk they were struggling not to panic. Fortunately both could swim....but not indefinitely and certainly not until Monday when the Water Board workers were due to return. Now just for a bit of 3D realism get some water and gargle it in your throat whilst trying to say "help". Who will save them...? Find out next we... only joking it was me of course. Despite the calling me a chicken and lots of brrrk brrrk ber ggerrking(chicken sounds) because there was no way I was going in that death trap pit It was up to me to rescue my mates. I thought about this long and hard whilst they spluttered around down there. Luckily and its pure luck there was enough rope (nylon tie down stuff) to throw them a life line and haul them out .
After a lot of swearing and name calling and accusations of whose idea it was we found a shed that was unlocked or had been broken open (can't remember) which had dynamite looking stuff in small crates and detonators. Those two idiots were still licking their lips over that while I was back home in front of Dr Who.
 
I'm terribly sad for your loss- but I am also pleased to hear that Pa left in such a great way. It sounds like a very fitting end to a great life which to me feels very heart-warming to read.
It would be great to see his knives and possibly hear the stories to go with them.
 
Sincere condolences for your loss, Buzz. Pa sounds like a true friend and all-around great guy. I'm sure he appreciated having you as a son-in-law.
 
Buzz I am very sorry for you and your family's loss of Pa . He sounds like a man that I would have liked very much to have known . I will be carrying Stag and Bone tomorrow . Very interested in seeing pictures of his collection also.


Harry
 
Have any of you ever tried one of the slipjoint kits you can buy to build your own knife. I've been looking at them to maybe try one and just wanted to see if anyone has ever had any experience with one and what's your thoughts on them.
 
My sincerest sympathies to you and your family for the loss of your father-in-law, Buzz. Your post is a touching tribute.

- GT
 
First and foremost, my sincerest condolences to You and your Family Buzz!
I will carry a second traditional for him tomorrow.
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Not to derail or draw attention away, but the reason I poked my head in here is; I found a puukko for sale, and I can't find the tang stamp anywhere,
It is an owl on the one side, and what looks to be an owls eye on the other. No other identifying marks or names, nothing on the sheath which is just a brown leather pouch with a dangler ring. No idea if the sheath is original.

Does anyone have any ideas on it?
 
Sunday 9/11/16 we were on our way back from a wedding in PA and stopped in the Case Museum in Bradford, PA. It was well worth the visit. This was my first time there and I don't think it'll be my last. Nice folks, a great facility and the Museum store has all manner of goodies.

So, on arrival we managed to follow our GPS to a wrong address. It guess Case has a few buildings, at different locations, in the Bradford area.
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It was nice of everyone to come out and pose for a picture!
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Had to do it. The second picture is one from the museum.

Here's the Museum entrance and a picture of me in front of the Zippo mobile parked outside.
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I took a ton of pics. Here's some random shots from the Museum.
I would like to own these particular knives. 1900, 1913 and 1920.
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I have that Small Game knife from around the same period. Nice stag on it.
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There was a ton of Zippo memorabilia too, here's a few images.
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I wish I'd taken a few more pics of the stores offering but I got into a buying mode and, well, you know how that goes. They must have had Case's whole line on display and for sale. Here's a few images of the higher priced goodies, including some Case-Bose Collaborations, that I managed to avoid purchasing.
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I made it out of the store with only one item. My wife was quite pleased with my restraint!
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We continued on up the road stopping for dinner and a drink at the Belhurst Castle in Geneva, NY, located on Seneca Lake. We don't get here often enough but it's a great place if you want to splurge a little.
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Thanks for taking the time to look. If you have any questions, I'll try and answer them.
 
MT Damascus said:
Very cool, Gary, thanks for sharing. That pearl cattle knife is a beauty. What was for dinner?
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Thanks, Kris. Yeah I had my eye on those cattle knives.....
We were in a hurry to get home at that point so it was burgers, which are very good, and a drink. They have a number of restaurants there, all excellent.
 
Great pics, Gary! I like that wharncliffe Teardrop Jack you picked up, beautiful knife! :thumbup:
 
Gary-great tour of Case factory. I would love to visit there-can't see it happening anytime soon tho- I read with interest how you managed to score a new knife AND brownie points from SWMBO. Masterful stroke Sir .:thumbup:
 
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r redden said:
Have any of you ever tried one of the slipjoint kits you can buy to build your own knife. I've been looking at them to maybe try one and just wanted to see if anyone has ever had any experience with one and what's your thoughts on them.
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I haven't but Rough Rider make one and it looks fairly straightforward-also pricewise if it goes horribly wrong what the hay?:)
Give it a go Randy . I recently did a fixed blade "do your own handle" job and I like the way it turned out. See here for a pic
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1421967-seeking-advice-on-what-went-wrong
 
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