So I've been exceedingly busy for well over a week now, and it's coming to a head today and tomorrow (just finished working til 1am and will be back at it as soon as I can make it to the office tomorrow morning, probably at the same pace for at least 10 more hours). I am also ducking between BF database "errors" (*cough*nightly maintenance*cough*
) trying to post this, apparently. I finished my 1-knife challenge over the weekend and managed to get some pics here and there throughout the week, so I figured I would kill two birds with one stone. First, the bird everyone cares about.
I'll be holding onto the humble little Queen #26.
It's already patinated (I've imprinted upon it!
) and I've got a factory first #26 with cracked Delrin handles but no indication of the steel (if I can confirm D2, I'm going to rehandle the first, else the second with the PH-D2 stamp gets the nice pants), so it's nice having a choice of which frame will become "my little stockman". Therefore, and this is the important part, the prize for the GAW is going to be:
An unused, uncarried, minty Case #6318 medium stockman in brown jigged bone!
Complete with factory box.
Case's #18 medium stockman is probably the workhorse of their entire line, packing 3 Tru-Sharp blades into a mighty yet moderately-sized package, which exemplifies pretty much everything good about the pattern as my week with 1 knife demonstrated. This is a "great American knife" and I think it is a pretty good reward for a great American challenge. :thumbup:
I'll be gathering up all the post numbers that qualify from within the (amended) date range from the GAW announcement within the next couple days, once I get out from the mountain of work. :grumpy: The winner will be announced here in the thread and then
contacted by visitor message and email through the site for pertinent contact info. Good luck to everyone who took the time and effort to enter!
Now, the bird nobody really cares about. My week with the #26, in a coupla words and pictures.
I'm normally a big stockman guy. Used to my Case #75, prepping dinner was interesting, but the Queen and its "improved" master clip blade were up to the task. Frankly, I think I prefer this kind to the Turkish variety on the Case #18 in the GAW. Queen does the blade profiles just right for this size, IMO.
Unfortunately, most of the week was busy indoors and not really in too much need of cutting (maybe cutting my workload
), so the #26 had a lot of time to just goof off. I think it was stuck in a tree at one point, though...
Letting off steam after one particularly long day, I did a little experiment scooping some ice cream with the spey blade - in a new "brick" of ice cream you can carve a little shape out and make quick work of push-scooping it while it's still hard, but once it softens up you're pretty much searching for something better. Spey blades are just a little too small on the mediums to be great spreaders or scoopers, really, but the reduced cross-section at the tip helps it to better substitute for the missing pen blade.
In summation: The medium stockman pattern is possibly the quintessential "do-it-all" folding knife pattern for a lot of people... Just not for me.
Having one (or five) in my collection is a no-brainer, but when I think of what a #75, or an 8OT, or a 301 can bring to the table without costing too much more in weight or length (neither of which are at a premium in my pants
) I will choose the big fella more often than not. Different strokes for different folks, though, and I have a newfound respect for the #26 that earned its "EDC" etch in a whole new way, the beautiful Case #18 that is boxed and ready to be shipped to the randomly-chosen winning challenge post in the very near future, and all of the treasured medium stockman knives that grace the collections of the denizens of this porch.
Back to some old favorites this week so no challenge for me for a bit. I'm going to let the third little "birdy" go for now, but I will be sure to comment on some of these great knives and challenges as I have time to truly and properly read and appreciate them. Thanks to everyone for playing!
