Changing opinion.

J

jackknife

Joined
Oct 2, 2004
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A while back I made a staement that while I carried a sak, it was just a sort of tool for my use, and would never really have a place of honor among my prized posessions. That a sak was too impersonal to develope an attachment to.

I was wrong.

For some months now I have been just carrying the pocket knives from my bitter sweet cigar box, the knives of past on family and friends. But no matter what I had in the side pocket of my pants, there has been a nylon pouch on my hip with a small AAA LED flashlight and a Wenger SI. I would use the Wenger SI for jobs that I deemed too grundgy or rough for my dad's old peanut, or grandads old stag Hen and Rooster. Of course as fate would have it, there seems to have been alot of those jobs of late.

Today was a mother! I had the lower deck torn out as I was tired of having to maintian it every summer, power washing, spraying on wood preservitive. After 20 years it was needing to be replaced, but I just had the thing demolished, leaving a bare section of dirt 40 feet out and about 12 wide. I decieded to just have more lawn. So after two runs to Home Depot I had 24 bags of 40 pounds of top soil to open and rake out with two large bags of grass seed to rake into it, and 6 mini bales of straw to scatter over it to keep the birds from eating the grass seed.

It took me all afternoon to load and unload 24 bags of top soil and get them around back of the house, but I was curious to see if I could still manage a bit of heavy work at my age. It was a grey chilly drizzling day, and it was all muddy, and a bear to do. Probably you young guys would have have it done in two hours, so just be quiet.

Anyways, to the knife content; I used my Wenger SI to cut open 24 dirty, muddy bags of dirt, dirty bailing twine off the minibales of hay, opened bags of grass seed, sharpen a few stakes to stretch some twine between to level the yard slightly away from the house. Usually cutting open those dirty bags of top soil is hard on a knife, so I was surprised that at the end of the day, the Wenger was still servicably sharp. It is not the hair shaving sharp it was this morning, but after cutting through alot of dirt coated 40 pound bags, and dirty twine, i's not too bad. I'll give it a touch up anyways, but as I was washing it out at the sink I was a little surprised that I realized I'd become attached to it.

There is no jigged bone handles, no mellow golden stag, not even a nice grey patined blade. The checkered alox handles look the same as they did, the stainless blade has a bit more scratches, but I looked at it and it was my knife. MY KNIFE. Somehow, when I was not looking, it had developed a personallity enough to become unique. The pattern of wear is something I'm familiar with. I look at it and I can recall cutting the hiking sticks for a couple of family members to aid them in crossing a stream on a hike. I can remember tightening a vital conection on Karen's Vespa scooter when it started to act up on a ride last summer. It's been usefull in taking down my Smith & Wesson 617 for cleaning after a shooting session, as it has done for my old Marlin 39 and Karen's K22. Like the scout knife I carried as a kid, it has many functions.

I don't know exactly when, but it's become an old friend.

Will surprises never cease?
 
Wow, JK, I have no words. I remember us having this discussion about whether SAKs can or cannot become personal, and I remember asking you if your dad had carried a SAK rather then a Case, if it would make a difference. Well, my friend, I am glad to read what you wrote. It is interesting, though, how things change right before your eyes and you don't even realize it, isn't it? I MYSELF never thought I'd see the day where I'd have you talking about a SAK on a personal level. I love mine, and yes, the Super Tinker is a dime a dozen, but....... I guess it's like the Marines chanted in Full Metal Jacket "This is MY rifle. There are many like it but THIS one is MINE!!!!" Knives, and most posessions for that matter, being what they are, only gain value through use. Those scratches, dents, dings, etc., is what makes an object, a knife in this case, our own. We can remember when that scratch happened. We can remember the time the knife fell and got a dent in the handle. We remember the time we were sharpening the blade, slipped, and put a big mark on the side of it. These marks are the stories of our lives, and they are what make these tools our friends. Glad to see you've come around my friend.
Ok, so I had a few words.
 
I know how you feel. When I got my first camillus electricians knife a few years back I thought "what an ugly knife". I bought it to use as a beater at work. Well that knife wound up living in my pocket from 5am until 7 or 8pm at least 5 days a week and often on weekends. On days that work was slow it got to ice fishing, on canoe trips, and small game hunting with me. When I get home from work it cuts squash and broom corn from the garden and opens my mail. That knife that I had no attraction to several years back is my constant companion now and has a lot of character. Weird how things change..... Joe
 
I'm 52 years old and I cannot attach Character & Soul to a SAK.
Then again I cannot attach Character & Soul to a firearm unless it is Blue & Wood either.

I was raised and with carbon steel and slip joints.
GI Demo , or a Camp knife by Case or Camillus...I still prefer to a SAK if truth be known.

Recent events with special folks that have ties to my past, well, they said what my gut has been sharing.
Case Peanuts, Boker 204's, Hen & Rooster, Case Barehead Trappers...and others, I did everything with one, from opening a Coke bottle, to cutting a real steel can , to being out in the woods and dressing game to - name it.
Why I even managed to keep up a mustache without scissors on a knife in pocket, remove splinter and pick my teeth without those accessories.
My first SAKs did not have tweezers or toothpicks.

I wrestle with letting go off SAK totally, then I think a Bantam or Classic in a shaving kit makes sense for travel.

Still a Case Barehead Trapper, with CV blades, and Yellow Handles, will take care of a yard project similar to yours, clean game, open a Coke Bottle, cut rope, toss sparks with a mag starter to make a fire and ...

I lived all these years with a single blade or two blade, rarely a multi blade knife.

Sheath knife for outdoors, Old Hickory 3 1/4" paring knife has proved itself too many time doing yard, outdoor duty.
I'm known to reach for one of those if too lazy to reach into my pocket for a slip joint, and I'm not referring to reaching for a SAK.

It is all good, just each person has to define tool for task for them.


Steve
 
I'm kind of in the middle on this. I love my SAK and am very attached to it. But, they don'tt have the same kind of romance like an old slipjoint with a bolster and scales does.
 
db said:
I'm kind of in the middle on this. I love my SAK and am very attached to it. But, they don'tt have the same kind of romance like an old slipjoint with a bolster and scales does.
Click to expand...

I totally agree on that, and my sak will never get to the point of my dads pocket knife. But I'm still surprised at my getting attached to it. It's not like the romance of old stag or wondering at the skill of the old cutler who hand set the pins. But more like a favorite old coat or pir of boots that you've become very comfortable using. Over time it's gained some memories of places and things.

A bit over 20 years ago, for some stupid reason I don't remember, I traded off a Smith and Wesson model 18. Thats the K frame .22 revolver in the 4 inch barrel vs the K22 like Karen has. For the past 15 years I regretted it. Of course now they don't make that model anymore, so a year and a half ago I had to "settle for" the model 617 in four inch. This is a stainless steel revolver on the K frame, with a 10 shot cyclinder. It does not have near the style and cosmetic beauty of the old K22, but on the range side by side it's as good if not a bit better. As a shooter its a great piece of hardware.

To my surprise, much like the Wenger SI, I've become fond enough of it that I now shoot it almost exclusivily. No deep luster blue, no nice grained hardwood grips, just mat finished stainless and Hogue rubber grips. But I've come to love the gun. It's MY gun now. Using about a box a week of Federal bulk ammo at 550 rounds a box, its has many thousands of rounds through it, and the single action trigger pull has broken into the crisp proverbial glass rod. The double action is smooth as silk. This is going to be a keeper.

Maybe old dogs can still learn something once in a while. But I'll still preffer the looks of a nice old stag pocket knife or a blued gun with smooth old walnut to hang onto like my old Marlin. Maybe it's okay to have the best of both worlds. I have grandads old stag stockman, and dad's old Woodsman, and I'll use them now and then for old times sake. But having a few of the "modern" ones around won't hurt. Particularly if its going to be wet, muddy and grundgy.

Steak is great, but sometimes a really good burger is a very nice thing to have.:)
 
sm2 said:
Still a Case Barehead Trapper, with CV blades, and Yellow Handles, will take care of a yard project similar to yours, clean game, open a Coke Bottle, cut rope, toss sparks with a mag starter to make a fire and ...
Click to expand...

Steve, how do you open a coke bottle with a cae trapper? Very interested. THanks!
 
Trapper and Trapper Jr, have a spey blade.
Barehead Trapper just the clip.

One way is to get down past the blade and near where pivots, and ease up on the crinkly part.

Another is to get that part of blade near this, to get "bites" on the crinkly part, and lift "out" in a few places, the "fizz" will let you know the top is getting loose.

Spey blades, get up and under and easing in a few places does the same thing.

I might hurt my knife

Then don't use the Trapper.
Instead that is what the bone stock Gov't model of 1911 with Lanyard ring , and USGI/Colt 7 rds you are CCWing is for.

I mean knives are great and all, just sometimes a RC tastes better when opened by a 1911 with lanyard ring.

*grin*
 
Any knife, however 'industrial' or impersonal that puts up with a lot of work is bound to earn respect. And, it's all relative-the slipjoints that we own today and perhaps baulk at using on beater tasks would have been sacrificed on the altar of necessity in previous times. How many thousands of Peanuts, Stockmans, Trappers etc had blades busted, rusted or worn off, scales cracked and bolsters burred in the course of having been used as tough work knives?

MUST get an alox SAK but WHICH one??? Farmer looks good but maybe a bit thick or bulky, this HAS to be the last knife I buy this month, but there again, not enough Stockmans in my corral.....
 
What a touching post.

the fact is that tools are just that: things we use to get tasks done. Sure, some might have more sentimental value than others due to who gave it to us, etc. However, any tool that assists us in our time of need, and repeatedly does so, is bound to take a special place in our hearts.

I collect knives, but I also know that the ones that mean the most are the ones that I use to make my life easier and richer. My little beat up queen means a lot because it is by my side constantly and is the knife I take out of my pocket to do odd jobs, open letters and cut my nephew a piece of apple.

Anyway, thanks for the nice post. Too often we hear about tactical, impractical pieces that end up in a drawer or back up on ebay. A trusted friend is a true gift, and yes, even a SAK can be a trusted friend.

Brett
 
jackknife said:
MY KNIFE. Somehow, when I was not looking, it had developed a personallity enough to become unique. The pattern of wear is something I'm familiar with. I look at it and I can recall cutting the hiking sticks for a couple of family members to aid them in crossing a stream on a hike. I can remember tightening a vital conection on Karen's Vespa scooter when it started to act up on a ride last summer. It's been usefull in taking down my Smith & Wesson 617 for cleaning after a shooting session, as it has done for my old Marlin 39 and Karen's K22. Like the scout knife I carried as a kid, it has many functions.
Click to expand...

I thought the same about SAK's, cold, sterile little pieces with no personality. That was until I looked at my Swisschamp (carried for about 12 years) and thought about where it has been, sometimes with me along with it, some good and bad memories. Then, that SAK became an 'old friend.' I saw it as a knife is just a knife, the memories with it give it a personality. Corny as it sounds.
 
In the original "SAKs got no soul" thread, or whatever the title was, I posted how my humble Vic Huntsman is the most sentimentally valuable of my knives. Yeah, it's utilitarian and mass-produced, but it was my first knife and I saved up and bought it myself when I was twelve. I grew up poor, so I remember being really proud to own a quality tool and to have gotten it myself. I remember in the months that I was saving up ($25 bucks was a lot for a kid in 1982), how I would look at the various models an agonize over the pros and cons of the different configurations. That Huntsman has been my constant companion when at work or play for most of my life since then (I am now 36), and it bears the marks of regular, hard use.

If I lost one of my Bark rivers, I'd be irate and buy another. My Huntsman can't really be replaced, though. For me, the sentimentality of a thing has to do more with the circumstances of its acquisition and the amount of time its been with you.

I had put it away for my daughter to have when she's old enough, but now I think I'll start edcing it again!
 
Don't tell anyone I am sentimental, I'll deny it. *grin*

Tradition for a first Dove Hunt, is the giving of a knife.
Especially kids. Kids are our Future on so much, so passing forward is important.
Opener for Dove is a big tradition here in the South.

Old Timers, Case Peanuts and similar, just what one did.
Kids.
Schools will not let kids take knives to school now-a-days. <cuss>
Shrade was not Shrade anymore in our eyes, and there was a mix up getting in the Case Peanuts.

Mad dash for SAK Classics, Pink for the Girls, Blue for the boys.
Got the moms Red and Yellow ones...had to get what we could fast, and local.

These knives mean the world to these single moms and kids that went Dove Hunting for the first time.
Some doves the Taxidermist did, and some have that SAK classic right up there with it.

These knives are that sentimental, and not used.
They have newer ones just like them, and these get used, but that first Dove Hunt was really special, and meant a lot to everyone.

So I understand and appreciate all this.
I do dumb stuff like eye all the stuff on the wall at Cracker Barrel and drift off...
Antique?
I grew up with that stuff! *grin*
 
Great thread!

I just realized my SAK is my most used and carried knife!
I have had it for 35 years.

It was in my mess kit, so it went on all my travels and backpacking trips (extensive).
Went with me thru the army, and yearly reserve duty.
I went to Rabbincal School, and off came the handles with the cross, (nice Jewish boy could not carry a knife with a cross on it)
So it is still with the bare metal.

It was the only corkscrew in the house for years. (that is a lot of wine!)

And now it comes on the camping trips and picnics.

And the ratty blue cord lanyard is 25 years old.
that is why I am so attached to it...

Character & Soul in a SAK?
Yes for sure!!!
 
neeman said:
Great thread!

I just realized my SAK is my most used and carried knife!
I have had it for 35 years.

It was in my mess kit, so it went on all my travels and backpacking trips (extensive).
Went with me thru the army, and yearly reserve duty.
I went to Rabbincal School, and off came the handles with the cross, (nice Jewish boy could not carry a knife with a cross on it)
So it is still with the bare metal.

It was the only corkscrew in the house for years. (that is a lot of wine!)

And now it comes on the camping trips and picnics.

And the ratty blue cord lanyard is 25 years old.
that is why I am so attached to it...

Character & Soul in a SAK?
Yes for sure!!!
Click to expand...

How cool. I bet you could get it re-handled if you want.

Thanks for sharing,
brett
 
Out of my four SAKs (paltry collection, I know) there are two with soul. An old Wenger, model unknown, that my Grandpa gave me when he was still alive and a Vic Camper that my wife found in a field when she was a teenager and gave to me on my birthday this year. Both have their share of battle scars. Both remind me of important people. Both have done their fair share of work. Both have as much soul as any current production trapper or stockman I've purchased, myself, in the last five years.

Great thread.

Frank
 
I believe the Natural Order of Things is a part of all this.

I grew up with what I did.
Mentors & Elders passed forward to me, the tools and use of tools of these times.
So for me, a Case, or Camillus Camp knife, or the GI Demo knife was the Multi Bladed pocket-knife with screwdriver, can opener, bottle opener...

This Camp or Scout knife was toted, or tossed into a pack, or vehicle, or whatever.
SAKs came along much later in my life that fills this role now.

Beaded Key chains with Novelty knives with various store , or brand name logos, with various configurations, from being a really small single pen blade, to pen blade with scissors, or scissors and nail file with screwdriver tip (no pen blade), to just a bottle opener existed.
SAK Classic today fills the role of pen blade, nail file with screwdriver blade...later the tweezer and toothpick was added.

My childhood guns were Wood & Blue, and knives were slipjoints with carbon steel blades.

Childhoods today include SAKs and Polymer guns, and 10, 20, 30...years later these are/will be the childhood memories and mementos.

I have seen the old Camp Knife and Single shot .22 rifles and shotguns on the Wall at Cracker Barrel...

Not too sure how I am going to react to seeing a SAK and Polymer gun hung up on that Cracker Barrel wall someday.

Natural Order of Things as they say...
 
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