Cold Steel Ozark Hunter To use or not to use.

Grateful

Grateful

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Oct 5, 2002
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Last summer a very generous forum member who I did not know gifted me this mint in box Ozark Hunter. He had read an old post of mine where I expressed my strong desire to have one of these hard to find beauties. This knife is a Grail knife to me and to say I was suprised is an understatement. I was humbled by the generosity of this act and still am today.
I have not carried it at all, have not even slipped it into my pocket. It remains minty fresh. I unbox it every few weeks to admire then back in the plastic sleeve and into the box it goes.
I have had a few knives along the way that due to there monetary value I should not have probably used them. I never even gave it a second thought, I would sharpen and carry them with no thought to there value or loss of.
And my delima now has nothing to do money or of the knives value but more of an almost Holy reverence for this knife that is so special to me. When I first saw one I wanted one, yes I thought, that's perfect. Finding out it was called an Ozark Hunter, I am from the Ozarks, made me think of the hills and hollers I roamed in my younger days. My experiance with Carbon V steel was very positive.
Yeah this knife is special to me, and a lot of other folks I bet. So I wonder should I keep it in its present condition, to be enjoyed by myself and future collectors or should I carry and use, sort of put my own mark on it?
I know they are hard to find. I believe that are sought after and desirable to collectors. I also know that I have plenty of knives to carry and use now.
I also know that life is short and that its all just stuff. That there really is nothing Holy about it and that in the grand scheme of things it makes no diffrence to the world as we know it if I carry it or not. It's just something I am hung up about for some reason.
So I ask you good forum members, give it to me straight please, should I carry this Carbon V beauty or continue to preserve it?

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If it makes you happy to carry and use it, do it. If it makes you happy to ogle and fondle it, do it. You are the master of your domain.
 
i joined bladeforums looking for one. i bought an original remington 1306 and 1303 1984 made by camillus, and have had a few queen mountain man models over the years. i'd like to get the slipjoint versions by ohta, johnson and pena. i finally found an ozark hunter last year and promptly forced a patina. the fit and finish is horrible on mine, compared to the camillus models i had, and the queen i have. i'm sending mine to glenn trowbridge for new scales and hopefully some tlc on the milled parts. i would carry it.
 
I find that as long as you keep your "special" knives away from nasty cutting jobs they can remain "minty" for 20+ years.
Average cutting doesn't scar a knife.
When you run into a big pile of cardboard to be cut up, just remember... That's why God gave us Opinels.
But if anyone asks if you have a knife and all you have is the Ozark Hunter, say "No." and quietly walk away. :)
Doc
 
Sooner or later somebody is going to absolutely ruin that knife. It might be from 50 years of carrying and using it. It might be from dropping it to the bottom of a lake the first time it leaves the house. I can't guarantee how that knife will end up being a pile of scrap, but I can guarantee that some day it will happen. The question is, do you want to be the one that gets to help it on down that road or do you want to delay the inevitable as long as possible. For me personally, if a knife meant that much to me I'd hate to think that somebody else would get to have all the fun with it while I just got to look at it and imagine how great it could be. Other people are the opposite and get their kicks out of the preservation. Figure out what's more enjoyable to you and jump in with both feet. Really, you can't lose either way. I'd bet that there's even a third group of people that enjoy the tension of not knowing whether or not today's going to be the day that they sully a minty fresh knife by carrying it. As long as you're enjoying your experience with your knife there's really no wrong answer. On the other hand, the only 100% correct answer is to get another one and preserve one while using the other. Heck, get a third one and toss it in the lake just to cover all your bases. :p

Very cool knife by the way. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
Sounds like everyone is giving me the green light. I'm not suprised. We all know using them is more fun than saving them. Now I feel silly for even asking. :p

Jim
 
Cory nailed it! :thumbup::thumbup:

I had the same dilemma with my Buckeye Trapper. I decided it would someday fall to catastrophe no matter what and it was too nice of a knife to not use. I get compliments on it every time someone sees it. It convinced my friend that knives are worth collecting. I smile everytime I see it and often take it out just to admire it. That to me is worth a little wear and patina.

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I'm sure that generous forum member who gave it to you wanted you to get the most out of your Ozark Hunter and you should!
 
I'd carry that bad boy.

It was given to you. Pretty darned generous!


For me, the knives I have been gifted make the best users! Makes me appreciate them even more.


I too wish I had grabbed the full set when they were available. But that was before my interest in traditionals was rekindled.
 
I say use it and enjoy it. My $0.02 is that you will get more enjoyment out of using it than you would ogling it anyway. Just maybe have something else handy for truly ugly jobs. As Doc4570 points out above, that is what we invented opinels for :).
 
I would enjoy using the knife because that is how I live my life. I never owned 'safe queens' when it comes to stuff - objects.

What does not get used in my life gets gifted or sold or I do not buy it.

I have received several gifts in my life that I enjoyed immensely. I enjoyed what I was given and used the gifts. I still have some of those gifts and others got gifted or sold down the road.

Now, I know that many people do not live as I do. I figure to each their own even if I don't understand how they think and live and vice versa.

It reminds me of people (Not my family.) who buy, buy and buy more STUFF and when they get ill, weak, close to death or DIE - they never got to ENJOY what they owned because they were always saving it for some FUTURE DATE! They did not even use their special stuff aka objects once a week, monthly or even on holidays.

What a waste in my opinion!

I will add this here too. It is your knife aka stuff. So you can choose to do what you want to do with your own personal property. Like the one poster said in so many words... you are the master of your own domain!

Cate
 
Thanks to all who replied. Obviously the overall feeling is that I should use it and enjoy it. And I think you all are absolutely right. I guess I knew that all along, I just needed a little push in the right direction. Thanks again.

Jim
 
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