Country boy or city slicker?

knarfeng said:
I grew up in the inland valleys around Los Angeles, though at that time, they were closer to country living than city.
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Really interesting thread. Frank's post made me think back to my childhood 50 years ago and remember that while I lived on the edge of a big city it was very different then to what it is today. Behind the house were acres of long-abandoned quarry and barely inaccessible woodland to roam and climb upon well away from grown-up eyes, at the top of the street was a small working farm, and 100 yards away was parkland and woods, which could be followed right out of the city (and in fact out of the county). All this living only 2 miles or so from the centre of one of England's biggest cities.
 
I grew up in a mix of both worlds really. It's mostly suburbs but there's still farms around. When your driving around you'll see a string of houses then maybe a field with goats, sheep, horses or even corn fields and then more houses. I grew up and still live in the suburban areas but as a child you'd catch me running around in the woods, down by a creek trying to catch some crayfish for fun or fishing. I wasn't allowed to have a knife as a kid (I know, sacrilige right!?). So, I drooled over everyone elses. I saw a little bit of every kind of knife gowing up. Unfortunately, none of them really stuck with me too much. So, I can't say where I live influences me much.

I'd say it's more the environment i'm gonna use the knife in that influences me. If i'm planning on building or fixing something, I'll take a SAK and a sodbuster. For yard work I'll take my sodbuster, douk douk or opinel. I match the knife to what I plan on doing with it. My everyday knife tends to be a peanut or maybe a douk douk depending on the pants I'm wearing. My only criteria for a knife is it has to be comfortable in a pocket or hand and pretty (if only to me). Though, I do tend to like single blades and jack knives, more so than others.
 
From the mountains is sw Virginia and East Tennessee. I live 45 minutes from a small farm town. We are so far back that law enforcement doesn't come in the valley after dark. Lots of farms in our county and from what knives I seen is mostly 3inch to 4 inch. Case mini trappers and medium stockmans being the knives of choice. All the older farmers and hillbillies carry full size trappers and stockmans. Now most of us are avid outdoorsman bc the appalachain trail is in our back yard. When we go into the mountains hunting we don't even carry a hunting knife. My cousins will go into the hills for days with nothing but small pocket knives. So I agree with Carl about area being a factor of knife choice.
 
Jack Black said:
Really interesting thread. Frank's post made me think back to my childhood 50 years ago and remember that while I lived on the edge of a big city it was very different then to what it is today. Behind the house were acres of long-abandoned quarry and barely inaccessible woodland to roam and climb upon well away from grown-up eyes, at the top of the street was a small working farm, and 100 yards away was parkland and woods, which could be followed right out of the city (and in fact out of the county). All this living only 2 miles or so from the centre of one of England's biggest cities.
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Yeah, even in my life time (I'm going to be 36 soon) things have changed.

Andover is 20 miles outside of Minneapolis. When I was a kid (around 10 or so) my uncle used to live there on a 80 acre plot of land and it was all rural area with farms surrounding him and everyone in the area used to hunt and had shooting ranges on their property. Now, 26 years later, it's not even legal to discharge a firearm there and it is clearly a suburb now and where there once were farms there are now neighborhoods.
 
I've grown up in both places off and on most my life, was born in rural Lancaster California, and immediately after moved to New England where I lived in the city for awhile, then my family decided to move down South for the warmer climate and we moved back and forth from city to country, my dad's dream was always to live in the country, he hated big cities, but circumstances forced us to constantly move back and forth.

Now I live in the "wilds" of Northwest Montana, in a city no less, but I have lived in many places here, from the woods to the city to about 20 miles from the Canadian border, and back to the city again, yeah I've moved a lot, and soon I'll be moving to tropical (at least to here) Florida. So I guess I don't have my roots in either the country or city, but wherever I've lived has effected my knife carry, I've changed what I carry so many times depending on my location, from a 6 inch fixed blade constantly on my belt, to nothing but a large Stockman, to more modern folders like Spyderco and Kershaw, now I carry two modern knives and at least one traditional knife, like an Opinel #8 or SAK, I miss carrying my Stockman and I do plan on buying a nice yeller Case Trapper soon, I miss having a good old traditional slip-joint in my pocket :(
 
I was born and raised a country boy. Wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I have had my foot in the city also, but to this date I'm a country boy down deep.

My 3.5" gunstock is considered pretty darn tiny :)

Kevin
 
I've never lived out in the country, but the nearest city with a population over 60,000 is 175 miles away, so I guess I'm more rural than many. Dad was in the gas business, so we moved around a lot when I was growing up. Aside from a couple of years in Omaha, it was small town living all the way. When I joined the Navy out of high school, I got to see some big cities. Orlando, Chicago, D.C., New York City, Hartford CT, Honolulu, all served to convince me that I really don't like people that much, so when I got out I went back to small town living, and that's where I'm staying. If there is such a thing as a minimalist gene, I don't have one. I carry a ridiculous assortment of cutlery every day, whether I think I'll need it or not, just because I can. I mostly stay within the 4" legal limit on blade length, but pretty much anything with a handle length under 3" is just a dust collector. I guess you could say I prefer larger knives.
 
I grev up in a small mining town where my father had his job as a geologist, but I have roots as much on countryside on my mothers home farm. I spent a lot of time on this farm during summers and on my family's summer cottage. Later we moved to a larger town and then to a city.

Still I feel quite at home near my childhood places. I still travel every summer to the area. The lakes and forests there are so beautifull.

Especially during those summertimes Finnish puukko was used quite a lot. Whittling, making wooden swords for playfights. Gutting and cleaning fish after angling on the lakeside. Later when I bowhunted puukko belonged at my side.

During my martial arts training I learned some knife technigues and fencing, that gave me an interest in swords and knives as weapons.
 
I grew up in a NE Pennsylvania small city, and carried an Imperial Barlow from time I was 8 until HS. It was about that time when knife carry (and bringing your rifle to school for hunting in the afternoon) began to be frowned upon. After going to college in the Poconos and hiking around the Delaware Water Gap section of the Appalachian Trail I started to carry a knife again, but as I was back and forth to the city it was a small lockback.

It wasn't until my kids became Scouts and I got involved that I regularly carried a knife again, and up until a couple of years ago it was a big SAK, either a Swiss Champ or a one handed Trekker. Since finding this forum I've loved seeing the patterns that I remember looking at in the hardware store display cases as a kid. I live in the suburbs now but spend nearly every weekend camping or at the lake, so I guess I'm an in-betweener.
 
I've always been a smaller knife guy. As a kid I quickly learned that my Cub Scout knife was much more handy than my big Buck knife. I grew up on the edge of town on the Wisconsin river. I always thought of myself as a river rat more than anything. The river on one side and woods and swamp all around the other side. I spent all my free time there. In the summers I spent all my time off from school building Highways all over the midwest. I think that more than anything showed me smaller knives were just easier to carry. It would be so hot, outside in the sun all day that I really didn't want to carry anything more than I needed.
 
I grew up in the country, in a village with about 600 souls (well, ~500m outside of the village :D). In primary school I always carried one of those large locking Victorinox knives and spent a lot of time in the woods or on my friends' farms. I guess that's the reason why about 3.5'' is the smallest I enjoy carrying.
The overall dimensions are a bit smaller in Switzerland and the biggest city is just 45 minutes away where I went to university, but I never bothered to carry a more "city-friendly" knife. The city does have its benefits, but I don't think I'd ever be really comfortable living there.
 
Great thread Carl!

I've always lived in the suburbs, some more rural then others. My early years were spent in SE Ohio and as a kid I always had my Cub Scout knife in my pocket and it got used a lot, doing kid stuff.

We made a big move to Central NY when I was about 12. When folks think NY they always think NYC, but NY has some pretty rural and even wild areas. We lived just south of the Adirondack State Park and my summer weekends and vacations were spent on the lakes and streams that Nessmuk traveled. I always had a Barlow in my pocket and a knife on my belt. They really got used. My dad was an avid fisherman and we were always tramping around the wilderness looking for elusive native trout. Half of the time we were lost. Many a night spent under a tarp, or under the stars, with a fire going. Thank God for the compass and Topographic maps we brought along. Winters found us trapping, small game hunting and ice fishing. I couldn't have asked for a better place to grow up.

I guess that set the stage for me. I did my stint in the Air Force and got my Electrical Engineering education at Syracuse U. My career was spent in a suit so my daily carry was always something small. I didn't have much use for a knife at work, but I always had one with me. I've always loved the outdoors and even though working and raising 4 kids took up a lot of time, I maintained my connection with the forests and streams I love. I don't hunt much anymore but you can find me on the trout streams, during the season. Off season it's hiking and snow shoeing. Now that I'm retired, even more so. I always have a knife or two in my pockets and usually one on my belt.
 
I have been raised in the country, even though I lived in a suburb the first couple years of my life, I don't really count those, they weren't enough to affect me. I went through the tactical stage, but today as I look back my Greatest influence has been my grandad.he always carried either an Imperial or a buck 301 that his dad gave him. Unfortunately, that 301 was lost last year on a vacation in Alabama when we were checking crab traps. Left it on the dock and someone took it. I know it would bring a smile to his face if I found him a replacement 301 and gave it to him, I'll have to do that when I go see him this year. Anyways, when I started eying traditionals I thought of how Grandad could fix pretty much anything with his buck, and I decided to give them a try. There's no turning back. So, I was more affected by a person than my environment, but I can say traditional knives definitely fit in better in the urban scene. Just my 2 cents.
 
I was born and live as a suburbanite. I was born in Nevada so I was never far away from the desert where my mom and dad went deer hunting every season. My dad had case knives a case pen knife for his pocket and a case sheath knife for dressing deer which he did in our backyard. Moved to Calif when I was five and wish I could remember more about Nevada. Became pretty much a city boy in California until about 30 years ago when I moved to the Central Valley of the state which is very agricultural. We are an hour and a half from National Parks and an hour away from hiking and camping sites that are remote. We try to get up there in the Sierras as often as possible. I've always had a knife and my current knife of choice is a Buck 301 Stockman. I might go down to a Buck Cadet and I really don't need a knife any bigger on a daily basis. I also have a Buck 110 and a Mora.
 
sgbeskin said:
I grew up in the swamps of south Mississippi and Louisiana. Now, I still live on 1,000 acre farm, in a very rural area of south Mississippi. No suburbs here. My daddy always carried a Case trapper. I carry either a large MooreMaker Stockman, that I have had since 2001. Or I carry my new Great Eastern 74 saddle trapper that my wide gave me for Christmas. I get a lot of use from an old Tramotina machete around here too!
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Love to see some photos!
 
What do you want pictures of? The knives or the scenery? Let me know and I'll see what I can do.
 
I grew up on a ranch in central Texas where we raised Beefmaster cattle and a few Thoroughbred race horses. Until I turned 18 and went to college, I spent nearly every weekend fixing fence, feeding cattle and horses, hauling hay, or some combination of the above. It was hard work, and it still is, but I was lucky to grow up that way. I got to spend a lot of time roaming around with my dogs and a pellet gun or a .22, harassing the possum and armadillo population. My father only carried trappers, mostly an Eye Brand with stag, but also a Case mini trapper. My grandfather carried the same Buck trapper for years. I live in town now, but I still own the ranch, and the smallest knife I carry is a sodbuster, because anything smaller than that feels wrong in my hands. Then too, I never know when I'm going to have to do a little surgery, and a peanut or pen knife is just too small to control while I'm doing that. Mostly I carry a full-sized trapper or something in that size range.
 
Great thread !!!!! I often find myself looking at the location of the members post just as much as the knife the carry. I am from Kentucky and from the country... All the men in my family carried larger folders ( tl29, stockmans,sodbusters and such) when they were younger... The trend now seems to be a medium stockman or a 3 3/4 " congress .... That's what I have been seeing lately... I am stuck on carrying two types of knives at the same time..... A Sodbuster jr or an 4 inchish imperial stockman Lockback along with a medium size pen knife or medium size stockman
 
Good idea for a thread. I grew up in rural MD, always had a folding Buck in my pocket or belt at the house/farm or camping. Live next to the jungle now (Baltimore) , but I carry what I want/feel like in a urban-semi-suburban area. For ex., I might strap on my Becker BK-9 while working around the house, and then just leave it on all day, while walking the dog, running about town, then later slicing porterhouses for the grill.

Get some strange looks sometimes, but if you don't do it,(just like exercising your right to carry- not me though, I live in communist MD), you risk losing your rights.
 
Nice thread. I grew up 10 minutes from the city on a small horse farm. I always wanted my dads barlow but he wouldnt give it up so I carried a cheap jackknife or anything I could get my hands on sometimes 4 or 5 at a time. The old man next door to my grandma took me fishing when I was 7 and hunting when I was 10 or 11 because he needed a fishing and hunting buddy and taught me the importance of a sharp fixed blade ive passed it onto many young people along with a knife or two. I live 12 miles from home now and still out away from the city. Close is nice but all the ruckus of the city drives me nuts.
 
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