Country boy or city slicker?

I grew up on a small farm in Tennessee. My dad and grandad always carried a folding knife and it was regarded more as a day to day tool than anything else. It could cut wood, skin and animal, peel an apple or cut a plug from a watermelon. I traded for my own first folding knife when I was in the 4th grade. Throughout my working life I carried a large stockman (throughout my time in the army I carried a KA-BAR stockman though it was destroyed in a plant where I worked some years after I was discharged in '75). After that I got a Buck Stockman and I've owned 3 (lost not broken or worn out). About 15 years ago on the job (and I used my knife almost daily on the job) I noticed how often I was fumbling with one hand so I got a small CaseXX M3 FNN SS it's a fixed blade, blade is a little longer than 3 inches. Most days now I carry the Case, the Buck or a knife from my collection. Most times I carry a 3.5 to 4.5 inch blade. I think the "country" background has to do with the knife being part of my every day "stuff". Tomorrow's Sunday. I'll probably carry one of my "nicer" knives to church (yes I do that). I do leather work and carry folders in belt pouches. A knife is as normal for me as my keys and wallet.
 
I've always lived in the city. Grew up here in St. Louis. I've spent quite a bit of time in the country though, between staying at farms of friends and other outdoor activities. Many times I've thought about how nice it would be to live there, but that's easy to say after only a temporary stay. I have a feeling that I would miss the convenience of a 5-10 min drive for just about anything I want or need. When it comes to knives I carry whatever strikes my fancy at the time. I can get by with just about any knife, large or small. Lately I've been using my larger knives, though. A GEC #73, a #74, a Buck 301 and even a 110 have gotten the most use. I am fortunate that I don't have a "dress code" or uniform at work, so my jeans or work pants can handle any of my knives with ease.

The aspect of my knife carry that city life does affect the most is a sheath knife. I could legally carry one if I really wanted to, but for the most part it's not worth the unwanted attention. It's so much more practical to have a folder concealed in my pocket, even if it's less convenient.
 
I have always lived in the city, but as with you I love visiting the country. I like backpacking, hiking, fishing, canoeing, and roughing it. But I'm always happy to come back and be surrounded by 5+ million people, public transit, and good restaurants. :)

I use to carry mostly "tactical" flavored gear, but gradually my tastes have changed, and I've moved towards more traditional accessories. That includes my pocketknives, but also includes pens, watches, shoes, and attire. I don't know if its because I'm getting older (sic.) or what. I suspect some of it is actually the influence of the city I'm in, Chicago. Which is not very friendly towards what they perceive as weapons - it's easier to "sell" a traditional stockman as a tool, than it is a big tactical folder...but honestly, I'm a sucker for the craftsmanship and aesthetic too.

Great thread. Very interesting reading.
 
I grew up in a small town in Indiana, surrounded by farms. My friends and I spent a lot of time in the woods. I started carrying a pocket knife because my grandad did. I had several cheap folders as a boy. The only two I didn't lose or break were the first one I bought with my own money (Colonial barlow), and the last gift I gave my grandad (Schrade 708Y). We did a fair amount of backpacking when I was in high school. I carried the barlow and some fixed blade I no longer have (most likely a Buck).

Next stop was college in the only city I ever lived in, and even that was rather small (Columbia, South Carolina). Between college and graduate school I worked construction, building docks, marinas and boat slips on the lakes of South Carolina. That is when I started carrying a Victorinox Fieldmaster every day, a habit that lasted over 25 years. Other than those years in Columbia, I have always lived in small towns, whether in Pennsylvania or the Carolinas.

For me a pocket knife was always just a tool, and one no man should ever be without. Now I am also enjoying the aesthetic pleasure of a well constructed and beautiful knife. In all these years (I bought my first knife nearly 45 years ago), I have probably owned no more than three or four pocket knives that were over 4". I just never had a need for something that large.
 
I was born in NW St. Louis county in a subdivision that was completely surrounded by farms and was bordered on one side by a very large quarry ... which supplied the gravel to build I-270 (I'm 57). My brother and I spent every waking moment in the woods with our Boy Scout camper knives and BB guns. I also had a Colonial Jack that my G'father gave me. We only had two rules from our dad - don't cut down live trees and don't shoot small animals unless we intended to eat them. We both had hand axes and shared a WW2 USN Ka-Bar type knife that we rescued from my grandmother who was using it as a garden tool. When I got into High School I always had my small Camillus Pen Knife (which I still have) in my pocket. Carried it all the way through college. In the Navy I used an "issue" TL-29 (which I still have) and a very stout, all metal, linerlock, one handed japanese folder called the Explorer "Little Stubby". I also carried a Gerber Multi-Tool (first version - just didn't care for the first Leatherman). I also carried a small SAK whose only function was to cut the tips of my cigars. After the Navy I've worked in a town about 100 miles north of St. Louis. I carried various small Buck "pen" knives and small Buck all metal lockbacks. About 8 years ago I started carrying a Kershaw (various versions). I got "bit" by the trad folder bug about a year ago and now I'm a trad slippie guy. My EDC is usually a 3.5" GEC in the #66 family. I got a BJM from Doug Add that has been in my pocket for weeks now! My interest in trad knives was launched by a break-in of my garage where a very old CASE fixed blade was stolen ... and I realized that I had knives all over the place that needed to be collected in one place and managed (for safety purposes) since my Grand-daughter is now tall enough and strong enough and curious enough to get into drawers and cabinets. I still have (and have always carried) a small SAK in my pocket even though my wife took away my cigars 12 years ago (a small tumor will cause that kind of draconion over-reaction).
 
I grew up in Northern California, in a little town called Cottonwood, 16 miles north of Red Bluff, 16 miles south of Redding, 73 (iirc) miles away from the grandparents in Burney, CA. We had an acre that the house was on and we had to help with yardwork but its dry cattle country with lots of scrub oak. We went hunting four to six weekends a year and fishing two or four times a year. So although I lived in a rural area, I'm probably safer saying I a country cousin rather than a country boy. Moved to Sacramento to finish out college and stayed because I didn't want to go home. Got on with the gov't and worked three years in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and have lived in Oroville, WA for a bit more than 10 years now. A lot closer to the country, easier to fancy myself a country boy but I'd get myself into trouble in a hurry. I think I can run a chainsaw, I can mow the lawn and rototill, etc. but my wife, so far, objects to me learning to run her dad's old partially dillapidated tractor and knows that when I say I've ridden a horse I've got about 35 hours lifetime on one (15 hours of that with her over the last 5 years or so...)

I've gone from carrying my first knife, a Camp King, when Dad said we could to having a small three blade stockman that I received as a 8th grade graduation gift. I carried it in high school and had a medium schrade that I wore out at an after school job doing odd jobs at a carpet store. In college I carried a 108 OT because of its unimposing size and handiness for college type tasks.

These days I carry what I want to depending on what I'm doing that day. Oddly enough, if I'm planning on doing some outdoor work I'm more likely to only have one pocket knife with me, usually a sodbuster of some sort, as I don't want to lose all the other stuff. But I also wear a Buck 110 and a leatherman supertool all the time too.

I don't think I've fully made up my mind on just one style of knife that turns my crank. I have started buying a few customs here and there and really enjoy them. Its the aethetics in combination with the utility that really draws me to a knife I guess. But I can still get distracted pretty quickly by a GEC or Case knife. If it's big enough, but not too big either.
 
I grew up in a town of 2500 in upstate NY. On one side was a suburban development, and on the other were farm fields. Any spare moments I had were spent walking to the creek that was a hundred yards from my house, or walking up to the woods on the hill overlooking our valley. The primary reason I was active in scouting was for the camping, backpacking, canoeing, etc.

I have always preferred folders in the 3.75-4" range.
 
i have lived in suburban area entire life. the outdoors have always been where iv been put to work an found pleasure though with construction, landscaping, fishing all that such. because of this i am drawn towards a large pocket knife such as a full sized trapper or grandaddy barlow accompanied by a gerber xacto locker for when on job (its not a traditional but would never do what i do to that knife to another knife that has non replaceable) blades. despite living in suburbs, a small knife like a peanut has never felt right in my pocket unless accompanied by a big knife. the law however does not quite smile upon large folders or a locking blade as an EDC. my quest for a fair sized knife while being in legal limits has lead me to a bullet jack from GEC. feels great in the hand, the clip blade is thick and solid for work and it also has a little pen blade making it the perfect knife to carry and only one needed in my pocket for day to day stuff and light work (still will carry gerber on job site) work mostly as a food prep an dish washer in this cold season currently so comes in handy for food preps. cant wait use it next trout season comming up. and the public should have nothing to fear with something so beautiful yet rugged. guess to answer i dont feel city but not from country so a knife for me is a medium sized non locking.
 
I was born and raised 30 miles from Houston, Tx. in a small industrial suburban town. (Wasn't called that back then) Lived with my Grandparents from age 4 until I joined the Navy after high school. My grandfather was an avid outdoorsman that lived to hunt, fish, garden, and generally stay outdoors as much as he could. He always had a stockman type knife on him, and used it daily for all types of tasks. He taught me to love the outdoors, and to respect nature, and to obey hunting and fishing laws. We built a house on a local river, that was only accessible by water for the first 4 years it was built. We did a lot of catfishing and squirrel hunting, along with some coon hunting behind some dogs. Life was good, and then I grew up.:o

I joined the Navy and became an electrician after boot camp, and was in the navy for 5 years, and then returned to civillian life. I carried my navy issued TL-29 while onboard my ship, and then when i got out. Went to work for an Alarm company, and was in that business for about 30 years in all.

Lived in South Texas for 15 years, and did a lot of hunting and Bird dog field trial work. I always carried a case or buck two or three blade knife with me at all times. It was just a part of what was in my pocket, no matter where I was or went.

To this day, I still have at least one, and sometimes two knives in my pocket at all times. One of them is an old Colonial Barlow that a lady from my church gave to me, and the other is an old knife that my father-in-law had when he died. All of my knives except one (a kershaw tremor) are slipjoints. I even have my grandfather's Shrade Walden 808Y with the tube it came in when he bought it new.

I guess my knife preferences are more from environmental exposure than from location.

Blessings,

Omar
 
Being younger than most here, and having grown up in a lot of different settings, I think my taste in pocket cutlery is appropriately eclectic. I was born in the south and grew up in the southwest, wherein a beat-up Wenger scout and a small fixed blade (really a re-purposed paring knife) were pretty constant companions throughout my childhood. My mom was a lawyer and my dad's a college professor, so they never had any personal need for anything in their pockets besides a SAK Classic and a Cross pen (since I started getting into knives more I have bought my dad several of the AG Russel small pen knives!) But, both of their fathers were WWII vets and more outdoorsy types who taught me well, along with a large group of uncles who are all carpenters. I moved to a NYC suburb during high school which put a damper on the fixed blades and anything that wasn't pocketable and small. I do remember accidentally bringing a small folder into class one day, and upon confessing my mistake, all the teacher did was smile and keep it in her desk for me until the end of the day (luckily she was reasonable.)

Now I live/work/study/travel mostly in the US big cities. I still love hiking, camping, and fishing so I have a lot of sharp things suited for those hobbies. But, I also have to deal with city blade length limits (D.C. 3" [not to mention federal buildings], Boston 2.5", Chicago 2", NYC arbitrary) so smaller traditional knives are of great benefit there. Of about 30-40 traditional knives I own they range from 2" to 6" closed! I actually try to own at least one of every major traditional pattern and one of each of the more available international traditional knives too.

So, for carrying/traveling purposes today it'll be something smaller, like a pen knife or small jack. The most frequent would be a Conductor, Peanut, or a Boys Knife. I have had a renewed interest in congress patterns for the same reason of shorter blade length without sacrificing selection. Let's just say I'm happy how that poll is going ;)
 
I´m 29 years old now and this question is pretty interessting, I think. Carl, thanks for this thread.

I grew up in the country. Typical childhood in the bavarian highlands ;)

When I got out of school I had to go to Munich which is pretty a city and no good place to live from a countryboy. Well, after some years I went back, took the chance on another job, back to my beloved countryside.

In each of these worlds I carried pocketknives. I used to carry modern knives as well as traditional knives in the city as well as in the country. So for me, that doesn´t matter that much where someone grew up or spent a lot of time of his/her life at all.

But it´s an interessting topic and nice to think about it on a foggy sunday afternoon :D
 
I should be city dweller,but so far i spent most of my life outdoors(out of city walls),mostly at sea,or in mountains and hills around,as a child i had small pocket knife,given to me by my grandfather,brass scales,spear blade and nail file on the opposite side,,next was SAK of some sort,then Buck 110,all of them are lost somewhere in pits of time,for long time i carried spanish knock off of Buck 110(maybe little smaller and rounder) and various sodbuster alikes(until i got GECs FF)so my preference is not confined by city walls rather by my pocket ;)

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At work, I carry one of my peanuts, or my white owl, as they meet regulations/laws/tomfoolery. I work in the city, or on the outskirts of the city.

I live out in the country though. I can carry whatever I want. Small fixed blade in my pocket, a tiny peanut to a large folding hunter lockback. No one cares up here. I have a knife collection to carry, and I want to make sure which ones work for me. Right now, it's my SFO barlows, my 73 scouts, and my peanuts.

Location changes, carry changes. I like my peanuts in that I have a knife, that no one will freak out about, and are perfectly fine for work. Once I get in the country, no one cares as long as you're not waving your knife around, humming the theme from Conan the Barbarian.

No, I did not learn that the hard way :D...
 
I'm a city slicker through and through. I was born in, raised on, and presently reside in Simi Valley, a suburb of Los Angeles. I dislike going to the City in any fashion, but we have plenty of hiking in the immediate vicinity.

I work as a buyer in an aerospace company, my knife of choice varies, although I don't feel my upbringing or my profession influences what I carry. I like my yellow Case trapper, assorted SAKs, a couple modern one handers, and an assortment of others. I feel okay with a SAK Classic or my trapper!
 
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I live in the suburbs of Milwaukee but long for the country. Got a place in northern WI we escape to for the weekends. Working in the trades during the week I use a ZT 550. After work or the weekends a traditional type knife gets pocket time. So I live in the city but I am a country boy by heart.
 
Getahl said:
I'm a city slicker through and through. I was born in, raised on, and presently reside in Simi Valley, a suburb of Los Angeles. I dislike going to the City in any fashion, but we have plenty of hiking in the immediate vicinity.

I work as a buyer in an aerospace company, my knife of choice varies, although I don't feel my upbringing or my profession influences what I carry. I like my yellow Case trapper, assorted SAKs, a couple modern one handers, and an assortment of others. I feel okay with a SAK Classic or my trapper!
Click to expand...

Chris, aka CJ65, also lives in the Simi Valley.
 
I grew up in a town of 500, and feel at home in the woods. Being in a large town or city for more than a couple hours really bothers me.
You could probably call me a country boy.:D
My current carry is a Walden era 8OT, having the choice of blades that is most suited for specific cuts is an option I love to have. Some days at work I cut a lot of stuff. Plastic, plastic and nylon strapping, triple stacked cardboard is commonly on the menu. Being able to switch to a nice fresh blade after dulling one makes the work a little easier and much more enjoyable.

Neat thread, Carl.

Thanks for the interesting read.
 
Hi,

I grew up as a Minnesota farm kid milking cows and feeding pigs. And I farmed for a while myself. A Schrade 34OT Stockman was all I carried. And I still prefer 3 1/4" to 3 3/4" knives yet today.

Today I live in a very small rural town. And I tend to lean more to medium Jack patterns like the #15 Boy's Knife from Great Eastern. But my usage of knives hasn't really changed much at all. Though the only feed sacks I open are dog food, I'm still scraping spark plugs, gaskets, and burrs off of steel. And then cutting an apple or sandwich with the same blade.

Dale
 
I grew up in a small central Texas farming community, spending as much time on one of the family farms as I did in "town" at our feed stores (4-5K pop). I was influenced mainly by my grandfather - my dad only carried 3-4 in slip joint folders for use around the feed stores.

My dad's view was carry what was usually used day-to-day and go get what you need if you needed something different. Probably because he spent 90% of his time in the stores and later, working on rent houses all day. He would carry one until it wore out and only then buy a new one. Probably never owned more than 2-3 at a time ever. Preferred Case yellow handle two blade opposite end knives and the Schrade Old Timer. Would have a fit with the Schrades being made overseas now if he was still around.

My grandfather on the other hand would carry a couple of different-sized, small/medium folders and a fixed blade almost everywhere. He would have a folder in each front pocket and the fixed blade in a belt sheath on his hip for "bigger cuttin' ". His view was keep them all hand to save time going around looking for something else. Probably due to going back and forth between out-buildings and barns, working in the garden, fixing fences, etc. He never knew when he might see something that needed "fixin' right now", and he didn't want to go looking for a different knife. He ALWAYS stressed using the right blade for the job. He NEVER used a blade for a screw driver, unlike my dad, who never saw a job that whatever blade he had would "make do".

Since I spent most of my free time with my GF, his influence was the greatest. I carried 2 folders all through HS (back when it the norm, not illegal, to carry knives to school) and then through college. On active duty in the Navy, I usually carried a couple of folding lock blades, one in a pocket and the other in a belt sheath.

I now usually carry a Buck 110 in one front pocket, a 20 y.o. Imperial Barlow in the other, a thin (1/4 inch thick) 3.5 inch all-stainless no-name lock blade from Target in my wallet side hip pocket, a thicker handled 4 inch lock blade (says PUMA on it, but it's not a real German PUMA) in my other hip pocket, opposite my wallet "for balance" and 4-7 inch fixed blades "for bigger work". The fixed blade is on my hip all day on the farm and will tend to be a 5-7 inch knife. I keep a smaller 4 inch fixed blade in the door pocket of every vehicle I'm drive.When I go down to San Antonio, I have to remember to take the lock blades out since by city ordinance you cannot carry a "lock blade of less than 5.5 inches".

STATE law says anything over 5.5 inches is illegal to carry, so unless you can find one EXACTLY 5.0 inches, no lock blades are legal in San Antonio and then if you ever sharpen it, it is too short. Knife laws - don't you just love 'em?
 
Grew up in London, and that is a big city
But my main influence was Boy Scouts, where I used and carried a sheath knife and a Camper (scout) knife
In OTC in High School, I carried the Camp which became a SAK
The SAK lasted me years of very serious backpacking and snow shoeing
I worked as an Union Electrician, so that defined my knife as the classic electricians knife
Later as a carpenter I carried a sheepsfoot for a markout knife
And then dare I say, for a long time a high quality plastic knife with the retractable strip disposable blades, which was superb for the electrical and carpentry work here
So my knives were defined by the function

Now as a Hi-Techie, I get to carry what ever I take my fancy; for form more than function, but not bigger than 4"
Until I go outside then 4 1/4" jacks or stockmans sit on my belt
 
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