Every man needs to carry a pocket knife with him

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tylosaurus

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When I was 11, my parents bought me a BSA Victrorinox Fieldmaster. That knife was always in my pocket, even at school. I even took it to Poland, Russia and Czechoslovakia in the 10th grade. Nine years later, (aged 20) it was still in my pocket. I was at church one day, and pulled it out, to fiddle with it a little bit. My roommate asked me why I brought a knife to church. He said I didn’t need it, and it was probably not appropriate. I told him, you never know when you might need a knife, and that it was definitely appropriate.

A few months later, we were at a large regional church meeting, with a lot of other single, college aged kids. There was a high up muckety muck from our church speaking. I forgot what he was talking about, (probably spiritual preparedness) except for this one part. He asked that everyone in the congregation that had a pocket knife with them, to stand up, take it out, and hold it up high. I did so, so did the speaker, and another couple dozen or so kids, out of a couple thousand. I then looked over at my seated roommate, and grinned. The speaker said “Every man needs to carry a pocket knife with him, everywhere he goes. If he doesn’t have a knife in his pocket, then he is not a man.” That made me laugh, while looking at my roommate.

The very next day, my roommate bought a Victorinox Super Tinker, and started carrying it, even to church. This still makes me laugh, every time I think of it.
 
RickT57 said:
Great story but most of the population does very well without.
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Only because they ask those of us with pocket knives to borrow them!:) constantly, for stuff that you shouldn't even use my nice folder for, like trying to pry open stuck doors... carry your own knife!
 
Yeah, I don't think manhood is dependent on knife carrying. That's just an asinine thing to say. I think carrying a small pocketknife is simply a good idea.
 
no, i'm old and what i say is the gospel!
when you get your first pocket knife this is when you become a man.
it's always been this way, from Huckleberry Finn to Abe Lincoln.

buzz
 
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tylosaurus said:
The speaker said “Every man needs to carry a pocket knife with him, everywhere he goes. If he doesn’t have a knife in his pocket, then he is not a man.”
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I guess there are no "men" that fly on airplanes then. :D

Obviously, being on the porch, I generally like to carry a knife, but I don't when I fly, run, sleep, shower, etc. And to segregate the men from the women is also obviously quite antiquated!:grumpy:
 
The speaker was an older guy. To be fair, his talk wasn't about knives. He was trying to make a point about preparedness. Think of it as a parable. The story works in 2 ways.
 
When I grew up most men carried pocketknives and handkerchiefs. If they were dressed and had pants on, they likely had a pocket knife and a handkerchief in those pants. My grandfather carried a 3-1/4" Henckles stockman to work with him every day in his suit pocket. It was a trim Gent's knife and I inherited it when he died. My father always had a handkerchief with him, but I don't remember him ever carrying a pocket knife. Many of the older farm women wore aprons most of the day and had a small pocket knife and sometimes a nail or other small tool in an apron pocket. Looking back, they seemed to be as well prepared for the day and needs of life as the men.

I grew up in the Midwest, and in school it was expected that the boys would carry pocketknives. My elementary school was in an ancient converted high school. Not all of the rooms have pencil sharpeners. It was expected the boys would be able to sharpen pencils for themselves and for the girls with their pocket knives. I carried a knife in school through my years as a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout. I always carried either my Cub Scout knife for my Boy Scout knife. When I was in high school my brother gave me a single-bladed Kershaw lockback that I carried during my Junior and Senior years. I didn't care for the lock mechanism, but I liked how slim it was compared to my Scout knives.

I always carry a small knife to church and everybody knows it . Something small, either a stag GEC # 33 Conductor, or an older Northwoods penknife 3-1/4 inches, also in stag. Occasionally I'll carry my grandpa's Henckles, but I'm always very careful when I do. :eek::cool::thumbup:
 
Personally, I believe everyone should carry a pocket knife. I've had one in my pocket since I was 10. Carried the same Gerber LST for 20 years- until my tastes got more expensive. Lol. My daughter just got one for her 10th birthday to go along with her Leatherman Juice S2. A knife is an essential tool. Whether cutting an apple, sharpening a pencil, cutting a seatbelt or whatever you might find it useful for.
 
Being old enough to have grown up in age where if a man had his pants on, he had a pocket knife in one of the pockets, I agree in principle with the OP's church leader. It was a right of passage when I was a kid, to get that first pocket knife from dad, or an uncle. It was a sign of trust in you from your elders that you where judged responcilve enough to have it. A man was expected to deal with lives little unexpected problems that come up time to time. If something broke, he was expected to fix it, or at least carry out a temporary fix. He was expected to bring home the bacon, sometimes literally. Hunting and fishing was a way of life, and not just for relaxation. To process the fish and game that was put on the dinner table, a knife was needed in the field.

At work, a knife was often needed. Before WW2, the vast majority of the populace lived a rural life style. Farm and field, or in my families case, on the water, earning a living from what you could harvest. When a boy made the passage from childhood to manhood, and started helping out on the family farm or crabbing boat. The boy was expected to do a man's work. Thus the passage from boyhood to manhood very well could have been represented by the gift of the boys first pocket knife.

Now, with the aftermath of the great migration of Americans from the rural to urban, that has faded a great deal. Not much need of a knife in a modern office cubicle compared to the swaying deck of a fishing boat or out in the back 40 on a farm. Life in America has change a great deal, and certain values have changed with that. We have a few generations now that have grownup and value the latest smart phone or I-pad more than a new pocket knife or .22 rifle. Soe of the old values may seem very strange to a 30 something hipster who has never had to gather his own food from nature, or work in a hands on shop making a finished product from raw materials off the shelf.

I remember one old man telling me that as an employer he often asks to see the mans pocket knife. A broken blade tip showed the man was careless. A dull knife showed he was lazy. If he had no knife at all, he was a no accout bum. If a man could be judged by a pocket knife, times sure were different! But every man should have a knife in a pocket. Doesn't have to be big, just sharp. You never know what you will have to deal with when you walk out the front door in the morning. One early Saturday morning in 1991, all I had on my mind was driving my daughter Jessica to the Toyota dealer to get her a car for going off to college. I never expected to be crawling into an over turned old Datsun that was burning, to free a crash victim that rolled her car right in front of us. A good sharp pocket knife made a difference that day. It was one of those little life lessons that pop up now and then.
 
When I was growing up, the only person I recall that carried a handkerchief, was my maternal Great Grandfather. I remember all the adults, men and women, carried a pocket knife of some sort on them.
In school during the 60's and 70's, (probably before, too) it was taken for granted that the boys had a pocket knife on them, and a lot of the girls, as well. In High School, if you were enrolled in a "shops" class of any kind (to include Drafting) you were expected to have no less than one knife on you. A lot of us had a lock back on our belt, and a small slip joint in our pocket.
Back then, you could tell by the cars in the school parking lot what game was in season. During squirrel season, a .22 rifle or shotgun was in the back window. During deer season, a Winchester lever action, a scoped rifle, or a 12 guage was in the rear window gun rack (or in the trunk).
No one thought anything about it. No one shot up their school or classmates.

I 'm not sure exactly when the world - or at least the USA began to go crazy. I suspect it was shortly after they "stopped" school prayer (kids still pray silently whenever a test or quiz is given) and they stopped reciting The Pledge of Alligence, at the beginning of the school day.

I blame the "Politically Correct" crowd for the downfall of civilization we are experiencing.
 
I carry a knife/knives, bandana and wear a wrist watch everyday...doesn't make a man but it works for me.
 
I never go out without a knife either in my pocket or on my belt. Sometimes I carry two. One for my use and the other for "Hey, can I borrow your knife?"
 
jackknife, great take on this subject. Love the part about the old timer asking asking prospective employees to see their knife. And the Datsun story is an excellent example of why you should always have a knife handy.

I always remember my grandpa carrying some sort of pocket knife, and usually a handkerchief, too. I still have (and carry) one of his old stockmans. My dad was the same way, usually carried a Leatherman Micra or some sort of SAK, and always a handkerchief.

I usually had a knife on me when I was young, although I couldn't carry one to school as that was recent enough that that sort of thing was frowned upon, but anytime I wasn't in school, I had a knife with me. And throughout college and ever since, I've carried one every day. (Anymore I usually have a handkerchief in my back pocket, too. Another handy thing to have with you.)
 
I don't frequent a knife forum to talk about religion or polItics. Seems this thread has both.
 
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