Gone the way of the slipjoint?

U

umustbready

Joined
Aug 16, 2012
Messages
17
There has always been two criterias which had to be met before I would even be interested in a knife.
1) It had to be one handed opening
2) It had to have a pocket clip

Within this last year I have acquired a couple of spyderco's: persistence and delica. I love both blades and the delica has been my main edc. A while back my father in law came down to visit and was telling me how his Case stockman could handle any task, and I just went on and on about how wrong he was because of the speed of deployment and having to dig it from the bottom of his pocket.

Well just for the fun of it I started carrying a case stockman he gave me when I proposed to his daughter. And I have really come to like it. Now I find myself reaching for a slipjoint over any of my other knives (buck, kershaw, or spyderco). I still try to carry both a
Slippy and delica now.

Am I weird?
Anyone else make this transition?

I actually just purchased a new case pocket worn red bone stockman. I would post pics but don't know how to yet.
 
I carry both because they both have things that are going for them. I started carrying a stockman because i traded my delica for it because i wanted to start collecting, but then i carried it and used it and ended up with a lot more that i ended up giving away, traded, or lost. I miss my slippies. My personal favorite was my sodbuster. they work and work hard and any one who doesn't think they do needs to try them and work them. They won't pry or unscrew or anything like that but they slice better than any modern folder i've used, just saying.
 
I basically have undergone the same thing. Always felt I needed an SMF or whatever... Now my Vic Camper basically does it all (and the large 21 does the rest). I've sold a ton of my collection lately because I just don't use it...
 
I went the same direction as well. It all started with a case toothpick, and now I have a laguiole and two opinels.
 
I think knives are a lot like the finer things in life. When you're a kid, you like a nice sweet soda pop. You get to be a teenager and want to feel all grown up, you drink beer. But when you finally grow up, I mean really mature, you find that you like the nice smooth whiskey that made you grimace when you were a kid. And that nice Dominican cigar hand rolled from Cuban long leaf tobacco tastes way better than those Backwoods cigars.

Taste changes as we grow up. I suppose it can be the same with knives as well. What some TV show character is using becomes less important than real life that you are living. What matters is what really works well for you.
 
I don't think I'll every fully go the way of the slip joint, but I do appreciate them and see that they have a place. More often than not a little case peanut comes along for the ride in the bottom of my pocket. I will probably always carry a modern folder, seeing as one hand opening/closing, pocket clips, super steels, and such can only be seen as advancement in the knife world. But old school tradionals definitely have their place.
 
I can see the nostalgia appeal, I believe my very first knife was an Old Timer, but aside from a SAK (which IMO goes in its own category even if technically most all of them are slippies) I like the 1 hand opening and closing of liner and frame locks etc. I'm not really all that concerned with relative merits of different lock strengths, but to me any lock is better than none. But I survived years of slip joint use as a stupid kid with my fingers intact so it's really convenience and aesthetics for me.

Many slip joints would fall into the sheeple friendly or "gentlemen's folder" category more easily than most modern stuff with a tactical feel but there are plenty of sheeple friendly and classy knives with locks. Spyderco's chaparral comes to mind, though I do wish it were a liner versus mid lock.

Who knows though, in 10 years I may be posting a thread exactly like this.
 
I went back to a Bucklite. And I found out that I can live just fine without the pocket clip and the one hand opening.
We can go back.
 
On the job, i REALLY need to have access to a one hand opener, that is readily accessible.There are other times that it is very handy. That being said, 99.9 percent of the time i will reach in my pocket and pull my Buck 309 "Companion". It is the pre-1986 style. I love the look of the long pull and swedge on the blade. I love how it feels in my hand. I love the way it cuts like a scalpel. I love the solid snap of the opening and snap close. I have never been questioned about having a deadly/threatening/menacing knife, when i use it. I was once asked by a woman,"what ya gonna do with that little knife". My friend told her that it was my pocket scalpel. My "ALWAYS KNIFE" is a slip-joint. regards Henry
 
I have crossed over into the world of the slipjoint. For many, many years, I carried a Sypderco Police clipped in my right front pocket. I tried various other clipped, 1 hand opening knives from various makers but some Spyderco was generally with me. As my professional life started changing, I needed to dress in a more business casual manner. The clip in the pocked didn't really work with that and I found that whipping out a big blade with one hand often resulted in people looking a bit concerned.

I remembered my grandfather always carried a little Buck 309 with him so I started carrying that to see if I could "survive" with such a small knife. After I used it for a while I was able to see why he liked it. For most daily tasks, it's more than capable. My daily life doesn't require that I get my knife 2-3 seconds faster or open it with one hand. That got me bit by the slipjoint bug. Now I carry either a GEC Trapper or Outlaw Jack when not with the Buck.
 
I carry a slipjoint SAK (not a traditional slipjoint, I know, but still...) along with one of several one-hand-opening knives. I mainly get it out when someone wants to borrow a knife for a minute and I don't want to make them nervous.
 
only a geek would do this but: try to keep a knife diary (industrial workers using heavy equipment do this.) record the times you had to use your tool, how long you used it, difficulties encountered, how you needed to use it, which feature(s) was needed and found wanting, which deployment and carry methods were ideal, etc.
 
Slip-joints generally have much better blades for EDC purposes, IMHO. They are comparatively narrow and thin, rather than wide and thick.

Add to this that many traditional slip-joints have multiple blades for multiple uses, and you have an advantage in diversification, allowing you to choose the right blade for the job (you can even sharpen each blade a different way, creating more diversification -AKA options). If you add the blade lengths of all the blades together, you will have more sharpened edge than a single bladed knife. Consider how multiple blades lend an advantage in edge retention. -One blade can do dirty jobs, while another stays razor sharp. (compare that to a single blade in a super steel and take away from it what you will...)

They look great and won't freak out unsuspecting people -especially when you have a small pen blade you can use.

I am a full-spectrum knife enthusiast, and I like modern and traditional knives alike, but I have come to the conclusion that a multi-bladed slip joint is ideal for random day to day uses.
 
jackknife said:
I think knives are a lot like the finer things in life. When you're a kid, you like a nice sweet soda pop. You get to be a teenager and want to feel all grown up, you drink beer. But when you finally grow up, I mean really mature, you find that you like the nice smooth whiskey that made you grimace when you were a kid. And that nice Dominican cigar hand rolled from Cuban long leaf tobacco tastes way better than those Backwoods cigars.

Taste changes as we grow up. I suppose it can be the same with knives as well. What some TV show character is using becomes less important than real life that you are living. What matters is what really works well for you.
Click to expand...

Well said..as I sit here drinking my bourbon with my GEC slippie in my pocket.
 
I enjoy the best of both worlds. The Spyderco UKPK is my main knife. A one hand open, G-10 handled, S30V, pocket clipped slipjoint. My hand was forced by legality issues originally, but now I really like it. I do carry my Case Swayback Jack a lot as well, and I do enjoy cutting with it because of aesthetics (and how wicked sharp CV gets), but when it comes to real work, the UKPK is a clearly superior product to the Case, for my needs.
 
It's all a matter of personal taste. I don't think it has to relate to maturity or anything like that, though I guess it could, in some cases.
 
I always havs a slip joint even when I carry one of my spyderco's. I still have the case that I carried as a boy and it still works fine. Now I carry a cripple creek 2 bladed jack most of the time. Hard to beat a good knife no matter how it works............
 
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