hmmmmm...whats this world coming too?

R

rev_jch

Joined
Jul 29, 2002
Messages
3,228
I do not know what it is guys, but the older I get the more I would rather just carry a SJ. maybe its the memories, who knows? Makes me think how times have changed.

I remember whittling on Grandma's porch when I was 4 yrs old, in 1973. I remember playing "mumblypeg" when I was 7 yrs old. I remember carrying a pocket knife to school, on camping trips and hikes.
Now it seems that it is so politically incorrect to carry a knife that when someone finds out you do.........whoaaaaaaa

Really too sad. Most people who carry pocket knives are very responsible people.
 
As of late I've been carrying a Case sodbuster, a Wegner Highlander, an Opinel #7 or a Swedish Normark folder. Today is the first day in weeks that a Benchmade is keeping the Swede company. The classics are classic for a reason...they work. And the older I get the more I lean towards traditional designs. And more often than not I'll get carbon steel if I can. So I guess at 33 years old I'm already an old f@rt.

Frank

edit: I don't worry too much about being PC. Anyone who knows me knows I like to work with my hands, be it wrenching on old cars or making dreamcatchers and sharpening art pencils. If they don't know me...oh well.
 
I know what you mean, seems these days all I ever want to carry is Queen Carved Stag Bone slips' or my Buck 110.

I think I have outgrown the "tactical\SWAT wannabe" stage that has been the rage for so long.

gimmee' a "traditional" these days!
 
Wow, I'm feelin' old, I was 7 in '67, I remember going on family road trips where we would stop at the ever increasing rest areas poppin' up all over the country side.

All the restrooms had vending machines that sold combs, jumping beans, those little black and white magnetic terriers/kissing dogs, those stupid bird whistles, some kind of weird balloon that was ribbed for her pleasure :confused: and the greatest treasure of all, the little stamped steel folding knife/keychain with the can opener, and file, probably my first knife, twenty five cents of the finest steel money could buy.

I can remember deforesting entire mountainsides, remember the Sahara Forest? :confused: It was a desert when I was done.:eek:.

Alright maybe my recollection of those days are a little off, but when my old man gave me a quarter for the vend-o-matic, you could bet your butt I was commin' out with the latest and greatest in self defense available to the road weary traveler. :D

I still have a very big spot in my heart and pocket for slipjoints.

Current Slipjoint in EDC rotation, Camillus large equal end pen with jigged black horn scales and germansilver tip bolsters, probably from the 40's.
 
I notice the same thing. My collecting direction has turned towards old vintage slip joints. I have an large number of the new "tactical" folders and fixed blades which I really enjoy and carry regularly. However I seem to have more of an interest in old SJ.

Most of the time I carry a fixed or folder on my hip and a good old fashioned Queen Gunstock in my pocket. I end up using the Queen for nearly everything I need. Kind of reminds me of my old Cub Scout days or hanging out with my Grandfather.
 
Screw 'em! I carry an automatic as an EDC mostly. Severtech or Dalton Warcom. Sometimes my Rainbow Leek. Just tell folks they're nuts not to have one, especially effective after they ask to borrow mine! I have converted a few guys to "knifetoters" over the years. All very responsible folk. Keep 'em sharp.
 
The old simple designs are just more interesting.

I'm bored of the fast opening tactical folders.

I did recently get a Victorinox One Hand Trekker but i don't think of it as a tactical knife as much as just a useful tool.

I like using classic slipjoints and the alox saks.

I'm in my mid 30's...maybe that's what happens to knife people at this age?

Collecter
 
I have always "kept coming back" to a slip joint. Now that I have found my "perfect EDC", the Victorinox Settler, most one handers just don't have any appeal to me anymore.

Paul
 
I know what you guys mean! The tacticals do not appeal to me as much anymore. I carry a boker whittler in brown jigged bone. Now my latest is the queen carved stag bone gunstock I got from Bill at Cumberland in Tenn.

I remember those machines with the combs too!!! I also remember the "fuller brush man" coming to our house in his suit selling coat hangers and such.

Man, have times changed, for the worst I think. I grew up in a very dysfunctional family, but as I recall family as "a whole" in society was termed important. Now? Things seem to be getting much worse. it seems now like "anything goes", what was once considered good, is now thought of as evil, and "vice versa".

I do have a couple tatctical I do like, a Dominator and benchmade 710, but they just arent slip joints!!!

I finally let my Blade subscription run out and so now Im going to try "knife World". Ive really been sad that Blade prints rarely, if almost nothing about production slip joints anymore.

Life goes on!!! I remember the days before the vcr's the video games, when we still had black and white T.V. Now familys ever rarely sit down together for dinner. This is a sad "state" we're in.
 
I remember how we would wait for my dad to come home from work when he was on the 7am to 3pm shift, we'd all wait in the kitchen and then we'd sit down for a FAMILY DINNER, we'd talk about our days, no one was rusing of to the mall or to watch Survivor, or CSI, we would talk, laugh, kid around and then maybe go out into the yard and work on a car or a motorcycle.

Always teaching, he might show me how to cut or scrape with my pocket knife, then he might pull a hunk of Kielbasa(no jokes please) out of his pocket, wipe his knife on his pant leg or wipe it on the inside of his work shirt, then cut up a couple of pieces ffor us to chew on while we pondered the idle circuit of a Honda 500T or some other mechanical nightmare.

Standing by his side in those days I learned respect for others, to keep my mouth shut when I didn't what I was talking about, he taught me how to be a man, and a good person back then, something your hard pressed to find these days.

The central theme as a kid though was self sufficiency, how to take care of your self, and there was always some type of folding slipjoint involved,(it's a shame, I have the fixed blades he had with him when he died as part of my collection, but the rescue workers said when they pulled him ot of the plane crash he had no folding knives in his pocket) :(

Although the anniversery of his death just passed this 10-25 and it's been 29 years since the accident, I still hear his voice in my head when I'm about to do something stupid,"Boy when your done doin' what your about to do, am I gonna be pattin' you on the back tellin' you how proud I am, or am I gonna be kickin' your but and tellin' you what an idiot you were?"
 
I tend to rotate out the contents of my pockets. Some days its my Swiss Army my brother gave me about 15 years ago. Some days its my Mt. Ida Arkansas, which is locally made 2.25" "buck type" I like. For the longest I carried a single blade UH clip point (can't remember the model #) that my best friend from high school gave me a year after we graduated. Unfortuanately that one appears to have found another home. I still have box in hopes that it will find its way back.

Fortunatly, I live in Arkansas and there is nothing abnormal about a pocket knife in most places. Yeah, possesion will get a kid suspended from school for a few days, but cub scouts can still earn their "Whittl'n Chip" card (I have 2 cubs working on that now).

The last time I used one outside of the home or office was at Walgreens. A lady was trying to get a battery out of something. We were all waiting in line and I noticed it had a seal that had to be cut. I said "I think I can help" and the lady behind the counter said "Oh, could you" with a little relief in her voice. As I reach for my knife, I jokingly said "Now before I take my knife out *I am not a terrorist*." That got a laugh, but I realised as I slit the seal how sad it was that comment like that would even come to mind, and that in other places it might actually be a necessity.
 
When opening packages as in the situation above where strangers are involved I tend to hide most of a blade in my hand and just use enough of the tip to do the cutting. Cuts the 'freak' factor. ;)
 
Jhouston,
I have a Mt Ida, Hillbilly classic stockman and a mcgrew whittler!!! I have not used them since moving from Benton, something to remember it by. Arkansas is still one of the few places pocket knives and "carrying your rifle" down the road do not draw mouch attention. This place, Ohio? A much different story. many places in the country here a pocket knife isnt a problem, but carrying your rifle, dont bet on it!!!
 
Yeah, I strayed from the way when I was in my early and mid twenties and carried 'tactical' folders, but I've come back around to the slipjoints of my childhood.
The last tactical folder I bought was a Benchmade 710HS, and it's a good knife, but I much prefer carrying one of several slipjoints. They feel better, they're as sharp or sharper, and no one bats an eye, even the few sheeple I encounter.

Can one of y'all provide me a link to these Mt. Ida knives? I'm curious about them and can't seem to find anythig on the web.

James
 
James,
Im afraid you wont find anything on the web about them. They are made by a small outfit in Mt Ida Arkansas. If I remember correctly they were made for them by another company. They werent the best quality, but they were decent knives. The McGrew ones were much better quality. Both companies are in Arkansas. I have a whittler in black pickbone they made, beautiful knife! They unfortanately do not do internet business either. The only reason I am familar with them is because I lived in Arkansas.
 
The McGrew knives that I am familiar with were made by Camillus, although some may have been made by Colonial.

Nowhere could be worse for knives than here in the Northeast where I live....even a little Vic Classic will scare sheeple half to death...."what are you doing...carrying a concealed weapon!!!"
 
rev_jch said:
Jhouston,
I have a Mt Ida, Hillbilly classic stockman and a mcgrew whittler!!! I have not used them since moving from Benton, something to remember it by. Arkansas is still one of the few places pocket knives and "carrying your rifle" down the road do not draw mouch attention. This place, Ohio? A much different story. many places in the country here a pocket knife isnt a problem, but carrying your rifle, dont bet on it!!!
Click to expand...

"Carry your rifle"' is very common of late as muzzle loading season just ended this past weekend. ;)

A friend of mine has a Mt Ida Arkansas Toothpick which is a fun conversation piece. Last I heard was the the Mt Ida blades were from a major supplier of blanks and were finished at the shop Mt Ida. I'm going to go there at some point and will find out.

James,
I'm sure they are nothing but basic 440. I'll try to post a pic of mine at some point. What I like about it (besides the name) is that the grip width bulges out a bit from 9/32nds on the ends to 17/32nds in the middle. I picked it up in trade awhile back and its one I use when I don't want to risk damaging my "good" knives. It may not shave hair, but it will slit a box, rope, or a finger just fine (haven't tried the second, yet, thankfully :D ).

JH
 
It sounds like you all are going through just what I did when I got to be around 40 years old.

In my 30's I was into the balisong thing(about 1980) and that was the forrunner of the tactical thing. I had a collection of knives that I came to look at and think "what the hell did I ever buy these things for?" I sold off and gave away almost all.

Today I am retirement age and all I have is slip joints and sak's. I have to admit I have never been in a quick draw contest with a pocket knife, but my stockmen, barlows, and sak/scout knives are more handy than some ninja-tactical-deathblade.

Maybe we reach a point in life that we finally grow up and take to using real tools to make our way through life.

My gun collection when the same way as my knives. Simple proven classics, like a Smith and Wesson revolver instead of the wonder nine of the month.
 
I'm much more likely to have to attack a dull pencil or the box containing my next knife than a would-be robber, so I carry slip joints almost all the time now. When I'm around salt water, I still carry a Mayo TNT talonite though.

The turning point for me came on a cub scout camping trip. Some dads were sitting around teaching their kids how to use knives, whittling some sticks. My son wanted to join in, so I unclipped my Tighe Pan, 4 inch stellite from my pocket. Everyone looked up from their case lockbacks and saks to check it out. I picked up a stick and to my suprise and embarassment, that dagger grind and stellite couldnt shave the bark off. (Don't get me wrong; Brian Tighe makes beautiful knives, they just aren't the best choice for whittling) I struggled to do much of anything to that stick. The following week, I pulled out some of my dad's old knives... a case congress, a buck stockman, aned some others. I started reading and learning everything I could, and I found the old patterns more practical for my purposes. Also found that there is a very rich history behind these old patterns, and I've found that interesting as well.

Now I find myself going out of my way to find things to use my knife on. I've even switched to old fashioned wood pencils mostly so I can sharpen them. I keep some basswood in the garage and whittle balls-in-cages and chains whenever I get a few spare minutes.

I remember the comb machines and the fuller brush man too. Recently, this flashback came to mind: I grew up in Chicago, in a 2 flat my grandfather owned on the north side next door to a big apartment building. I remember the coal deliveries and the sound of the auger moving the coal from the storage bins to the furnace. I also remember the ash can men; the guys who came to carry out the cinders--the residue left over when the coal was consumed. They wore leather or vinyl back protectors and carried 55 gallon drums on their back. Empty on the way in, and loaded with a hundred lbs of cinders on the way back. Drums on their backs, one hand above, gripping the rim for stability, one hand on the bottom supporting most of the weight. And me sitting in the back yard watching, probably whittling sticks with my case pen knife.
 
I'll always own a high tech or two...but I always carry and collect slipjoints!

Vintage or Custom, with very few exceptions...
 
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