How did you get started carrying traditional folders?

StuntDouble

StuntDouble

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Apr 26, 2004
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For those of you that carry traditional lockbacks and slipjoints on a daily basis, is this something you've always done, or did you switch from one-handed tacticals to more traditional knives? Did you feel like there was a transitional period where you carried more modern folders with a slippy? I only ask because I've been perusing several sites, drooling over Queens, Bucks, Schrades, etc..but I'm not sure I'm ready to give up my Spydercos yet :p Yet, there's just something about wood and bone handles that's been appealing to me lately.
 
I've always been fascinated with traditional slipjoints, but before I got involved in collecting I didn't realize there were high quality slipjoints--I thought if you wanted a good sturdy knife you had to have a Buck knife! And over the years I generally carried one of the smaller Buck lockblades. Once I got started collecting...and realized that there are high quality slipjoints too...It was an easy transition, but I did (and still do) enjoy an occasional high tech knife, just not for everyday carry. My "awakening" came when I was introduced to 1970 and previous Case Bone handled slipjoints...That's still the basis I use to compare any factory slipjoint. I have carried various vintage Case stockman knives for several years now. If you buy one a little spotted or slightly worn, you can get a great buy. Even Mint condition older (1970 and before) are a bargain when you consider the quality and character they have.
 
When I started getting into knives there were no one-hand knives, no pocket clips. I started with slipjoints because that is what was available.

You don't have to give up on your Spydercos to carry a slipjoint, my most common EDC package is a Queen large stockman in the left pocket, and a Buck Mayo clipped in the right pocket. Not to mention the SAK classic and/or the leatherman squirt in the watch pocket.
 
Hard to remember when I started carrying slipjoint folders. Must have been knee high to a grasshopper when my father gave me one to use around the ranch.
 
My Grandpa gave me my first 25 years ago or so . It was a yellow handled CASE stockman . A few years later I got a 110 and I carried that knife for better than 10 years . I like the look and feel of traditional knives . I have tried more modern designs and they just aren't for me .
 
Always had one, even when I started carrying Clipped Tactical Blades, I always had a pen or trapper or even a congress or whittler sitting in the bottom of a pocket.
 
I started carrying traditional folders because non traditional folders hadn't been invented yet.
 
My first knife was a Boy Scout pattern in 1960 when I was 8 years old, soon after that I got my first stockman, carrying one in left pocket and the other in right pocket gave a very versatile setup that a modern one blade "tactical" cannot match.

I carried a Buck 112 for some years and it was great but there was always another smaller multiblade knife in my pocket, I own some modern one hand openers, Spyderco, SOG, Benchmade, Gerber, Kershaw... and I do carry them on occasion but even when carried they don' get much use, I find the small slipjoint in my pocket more useful most of the time, my current EDC is a Schrade stockman and a Victorinox Huntsman.

Luis
 
I started with a Victorinox Champ in 1987 or so and carried that for about 5 years until it was stolen or lost. For several years, I did not regularly carry a knife. Then I got into semi-tacticals and tacticals. I own Benchmades, Spydercos, Bucks, Gerbers, and some others. But I also really like the look and feel of traditionals and so I collect and use them also. Being into history has also added to my recent fondness for slipjoints. I, however, still like both styles of knives. Each type offers its practical advantages. I tend to collect more for the individual knife than for the type of knife. Some slipjoints are really unattractive or seemingly unuseful and some tacticals are also this way. I steer away from those kinds of knives and only collect and use what I enjoy, which is some of both types of knives.
 
My first knife was an Old Timer Stockman, given to me by my dad in 1977.

I carried a Buck 110 in the USMC in the late '80s - early '90s.

Until last year I carried 'tactical' folders, until I got a Barlow bug last year.

My current EDC is a Schatt & Morgan equal-end whittler, and I'm very happy with my return to traditional folders.

schatt_whittler_antgreen.jpg


Regards,

Jeremy
 
Chris Mapp said:
For those of you that carry traditional lockbacks and slipjoints on a daily basis, is this something you've always done, or did you switch from one-handed tacticals to more traditional knives? Did you feel like there was a transitional period where you carried more modern folders with a slippy? I only ask because I've been perusing several sites, drooling over Queens, Bucks, Schrades, etc..but I'm not sure I'm ready to give up my Spydercos yet :p Yet, there's just something about wood and bone handles that's been appealing to me lately.
Click to expand...

I've always carried a slipjoint since I was about 10. My first was some brand name I don't even remember, that thing was used without mercy until lost it about 12 years later. After that, I moved up to the 'high tech' world of Victorinox. The big, 'tactical' folders were carried at the same time for those jobs when a slipjoint was lacking. Today, I still carry the 'high tech' folders but part of my EDC always includes a slipjoint. Usually a SAK, but a while ago I got Schrade (before they closed), Camillus, Case and Buck bugs. And I've been looking for the right model and handle materials for Queen and Schatt slipjoints (bones and woods are appealing). I've never had transition from or to slipjoints. Come to think of it, no matter how many tacticals I carry, I just don't imagine myself without one (or more than one ;) ) slipjoint in my EDC.
 
My first knife was a Buck 110, got it when I was six. 18 years later, I still carry it occasionally and it still gets regular use at home. After the 110, I probably got some sort of Victorinox SAK. To this day I still carry an SAK with me just about every day, to augment the one handers.

If I didn't occasionally need the bigger 'tacticals' and their locking blades, I'd probably be happy to carry my Vic Soldier, or old Camillus stockman and nothing else.

On days where it may not be appropriate to carry a big, scary 'tactical' knife, my Vic Soldier is always tucked away in my pocket... it'll handle anything that needs handling on those days.
 
I started carrying a Laguiole because I liked the way they look. That's a primary requisite to me. There's too much variety out there to use a knife that you think is ugly.

There's no need to give up Spydercos. I didn't. I carry both a Military and my Laguiole. The Laguiole is primarily for food, and the Military is for more rugged tasks.
 
... that was all I had available. My first was a Camillus electricians jack knife that my dad let me use. Still have the knife. Then I bought an Imperial barlow of my own. What a piece of junk, but I loved that ( long gone) POS.
Then came my tactical stage. Most were POS's too. Now I mostly look for versatility ; SAK's of the waiter, bantam, spartan class or something else that is light in the pocket. Such as: small lockbacks like the Spyderco jester or 2 blade jacks about 4 inches or smaller. I got my first congress last week. I rarely carry a tactical anymore.
 
If you feel like reading it (I know, my typical long winded post...) this is what I wrote almost a year ago about my transition through knife-life. It's still true today with the exception that most days I now only carry a slipjoint.



cpirtle said:
I just got done slashing my finger to the bone eating an apple with my Nowland Saddlehorn so forgive me if I drift, but I too have gone full circle.... at least twice.

I have always had a selection of fixed blades so what I'm saying here mainly pertains to folders.

For years I carried slipjoints only, and had a few lockbacks I would occasionally carry in a belt sheath. When I was 13 my friends parents had a hard time understanding why I would carry a "big knife" in a belt sheath, I pretty much stopped so I didn't have to listen to them.

On to college, still mainly slip joints but bigger ones. I also got a few Spyderco's. Primarily a large Buck Stockman.

After college the BM705 came out and I thought that was the bees knees, I carried that sucker for a long time.

Then one day I decided I wanted something different and stumbled on to Bladeforums in my quest, it was all down hill from there ;)

I went from mid-range production tacticals, to high end production tacticals, to custom tacticals ranging the full spectrum. I went through a phase where I thought 3" was my perfect size, then 4", then anything bigger than 4". During this phase of evoltuion I saw little need for the small stuff.

Tacticals were mainly the order of the day and I bounced back and forth between favorite locks types and steel.

One day the process of "sewing my oats" brought a startling revelation, all of these big tacticals were great for the wow factor, beautiful to look at and would be nice in the rare event I needed to defend myself with one, but they could not cut for poo. That was about the same time that I realized I hated liner locks....

So, the process of revamping the collection went through another phase.

Now for the most part I carry a slip joint every day in my left front pocket (usually a beautiful custom like the one I just about de-tipped my finger with today), a lock-back, Axis lock or frame lock (although I only have one of these anymore because I decided I really don't like frame locks either, but that's a whole nother story) of choice either clipped to my pocket or in a belt sheath if it's one of my many 110's.

So for me it's efficient cutting big knives with blades in the 4" range and a nice traditional slip joint. In day-to-day use the slipjoint sees 95% of the action and I'm getting to the point where some days I don't even carry a bigger knife to the office.

I'm sure a good shrink could tear me apart but hey, it's what makes life interesting. My wife and I already have established that I have OCD when it comes to hobbies and things I'm passionate about but that's why she married me.

At last count I had conducted over 350 buy/sell/trade transactions on this and other forums with knives ranging from $10 to $750, I think I've finally got what I like down pat and am happy with life :D
Click to expand...
 
Grandfather handed me a Case stockman for my 8th birthday.
Been carrying one ever since.
Randy
 
Some interesting stories there guys. It sounds like most of you have been carrying slipjoints and traditionals most of your lives. Thinking back, some of the first knives that were given to me were slip joints. In fact, I know that I owned a Camillus made Boy Scout knife, as well as an Old Timer with green plastic handles, but those have since been lost to the knife gods long, long ago. I kind of wish I still had them, because they'd probably see a lot more use now that I know how to actually sharpen them.
 
My dad got me my first knife in September 1968 for my 10th birthday. I will never forget that moment, as I view it as a sign that he trusted and respected me enough to buy me a real knife. It was a John Primble Belknap Hardware 4-blade Congress, which I still have, although it is very worn and beat up. I've acquired a dozen or so other slip joints over the years.

A few years back I got back into knives in a bigger way than before, and my entry point was actually a sale on Case knives at the local hardware store. I bought a $20 (on sale) blue bone Case Copperhead. But in keeping with the present trend my interests soon turned to one-hand opening folders with clips. I still carry and use such knives regularly, and actually I've always carried at least a SAK along with them.

More recently, my interests have shifted back to slipjoints, due in part to the posts in this forum. I was on the verge of ordering a wood inlay Sebenza, but after viewing some of the threads here something inside me said, I could buy a lot of cool new and old traditional knives for the price of that one Sebbie -- why not try it out? Since then I got a Schatt and Morgan ATS-34 Mountain Man, a Queen whittler, and 3 Shrade 330T jackknives that were left over at the local hardware store (the same store where my dad bought me my first knife). I've been enjoying them all a lot.

I also got a couple of books on whittling for Father's Day. It seems to me that whittling and traditional slipjoints go hand in hand. Anyway, I'm glad to be back.
 
I probably picked up my first slip joint-- we just called them jack knives back then-- when I was about 9 or 10 years old. You could buy them in the corner drug store for all of about 50 or 75 cents--if you had that princely sum. I suppose I traded something for one, don't remember. It was so long ago, we all carried them to school with no problems at all, and actually played with them out in the schoolyard during recess. What a different world it was! That may be a reason why I still carry a slip joint today-- it's a bit of the past I carry with me, just as my father carried a slip joint and his father before him. Today I find all the vast array of tacticals and the multitude of stain--less steels a bit bewildering. But the slip joints with 1095 are still around--just as American as apple pie, and fireworks on the 4th of July..
 
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