How much of it is style?

RescueRiley

RescueRiley

Joined
Mar 22, 2006
Messages
5,944
Spent a bit of time out yesterday with my nephew.. (Pics to follow when I upload them) as I was going through my gear (as I always do) evaluating each piece.. I started to get nitpicky..( I like the look and feel of trad style gear.) and was wondering how a bone handled slipjoint would be so much cooler than my trusty sak..and I got to thinking WIll it cut anybetter? will it be as practical? the answer despite my propensity towards romantic notions is no....this realization forced me to re-evaluate (at least a little) my set up... How much of what we select is based entirely on performance and how muich is selected based on what particular gizmo will best express my individualism, whether it be taste or what have you... Your thoughts?
 
Good question RR, I suspect that we really can't separate style or any other visual aspect of selecting our gear, that's what makes all our choices different. It's a Chevy vs Ford or stainless vs carbon issue, not everything about our selection processes can be practical; too many subconscious factors going on. Maybe it's a good thing, or we'd all be using the same knife and driving the same car. Yikes, then what would we argue about, all of our opinions would be "right" :-)
 
I'd like to broaden this out a bit and add that throughout history as [man] has refined [his] tools for better ergonomics, control, efficiency etc., form follows function, style following form as an inevitable conclusion being that we are creative. My point is that many stylish applications to our tools descend from practical refinements for a better tool.

In the case of your bone handled slip joint vs a SAK; I've never handled a SAK that I could say was truly comfortable as compared to the more traditional slippy. So I say continue with your style selections. You never know how much of it is an intuitive process for better function.
 
RescueRiley said:
Spent a bit of time out yesterday with my nephew.. (Pics to follow when I upload them) as I was going through my gear (as I always do) evaluating each piece.. I started to get nitpicky..( I like the look and feel of trad style gear.) and was wondering how a bone handled slipjoint would be so much cooler than my trusty sak..and I got to thinking WIll it cut anybetter? will it be as practical? the answer despite my propensity towards romantic notions is no....this realization forced me to re-evaluate (at least a little) my set up... How much of what we select is based entirely on performance and how muich is selected based on what particular gizmo will best express my individualism, whether it be taste or what have you... Your thoughts?
Click to expand...

Of course you will have to get one and find out.:)
My 'ol Pappy always said "if it looks good, it will work good". What he meant was, the better it looks to you, the better you will feel about using it.
Would a custom Stag handled bushcrafter cut better than a plastic handled Mora? No.
Would you work a little harder and possibly more carefully with the custom? I expect you would.
My Mora cuts as well as anything I have ever used. It is never far from me but I'm carrying a custom fixed and a Case CV trapper because they fit my "style".;)
 
Hmm, Good points so far... THis looks like it is shaping up to be an interesting conversation.
 
Overall I tend to be a very practical person. Probably too many years in the military, and too many years as a mountain guide which have forced me to be practical. I tend to prefer lightweight and strong materials, and materials that are very low maintenance.

For certain situations I prefer stainless steels (I know, shocking!) in a knife. I prefer G-10 for a handle material because it's light, strong and zero maintenance, or a Mora because it's light with a plastic handle, many of the sheaths are small and light and it works (I think my Spyderco Bushcraft is beautiful with it's spalted maple handle, but if it fails I'm going to find someone who can do 3-D G-10 or fat micarta handles).

Speed and ease of use are very important if you're hypothermic, injured, tired, etc.

I carry a modified and brightly colored disposable lighter (550 cord loop on the bottom secured by a few feet of blaze orange duct tape, and the gas regulator is modified to put out big flames) because it's light, cheap and relatively reliable and will be my first choice of fire starting in a real emergency. I carry a plastic handled or no handled ferro rod because it offers me hundreds of fires and serves as my back up. I carry pjcb because it works better and longer than char clothe, minus the romanticism.

I like having a headlamp with me because it's practical, fast and doing first aid in the dark sucks.

I carry energy bars and Gu because I know I don't NEED it but I know that I make better decisions, think more clearly and my motor skills are better when I'm not distracted by hunger and lack of energy. I've been in enough bad situations where I was food and sleep deprived that I know the importance of food for me.

I carry a titanium cup because it's light and strong and so I don't mind carrying it and I know from a lot of experimentation that other methods of boiling water (foil, muffin tins, hot rock boiling, etc.) are inferior, slower and more difficult. I need to get a Klean Kanteen.

Making cordage in the wild is slow and difficult for me. I suck at it and I need to practice it a lot more. I carry 550 cord because it gives me more bang for my buck with 8 strands of cordage in one. I also carry jute twine because it's strong enough and works as a very effective fire starter with my ferro rod.

I commit as much knowledge to memory (which only works for me if I practice it enough times. Apparently I'm a slow learner!) as I know knowledge weighs nothing. But I also carry cheat sheets because I know how my brain works at altitude and when I haven't eaten for several days or when I'm in intense pain (broken back, dislocated knee, shattered hand and wrist, broken shoulder with severed tendons, etc. etc. etc.).

I like the romantic idea of antler, buckskin, flint and steel, etc. but I know what's important when the chips are down and I'll go for modern, light, fast and effective every time.
 
to stick with the traditional slipjoint vs SAK argument i too went through this same dilemma so to speak.

I found the SAK to be more practical overall with a more robust construction and a useful tool selection that i used. When i made the switch to a traditional i did so because it had the looks i wanted in my gear. I had to start carrying a P-38 and a 4 way keychain screwdriver set to make up for what i had lost but i am mostly happier for it and the traditional does have better steel in it imo.

I also have been on the hunt for a tradtional pack reading everything i can find so i can pull the trigger when i get the extra funds. I don't expect it to outperform my kifaru though in comfort or design but i do the whole outdoor bushcraft thing for fun and i think the traditional gear adds to it for me.

great thread RR:thumbup:
 
We all have our own taste and style, we also have endless options to choose from so my question is why not?

You can have flash and function I guess it just depends on what type of flash vs function that your looking for. You also have the option to customize your tools, for example, get a bone handle put on your SAK.
 
I like the idea of having both practical and traditional items. I always have a well stocked PSK with me so that usually takes care of the practical. I have not used matches or a lighter to start a campfire in a couple years. I use a bow drill or a bamboo fire saw because that's what I enjoy. Forcing myself to do this makes me very confident in my technique. I went without a fire once, even though I had a lighter, because I couldn't get a friction fire started after a rain. It was a cold and somewhat miserable night that could have been easily fixed with the flick of a Bic. I'm glad I didn't give in to temptation though, because the next night when everything was just a damp I got my bow drill fire going! That was in the fall of 08 on a camping trip down the Conowingo river. Lately, I don't even use modern cord for my bow drills. I have been using both squirrel gut cordage as well as a couple three plait braided cordages made from dogbane or yucca. I choose to make my fires that way because I feel I can appreciate the fire more if I make it with my own hands, start to finish. Now with that said, I always have a lighter, a ferro rod or two, and storm matches, in my PSK. You can bet if there were ever a real emergency, someone got wet, to cold, storm coming, etc... that I would say screw the bow drill in a heartbeat and get a big emergency fire going ASAP.
I like to flint knap as well but that doesn't keep me from carrying a knife or three. I like to bring a small moose billet in my backpack as well as a couple small whitetail tines so that I have both percussion and pressure flaking covered. Once I figure out where I want to camp I make up a couple quick tools from rocks I find to use on my primitive projects. That suits my style and its what I enjoy but you better believe that I'm reaching for a nice piece of steel for the other 95% of things that need to be cut.
I enjoy playing with my traditional skills but they are a fun hobby, not what I would count on as a practical first measure in the bush. I think part of what I like best about living where and when I do is that I can have it all. I can have a nice knapped blade and a piece of 1095, or a bow drill with natural cordage and a ferro rod. The list could go on but its easier to just say that I want to have my traditional cake and cut it with a modern custom knife too.
 
Not true for me in the past, but now it's pure practicality that drives any purchase. I have no more desire to try something new unless it serves a real purpose.

Going from buying cool stuff regularly to the occasional purchase of something important(to me) made my budget a lot bigger for those things I do finally decide to buy, too.
 
I like my slipjoint because of the stag handles and carbon blade, but I also like my SAK because of the can opener, tweezers, and other multi fucntions that it offers, style to me is the slipjoint because of "Swag" it has when you pull it out of your pocket, it's like an old friend......jmo......I like both though.....my budget is limited because I'm not what you call a "gear whore", I like guns and knives, but I don't have all kinds of them, only a few that serve the purpose they were intended for......
 
I guess I'm young enough to consider a SAK a traditional folder! :p

IMO it sounds cool and all kinds of hard-arse to go on nothing but practicality, but I find it a singularly boring endeavor to do so. It lacks style and romance, and life is too short to settle on picking things based on whether or not they'll do the job. Better to do the job with style.
 
I don't believe any knife (with similiar thickness) has the possibility to cut anything better. Some things look better then others to certain people, that certainly does not mean that they are the overall better knife... or any other piece of gear for that matter. I buy a lot of what I do have because I like how it looks, and how it will perform. If I am using a knife I don't really care for, I honestly do not think I will take care of it as much as I would something I like.

I rather have style and function, then just function with my gear. (Well, style to me, anyway) Every person is different, though. A lot of people just buy a knife to use and don't really care for looks.. as long as it cuts and gets the job done.
 
I think if we are all honest we'd admit that there are lots of things that will get the job done in any category of gear. It isn't as if once you weed out the knives, packs, etc. that actually work that there is only one left standing in each category.

That being the case, it means everyone ultimately has some other criteria that determines the gear they pick. Maybe it's cost or beauty or being a fan (of a company or person) or where it was made, and so on.

For me, I obviously want gear that works, but I want gear I like (both as to who makes it and how it looks). Why I like the gear I do won't be the same as others, but the common point is that I think we are all inclined to take better care of, master skills with, and more regularly use gear we like, than gear we don't.
 
In the end, all gear selections are subjective. The criteria may change, but we all choose based on how suitable the gear is to the task. Style is just as important as any other criteria.
 
Cpl Punishment said:
I guess I'm young enough to consider a SAK a traditional folder! :p

IMO it sounds cool and all kinds of hard-arse to go on nothing but practicality, but I find it a singularly boring endeavor to do so. It lacks style and romance, and life is too short to settle on picking things based on whether or not they'll do the job. Better to do the job with style.
Click to expand...

I think this is a good summation. It's easy to come up with a "that'll do" kit. But part of the fun is playing with new things and solving problems in different ways. I take different blades/tools with me all the time. Hell the last trip I took just my BK7 instead of a small scandi.
 
Sometimes, when I'm camping, I look over at my semi traditional gear, and it just makes me smile. :D
 
My thoughts are our population is expanding at an exponential rate, and people are picky about what they want and what they spend their money on. Bushcraft Bob might prefer a jig bone slipjoint, Fisherman Fred might prefer and SAK. Are both reliable quality inexpensive products that serve the same purpose? Yep. But if I have the choice of spending 15 bucks on a jig bone slipjoint or 15 bucks on a SAK, and style is the only real difference, it definately comes into play. One of the benefits of overcrowded society is there's something for everyone, so why not make the most out of it? I agree, I'm definately moving towards more rustic products myself-but you can be practical and 'stylish' at the same time.
 
Very seldom do aesthetics come into play when I choose my gear. The primary factors I tend to go by are durability, multi-functional, and user-friendliness. I do really like the times when I find those qualities in an aesthetically pleasing package very much though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top