I am new to these traditional knives...

L

lreed

Joined
Dec 7, 2001
Messages
538
Can anybody tell me how these names came? (stockman, trapper, congress...)
 
welcome to the wonderful world of slipjoints....
the stockman is so called because it was and is carried by stockmen/cattlemen/cowboys. With a general purpose clip blade, a sheepsfoot for cutting rope and leather straps and a spey blade for castrating livestock this is the knife many ranchers keep close at hand. On some models the spey blade is even marked FLESH ONLY. A variant on the Stockman knife is the Cattle knife which has a similar blade configuration but an even rounded handel shape, like a Swiss Army Knife.
The Trapper is so called because it was and is carried by hunters and trappers. With a general purpose clip blade and a spey blade for skinning this knife can clean a buck or dress a rabbit or whatever game you catch.
Just my limited knowledge which I picked up here, I am sure some of the more knowledgable fellas can add more.
BTW the above is one of the many reasons I LOVE slipjoints - each model has a legacy to it, call me a romantic fool but when I pick up a stockman I feel a connection to the cowboy spirit!
 
I always thought that the Congress pattern was so named because like the branch of government, it had two equal sides (in either 2 or 4 blade configuration). No less an authority than Tony Bose corrected me. He asked me if I had ever seen a 5 blade congress. It certainly wasn't even on both sides. Tony says that in the old days...the early days of our country, Congressmen were issued a whittling stick at the beginning of the session, so they would have something to do while Congress was in session. The name, "Congress" pattern evolved from that. Good luck getting into Congress with a knife in your pocket nowadays!!
 
If I was going to carry a Congress into Congress, this is the one I'd take.
 

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I've heard that the Muskrat pattern was designed for cleaning rats and other small rodents.
 
Sodbuster: or penny knife, an inexpensive knife, generally imported from Germany, allegedly favored by American pioneers, hence - "sodbusters"
 
Again, welcome to our world of traditional patterns; they make the modern liner-frame lock, synthetic handled things look pretty boring, don't they?
 
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