It's 1912...

[GLDNDomer]

My Remington 3 5/8" serpentine jack from the '20s, the earliest I've got. Although I would probably choose a stockman if I had one of those puppies.

 

[Dakota Dogman]

Seems like the old timers in my neighborhood had an odd tradition... Grampa (born 1892) told about how when two cowboys would meet up, they would often (and for no apparent reason) trade pocket knives. You never knew what you were going to get, great or aweful.

Probably wouldn't have been a question... what knife did I own? Sitting to hand right now is one of Grandpa's old stockman ... WARD... started off life as a 3 blade, down to 2 now... handles look like a jigged wood... still actually kinda sharp... hmmm ... yeh, this one will work.

God bless,

 

[DrPenguin]

Tell you one thing, I'd be regretting the inability to take my little 6 pound Kimber up that mountain more than not having the perfect knife... those old rifles were mighty heavy to be toting up to the places where bighorns call home.

Will

 

[waynorth]

Dall Deweese, by Marbles. Likely made in 1911 or 1912. A simple, beautiful knife!
I lament selling that knife (like this one only mint in the original sheath). But what do you do when you buy a knife for $10, and someone gives you $970 for it??

 

[runninmike]

I have a very old bone handled Remington serpentine 2 blade jack with an nice swedge on the main clip blade and a long thin pen blade for smaller chores - about 3-5/8" closed. Grandpa's knife dates to 1920 though.... he had the knife since new and it's in remarkably good condition as he was very conservative and used it sparingly. This small to medium jack would compliment a fix blade hunting knife in camp quite well. I can't post pict because I'm away from home. Another-my dream knife would be one of Maher & Groesh's stockmans' known as "Teddy's Favorite" marked on the clip (Theodore Roosevelt)....about the same size as my Remington but included a sheepsfoot..... nice thread Carl-thanks for making us dream and breath in the nostalgia again :->

 

[jackknife]

Dall Deweese, by Marbles. Likely made in 1911 or 1912. A simple, beautiful knife!
I lament selling that knife (like this one only mint in the original sheath). But what do you do when you buy a knife for $10, and someone gives you $970 for it??

Say, "No thank you"

I don't think I could put a money value on a rare collectable piece of history. And the Deweese is one of the most intelligently designed hunting knives in history. Not a fraction of an once of excess weight. Just a perfect exercise of minimalist function.

I recall something my old ,and told me once. "If it ain't enough money to change your life, then it's not worth it."

Carl.

 

[ASBOB]

A couple of thoughts.

First, this indicates you are a person of at least modest wealth, or at least quite comfortable. The vast bulk of Americans (farmers, workers) could not afford such an excursion.

So there's a good chance you bought this at a specialty store, like Abercrombie & Fitch (back when it was a gentleman's outfitter store, not a hip kiddie's mart). So you bought what ever company they had contracted with to put their own name on knives.


You already are carrying a fixed blade, which will get used for skinning and larger chores. Since you're with a group, the guide probably has an axe or at least a hatchet.

So what would you use this small knife for? Small chores, possibly some food prep (although again, the guide probably did that.

I vote for a folding knife with the following:

--a main, general purpose blade

--an awl. Horses and leather will be everything on this trip, so it would be good to have something that at least makes extra holes.

--can opener. For rations. Canned food was big back then.

--possibly a bottle opener. The crimped bottle cap had already been invented.

--a corkscrew. You're a gentleman, right? Thus, there has to be drinking. Keep in mind that hard liquor came with corks back then, and not just wine.

If it's after the Great War, things get easier, and the class lines diminish. I just got through reading Bernard Levine's book, Pocket Knives. Remington started in 1920 and quickly became a giant. At its peak it produced 10,000 "high grade pocket knives" a day, with "over 1,000 pocket knife patterns, along with hunting knives and household cutlery." Winchester started making knives around the same time, and was very big in hardware stores. So if you were a gentleman or a farm hand or the guide, there was a reasonable chance you had one of these knives.

 

[markpmc]

I consider my GEC #23 my cowboy knife. So I'd take a regular old 2 blade folding trapper.

 

[jackknife]

A couple of thoughts.

First, this indicates you are a person of at least modest wealth, or at least quite comfortable. The vast bulk of Americans (farmers, workers) could not afford such an excursion.

So there's a good chance you bought this at a specialty store, like Abercrombie & Fitch (back when it was a gentleman's outfitter store, not a hip kiddie's mart). So you bought what ever company they had contracted with to put their own name on knives.


You already are carrying a fixed blade, which will get used for skinning and larger chores. Since you're with a group, the guide probably has an axe or at least a hatchet.

So what would you use this small knife for? Small chores, possibly some food prep (although again, the guide probably did that.

I vote for a folding knife with the following:

--a main, general purpose blade

--an awl. Horses and leather will be everything on this trip, so it would be good to have something that at least makes extra holes.

--can opener. For rations. Canned food was big back then.

--possibly a bottle opener. The crimped bottle cap had already been invented.

--a corkscrew. You're a gentleman, right? Thus, there has to be drinking. Keep in mind that hard liquor came with corks back then, and not just wine.

If it's after the Great War, things get easier, and the class lines diminish. I just got through reading Bernard Levine's book, Pocket Knives. Remington started in 1920 and quickly became a giant. At its peak it produced 10,000 "high grade pocket knives" a day, with "over 1,000 pocket knife patterns, along with hunting knives and household cutlery." Winchester started making knives around the same time, and was very big in hardware stores. So if you were a gentleman or a farm hand or the guide, there was a reasonable chance you had one of these knives.

Interesting thought, and one that flitted through my mind as I wrote this. I wold wonder what a well to do gentleman hunter would carry for a octet knife. Given the times, and not counting a knife collector, would the gentleman in question just carry what he normally would in a vest pocket? If so, would it be a gentleman's knife, perhaps even one of those exquisite lobster pearl handle knives with blades, pipe reamer, small scissors, nail file? Maybe something like what smiling-knife and Wellington show us?

Very interesting slant in it!:thumb up:

Carl.

 

[Arathol]

If its good enough for Nessmuk its good enough for me.
A very old Miller Bros moose pattern, very much like the one George Sears describes in his writings

 

[jujigatame]

I'd pick a medium stockman or cattle knife. Scout knife seems like a good choice too.

 

[street soldier]

I'd probably bring along a medium sized jack of some sort to handle all the EDC tasks that my fixed blade would be too big for.

 

[ASBOB]

I doubt he would carry his own, big city knife. This was a period where manliness was an issue for the urban middle class and above (esp. after Teddy and the "strenuous life"). Also status. So I expect he would go and get a "real" knife from A & F. Keep in mind that when Teddy first went West in the late 1880s, he was wearing a frnged and beaded outfit he bought from A & F. When he got to the ranch, dressed appropriately he told the crew, "Hasten forward quickly there men," and the real cowboys nearly fell off thier mounts they were laughing so hard. It is to TR's immortal credit that he won them all over by his hard work and displays of grit (often at risk of his life).

If our traveler was rich enough, he sent his "man" out to get him a knife at the hardware store. If he was pressed for time, he might have stopped at the hardware store or feed store next to the train station and grabbed something. Keep in mind that knives were much more common in those days, were sold in lots of stores, and were of generally good quality. The Ace Hardware near me sells real junk; not back then.

 

[OzarkCreekWalker]

Case Large Stockman Yellow CV of course.

 

[Big Barn]

At that period in time - I would have my trusty Barlow.

 

[Berkley]

A sportsman's knife by Butler of Sheffield - it was a gift in 1900, has the date engraved on the scale.

 

[brandonc]

I can't imagine being wealthy enough to go on a guided hunt, if that is the circumstance I would probably have my guide carry everything. Nessmuk wrote negatively of rich men going who spend most time in cabins and know little of nature or woodcraft.

In 1912 my Great-Grandfather hunter just to put meat on the table. If he was unsuccessful that meant no meat for his wife and seven children, not just getting back on the train without a "trophy". He never went hunting with a guide or horse. If I am imagining hunting in 1912, then I would be "Nessmuking" it. A simple deer camp 10 miles into the woods.

I think I would have just a canvas tarp, wool blanket and clothing, small cooking pan and a fine Mauser 1898 rifle or perhaps just a lever-action plus a few odds and ends. The pocket knife I carry would be a large two-bladed pocket hunter.

I don't own the knife in the picture, but I do own the same pattern. However it is newly made with yellow delrin scales. In addition to the pocket knife I would have a five to six inch bladed sheath knife, something like the Marbles Expert, and a Hatchet.

 

[Bigfattyt]

Tough choice.

I really like my big sunfish GEC. All steel, including the bolsters. The big blade would make for a heck of a skinning blade if needed.

The small blade would make for a decent caping blade if needed.

But I would be hard pressed to leave my Grandad Barlow at home. Long spear-point that is pinch-able even with gloves on. Needle thin point on the small clip pen blade.

Another grandad barlow with a single blade.

The Barlow was good enough for my own Grandfather. A man who would "get out, and get under" when anything needed doing or fixing.

 

[bladeblabber]

I would take a good, sturdy single spring pen knife around 3 3/8" long. nice and lightweight but still able to handle most chores.

 

[saxon]

In 1912 I'd probably still have been carrying a Swedish barrel knife in a vest pocket. Things were slower back then.