- Joined
- Jul 25, 2011
- Messages
- 521
Warning - post involves a Peanut moral. About a month or so ago I went to a flea market in search of edged tools, military items, old books, and maybe some old fishing stuff. I went over to the section where the knives usually were and stumbled upon the holy grail of old knife lovers. Dozens of pocket knives, some blades worn down literally to the size of a toothpick, were there. I'll admit it, I didn't buy anything as I am extremely picky with my knives and didn't see anything that particularly appealed to me. But, I did meet a true knife knut. He was a older gentleman in overalls and was the owner of the knives. He saw me checking out his knives and sparked a conversation.
Well I admitted to being a knife knut and he did to. I said I had a couple dozen knives or so and he happily but a bit shamefully admitted that he had a couple hundred. We talked about our favorite patterns and such for a while. The conversation drifted to knives today. He told me that he had been raised on a farm and had been carrying a pocket knife since he was four years old. He mentioned he could not imagine not carrying a pocket knife. We talked a bit and the question of knives in public came up. What he said surprised me because it was different to what I usually hear. The old farm boy said that even back in the old days pulling out a knife, even a small one, in public sometimes frightened people. However, it was just something you just didn't do unless the situation permitted. The only time you did so was with your buddies and that it was natural to whittle on a stick around them. The point was that people just had the courtesy to avoid causing a disturbance by flashing their knife.
We also got on the subject of small knives and big knives. Growing up on a proud Missouri farm, he was exposed to many farmers and surely had to do a lot of work (being a non-farm boy, i cannot give that many examples of work he may have done). I started thinking about the big stockmans and sodbusters that I always imagined the farmers with. Again, he said something a little different. On Sundays and around the house these farmers chose their little pen knives, but when it got down to work they chose "big knives", as this man put it. He said they chose fixed blades for their real work. Their pen knives were for cleaning their nails, digging out a splinter, opening letters, and maybe slicing off a piece of cheese.
I hadn't given much thought to what he said. Last week I put down my peanut and started carrying my 301, which was used on a camping and fishing trip (yeah that's right, I fish in November. It's called fishing not catching). I felt like there was more power in a knife like it and maybe i could be a one knife guy. But all I ended up doing with it was cutting fishing line and cutting my sandwich in half, things that could be easily accomplished with my little Peanut. Any hard work I did was done with my mora, which got me thinking about what the old farm boy told me. I soon downgraded to a US 34OT because of the flat ground blades and carbon steel. Then I realized that the peanuts main blade is the same size as the 34OT's main blade and I could hear Carl saying I told you so. So I picked up my peanut like an old friend and dropped it in my pocket. ...And I got the idea to polish it and it bit me pretty bad, I guess it was saying something. If a pen knife and a fixed blade is all that a farmer needed, its probably all that i need as far as knives go. I learned a few things - listen to older people, carry a nut, and don't betray it or it will hurt you.
Sorry for the long rambling. If i told anyone else this, well.. they would thing i was a knut.
Well I admitted to being a knife knut and he did to. I said I had a couple dozen knives or so and he happily but a bit shamefully admitted that he had a couple hundred. We talked about our favorite patterns and such for a while. The conversation drifted to knives today. He told me that he had been raised on a farm and had been carrying a pocket knife since he was four years old. He mentioned he could not imagine not carrying a pocket knife. We talked a bit and the question of knives in public came up. What he said surprised me because it was different to what I usually hear. The old farm boy said that even back in the old days pulling out a knife, even a small one, in public sometimes frightened people. However, it was just something you just didn't do unless the situation permitted. The only time you did so was with your buddies and that it was natural to whittle on a stick around them. The point was that people just had the courtesy to avoid causing a disturbance by flashing their knife.
We also got on the subject of small knives and big knives. Growing up on a proud Missouri farm, he was exposed to many farmers and surely had to do a lot of work (being a non-farm boy, i cannot give that many examples of work he may have done). I started thinking about the big stockmans and sodbusters that I always imagined the farmers with. Again, he said something a little different. On Sundays and around the house these farmers chose their little pen knives, but when it got down to work they chose "big knives", as this man put it. He said they chose fixed blades for their real work. Their pen knives were for cleaning their nails, digging out a splinter, opening letters, and maybe slicing off a piece of cheese.
I hadn't given much thought to what he said. Last week I put down my peanut and started carrying my 301, which was used on a camping and fishing trip (yeah that's right, I fish in November. It's called fishing not catching). I felt like there was more power in a knife like it and maybe i could be a one knife guy. But all I ended up doing with it was cutting fishing line and cutting my sandwich in half, things that could be easily accomplished with my little Peanut. Any hard work I did was done with my mora, which got me thinking about what the old farm boy told me. I soon downgraded to a US 34OT because of the flat ground blades and carbon steel. Then I realized that the peanuts main blade is the same size as the 34OT's main blade and I could hear Carl saying I told you so. So I picked up my peanut like an old friend and dropped it in my pocket. ...And I got the idea to polish it and it bit me pretty bad, I guess it was saying something. If a pen knife and a fixed blade is all that a farmer needed, its probably all that i need as far as knives go. I learned a few things - listen to older people, carry a nut, and don't betray it or it will hurt you.
Sorry for the long rambling. If i told anyone else this, well.. they would thing i was a knut.
, I find myself talking to a lot of people here, and when someone spark up interest and displays a more-than usual interest, I have often handed them a knife that I have gone through at home that usually thrills them to bits!.
