Warmth, mystique, tradition, memories, folksy.... a picture is worth a thousand words...
How can g-10 and anodized alloys compare?
They can't.
This is a subject that I have also wondered about many times. I don't have an answer, but I can only venture a guess that the human eye on some deep level. knows what looks good, and what does not. The ancient Greeks and Romans had a high degree of art in thier daily life. Buildings, everyday objects from soup ladels to ships, had an eye pleasing design. It wasn't just all about function.
Today, we have most products that are from the modern school of 'how fast can we make this'. No thought is given anymore to what it looks like, instead, the artificial market convinces the customer that this is what he really needs. No matter how cold and sterile.
I think when we look at an old knife, or old blued gun, there's that deep seated human gene that lets us know that it looks right. If pushed, I think humans will rebel against the cold look. Now in the market place, look at how many things are driven by a nostalgia wave. Old classic cars will bring a price way higher that a nice new car. Old styles of clothing are coming back. And the fastest growing shooting sport is cowboy action shooting. It's all about nostalgia. A deep seated knowledge of what is right and wrong. In this day of tactical everything, the local gunshops can't keep up with the demand for cowby action stuff. My club started holding the shoots a few years ago, and it's swamped over the military rifle shoots, the tactical pistol shoots, the bowling pin matches. On Thunder Valley day weekend held once a month, its a mob of whole familys in western garb, toting lever action rifles and single action revolvers and break open coachguns. And there is a great deal of younger people that never grew up watching Gunsmoke or Have Gun, Will Travel.
I think looking at a nice old bone handle pocket knife with grey patined blades, there is a little trip back to simpler times, when good guys wore the white hats, when people sat on the front porch in the evenings and talked with thier nieghbors, and cars each had thier own individual style, instead of all looking alke. Jelly bean cars in a stamped out world.
I think that the popularity of traditional knives will rise as the current generation gets tired of black handle knives that all look alike. That never change. That never develope any charater.
I think charater is important to people. We may not be able to explain just what it is, but on some level we know what it is not. And looking at a nice old well used but not abused pocket knife, we know it has it.
:thumbup:
