- Joined
- Sep 28, 2014
- Messages
- 693
Howdy Y’all,
I know that many here on the porch enjoy reading about the types of knives favored by folks in different walks of life. I have been in my new job at the farm store for several months now, so I thought I’d share my observations.
First of all, as to location, we’re in the Piedmont of North Carolina. I’m sure that makes a difference, as other areas of the country would undoubtedly have different trends.
We’ll start with employees. Three of us carry Sodbusters. The pattern seems particularly well-suited to the cutting tasks we encounter on a daily basis. I have a full size Case yellow CV that rides in my back pocket. One of the managers has a Steel Warrior that is about the same size as a Case Jr. One of the other warehouse workers, who is 62, and is kinda like everybody’s grandpa, carries a Case Jr. American Workman with black handles. He and I got to talking about knives one day, and he said that knife is all he carries. He also remarked, “I don’t want nothing no bigger than that in my pocket.” He said he prefers stainless because he thought the carbon would probably turn into a solid block of rust in his pocket, and he just didn’t want to deal with it. He also said that his two grown sons both prefer a Sodbuster Jr. as well.
Aside from my Sodbuster, I also carry a Case Small Texas Jack, for more delicate cutting tasks, and for lunch chores. I just got a 63032 CV Stockman in the mail that I’m going to sharpen up and carry in its place for awhile. The STJ is a fantastic knife, but I got to missing having a sheepsfoot blade. They’re just so darn useful.
None of the other employees are knife knuts; some don’t even carry a knife at all, although I don’t know how they survive, because I need mine constantly. The boss lady carries a small Leatherman, several use Steel Warriors or Frosts bought from our knife case for a few dollars, or even one of the $0.99 jobs in a bucket on the front counter, and several folks just carry a utility knife.
I recently visited another nearby store in our Co-op, and the cashier, who was probably in her 20s, was wearing a Schrade Sharpfinger in a nicely tooled pancake sheath.
The fella who brings our dog food deliveries is 52, and he has a red Case trapper in stainless. He said his dad always carried a trapper, and kept it razor sharp. He also said his dad would use it for everything from cleaning his fingernails to cutting his supper, without much cleaning in between.
As far as what we sell, the Chinese knives are the most popular - stockmen, trappers, whittlers, congress, along with some moderns. We do sell some Case, but it happens less often. We had a Chestnut Bone CV stockman in there for awhile, but everything else is stainless. I helped one older gentleman awhile back who was looking for a knife for his grandson’s 17th birthday. I asked him what he carried, and he pulled out a Puma trapper, about 3 3/4” with dark red handles. He said, “I probably have one of every knife in that case, but I keep coming back to this one.” I sent him on his way with a Case Amber Bone trapper in stainless, and he was as happy as could be.
The most common cutting instrument that I see on customers is a folding utility knife, clipped to a pocket. That seems to be the choice for many in the 20s to 40s crowd. Of course, there’s no telling what else people have IN their pockets that I never see.
So, that’s the story for now on farm store cutlery. Hope you enjoyed reading.
Have a good one!
TH
I know that many here on the porch enjoy reading about the types of knives favored by folks in different walks of life. I have been in my new job at the farm store for several months now, so I thought I’d share my observations.
First of all, as to location, we’re in the Piedmont of North Carolina. I’m sure that makes a difference, as other areas of the country would undoubtedly have different trends.
We’ll start with employees. Three of us carry Sodbusters. The pattern seems particularly well-suited to the cutting tasks we encounter on a daily basis. I have a full size Case yellow CV that rides in my back pocket. One of the managers has a Steel Warrior that is about the same size as a Case Jr. One of the other warehouse workers, who is 62, and is kinda like everybody’s grandpa, carries a Case Jr. American Workman with black handles. He and I got to talking about knives one day, and he said that knife is all he carries. He also remarked, “I don’t want nothing no bigger than that in my pocket.” He said he prefers stainless because he thought the carbon would probably turn into a solid block of rust in his pocket, and he just didn’t want to deal with it. He also said that his two grown sons both prefer a Sodbuster Jr. as well.
Aside from my Sodbuster, I also carry a Case Small Texas Jack, for more delicate cutting tasks, and for lunch chores. I just got a 63032 CV Stockman in the mail that I’m going to sharpen up and carry in its place for awhile. The STJ is a fantastic knife, but I got to missing having a sheepsfoot blade. They’re just so darn useful.
None of the other employees are knife knuts; some don’t even carry a knife at all, although I don’t know how they survive, because I need mine constantly. The boss lady carries a small Leatherman, several use Steel Warriors or Frosts bought from our knife case for a few dollars, or even one of the $0.99 jobs in a bucket on the front counter, and several folks just carry a utility knife.
I recently visited another nearby store in our Co-op, and the cashier, who was probably in her 20s, was wearing a Schrade Sharpfinger in a nicely tooled pancake sheath.
The fella who brings our dog food deliveries is 52, and he has a red Case trapper in stainless. He said his dad always carried a trapper, and kept it razor sharp. He also said his dad would use it for everything from cleaning his fingernails to cutting his supper, without much cleaning in between.
As far as what we sell, the Chinese knives are the most popular - stockmen, trappers, whittlers, congress, along with some moderns. We do sell some Case, but it happens less often. We had a Chestnut Bone CV stockman in there for awhile, but everything else is stainless. I helped one older gentleman awhile back who was looking for a knife for his grandson’s 17th birthday. I asked him what he carried, and he pulled out a Puma trapper, about 3 3/4” with dark red handles. He said, “I probably have one of every knife in that case, but I keep coming back to this one.” I sent him on his way with a Case Amber Bone trapper in stainless, and he was as happy as could be.
The most common cutting instrument that I see on customers is a folding utility knife, clipped to a pocket. That seems to be the choice for many in the 20s to 40s crowd. Of course, there’s no telling what else people have IN their pockets that I never see.
So, that’s the story for now on farm store cutlery. Hope you enjoyed reading.
Have a good one!
TH
)but took my sister and me to St.Paul builders. I would normally go with Dad to the hardware or auto parts store, but him insisting Sis come to made us curious. Anyways that day Dad took us up to the knife display and told us to pick any one we wanted. I think he may have set a price limit lol I picked the sak, my sis picked a yellow parker 3 blade stockman. I was 10 she was 12. Sure felt MIGHTY big and proud to tell the counter man "that un"
a right of passage being lost nowadays. Like mom and pop hardware stores are getting scarce, so to are those wonderful velvet backed cases of awesomeness.
