Knives vs. writing utensils.

It seems like choice in pens reflects a lot on the personality traits that affect your choice of knife. I can't go past a fancy pen display without shaking my head in wonder at the stupidity of wasting so much money on a basic expendable tool. I'm with Gollnick that nothing beats a sub $1.00 Sanford Uni-ball pen these days. They blow the doors off any fountain pen ever made for utility. Carrying a fountain pen is a lot like carrying a straight razor in terms of general utility. Carrying a real expensive fountain pen is like carrying a pear-handled straight razor.

I guess that reflects my attitude towards money and tools. My general budget for frills is zero. (I'm trying to add $25,000 per year to my retirement portfolio). Knife (and tool) function takes first place in my consideration while prettiness comes in at about 27th. I never actually carry any of the fancier pens I have been given over the years.

 
I used the title, "Knives vs. writing utensils" because those of us with champaigne dreams, a beer budget, and no job, can't have it all. I've been considering buying a nice pen (not a fountain pen; they feel rough to me), but I keep wanting more and more and more and more and more and more and more knives- and a new sleeping bag.
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So it comes down to a pen or feeding my already overwhelming knife addiction---> knives vs. a writing utensil.
Lots of interesting thoughts.

Howie
 
I own a couple of Sheaffer Classic Fountain pens, (In stainless steel and gold, and anodized black and gold) And i love them. The smoothness is superb and they never leak. That is one of the main differences between cheap fountain pens and expensive ones. I've got a couple people at school to start using them because they are so much better than the ball points they used to use...
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David Gardner
Vineland NJ

"If you fake the Funk, your nose will grow."
-W. Bootsy Collins


 
It is my usual roll to redirect threads and someone mentioned champagne on a beer budget. Well, I'm also known for the fact that I drink champagne with breakfast (sometimes for breakfast) every day (except during lent when I "go on the wagon").

We've established in this thread and in previous similar ones that there is a strong affinity between knife, watch, and pen tastes. There's a lot of folks here on the forum who's daily kit consists of a Sebenza, a Waterman Pen (my brother, the pen nut, spits on Mt. Blancs, BTW), and a Rolex.

Well, my sainted father used to say, "Only rich folks can afford cheap things." I've seen this at work in my life. Early on, I struggled to buy only good things. They often cost more. As a result, I had very few things. But, today, I still have a lot of those things and they're still going strong. Since I don't have to replace those things, I have more money for other purposes.

So, how far do your "champagne tastes" extend into the rest of your life? Do you flick your benz while driving in your Benz?

Does it extend to consumables? What, for example do you drink? Scot's Royal or Highland Park?



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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.4cs.net/~gollnick
 
Gollnick, you made my day! a knifeknut who knows about Highland Park! i'll bring the bottle if you teach me how to work a balisong, okay?

actually, you made my day TWICE because i love this:
IMHO, everyone should have at least one nice thing in their life, a fine pen, a great knife, a fancy watch, whatever, but one thing that allows them to see and experience the height of human achievement.

amen!

on the subject of pens (i think y'all know how i feel on the subject of knives), i have to agree with Dexter. i have Nice Pen Lust. i drool over them in catalogs, peer forlornly into shop windows, envy friends who have Watermans...

until this year, however, i have not had much disposable income. this is the first year i've been able to buy a few nice knives of my own, and i'm thinking for my birthday in a few months, i might buy myself a really nice fountain pen. haven't decided which one (and am filing away all the above comments for reference later!).

Howie, i think of myself as a writer as well, although most of my writing is done at the keyboard. however, there's just something about a Nice Pen that makes the words flow, that makes hand-writing something more enjoyable, more fun. it makes me feel more connected to my words, somehow. it forces me to take time to think about what i am going to write, to choose my words (sometimes, the backspace key makes it too easy not to think before writing!), to consider, to plan...

and frankly, IMHO, a Nice Pen makes my horrid handwriting more readable and a bit prettier
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so go get yourself a Nice Pen--you don't have to start with a Waterman!

as for my "other champagne tastes" well, i'm a weaver, and if it isn't Very Good Yarn, then i won't use it for anything i care about. ditto for the beads i use in my beadwork (no cheaper-by-the-hundred for me!). my loom is gorgeous, and cost me more than i could afford at the time, but it's been totally worth it. all my weaving and craft tools are the best i can buy, because i love good tools--and pens and knives are part of this Tool Lust!

oh, and i love Very Good Tea and Very Good Coffee, too, Gollnick, so after the Highland Park (or Lagavulin or Springbank or Glen Morangie or ...), we can have some Ministry of Tea selections or perhaps some freshly roasted coffee from my friend who roasts her own ....

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great thread! Howie, if you do decide to buy a Nice Pen, be sure to let us know what you got...

silverwing
 
My goodness Silverwing! Howie's still in High School and you have just exposed him to some of the Most sensual of ideas I have ever read
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I am curious, however:

"i love good tools--and pens and knives are part of this Tool Lust!"

Which comes First, appreciation of fine things made by tools, or an appreciation for the tools themselves (including the craftsman)?

Paracelsus is Wondering Around again!
 
oh, and i love Very Good Tea and Very Good Coffee, too, Gollnick, so after the Highland Park (or Lagavulin or Springbank or Glen Morangie or ...), we can have some Ministry of Tea selections or perhaps some freshly roasted coffee from my friend who roasts her own ....
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Oh, I do love a good scotch. Any of the aforementioned will do fine, and in a snifter, please. I enjoy the aroma as much as the taste. In fact, I think I'm gonna get me some right now.

But, I eschew cafine. It's not a religious thing. I'm Lutheran, so coffee is no problem there. But, my body just seems to over-react to stimulants of all kinds. I dislike the smell of coffee to for some reason, but some teas have a very pleasant smell. My FMA instructor sometimes makes a sort of herbal tea with cinnamon in it. I like most anything with cinnamon in it. The taste is nice, but the smell is better.

A lot of "knife people" drink scotch, I've found, and a lot smoke cigars too, the later of which I refuse.

I've paid as much as $120 for a glass of scotch (actually, my then employeer paid for that). It was nice, but I didn't think $120 worth of nice. (Fortunately, the sales guy in the party picked up the bill and ran through the expense report and it was just part of a very expensive dinner for about twelve people, so it really didn't show up. We had several bottles of expensive wine, etc., so my scotch was just a minor thing. I don't think I was the only one who partook either.)

Anyway, there are people on this forum who are interested in knives for hunting/fishing/camping type uses. There are those who use knives as tools. There are those who fancy themselves some sort of assassin, mercenary, former special forces operative, part-time ninja, man in the backwoods, youth gangster, and psycho murderer in the backwoods and are interested in knives for that reason. There are those who realize that a fine knife is just one of life's little necessities, like a pen or a watch, and who's tastes are simple: they only want the best, so they look for a fine knife. And there are those who see the knife as a form of art.

Me? Well, with an interest in balisongs, one might initially put me in the assassin, mercenary, former special forces operative, part-time ninja, man in the backwoods, youth gangster, and psycho murderer category, but I think anyone who knows me and/or has seen my collection will tell you that I'm somewhere between good taste and knife-as-art. I'm afraid that I've studied knife fighting to much to have any romantic notions about it or about fighting knives. Knife sparring is the best workout you'll ever get, but I pray to God that I never have to face the real thing.

Man uses tools. In this respect, he is unlike any other animal on earth. Oh, you can point to some ape who may pick up a rock and use it to break open a nut, but that's hardly in the league with man's tool use. Man is the only animal who purposefully designs and builds his tools. He is the only purposeful tool user. In this respect, he is completely set apart in the creation.

In debates over evolution vs. creation, the issue of "the missing link" often comes up. Genetically, we may be missing only a link or two, but in terms of tool use, we're missing enough chain to reach to the moon and back. I can not accept the idea that the leap from an ape smashing a nut with a rock to a man designing and building a step-and-repeat camera to fabricate a deep-sub-micron IC chip microprocessor in order to solve thousands of simultaneous equations in order to build himself an atomic bomb is just a minor missing link. No, this huge gap proves that man was created to be different.

God's instructions to man were to take charge of the creation and bring it under control. Man's use of tools is an essential part of that.

The knife is probably man's second or third class of tools. The first were doubtlessly pounding tools, clubs, sticks, rocks, etc. The second might have been some use of sticks and so forth to make simple ladders or other tools to help him climb. Knives, first in the form of a rock with a sharp edge, were probably number three.

I am aware of some use of pounding tools by other animals and also of sticks as simple climbing aides. But I am aware of no other animal that uses any sort of cutting edge. This is where man separated from the animals.
Man alone is artistic. Man alone has a sense of design and style.

So, a knife with design or style is the first expression of man's uniqueness in the creation. So, to have something as purposefully made, as styled, and as artistic as a custom balisong is to say, "I am man and I am apart from the creation!" Then, to add your own energy and your own creativity to that balisong in manipulation is only to further personalize that and to further separate yourself from the rest of creation. No other animal manipulates his tools in the stylized ways that a balisong artist does and no other knife gives you the opportunity to rise so far above the rest of the world.

Pens are much the same for those who love them. No other animal writes, obviously. No other animal takes their tools to the wonderful extremes that pens often go to. And when a skilled penmen takes a great pen in hand and writes an inspired verse in flowing cursive script then, well, it elevates him above the rest of this world in way that nothing else can.

Clocks and watches are a total expression of man's mastery of the creation, even of time itself.

Fine scotch is like nothing that any other animal makes. The bees may make honey, and that is nice, but they don't spend ten or even twenty years on a single batch nor do they go to the efforts that scotch makers do to bring such wonderful creations to us. And even a few sips can, as you can see, carry one far above the mere mundane of shelter, food, and water, to think thoughts that tie knives, pens, watches, and even scotch together with a ribbon of theology.

And with that, I've had enough for tonight.



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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.4cs.net/~gollnick
 
Oh, BTW, Silverwing, now that you have some disposable money, I encourage you to splurge on a great pen. I'd suggest treating yourself to a Sanford Uni-Ball, the greatest pen made. If fact, go crazy: buy a whole box! Do as I do: surround yourself with great writting instruments!

And with the money you save, treat yourself to a bottle of Highland Park. Bring it up and I'll be happy to teach you the balisong.



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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.4cs.net/~gollnick
 
It's funny how the interest for fine knives correlate with the interest to fine pens and watches. If I would have known that before I started really collecting folders, I could have skipped right to Sebenza
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Right next to my knife magazines and catalogs are catalogs of:
<DL>
<DT>TAG Heuer
<DD>Not the highest quality or the most expensive, but is definitely one of the better ones and is mostly to my liking of all the expensive watches - but not all of their model line, the ones with 'plastic' for instance... hate them. "A sports watch is not a piece of jewellery." Don't have one yet, but once I graduate that will change.
<DT>Bang & Olufsen
<DD>Tommi my friend, you are absolutely correct about the price/performance. Audio/video quality is much better than most system, but with the same price you can get still better performance. But what comes to ergonomics, you are totally wrong. The ergonomics of B&O are unparalleled! I have only a TV from them, but my dad has the 'whole works'. Everything can be linked and can be used from one simple remote, even from many rooms. And they are definitely leaders in design. Design is one definitely an important factor for me with all these things as well as performance and functionality - must have both!
<DT>Porsche
<DD>What can I say about this one. Words are not enough.
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One day.
<DT>Canon cameras
<DD>Yet another endless well to throw your money into. Cheap lenses deliver pictures, but the more expensive ones with aspherical, fluorite and ultra low dispersion glass elements... well you get the idea
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.
</DL>
And champagne for breakfast? Well what else!
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Only thing bad with fine wines is that after hours when lot's of wine has been consumed, the knives become very slippery and thus dangerous to the users - and themselves (they lose tips easily when hitting hard things)
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Hugo.
 
I agree with Silverwing and Gollnick... buy the very best that you can afford. I get far more enjoyment and pleasure out of fewer but nicer things... and they seem to last longer, to boot!
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Watches - I like Omega Seamaster Pro's, IWC's & JLC's.

Scotches - I recommend Auchentoshan Three Wood (best scotch I've ever tasted, no matter the price!)

Pens - I'm partial to the Parker's (both roller balls and fountain pens)

Stereo equipment - Nakamichi, Klipsch, Sony ES

Life is short... work hard.. play hard... enjoy the time and friends that you are blessed with!

AJ

[This message has been edited by AJ (edited 01-11-2000).]
 
Silverwing-a girl after my own heart. I don't meet too many women who appreciate Lavagulin. I'm not a fan of Highland Park, but I like Cardhu, Oban, and Talisker.
Howie, People like fine pens for the same reasons that they like other fine things. Good design, quality materials and the joy of owning ang using something special. I have a variety of fountain pens and even though they require more care and feeding than other types of pens, they are worth it. I have 2 Waterman pens with 18K gold nibs, they are smoother than anything I ever used. If you want to try an inexpensive pen, get a Lamy. They retail for about $30.00 and are very good "daily drivers." They are slso lightweight.

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The thorn stands to defend the Rose, yet it is peaceful and does not seek conflict
 
WOOOOO - what an amazing string - this is the kind of stuff that makes me come back to the BF, and i don't even care too much for pens.

Watches on the other hand...(pun intended)

 
Silverwing: Well said. There's something about putting pen on paper.

Gollnick: Have you tried the Uni-Ball Vision? If you like the cheap ones, I think you'll love the Vision. A bit more than a buck, but worth it, IMHO.

My daily carries:

Small Sebenza
Aurora Optima
Omega Speedmaster

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...the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives… (Joshua 5:2)
 
I'm not a real aficionado but I do like the way Cross pens fit my hand. If I had to pick a favorite though, I'd agree w/stjames on the Fisher Bullet Space Pen. It's a regular part of my daily carry & travels easily regardless of what I wearing.

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Cheers,

--+Brian+--

aka Dagda the Insatiable, Member of the Terrible Ironic HORDE
"I may be goin' to hell in a bucket, Babe, but at least I'm enjoyin' the ride."
 
Great thread.
It kind of makes me wonder why more members don't discuss pocket knives vs. all the tactical stuff you see on these forums.
Nothing against tactical knives, but to me, the art is in small pocket folders.
Gotta go buy some Uni-ball Visions...

Jim
 
I'm with StJames on the Fisher Space Pen.

I'm not much of a collector with regards to either knives or pens, but what I prefer the practical over the "smooth".

I switched to Space Pens after the #$%$ time with pens running out of ink while doing an urgent scribbling sideways or upside down, and writing on photos.

The Bullet model of the Space pen ($20) is easily carried in my jeans pocket along with my Buck 501MS, and some spare change.

I could spend more and get less (for both pen and knife).
 
So...

I tell my wife that I read on the Bladeforums that lovers of fine knives also appreciate fine pens. She just gives me a look. Then I go to Office Depot, take a gander to see what all the hype is about, and ask to hold a Waterman Expert II. Hmmmm, sleek, smooth,feels good in my hand. Sixty bucks?! Uh...okay. Go home and show my wifey my new toy. Of course the first thing she asks me is...HOW MUCH? I tell her, and then she says:

You and all those crazy people at Bladeforums...what, are all of you millionares or something?!?!?

Then I give her the old:
rolleyes.gif

and tell her to TRY the pen.

Of course all of you know what happened next.

She kept my new pen.
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Well, I'm not THAT great of a writer! I have trouble transcending a 6 page research paper; I'll try transcending everything else later.

Don't know too much about the drink. Uhhh... Goldschlaager? Shnopps? I personally like cheap wine, like you can buy at the grocery store- red please. Can't stand white wine. Keep beer as far away as you can. ICK!

I wear a Timex that weighs about 8 or 9 tons. In fact, I think it's streching my arm out more and more each day I wear it.

I can't take a good pen to school. It'll get stolen before I can say "Benchmade". Maybe I'll get something nice for college. I have to take a swimming test to go to UNC. If you don't pass the test, you have to take a damn swimming CLASS! I don't want to take the test at ALL though! This whole college thing burns me up. I don't really even want to go to college in the first place. Just get me a job on "Mad Magazine", or even a position in a book editing company. I don't wanna manage a friggin McDonald's, or even teach (which is really all you should need a degree for). It's all about the degree; no one cares about the individual's skill or talent anymore. Sorry about the rant. I'm just indescribably annoyed by this whole college thing.

Howie
The slacker
 
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