Looking to the past?

I tend to try to live for TODAY...yesterday is gone and it ain't coming back. I like old things though, and by using the tools of Today ie: Internet google machines, we are able to be exposed to a much larger marketplace to find the things from yesteryear that make us nostalgic! I have lots of old cameras from the 40's on up to my Nikon FE , but I can't buy the film I used to like! These were acquired over time since about age 12 and are now pretty much useless :( but digital cameras allow instant gratification, and sharing, on a level only dreamed about by Polaroid!
In the last few years I have acquired some older knives because of exposure to them through modern media, and modern marketplaces...I also have a taste for modern cutlery, and each has it's proper place in my life.
As a traditional knife lover, I appreciate the enduring usefulness and beauty of these tools, but have no yearnings to go back to times that in my mind may or may not have been better...time clouds our memories and leaves a rosy picture, when in reality, people have always had struggles and obstacles to overcome... Today's world has many wonderous; and terrible things in it...as did yesterday...I tend to like my modern conveniences...
 
With only one condition, jacknife---that time machine wouldn't move much past 1958 or 59. Then start all over again. Groundhog day in effect. Those "Leave it to Beaver" days had a lot going for them.
 
jackknife said:
I confess that I have finally reached an age that I don't understand the new generation.
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I'm a younger guy and I'm already there. I feel the same way you do about these types of things, and I'd sign up to go back with you in a heartbeat. I love my modern folders, but that doesn't mean that I don't still carry a Svord Peasant and a Peanut every day. I find myself leaning more and more to old everything- old knives, values, gear, and ways of thinking. I still prefer good old steel and wood in guns, and I'll take wood over plastic any day. As far as traditional outside of knives, I love old movies, particularly John Wayne, I wear an automatic analog watch quite often, I wear leather boots, and drop a Zippo into my pockets every day (and I don't smoke). I sharpen my knives on a stone and a strop, and I don't stop using something until there's no life left in it. I prefer the old fashioned way of living, and I'm proud of that.
 
I'm with sitflyer on this one.
Being from the younger generation, I only know the old days from movies/books/stories etc. (Which may even give me a more objective view on it, less tainted by nostalgia. Who knows.) And judging from this, there were plenty of bad things and problems then as are here today. There is a lot I do miss from the past, but on the other hand there is just as much new stuff I wouldn't wan't to let go. First and foremost the information availability. I have always carried a SAK, but I don't think I would have met the whole world of traditional slipjoints without the new technology.
As for modern folders, I guess the technology geek/engineer in me just gets all excited. It may be true that a traditional slipjoint can do the same task, but often it's just easier or more confortable to us the new stuff. I tend to combine the two sides, in my view they can complement each other rather nicely. For example with sharpening: I have sharpened traditionals on an edge pro, and modern folders on stones.

Bottom line: I use and combine the old and new things to improve both. However, my view on things may very well change in the future as I grow older.

PS: It would be rather interesting to know which generation everyone belongs to.
 
I'm 51, and owe the last 15 years of my life to " Modern Diagnostic Miracle Machines " so perhaps I am a little prejudiced ;)
 
Doug Add said:
Born in 1962, near the end of the baby boomers. Celebrated my 50th back in January.
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My birthday is in January as well, I was born in '94. As an 18 year old, I am beginning to become very frustrated and yet very intrigued by how little I actually know. I love believing that I have a gifted mind, but I know that, realistically, I am nothing more than a tad above average (according to flawed standardized testing, that is. :))
 
Heck, I'm only from the 80's and I'm already looking around like "what's wrong with these kids?!"

I understand the process of change is constant, and when you think about it, it doesn't really "mean" anything. Change happens; I think it does so haphazardly, without a direction for "good" or otherwise. Change is inevitable and, I think, arbitrary.

Memory, and its partner nostalgia, are some of the most terrifically fascinating aspects of the human experience for me, and I'll admit that I am easy prey for canvas, leather, fire, hard work, and things not made of plastic. One of my funny memories is of riding an all-metal, all-mechanical Peugeot down in Argentina and thinking "man, I wish I could get one of these..." When I think to "back then" I tend to automatically equate those material things with purpose, quality, and usefulness... obviously that's not the whole story. The point of nostalgia and "older things" for me, is when I try to think of what I NEED in this world, I think man it doesn't have to be this darn complicated! I don't need to do a million things at once or make a million videos of myself doing them to post on the internet.

I think technology is great when it makes what you need to do safer or easier and more enjoyable, but I don't dig technology as a culture. I've got an awesome handmade leather satchel but I carry a lightweight nylon backpack in this heat. As far as knives are concerned, I have no use for the super hardcore tactical superknives that generations of our fathers and mothers never seemed to need. My biggest gripe is that everything, black G10 and all, looks so boring and heartless. Give me wood any day of the week!

I do like modern stainless steels that retain their edge though, especially on folders that get used a lot and accumulate a lot of gunk. I love my Buck 110, now that I finally managed to get one with a CPM154 blade!

That's it for this meandering rant. Those darn kids could still use a smack upside the head and some good hard work to straighten 'em out though :)
 
For whomever asked about generations, today I celebrate my 32nd birthday. I don't like categorizing my likes and dislikes on 'new' versus 'old', it's too general, and likes are subjective. I like my traditinals, what few one handers I do carry, and all the fun stuff that comes along with technology.
 
I'm kinda torn on this subject. I certainly enjoy the beauty of older traditional knives to that of the more modern offerings. In general I gravitate more towards older things. That said, when I went from working in an office, to pulling wrenches in the field, a Spyderco Delica became my work knife. Why? Because I was concerned with function over looks and feeling. The delica was easier to get to, easier to open, and held an edge better. Now that I'm back in the office, where a knife isn't nearly as needed, I'm back to the peanut.

I was having a similar discussion regarding traditional vs modern outdoors/backpacking gear, and someone brought up a good point. While older things make us think of simpler time, these things were state of the art back then. They were probably the best tool available to them. I'm sure that these working men wouldn't have turned down any advances that would have made their life easier.

All that said, it's still fun to romanticize and carry a slip joint.
 
I'll be 60 this September and I can still remember my first knife, a boy scout slippy made in the USA. When I lost it, it was like I lost a friend. My dad gave me a Navy folder and I had that knife for a long time before losing it to the sands of time. I grew up with some type of folder in my pocket all the time, mostly Shrades and Bucks. I owned a few Gerbers but I loved the old Shrades, Uncle Henrys and Old Timers the most. Today trying to find a USA made knife is difficult I'm sad to say. Case comes to mind though, making knives sine 1889 and now owned by ZIPPO. Outsourcing, the bane of this country, forces the next generation to forego quality to quantity and availability. I always try to buy USA made knives or collect old knives from gun shows or flea markets. This past weekend I found an old Camillus Trapper and a Shrade Scrimshaw Liner Lock which I bought both for 50 bucks at a gun show in my hometown. A GREAT FIND made in the USA in the '80s!
Call me a traditionalist I say...I love the older stuff.

Dom C
 
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