manliness and the traditional knife

So, bottom line is that it depends on what your definition of a "man" is.









Who was that that said "just a tool"?

 
Makes me feel like homo-sapiens. Other animals are not quite so good at fashioning beautiful tools and using them! They are however, often better at other good things.
 
r8shell said:
The penny is just really, really big
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Its actually the one they used to cast the wheels for penny farthing bicycles/velocipedes in the olden days. So that "knife" is actually 3ft long when fully open.
 
Q: You know what a 'real man' carries in his pocket?

A: Whatever the heck he wants.

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Honestly though, I've never thought about it. I mostly just wonder about people who don't carry any knife at all...
 
Knives, especially small ones (peanuts, pens etc) do make me more gentlemanly, if not more manly.
 
A guy from Texas answered a similar question, on this forum, some time ago. "Men who DON'T carry a knife, aren't men, like we are men."
 
leghog said:
No more than when I carry a pencil. A knife is but a tool in the arsenal of tools I use all the time.
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Agreed 100% it's just a tool among the many tools that I use every day. I feel not just more practical but less weird using a traditional then I do a tactical. (Unless I need to do some serious mall nija duties in fantasies land lol)
ThievesLikeUs said:
I definitely feel more practical for my daily tasks as opposed to carrying a big bulky curvy tactical knife.
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mnblade said:
Indeed I do. In the same way that driving a sedan is more manly than driving a jacked-up, kitted out 4x4 with 9-foot tires. In the same way that hunting with a walnut-stock lever-action Marlin is more manly than hunting with an assault rifle. In the same way that wearing well-worn Sears work shoes is more manly than wearing $900 Cobra-skin cowboy boots with chrome-plated spurs. In the same way that quietly enjoying a cold bottle of beer on the patio is more manly than running around from bar to bar, waving your trendy, craft-beer IPA in everyone's face. In the same way that reading a good book or listening to the ball game on the radio is more manly than watching some reality show on your 97" flatscreen TV. In the same way that living in a modest, paid-for, three-bedroom house is more manly than living in a McMansion that's leveraged to the hilt.

Traditionals. It's a mind-set. :grumpy:

YMMV.

-- Mark
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Mark, well said!

24-hour post script:

When I carry a traditional:

1. I am prepared.
2. I'm in a traditional mindset, for lack of a better phrase. Mark's comments above explains it quite well.
 
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Do I feel less of a man if I'm not carrying a pocket knife? No, but I do feel that I am less prepared than if I am carrying a knife. Part of my definition of being a man is being able to handle the daily tasks life might throw at you. Accomplishing those tasks does give me a sense of satisfaction that I was prepared. So I guess when I use my knife to accomplish something I do feel a bit more "Manly".

Several years back the wife & I were eating out at a restaurant in downtown Atlanta. Towards the end of the meal it started to storm very badly outside & the power went out in the restaurant. As I was watching a tree across the street whip back & forth, the roof on a neighboring building was ripped off and thrown down the road. At that point everyone backed away from the entrance and crouched back in the kitchen as a small tornado passed by.

Within a few minutes the weather seemed to ease up and we all started to move out of the kitchen. Since the power was out it was pretty dark so I pulled a small flashlight out of my pocket to light the way for everyone. While my wife waited at the restaurant I went outside to see if our car had been damaged. Luckily it was unscathed, though the car behind us had several broken windows. That said, a large limb was blocking the exit road for the restaurant. While there were a few people (men included) standing around, most were just standing there uselessly. Quite a few were fiddling around with their phone/cameras. I took out my Victorinox Red Alox Farmer, opened the saw, and proceeded to trim the limb to manageable portions. As I started to move a section out of the road some of the onlookers finally helped me clear the road.

As we drove off my wife said I had the smuggest look on my face :) She's also never again asked why I carry so many things in my pockets.
 
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Halfneck said:
Do I feel less of a man if I'm not carrying a pocket knife? No, but I do feel that I am less prepared than if I am carrying a knife. Part of my definition of being a man is being able to handle the daily tasks life might throw at you. Accomplishing those tasks does give me a sense of satisfaction that I was prepared. So I guess when I use my knife to accomplish something I do feel a bit more "Manly".

Several years back the wife & I were eating out at a restaurant in downtown Atlanta. Towards the end of the meal it started to storm very badly outside & the power went out in the restaurant. As I was watching a tree across the street whip back & forth, the roof on a neighboring building was ripped off and thrown down the road. At that point everyone backed away from the entrance and crouched back in the kitchen as a small tornado passed by.

Within a few minutes the weather seemed to ease up and we all started to move out of the kitchen. Since the power was out it was pretty dark so I pulled a small flashlight out of my pocket to light the way for everyone. While my wife waited at the restaurant I went outside to see if our car had been damaged. Luckily it was unscathed, though the car behind us had several broken windows. That said, a large limb was blocking the exit road for the restaurant. While there were a few people (men included) standing around, most were just standing there uselessly. Quite a few were fiddling around with their phone/cameras. I took out my Victorinox Red Alox Farmer, opened the saw, and proceeded to trim the limb to manageable portions. As I started to move a section out of the road some of the onlookers finally helped me clear the road.

As we drove off my wife said I had the smuggest look on my face :) She's also never again asked why I carry so many things in my pockets.
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:thumbup: :D
 
Totally awesome story!! THAT'S why you walk out the door prepared. Far too many people these days couldn't work their way out of a wet paper bag.

Awesome!

I now have my very own Alox Farmer thanks to jone and I'm quite inspired by such a story :)
 
Yes, having a SAK Farmer as part of one's EDC kit is essential, making small work of what otherwise would have been an imposing problem....

 
I think some of you are reading too much into my humble question. All I really wanted to say was that I fell more manly when I have knife. As to the issue of manliness I am aware of what a real man is.I know that I don't have to have a knife to be a man intellectually, however in my gut it just seems better to carry one.
 
Cory Hess said:
I don't know about feeling manly, but I do feel better prepared for the day.

leghog said:
No more than when I carry a pencil. A knife is but a tool in the arsenal of tools I use all the time.
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Interesting concept. I'm wondering how many pencil forums you frequent. I come here because for whatever reason knives trip my trigger. I just assumed that everybody else here was in the same boat. I find it interesting that you don't hold them in any higher regard than any other tool, yet have devoted enough time to this forum to post more than 3,000 times. No offense meant, I just found this concept intriguing.
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I don't collect pencils, but I know a man who does. So I don't frequent pencil forums. I also collect American pressed glass just like I collect knives, but that makes me neither manly nor unmanly. In my book, anyone who carries a traditional knife (or any knife) to feel manly missed the boat, but to each his own.
 
Student762 said:
I think some of you are reading too much into my humble question. All I really wanted to say was that I fell more manly when I have knife. As to the issue of manliness I am aware of what a real man is.I know that I don't have to have a knife to be a man intellectually, however in my gut it just seems better to carry one.
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This sub forum is like the old group around the stove at the back of the hardware store a hundred years ago. Philosophers, nay sayers, politically correct respondents, cranky old guys, nice old guys, smarty pants fellas... you had to know you would get all kinds of answers from all over the board.

As one of my old buddies used to say about one of his friends, "ask him what time it is, and he will tell you how to build a clock".

To your question, I grew up with a knife in my pocket, was an outdoors kid that camped, hiked, fished, etc., whenever I had a chance and always had a knife. I worked part time with different jobs that required a knife. Since then I have always worked in an industry that really doesn't care what you have in your pocket as long as you work. My work requires a strong sharp knife, so it raises no eyebrows when I pull mine out to use it. I always carry a traditional of some sort and have so long I just don't notice carrying one. I do notice if I don't have one in my pocket and will drive home to get one if possible.

So for me, a knife is just a tool, a companion like some folks feel about their reading glasses or their phone.

Robert
 
midnight flyer said:
So for me, a knife is just a tool, a companion like some folks feel about their reading glasses or their phone.
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Yup. I carry a traditional slip joint in my left pocket. The only other things in that pocket are other tools. A pen, a comb, a spectacles case with cheaters, and sometimes a lighter. None of those makes me "feel just a little bit more manly" at least not be my definition of manly.
 
Jessero said:
to me a traditional ... removes the "im playing soldier" aspect and leaves you with an object our fathers and their fathers carried, and they are typically looked up to as manly
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This does a better job of saying what I was trying to get across in my earlier post. :thumbup:

-- Mark
 
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