Modest times

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mudguard

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Aug 2, 2013
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Okay here is a little bit of a mind game.. The tradition of pocket knives was never a collection kind of thing, specially during the WWs and the depression. When they started they were as useful as a cellphone or as a wallet (a tool more than anything).

So here is the mind game.. imagine you are a young (old enough to make own decisions I suppose) and you just got a job and enough money to buy something for yourself. You don't have a lot of money and most likely a lot of financial responsibilities (100's of dollars would be too much) but as a young adult you need a pocket knife, something that will last you for years to come and is a little bit of a price for yourself. Since you don't know how long or how much money you will have in the near future. So if you had only this limited amount of income and needed to pick up what would be your work and life companion knife which one would you pick?

I would think the categories I would look for would be:

- price
- usability and versatility
- durability and quality
 
Nice topic. I think I'd either opt for an Opinel no. 6 if money was really tight, or for a Victorinox Soldier or Pioneer if I could scrape together a few extra bucks.

-- Mark
 
I'd suggest pretty much what I carry every day.

Opinel in RFP and Micra in LFP (my regular post to the modern and traditional pairing thread).


EDC Pair by Pinnah, on Flickr

IME, the Opinel is unsurpassed in plain cutting performance, and doubly so for the dollar. The #8 can regularly be found for under $20.
 
i have been in that situation 30 years(and some)ago and i bought best i could get at that time,and that was Victorinox Swiss Champ.
 
Lifetime companion? I'd take a good look at the GEC #73 Scout, available in a variety of handle materials. I'd splurge a little and get one with stag covers. You did say it would also be a prize for myself. :D

m4i.JPG


- Christian
 
I am really enjoying all the responses! As much as I love the knife I think that in a situation like this $80+ would be best spent in groceries or gas to get to work. However I totally get you on the price for myself kind of thought. Great choice.
kamagong said:
Lifetime companion? I'd take a good look at the GEC #73 Scout, available in a variety of handle materials. I'd splurge a little and get one with stag covers. You did say it would also be a prize for myself. :D

m4i.JPG


- Christian
Click to expand...

I got thinking about this when I asked my grandfather why he chose his pocket knife and his response was simply "it was what I could afford after food, rent and clothing for my family". I think for him it symbolizes a bit of a sacrifice but in a good way, and thats is why he kept and used that one and only one for so long.
 
Buck 112
The price is still great for all one gets. It can handle most any task. And though it's quite large, it comes with a belt sheath.
 
I guess stag wouldn't have been so expensive back in earlier times when money was tighter. :)
the first knife I bought was a SAK climber. Though I wasn't so poor at the time, I didn't think of knives as collectible things you could spend a lot of money on. I bought the SAK with the greatest number of layers that I could afford (3). That knife started off in my bag, and gradually made its way into my pocket, they are tough knives, and it would doubtless still be in my pocket today, if I hadn't become a knifeknut. I have a certain nostalgia for those more innocent times when only ever needed one knife.
 
Even though they've had a recent large price increase (30% +), the Queen #9 stockman is still the most versatile and best value knife around. Beautiful zebrawood scales and D2 steel with three useful blades for under $70 shipped . . . this is it!

CZ9-1.jpg~original
 
That was my situation when I left home for the first time. I think I would make the same choice. One knife for multiple uses, tank like durability, and cost? I'd go with a 300 series Buck, like the 301 stockman, with a SAK around maybe later for a versatile back up or assistant. Before I realized I was a knife nut, a Buck 301 served me well. Very well.
I will always have a very large soft spot for the 300 series Bucks. They're sort of like an army deuce and a half; they may not be pretty, but they'll get the load through.

Carl.
 
Interesting thread. Also good to keep in mind that $5.00 in 1935, for example, had the same buying power as $85.67 in 2013.
 
About 40 years ago, being pretty much in the same situation you just described, I picked a Buck 301. If put back in the same situation today I'd choose either the 301 or a Vic Farmer.
 
Answering a question like this relies upon your specific set of circumstances more than anything. When I graduated from college I was single and didn't have any kids. I didn't have many obligations, so finding $100 to spend on a knife wasn't particularly difficult. Refraining from spending all my money on women and alcohol, that's where the real challenge lay.

- Christian
 
I think a stockman is the answer.

You can get a Case medium stockman in the range of $30-$40.

I picked up this Queen/Robeson for around $70 and it's a keeper.
Blue_robeson_zps91feeb96.png
 
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Rough Rider Trapper. It offers a ton of knife at a great value. + Its made of that new fangled "stain" proofed steel!
 
I had an Imperial Scout knife when I was in scouts, lost it, and went knifeless for about a decade. When I did get a knife again, it was a Vic Classic (given as a gift), the first of roughly half a dozen I've had. That SAK led to a Vic Farmer for camping and backpacking. It is now lost (a repeating pattern here!). Then I got an Opinel #6, picked up on a trip to France; still have it and recent refinished the handle. Since then, I've bought any number of knives, with no real pattern or wisdom guiding the acquisitions, more whim than anything else.

If i ignore this actual history and start afresh, I'd probably still get the Vic Classic to begin with. That's one clever and handy little package, even if not the most robust. Then follow that up with a single-blade lockback, probably a Buck 112 or perhaps a 110. My preference would be for the 112 — better fit to my hand — but the iconic status of the 110 would have a strong pull. Finally, I'd look for a fixed blade knife out of sense of "completeness." What it would be, I have no idea. I'd probably start looking for something reminscent of scout days, perhaps a Ka-Bar hunter with a stacked leather handle.

In any case, this hypothetical acquisition plan would start cheap (<$20) with the Classic. The 112/110 would be a 2x bigger step up, although eBay has bargains, and the fixed blade would be about the same.
 
in the situation you describe and knowing what i know now it would either be an opinel or a swiss army knife. they are both well made, inexpensive and highly functional.

back when i actually left home? probably some sort of old timer because thats what i remember seeing around.
 
Most sertainly a knife like this as its strong, good steel, good size, (9 cm) and was awiably anywhere in Sweden at the time I was in that situation. I didnt by one at that time as I already had a EKA 38 since I was a kid.


Bosse
 
There are a few other things to consider. What are the knife laws where you live? What would you use the knife for?

Not knowing those questions, this is my short list of considerations:

Case Sod Buster Junior
Case Large or Medium Stockman
Opinel (pick your size)
Victorinox Pioneer
 
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