Modest times

[silenthunterstudios]

What could you pick up at Walmart, the local hardware store, Target etc? A SAK. Maybe if your trade would include it, a multi tool.

I don't think treating yourself would be tops on your list of priorities. And I treat myself to sharp steel way too much!

 

[mutinousdoug]

I bought this CV Case Mini Trapper in 1973, a few years after I got out of the army. I was looking for a Barlow pattern but the trapper had the clip and pen blades I thought I required. I still have it, just back from Case who replaced a cracked scale for me. It's carried in daily in rotation with a CV Sway Back.

 

[Chris Pierce]

I treat myself to sharp steel way too much!

Not to derail, but this made me think. I wonder if this is a problem for current knife people? The Lord knows that In don't buy knives as often as I would like, but do other people simply buy every knife they want? If so, does this detract from the "specialness" of a knife?

To answer the OP,

 

[abcdef]

The answer is always SAK, Opinel and Mora.

 

[silenthunterstudios]

Not to derail, but this made me think. I wonder if this is a problem for current knife people? The Lord knows that In don't buy knives as often as I would like, but do other people simply buy every knife they want? If so, does this detract from the "specialness" of a knife?

To answer the OP,

Chris I've cut down on the number of knives I've bought drastically. The prices on the ones I do get have skyrocketed. I don't think a man starting out, possibly with a wife or wife and kid to take care of, and a junk heap car to throw money at, would go for a custom slipjoint, or a Case Bose annual. If they are a knife nut, they would probably have gotten a using knife as a graduation gift, or their forebears as a keepsake memento gift. If they are going into a trade where they needed a knife, they might receive a knife as a gift. I don't think anyone but a knife nut would give away a high end knife.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

In retrospect (with 20/20 hindsight, of course), I'd likely choose the same one I've settled into nowadays, my USA Schrade 8OT. It's as close to 'The One' as any knife I've owned (from an accumulation of 200-300+). Interesting thing is, I remember going to the sporting goods store with my Dad back in the '70s, and seeing the Schrade Old Timers in a countertop display there. I always liked the looks of them, but had no clue as to what they'd eventually mean to me. If I'd known then what I know now, I'd have bought a barrel-full of them (assuming I could've found a way to pay for them ).


David

 

[Jack Black]

Plenty of great value traditionals around I think. I'd go with a Sheffield Lambsfoot. I can still get one new today for around $30. Then again maybe I'd just see what I could get at the local flea-market!

 

[midnight flyer]

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

I moved out of the house when I turned 20 and was working as a laborer/carpenter's helper. With rent, auto, etc., etc. I only had money for a good tool, keeping in mind I was also buying carpentry tools. No trophy or show off knives.

I chose the 4" Boker Stockman. When that was stolen, I bought the same pattern in CASE. When I damaged that one by dropping it from about 20 feet, I gave it away and bought a CASE 4" copperhead jack.

The copperhead jack was purchased by me in 1976 for something like $8! I still have it. I carried it daily for years and years. At first because I couldn't afford another knife, the after that because I really liked it.

Still, with a do over, I would probably buy another stockman. The utility value of that pattern is over the top.

Robert

 

[whetrock]

300 series Buck for me, the 301 to be exact. A real utilitarian series of slipjoints IMHO.

 

[pmew]

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!

D'you know, I contemplated saying that my 26 (small stockman) would be what I pick. I got one a couple months ago and it's great.

However, when I left school, my first proper wage came from working in a pub. I bought a Vic waiter with my first pay packet. Still have it too. I only became a knife nut within the last couple of years, and at the time it was perfect.

Paul

 

[pinnah]

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

OK, I've been thinking about this more during some mind sucking meetings...

Price is definitely an issue for a 20 year old. But there's something deeper than usability, versatility, durability and quality.

It's feeling good about yourself. It's about fitting in or it's about not fitting in in a way that says something about yourself to yourself and to others. Like cars, drinks, clothes and many other things in life, the knife choice says something.

I wish I could say that this no longer applies to me, a 50 something. But it does.

I've been on the internet too long. I've concluded that 99% of the stuff said on gear oriented forums (of any sort) are like the worship service of consumerism. As good worshiping consumers seeking self actualization, we recite the liturgy of feature/benefit from memory. "Look at what a clever chap I am. I chose [item name] because it has [feature name] which gives me [benefit name]." Light a candle at the feet of Saint Arthur F. Burns and do our patriotic duty of adding to the GDP by keeping the march of goods moving along the conveyor belt.


I recall watching a TV show on consumerism once. They interviewed all sorts of civic leaders from various backgrounds. One was a preacher who sat casually at a picnic table talking about it from his perspective. Unmentioned was the irony of the sweatshirt he was wearing. It has a big "Spaulding" (the sporting goods manufacturer) logo on it.

One knife? Choose your icon and behold.

 

[arizonaranchman]

300 series Buck for me, the 301 to be exact. A real utilitarian series of slipjoints IMHO.

Probably something like this. I LOVE my GEC's, but realistically in the scenario the OP describes in the beginning, a person in that situation isn't gonna have $80+ for a pocket knife. We're talking Walmart $20-$40 at most here. So a multi-blade Case or Buck would be the way to go. Or a SAK would be a great choice.

 

[mudguard]

Hahaha very true. As always the psychology behind the purchase eventually comes back around. For example, in my case I have a victorinox pioneer in my pocket. Probably the most overall sturdy knife I have ever had, the kids of the kids of my kids will probably be able to use it. However... I crave something with bone or wood handles, carbon steel etc., mostly because of the statement it makes and how it makes me feel.

If you asked me what statement does that make? Well I am not quite sure.. I suppose refinement? being a grownup? style? It is something that I crave as a good old consumer for what ever reason.

I admire my grandfather because he is a man who doesn't seem to have as much of this as I do. It is part of how he grew up, you don't get to choose from 1000's, you just get to get the one that is available and at a fair price (notice I didn't say cheap, because cheap can sometimes not be fair or the best price).

I can only hope that one day I will understand this mindset and settle comfortably in it, because then I can see that I will not worry as much as what I have but with what I am experiencing and while I have spent hours online reading about the toys I would like. My grandfather would have seen, chosen, used and settled with his decision already.

OK, I've been thinking about this more during some mind sucking meetings...

Price is definitely an issue for a 20 year old. But there's something deeper than usability, versatility, durability and quality.

It's feeling good about yourself. It's about fitting in or it's about not fitting in in a way that says something about yourself to yourself and to others. Like cars, drinks, clothes and many other things in life, the knife choice says something.

I wish I could say that this no longer applies to me, a 50 something. But it does.

I've been on the internet too long. I've concluded that 99% of the stuff said on gear oriented forums (of any sort) are like the worship service of consumerism. As good worshiping consumers seeking self actualization, we recite the liturgy of feature/benefit from memory. "Look at what a clever chap I am. I chose [item name] because it has [feature name] which gives me [benefit name]." Light a candle at the feet of Saint Arthur F. Burns and do our patriotic duty of adding to the GDP by keeping the march of goods moving along the conveyor belt.


I recall watching a TV show on consumerism once. They interviewed all sorts of civic leaders from various backgrounds. One was a preacher who sat casually at a picnic table talking about it from his perspective. Unmentioned was the irony of the sweatshirt he was wearing. It has a big "Spaulding" (the sporting goods manufacturer) logo on it.

One knife? Choose your icon and behold.

 

[leghog]

I was in just that position. Bought a new '79 Case Barlow with delrin scales.

 

[WvHiker]

When I was young and jus out on my own I was in just this situation (some 20+ years ago). I spent less than $20 on an Old Tiimer 80T. Today I guess I'd get a 301 or a Case stockman

No kidding, I have my Old Timer in my pocket right now.

 

[Toddwalla]

As I have been pondering this scenario two knives keep coming to mind: A medium stockman (either Buck or Case), and an Opinel. These options offer a lot of value for the money, and seem to fit the scenario appropriately. Though when I was young and fresh out of the house trying to make ends meet, I turned to SAKs. I carried a SAK everyday for years and years and it did everything I needed it to. Including opening far too many beers

 

[Raymond1000]

I bought my first knife in 1955. It was an Old Timer Jr. Stockman. It cost me fifty cents.

Eight or nine years later the blades were sharpened to toothpicks. So I bought another one.

 

[sitflyer]

Knowing what I know now, I would probably opt for a Case Sodbuster jr.. As a young teen with not much money, I did buy a Buck 112, and that one knife served me through my teen years and into adulthood until it was dropped over the side of a coast guard ship I was on. The small Sodbuster pockets much better, and can do pretty much anything I really use a knife for as far as cutting goes.

 

[brianv]

My choices would be a Buck 301, Case Medium Stockman, or a SAK Farmer or Electrician. One of those four. For a fixed blade it would be a Mora.

 

[RobbW]

Buck 300 series, Schrade Old Timer or Sodbuster--Case CV, Eye Brand 1095 or Queen D2. The particulars of size would depend on the nature of my career and what I needed it to do.