More little guys?

When I was in my early-mid 20s I looked at knives as weapons first and tools second. I gave up cutting abilty for lightning fast opening. And without a SAK or multi-tool to back up a thicker one hander I ended up using it for all kinds of things that could have been accomplished easier had I just had a SAK in the first place. But at the time I worked physical jobs and a quick, tough knife had it's place (even if it wasn't perfect for everything).

Now I'm closer to 40 than 30 and work at a private university. Not only does the little Boker pen knife not raise an eyebrow but it's light enough to carry in the breast pocket of a dress shirt. And the thin blades cut far better than any sabre/hollow ground one-hander I've ever owned. Every once in a while it comes up a bit short (food prep mainly) but performs far better than it's size would indicate.

I also find that Boker's C75 works just fine. Easy to reprofile, holds an edge well enough for office work and takes a nice patina. I honestly don't find that S30V suits my rather minimal needs. But the 10XX series carbon steels are pretty forgiving. I like that.

Is it nostalia or others' knife phobia that moved me towards a smaller knife? Both may play a part. But the little guys are easy to carry and cut better than many of the new super duper lightning fast uber steel blades that get so much praise on the forums at large. It's all about edge geomoetry. And the humble little pen knife, in lowly carbon steel works as well today as it did then. I've been carrying it almost exclusively the past few months and haven't been let down yet. It's not fancy but I still like it.

Frank
 
fishtale said:
Here's a picture of my father's pocket knife. He worked for a big supplier to NASA for 30+ years. He carried a Buck 506 for much of that time. The little 506 has seen an amazing amount of action.

He's since retired and lives in Florida. I called him the other day to ask about his knife. He said he always kept it in his watch pocket because it was small and easy to get to. It was part of his routine. He said he used it for everything from cutting copper wire to scraping slag!

IMG_4885-1.jpg



Funny thing is that it's still got perfect lockup and zero blade movement in any direction. Very well made knife.
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You should really post this over in the Buck Knives forum. The guys there would get a real kick out of it.
 
Bastid said:
I guess we'll have to disagree.

All the new laws regarding blade length over the last two decades and the fact that a kid carrying a knife to school now days will land them with a suspension and a trip to the police station pretty much convinces me that this is not a case of hypersensitivity over a chosen fetish.
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A kid with a knife at school now, (at least around here) is lucky if he only gets a suspension. They have this insane "zero tollerence" thing going, and they are carrying it to lunitic extemes. A knife on school grounds around here gets expulsion. No if's or but's. One girl who's father is with the state department and they just got back from living in Spain for 4 years, had a serrated edge paring knife in her lunch box to cut up an orange. Expelled. They are taking the case to court, sueing the school board. Another kid in Marlboro Maryland lives on a working tobacco farm and helps his dad out after school. He had a sak in his jacket pocket and forgot to remove it before going to school. Expelled. His father is sueing the school board.

Man, I never heard of this kind of insanity 10-15 years ago. It's like a phobia has grown in the liberals minds against any kind of knife.

When I would use my large sodbuster in public, I got that "who you gonna kill with that machete" comment. But the couple times recently I've used the peanut in public, it got positive feedback. Something has changed in America in the way we persieve things. Big soddie was bad, small traditional was described by a couple different people as "cute" "pretty" or "just like my granddad had".



I have a gut feeling that things are a little different now. One has to be carefull of what one says or does. Big brother is felt to be watching.
 
mnblade said:
Can I get an amen for that!?!? :thumbup:
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Yup, Amen +1

I guess SilverFoxKnows really does know!. :D Well said Frank. I hope you hang out here more often. Your opinion was well stated!.:thumbup:

Best,

Anthony
 
Growing up in London, there were always little pen knives on sale.
Small single blade and double bladed Rogers in fake MOP.

Small knives are useful.
I was recently at a major meeting at work.
Someone needed a knife.
A associate of mine said, " Yes, Neeman always carries knives!"
A bit of a silence...
I pulled a small stockman in red bone, and slid it across the conference room table to the Company Secretary.
She looked at it opened a blade, then announced "How sweet!" and then passed it round the table for everone to look at.
Small knives are useful!
 
Not only has the current paranoia about all things edged come from government control, but as someone has already said, most people just don't carry a knife on them, and have no understanding of the need for them, so since there's no reason to carry one in their eyes, it must be to hurt someone. Too much TV, I guess. It's interesting, because considering a knife a "weapon" rather then a tool means that our children carry weapons on them all the time at school to write with, mechanics use weapons all the time to fix our cars, carpenters have weapons on them, and even some senior citizens are armed to the teeth. To call a knife a weapon simply because it "could" be used to hurt or kill someone or has been used for that purpose means pencils and pens are weapons, because they "could" and have been used for that purpose as well. Hammers, screwdrivers, saws, even a cane, "could" all be used to hurt or kill someone, as can cars and trucks. Those have DEFINITELY been used to kill folks, unintentional or not. My point is, in this day and age, a large knife is scary to those unaccostumed to them, so the knife manufacturers address those fears with smaller versions of our favorite knives. Could a Peanut be used to hurt someone? Of course...... but it sure looks cute. Perception is reality to many, I guess.
 
jackknife said:
I have a gut feeling that things are a little different now. One has to be carefull of what one says or does. Big brother is felt to be watching.
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This I can agree with. We can look in the mirror to see who's to blame.
 
i've got a little old timer pen knife that is awfully handy, but in my big mitts i have some trouble manipulating it well. i prefer larger frame knives so that i can really grab onto them and keep them under my control. i've been carrying a Case large stockman in bonestag with CV and i love it. its big and beefy and its all the blade i could ask for.

i think that if i had a knife the same size in black with a single blade and could flick it open then i would scare alot of people. as it is, people mostly find the bonestag attractive and the pattern reminds them of relatives or the good old days. for the younger folks-my friends-they are used to me carrying a knife but i think they wouldn't take a tactical styled knife well.

i think that if your knife looks good, then that can help to cancel out some of the "watch out for the machete" mentality, but clearly there is something to be said for small discrete knives in these modern times. it makes me sad, but oh well, times change.

i have a friend that has a tiny pink framed lock back that's probably about the size of the buck posted earlier and he pulled it out the other day cutting marshmallow sticks. he told me that he loves it because noone knows he has it and it cuts everything he needs...and its even cute.

as to the accidentally carrying a pocketknife to school-i think that if a student realizes and takes it to a teacher or principal etc, then there should be no issue. he should get it back at the end of the day and be able to take it home with no problems. as for the kid that jackknife mentioned with the SAK in his pocket; as long as it stays in the pocket noone knows it is there. i often wear a pair of pants for two or three days in a row, and i have forgot plenty of times to take my knife out of my pocket before i leave for school in the morning. i just leave it there and noone knows.

its a shame that there is a loss of common sense about knives being used primarily as tools, and that even a sodbuster can cause alarm, but i guess its a good thing that there are so many people that also respect knives and utilize them well...as evidenced by the huge number of members on this board and others.
 
Yesterday, I went took my machete out of the garage to gently prune some prickly pear that was growing out over the sidewalk.

Okay, it's fun to whack away with a machete on some plant that truly deserves it.

Anyhow. I flipped the trimmed up parts back into the yard with the blade, wiped it off, and went on to another chore. Couple hours later, I dragged the trash can out there to clean up, but I forgot my gloves. I pulled out my large Case jackknife and stabbed each piece with it, and used it to pick them up and dump them.

One of the plants still wasn't trimmed to my satisfaction, but the jackknife showed that it was up to the task of cutting the offending piece off cleanly and easily.

So far, so good. No thorns in my skin.

I got a weird idea that my cub scouts needed to try eating the fruit from the prickly pear (supposedly, the whole thing is edible, but I digress). So I harvested a couple of the little red beasties with the jackknife.

Then I thought of this thread, and pulled out my Peanut just to see if it could hack through the cactus. I got a couple more fruit, and trimmed another palm off.

It did the job, but it wasn't nearly as easy. And I did get some thorns because it's so gosh-darn short, but they were at least just the tiny hairlike ones, not the big nasties like I was worried about.

Bit of thought, and I could probably have, very slowly, done all the trimming with the Peanut. But I'm glad that I have the choice to use the appropriate tool for the task. The machete is very good for the trimming, very fast and easy, and will actually cut through the stems. Almost like it was made to do stuff like that! Using anything else is almost like a stunt. :D But it is a little bit too much for harvesting the fruits. The right sized knife does fine there.

Oh. The cubs weren't nearly as adventurous as I'd thought. None of them wanted any part of those weird things. :D
 
I've carried for decades.

First 20 years was a SAK-alike (Imperial Officers Ulster, red, stainless). Never ever got an eyebrow for that. When I worked on board ships, I carried a rigging knife and a sheath knife (Gerber Shorty and, later, a basic Mora #1 with cheap painted birch handle).

Came back from Europe, changed careers from more manual pursuits to sittin'-down-all-day keyboard geek. Mora went into the tool box, Gerber went into a drawer. Spent pretty much all my time wearing slacks instead of jeans, and a full-sized SAK just felt too lumpy.

Changed to a Gerber Silver Knight. Thin, slim, light, wood scales & stainless lockback. Carried that for 25 years. Added a Leatherman when the geek stuff started requiring messing with chips and wiring.

Moved north to a place with more outdoor stuff to do. Started researching which knives would serve me well for camping and other outdoorsy stuff. Gerber no longer made the Shorty or any of that family, nobody local sold the Mora knives, so it was onto the Internet to find what I wanted.

For the first time, I started running into "why do you need that" and "why do you carry a weapon" and questions like that. At first, I didn't know how to respond. I was somewhat defensive.

Now, I carry a small knife (usually a Peanut), a medium knife (like a Double Cross or a Medium Stockman), a SAK, a Leatherman Wave, and a full-sized folder (EKA 92 or large sodbuster) in a horizontal belt case.

When it comes time to open something or cut up lunch, the one that comes out is the right size for the job.

I still, every so often, get the "look" from someone who believes government will cut his string, zip ties, packing tape, and food, and that "only professionals" should be "armed" with such "dangerous weapons."

*Sigh*

However, if anything is actually said about it, I'm no longer defensive.

"Why do you carry a knife?"

"You're not serious, right? What, I should use a spoon for this?"

"Oh, I would never carry a weapon."

"'Scuse me? Hello? Tool. You know, the thing that sets Man apart from animals. I'm a big fan of tools. They're downright handy. I would think your parents would have taught you how to use these things, no?"

And so on.

Gawd. That one day, when I'm hacking off a piece of salami with a sodbuster . . . I'm getting that condescending, sneering look, and raise a Spock eyebrow as I continue cutting . . . "I get them to slice mine at the store so I don't run the risk of cutting myself." (. . . pause . . .) "Huh. My mom taught me how to do this, and I guess I'm just used to doing it myself."

And one of the software engineers I worked with recently . . . "I would never use a pocket knife that didn't have a lock." (. . . pause . . .) "I guess I'm just old fashioned. I only use knives for cutting. Learned a long time ago how to keep it from closing on me. Locks are okay, I guess. Just don't often need them."

Yeah, people -- as a social bloc -- have forgotten how to be prepared. They've often never been exposed to anything that requires being prepared, except for a flat tire.

Often, they regard the idea of being prepared -- for something they've never run into -- as a form of paranoia so, on seeing a knife, they "dub in" whatever their imagination (as inspired by TV) provides. And, presto! You "obviously" must plan to be in a fight of some kind.

Couple that with an atmosphere of "dangerousness" propogated by an emo-media industry, and a "we're the only ones professonal enough" mantra from the government and its agents, and you have a recipe for a population of people easily frightened by a common tool.

So . . .

I take steps to use "appropriate-looking" tools for the job of the moment, while pointing out the absurdity of inapporopriate fear.

Now, if I could just get some traction with the airlines and the TSA . . .

 
And isn't it amazing how quickly we've reached this point. In some parts of the country we're only 2-3 generations from a time of no indoor plumbing, supermarkets, or superhighways. In less than 100 years we've gone from a mostly agrarian nation to a bunch of weenies who don't even know where their food comes from, or care what's done to it along the way.

Knife-as-a-tool acceptance seems to be better in the more rural parts of the country, but even fools in the sticks will try to adopt the attitudes of fools they see on TV. That type is less prevalent out here, though.

I read an article from an British MD recently where he was trying to ban "pointy" knives. Not sense for that big sharp point where you might hurt yourself. All knives should be rounded. But the Brits seems to be a bit ahead of us in the coddling of fools, what with padded lampposts so people won't hurt themselves walking into them whilst text messaging, leg shields on motorcycles, etc.

I can now clearly understand how Rome fell.

-- Sam
 
Yosemite Sam said:
And isn't it amazing how quickly we've reached this point. In some parts of the country we're only 2-3 generations from a time of no indoor plumbing, supermarkets, or superhighways. In less than 100 years we've gone from a mostly agrarian nation to a bunch of weenies who don't even know where their food comes from, or care what's done to it along the way.

Knife-as-a-tool acceptance seems to be better in the more rural parts of the country, but even fools in the sticks will try to adopt the attitudes of fools they see on TV. That type is less prevalent out here, though.

I read an article from an British MD recently where he was trying to ban "pointy" knives. Not sense for that big sharp point where you might hurt yourself. All knives should be rounded. But the Brits seems to be a bit ahead of us in the coddling of fools, what with padded lampposts so people won't hurt themselves walking into them whilst text messaging, leg shields on motorcycles, etc.

I can now clearly understand how Rome fell.

-- Sam
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Great Post Sam!.

Very well stated.:thumbup:
 
I EDC'd a 3" bladed Texas toothpick when I was a kid in school, about 1956 to '61. Used it in class for normal knife-stuff, and the teacher was always appreciative. The principal did see it once, with mild concern, but let me go about using it for the class project. Trying that now, my grandchildren would be in jail.
 
I think Mrs. Bernhardt sent a note home to my parents in 1962 because I happened to take my "Kamp-King" out while at my desk for something or other. (5th Grade.)

After being admonished to keep it in my pocket by both parents and teacher, that was the end of the incident. And this was in a NYC public school.

It's too bad that the same action by a student these days would result in much more dire consequences generally speaking.
 
Maybe the recent knife phobia is a regional or environmental thing. Until 2007I worked at a rural, regional high school, and as recently as a couple years ago, I had a few kids (farm kids) with big ol' Buck 110's and the like hanging on their belts at school; they never had a problem. Last year, however, I caught some minor flak in the faculty lunch room (now at a different school) when I opened up a lunch container with my Peanut!

Are things really changing this quickly? I'd rather see a kid fondling a slippie than being glued to a cell phone or iPod.
 
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