- Joined
- Jul 4, 2017
- Messages
- 1,880
Show off your ‘Rats!
Here’s my story:
For a long time, “pocket knife” and “stockman” would have been synonymous to me (if I had even known that’s what the pattern is called). I’ve had my Buck 703 Colt for over 30 years. The thing I liked most about the stockman pattern was the clip blade – I thought the clip was the best looking, most useful blade of all. One day I was looking around the local knife shop when I saw a Rough Rider muskrat in strawberry bone. I thought it was a weird concept. Two identical blades, what’s the point of that? Every time I visited the store I went back to that muskrat, picked it up, and looked it over. Finally, one day, I decided to buy it, still not knowing why I was attracted to it (other than the red bone covers). I suppose somewhere deep in my subconscious I realized that if one clip blade was good then two were even better.
Sometime later I bought a Case Tribal Lock in pocket worn whiskey bone and CV steel. Then I found a muskrat with the same covers and steel so I bought it, thinking they would make a nice-looking pair (they do!). Then one day, again in the local knife shop, I found a deep canyon jigged calypso bone muskrat, which I bought for the pretty bone as much as anything else. Later it was a yellow Delrin muskrat – who could pass up those cool, smooth yellow covers? Then a couple of weeks ago the local shop had three knives from the 130th anniversary (CXXX) SFO series in golden aged antique bone: a cheetah, a stockman, and a muskrat. Muskrat it had to be.
So, over time, I’ve gone from “this is weird” to having five of the darn things. What’s your story?
Here’s my story:
For a long time, “pocket knife” and “stockman” would have been synonymous to me (if I had even known that’s what the pattern is called). I’ve had my Buck 703 Colt for over 30 years. The thing I liked most about the stockman pattern was the clip blade – I thought the clip was the best looking, most useful blade of all. One day I was looking around the local knife shop when I saw a Rough Rider muskrat in strawberry bone. I thought it was a weird concept. Two identical blades, what’s the point of that? Every time I visited the store I went back to that muskrat, picked it up, and looked it over. Finally, one day, I decided to buy it, still not knowing why I was attracted to it (other than the red bone covers). I suppose somewhere deep in my subconscious I realized that if one clip blade was good then two were even better.
Sometime later I bought a Case Tribal Lock in pocket worn whiskey bone and CV steel. Then I found a muskrat with the same covers and steel so I bought it, thinking they would make a nice-looking pair (they do!). Then one day, again in the local knife shop, I found a deep canyon jigged calypso bone muskrat, which I bought for the pretty bone as much as anything else. Later it was a yellow Delrin muskrat – who could pass up those cool, smooth yellow covers? Then a couple of weeks ago the local shop had three knives from the 130th anniversary (CXXX) SFO series in golden aged antique bone: a cheetah, a stockman, and a muskrat. Muskrat it had to be.
So, over time, I’ve gone from “this is weird” to having five of the darn things. What’s your story?
Actually better, I look at mine as if it was a special single blade. Special for two reasons, 1) because it happens to have the same great blade on both ends and 2) because it has become a highly favored pattern.
