My 3 knife experiment.

Grateful

Grateful

Gold Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2002
Messages
4,576
So I am thinking pretty serious about trying a 3 knife combo for the rest of the year. A Victorinox Classic on my keyring, a traditional pocket knife for everyday and a fixed blade for outdoor and kitchen use. I haven't settled on anything but the Classic but I do have short lists for both the folder and the fixed bladed knife.
There have been a few experiment threads like these in the past and I have always enjoyed reading them. I have not however been able to bring myself to play along as I rotate fairly often. Might just rotate between two or three for six months, but rotate I do.
So the plan is to declare my chosen 3 no later than the 15th of October then carry and use them, and only them, until January 1st 2014. Anybody want to join me in this little experiment/ personal project? I think it could be fun and hopefully a educational experiance. Might even push the end date out until next Spring. I will decide before the 15th.
My short list for fixed bladed knives is a Buck 102 Woodsman, Mora 511, Mora High Q All Around and a old Western Hunter that my wife rescued from a antique store. I would like to give the old Western a go but the sheath feels to be the least safe of the bunch. Could be I am worried for nothing. I will have to think on that.
For folders I have a GEC #56, #73 and a #25 in the running as well as my Case Texas Jack, 3318 Stockman, Boker Barlow and my Opinel #7. Might consider some others just need to look through my pocket knives.
So I invite anyone who wants to, to join me. I am doing it either way but having others involved would probably be more fun.

Jim
 
sounds good to me I look forward to seeing your thoughts and opinions as you progress. My vote f or traditional out of your list would be the #73, or the #25. normally I would bring up the whole 3-3/4 vs straight 3 inch issue, but since you'll have a fixed blade at all times, I'd go with the #25. what blade is it?

have fun
 
Been doing that for a while now. Case peanut in my pocket, classic on keyring, but eventually gave it away, so i'm left with just the peanut. As for outdoors, don't have any traditional knives, but i did had a scandi custom at one point, but gave it away too. Nevertheless, one of my small fixed blades is always coming with me when i go in the woods, camping and so on.
Good luck :thumbup:
 
I like a challenge now and then. As our British cousins would say; good show, Jim!

I know I have no problem at all with the Buck 102 as a go-to sheath knife. I got my first one in 1969, and by 1999 it was a very sharp toothpick from 30 years of fishing and small game and camping. Karen bought me a new one in 2000 so this one has been in pretty steady service for a dozen years or so. The 1002 is a great knife for a wide variety of jobs.

The classic also I have no problem with. Since it's attached to my keyring, I can't leave home without it.
10037376036_c03c1037af_c.jpg


But the middle slot of an edc pocket knife? I got a bit of a problem here. My Sardinian resolza and my GEC spear point boys knife have had me in a hellish limbo. I'm going to find it a tough choice there between the two of them. With a month long road trip coming up, trying to pick what go's and what gets left behind is hard. This challenge is going to be tough, and I may have to cheat, and have one stashed in the car as "back up". I know, I'm a knife floozy. If I gotta choose, it just may be the Sardinian knife that goes to the challenge. A little lighter weight, and the 12C27 blade is a plus dealing with food and picnicking on the road. Plus it strikes a chord in me. But then so does the GEC 15.
10142755313_3a5f52554a_c.jpg
 
shrapne1 said:
sounds good to me I look forward to seeing your thoughts and opinions as you progress. My vote f or traditional out of your list would be the #73, or the #25. normally I would bring up the whole 3-3/4 vs straight 3 inch issue, but since you'll have a fixed blade at all times, I'd go with the #25. what blade is it?

have fun
Click to expand...

What is the 3 3/4 vs straight 3 inch issue that you speak of ? My #25 is a single bladed wharncliff model.
 
jackknife said:
I like a challenge now and then. As our British cousins would say; good show, Jim!

I know I have no problem at all with the Buck 102 as a go-to sheath knife. I got my first one in 1969, and by 1999 it was a very sharp toothpick from 30 years of fishing and small game and camping. Karen bought me a new one in 2000 so this one has been in pretty steady service for a dozen years or so. The 1002 is a great knife for a wide variety of jobs.

The classic also I have no problem with. Since it's attached to my keyring, I can't leave home without it.
10037376036_c03c1037af_c.jpg


But the middle slot of an edc pocket knife? I got a bit of a problem here. My Sardinian resolza and my GEC spear point boys knife have had me in a hellish limbo. I'm going to find it a tough choice there between the two of them. With a month long road trip coming up, trying to pick what go's and what gets left behind is hard. This challenge is going to be tough, and I may have to cheat, and have one stashed in the car as "back up". I know, I'm a knife floozy. If I gotta choose, it just may be the Sardinian knife that goes to the challenge. A little lighter weight, and the 12C27 blade is a plus dealing with food and picnicking on the road. Plus it strikes a chord in me. But then so does the GEC 15.
10142755313_3a5f52554a_c.jpg
Click to expand...

What!? No Peanut!? :eek: :D
 
Carl I am also a long time fan of the 102, tho not nearly as long as you. Choosing which fixed blade is not easy because I really like the look and feel of the 102 but those darn Mora's work so well. Plus the old Western is pretty nice and has lots of charcter. Looks like either of your chosen folders would serve you well and if you want to keep one for a back-up from time to time I see no problem with that. I am gonna try to choose just one tho, never know it might even turn out to be a peanut. I am honestly thinking seriously about using my Opinel but I would like something with a little more bling to. Ah choices. The 15th might be here sooner than I think.

Jim
 
I'm very, very close to this in practical terms.

For EDC carry, it's an Opinel in the RFP and a Leatherman Micra in the LFP. This pair shows up when I post to the Modern & Traditional Pairing thread.


EDC Pair by Pinnah, on Flickr

The Micra (for me) just plain beats the pants of the Vic Classic. More tools, more durable (ime), better scissors (for my uses) and a better whittler when put in the fully open mode.

I've been having great success with the Opinel Inox of late. I do change sizes from time to time. Usually one of these. A #10 Inox, a well used #9 Carbone and a laser sharp #8 Inox.


Opinel by Pinnah, on Flickr


Here's the fixed blade. It is/was a Schrade-Walden H-15 that I dropped the tip on. I have a couple of hollow ground fixed blades and have really taken to liking flat/convex/saber ground blades a lot better. I wish a lot of things about Buck and one of them is that they would have listened more to Ron Hood's advice to use a flat grind on the knives he designed for/with them. Till then...

H 15 drop point 2 by Pinnah, on Flickr
 
hmm. I may join in. If I did I could get by with nothing larger than a 4" blade.

#61 GEC 4 blade congress - daily carry.
Either my stainless case trapper or GEC #74 Saddle Trapper for weekends.
My fixed blade would be my BRKT Aurora.

Not sure I'm in. I'd have to neglect some really great knives.
 
Flint Hills said:
What!? No Peanut!? :eek: :D
Click to expand...

The awful truth is, the Sardinian Resolza has knocked the peanut out as my precious. It was a case of something in me instantly responding to the feel of the resolza. I can't put it into words. When I got the resolza, i didn't even want to mess with another pocket knife. I fell in love with the whole friction folder concept. And if I have a sheath knife around, how much pocket knife do I really need for the light stuff?

Then the GEC 15 came into my life, and it had some of the same qualities as the resolza. So, it's a tough choice between these two. Sometimes there's no explaining why something strikes a chord in your soul.

Carl.
 
I'm out because I couldn't limit it to three.

My FB would be my Wohlwend bushcrafter. Easy.
My EDC would be my GEC #33. Easy.
But my problem comes in the last 'slot'... I can't live without my Leatherman PS4 and I can't live without my Leatherman Wave. And they fill their own niches so well that there is no way to substitute.

So I'm out, and I guess I'll have to sit here in my corner and continue to play with my whole collection :D

Oh, and that Resolza is so, so nice.
 
I think back to my days before I became stricken with the illness known as knife knutism and remember that I most always had a knife but generally only one (as an EDC). What you are trying to do may be akin to the way some of the mechanics at work used to be -- three tools, a medium ball peen hammer, a large channel-lok plier, and a big "crescent" wrench. You know it wasn't a very good loadout for them, but worked much of the time. I think that is what you will run into.

Back before knife knutism struck me, I was quite happy with whatever pocketknife of the time happened to be. I can remember carrying stockman types, trapper types, and single blade locking types. I carried the same knife every day and didn't really have anything to rotate in and out. Of course, since that time, I have amassed way more pocket knives than I would reasonably "need" in 3 lifetimes. I find that I tend to have favorites and use the small subset of my accumulation and leave the rest in various cabinets and drawers and chests.

I need to do just what you are doing and thin my accumulation down to what about 3 I really need and use, with a back up or two and liquidate the rest of my accumulation. I worry that I won't be able to do that. As an example, I was living along quite happily for about 6 weeks with no new knives, but then I came back here and sure enough I found 2 more that "I couldn't live without". I have some really nice knives. I don't want to get rid of them, but I need to downsize.

Ed J
 
jackknife said:
The awful truth is, the Sardinian Resolza has knocked the peanut out as my precious. It was a case of something in me instantly responding to the feel of the resolza. I can't put it into words. When I got the resolza, i didn't even want to mess with another pocket knife. I fell in love with the whole friction folder concept. And if I have a sheath knife around, how much pocket knife do I really need for the light stuff?

Then the GEC 15 came into my life, and it had some of the same qualities as the resolza. So, it's a tough choice between these two. Sometimes there's no explaining why something strikes a chord in your soul.

Carl.
Click to expand...

Pretty embarassing, but I have a knife collection to carry me through the furlough, if it lasts too long. I am looking at cutting down the collection to the bare necessities so I can pay my bills until this foolishness is over, if I have to. I have been looking over them all trying to find where to cut corners, so to speak. I think this is the only time I could limit myself to three knives, if just for carry. My Kephart, my classic on my keyring, and my Charlow would have to be it. I have quite a few gifts though that I can't get rid of.

Carl, nothing wrong with exotic beauties. Petite ladies might take exception to your newfound affair though. That peanut might bite ya in her anger.
 
TLARbb said:
I think back to my days before I became stricken with the illness known as knife knutism and remember that I most always had a knife but generally only one (as an EDC). What you are trying to do may be akin to the way some of the mechanics at work used to be -- three tools, a medium ball peen hammer, a large channel-lok plier, and a big "crescent" wrench. You know it wasn't a very good loadout for them, but worked much of the time. I think that is what you will run into.

Back before knife knutism struck me, I was quite happy with whatever pocketknife of the time happened to be. I can remember carrying stockman types, trapper types, and single blade locking types. I carried the same knife every day and didn't really have anything to rotate in and out. Of course, since that time, I have amassed way more pocket knives than I would reasonably "need" in 3 lifetimes. I find that I tend to have favorites and use the small subset of my accumulation and leave the rest in various cabinets and drawers and chests.

I need to do just what you are doing and thin my accumulation down to what about 3 I really need and use, with a back up or two and liquidate the rest of my accumulation. I worry that I won't be able to do that. As an example, I was living along quite happily for about 6 weeks with no new knives, but then I came back here and sure enough I found 2 more that "I couldn't live without". I have some really nice knives. I don't want to get rid of them, but I need to downsize.

Ed J
Click to expand...

Ed, what you say rings very true in my case. I wandered around for 25 years with a well used Buck 301 stockman in my pocket. That was it. And somehow, I was not only happy, I must have been in some kind of blissful state of innocence that I never knew how under knifed I was. Now, I have a hard time picking just three knives to go down the challenge road with.

What the heck happened?:confused:

Carl.
 
First off thanks to all that have replied. The 3 knife/tool limit is just the number that I want to go with. That is what I think I need to comfortable cover all my needs. If someone needs more or less and wants to play along I think that is just fine.

This experiment is mostly just for fun but it is also for me a attempt to get back to basics. To simplfly and try to turn off the craving, hunger, or whatever you want to call it that drives me to acquire and accumulate knives that I really don't need. To take a proper inventory of what I have and to enjoy them, in the moment.

I am not ready or really interested in getting rid of my knife collection or to stop collecting altogether. I just want to put things into perspective a little and try to have fun doing it. I got by for years with a Buck 110 and. case 3318. Neither of those would be my first choice today,although they are good and capable knives. I want to experiance in a small way what that feels like again.

Sound crazy? It might be. But there it is. Here are a couple of photos of my fixed blade choices. Please excuse my poor photography skills.

image.jpg

image.jpg

Jim
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    46 KB · Views: 59
I do love a challenge, but seldom make it to the end. I make it a few days, then my will crumbles to so many pieces, and I find myself going to the garage to rummage around in "my box". If I were to participate, I might just go with the Rambler on the keychain, a Mora for a fixed blade (although it doesn't see much use outside of the occasional outdoor chore), and something else. Buck 303 perhaps?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top